I think that freezer cooking can be a powerful tool in every homemaker’s kitchen – no matter what stage of life you are in (working outside the home, stay at home mom, work at home mom, etc). But it can be especially helpful when you are preparing for having a new baby!

Not only can freezer cooking save you valuable time and save you money, it can also help you to eat healthier, from-scratch meals even during busy times like the week you come home from the hospital and don’t want to do anything but snuggle your new bundle of joy.

I’m due with our Twin boys this summer (and we already have 2 year old twin boys) so I know I am going to need all the help I can get. Already at 31 weeks, I’m measuring full term for a single baby (and the babies have a combined weight of over 8lbs at this point). I am starting to have a really hard time moving around, grocery shopping, and cooking. Freezer cooking has been saving me already and I know I will be so glad come this summer that I have these meals all stocked up.

I don’t want to have to do any cooking for the first several weeks of my twin’s lives (or preferably for a few weeks leading up to their birth since I will be as big as a house). I am blessed to be apart of a wonderful Church body and I know I will get meals from friends and family, but it won’t be enough. I know we will default to eating out or frozen pizzas (I’m just being honest here)!

So here’s what I’m doing to make my summer easier! I’ve done about half of this cooking so far, and plan to work on the rest this week. I’ll update this post with pictures as I finish.

Freezer Cooking Tools

Here are a few things that will make your life easier when freezer cooking:

• Gallon size freezer bags
• Permanent markers (for writing the recipe, directions, date, etc)
• Disposable casserole/lasagna pans
• Disposable pie pans
• A good crock pot (or two)

Freezer Cooking Breakfasts

I really hate cooking breakfast. My energetic little boys are hungry the moment they wake up, my pregnant self is starving, I need my tea right away, and it’s just exhausting. I don’t know why, but breakfast is my least favorite meal to make. So I want to make sure to have plenty of breakfast options in the freezer (plus breakfasts make good snacks or meals for later in the day too)!

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread – Money Saving Mom

This is my favorite banana nut bread! By using white whole wheat flour, these puppies are whole wheat but still taste amazing! Like Crystal, I use Sucanant as my sugar of choice. I also add diced up walnuts to the batter and sprinkled on top.

So far I’ve made 8 loaves (4 recipes worth) to put in the freezer. But since we’ve had it in there, it’s also been a go to snack and we’ve eaten through 2 loaves! I might need to make some more. Before freezing, I cut my loaves into slices and then wrap in tin foil or parchment paper and put two loaves in a gallon zip lock baggie. Then I can just take out individual pieces to warm up rather than defrost the whole loaf if I don’t need to.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Waffles – Money Saving Mom

These waffles rock! And once again I use white whole wheat flour and a little bit of sucanant as the sweetener. I also add in frozen blueberries to my batter before cooking but you could also experiment with other berries or even chocolate chips.

I currently have about 8 bags of these in my freezer as they are just so easy to make and then reheat and eat! to prevent them from sticking together in the freezer and making one giant waffle, I slip a piece of parchment paper in between each waffle before placing about 6 – 8 in side a gallon size freezer bag.

Easy Egg Sausage Breakfast Burritos – Raining Hot Coupons

Along with easy breakfasts that I wanted for myself and my kids during the week, I also wanted to stock up on filling breakfasts for my husband to grab and go. Usually I make him eggs or something similar to take to work with him in the morning. But preparing for our babies, I wanted to make it was easy as possible so I didn’t even have to think about breakfast.

So I’ve made one batch of these egg sausage burritos so far (and hubby greatly approves)! I want to fill a few more bags of these to get through those first few weeks and months of the new babies. To easily freeze, I individually wrapped each burrito in plastic wrap and then put inside a gallon freezer bag. I got about 12 burritos from this one recipe but I was overly generous with the sizes in the recipe.

Other Awesome Breakfast Recipes to Try:

• Easy Freezer Friendly Cinnamon Roll Recipe – Happy Money Saver
• Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches –  Jess Fuel
• Baked Breakfast Taquitos – Pink Parsley
• Whole Grain Banana-Pecan Muffins – Once a Month Meals
• Apple-Peanut Butter Muffins – Money Saving Mom
• DIY Freezer Smoothie Packs – Live Simple
• Breakfast Casserole Bites – 100 Days of Real Food
• Frozen Hashbrown Patties – Heavenly Homemakers

Freezer Cooking Lunch & Dinner

Here are some other random meals that I know we will enjoy having in the freezer. I haven’t gotten to making these yet, but the recipes are printed out, the food is in my fridge, and I’m hoping to get to these this week!

Southwest Roll-Ups – Money Saving Mom

I plan to make a ton of these burritos – which is easy once you’ve got an assembly line going on  – to fill my freezer for quick snacks, dinners, or lunches for any of us.

Lasagna Casserole – Money Saving Mom

These look so yummy. And once you already have all the ingredients out, you might as well make a few. I plan on making 4 of these. I purchased disposable tins for these to make it even easier.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie –  Meal Planning Magic

For these homemade chicken pot pie’s, I purchased pre-made whole wheat pie crusts in disposable tins just to make it that much easier! I plan on making two recipes of this which makes 4 pies. I’ve never made this particular chicken pot pie before, so if we love it, I may end up making a few more for the freezer!

Other Awesome Lunch/Dinner Recipes to Try:

• Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole – Money Saving Mom
• Homemade Baked Chicken Nuggets – Natasha’s Kitchen
• Baked Mozzarella Sticks – Mom on Time Out
• Homemade Frozen Pizzas – The Kitchn
• Ham and Cheese Pockets – Money Saving Mom
• Homemade Energy Bites – Money Saving Mom
• BBQ Meatballs – Money Saving Mom
• Mexican Chicken Chili – Intentional By Grace
• Wholesome Tuna Salad Sandwich – Once a Month Mom
• Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos – What’s Cooking Chicago
• Slow-Cooker Magnolian Beef – Six Sister’s Stuff
• Simple Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff – Who Needs a Cape?
• Slow Cooker Asian Pot Roast – Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Italian Lemon Chicken – Money Saving Mom
• Shepherd’s Pie – Creative Christian Mama
• Crock Pot Chicken Dumplings – Who Needs a Cape?
• Taco Soup – Simply Rebekah
• Honey-Mustard Baked Chicken – Simply Rebekah
• Whole Wheat Pizza Pockets – 100 Days of Real Food
• Chicken Enchiladas – 100 Days of Real Food
• Layered Cheesy Salsa Enchiladas – Heavenly Homemakers
• Hamburger Vegetable Soup – Intentional By Grace

20 Crock Pot Freezer Meals for under $150

Because it’s getting a lot harder for me to move around and spend long hours in the kitchen (the twins weight over 4lbs each at this point and are not slowing down) my sister offered to do a big freezer cooking day with me and I said YES!!

We decided to attempt this complete freezer cooking plan from $5 Dinners with 20 crock pot freezer meals for under $150 from Costco. (They also have a ton of other awesome meal plans to check out). I printed out the meal plan complete with the meals, shopping list, prep work, and full directions for getting all these meals done as once.

So my sister took an afternoon to go to Costco and the grocery store with me and get everything I needed to make these 20 meals for under $150. Then the next morning she came over bright and early, we made some coffee and starting cooking and putting these 20 meals together. It took about 4 hours total – and because we cleaned a bit as we went, there wasn’t a ton of clean up left at the end either!

These meals are all so easy too – defrost and then dump into your crock pot for 8 hours. I can’t wait to try the first one. We ended up with 20 separate meals in gallon size freezer bags but I think with sides such as bread, veggies, or pasta for different meals, each one should last about 2 meals. So really, we ended up with more like 40 meals! It was awesome 🙂

More Freezer Cooking Resources

If the idea of freezer cooking intrigues you, but you are new to it or have questions, then check out my series I did on Freezer cooking: The what, the why, the how!

• Freezer Cooking: Has Changed My Life
• Once a Month Cooking: Family Favorites {Cookbook Review}
• An Introduction to Freezer Cooking 
• Freezer Cooking Methods
• How to Save Money Freezer Cooking
• How I Do Freezer Cooking: A Look Into My Kitchen
• Freezer Cooking Resources