freezer meals

• My friend Laura (also known as the Kitchen Tutor http://kitchentutor.wordpress.com) first turned me on to freezer meals about a month before Charlie was born.  She assured me that in the last days of pregnancy I would appreciate it - and I did!  I made all kinds of meals with her - about 12 I think.  After Charlie was born we finished them off by alternating them with the food that people brought over.  So I got out of a solid month and a half of cooking.  When the freezer meals stopped at the same time people stopped bringing food I almost panicked.  How do people cook with two kids around?  So I made more freezer meals.  I love having them on hand. I love giving them to new moms.  I love knowing that if I totally get lazy or run out of food there is always SOMETHING.  So another friend asked me a while ago to give her the run down on some of my favorites and here they are.  All via Pinterest.  
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  First - you must make and freeze cookie dough balls. Make dough, roll into balls, freeze on a cookie sheet and place into freezer bag. I use these to supplement paying babysitters 😊 And also to grab at 4pm to satisfy myself.

  Here: I LOVE the chicken curry on this one. Pretty sure I forgot the mango. That probably makes it cheaper to leave it out. I also never use chicken thighs, but that's just me. We are boneless skinless people. Healthy Mamma BBQ is okay, but you have to add some vinegar and sugar to it to make it decent, which makes it less healthy. http://www.mamaandbabylove.com/2011/04/05/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker-recipes/

  I'm pretty sure this was the first website I went to. I pretty much did what they said and it was good. I swap out chicken and beef for Fajitas a lot. I remember it all being pretty good. http://www.savingyoudinero.com/2012/06/12/1-hour-1-mess-5-crock-pot-meals/

  Travis LOVES the worlds best chicken on this one. And if you do a cilantro lime / chicken taco one ever, just know that you're gonna want to add in cheese or sour cream or avocado when you dish it up. They are good but turn out a little dry. http://www.overthebigmoon.com/freezer-meals/

  This might be my all time favorite - I like the international foods I guess 😊 http://whoneedsacape.com/2012/11/easy-crockpot-mongolian-beef/

  We don't really make sandwiches and I don't do anything (besides meatballs) that you have to cook before you freeze. That kind of takes the easy out of it for me. If the chicken is turning out dry, just shred it and serve it with rice, or put cheese on it. Flank steak seems to be a good player. I keep a good stash of frozen veggies on hand too for sides.

  It's easiest to start with one of the "30 meals in 4 hours" kind of things. Just scale it back a bit if that seems crazy. But that might help you get the idea of what you're going for in a system for next time. Good luck!