With our crazy schedule and 3 kids making dinner is getting harder and harder. Thanks to Pinterest I decided to try a new idea – freezer meals! After a lot of planning, a BIG shopping trip, 2 hours of chopping and sorting I made 10, yes 10, dinners! Eight are slow cooker meals and the other two are skillet meals.
For MORE Gluten Free Freezer Meals check out Freezer Meals – Take Two!
Here is how it broke down.
Shopping List:
2 bags frozen chicken – fresh would work but frozen was BOGO
2 packages of GF chicken sausage
1 package of pork chops
1 lb ground beef
3 green peppers
3 multi-color peppers
1 bag carrots
5 onions
6 red potatoes
2 cans pineapple chunks
1 package celery
2 cans tomato sauce (12 oz)
2 cans diced tomatos
GF BBQ sauce
1 box gallon size freezer bags
Kitchen Staples:
Brown Sugar
GF Worcestershire Sauce
Italian seasoning
Garlic salt
Mustard
GF Teriyaki sauce
EVOO
Recipes:
Teriyaki Chicken – makes 2 bags, items below are per bag
- 2 handfuls carrots
- 1 handful onion
- 1 can pineapple with juice
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup GF teriyaki sauce
Mix together in bag. Cook for 4 hours on low. Serve with rice.
Sausage & Peppers – makes 2 bags, items below are per bag
- 4 GF chicken sausages sliced
- 1 handful green peppers
- 2 handful multi-colored pepers
- 1 handful onion
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- Splash of EVOO
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp Garlic salt
*UPDATE* I actually cooked this on the skillet and it came out great!
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 handful green peppers
- 1 handful multi-colored peppers
- 1 handful onion
- 3 chopped red potatoes (big pieces)
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp GF Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
Mix together in bag. Cook for 4 hours on low. Serve with rice.
BBQ Pork Chops – makes 2 bags, items below are per bag
- 2 pork chops
- 1 handful green peppers
- 1 handful carrots
- 2 handfuls celery
- 1/2 cup GF BBQ sauce
Mix together in bag. Cook for 4 hours on low. Serve with rice or pasta.
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 handful celery
- 1 handful carrots
- 1 handful multi-colored peppers
- 1/4 cup GF Teriyaki sauce
Mexican Ground Beef
- 1 lb beef
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1 packet GF taco sauce
Some tips:
- Shop the weekly sales. I bought all the meat BOGO at the expensive grocery store that I rarely go to. This weeks ads just happened to be perfect for what I needed. I got all the fresh and can veggies from Aldi and saved a ton! Even cheaper than Wal-Mart.
- Chop all the veggies first then organize the meat. I had all my chopped veggies in bowls so I could grab handfuls to fill my bags. The recipes above say “handfuls” basically 1 handful of onion = 1 onion.
- Mark your bags before you fill them.
- You could easily add more meat to each bag if you are feeding more people.
- The day before you want to use a meal put it in the fridge to defrost. At lunch time put it in the crock pot.
Thanks for this post! I’m going to try to make some of these for my boyfriend to use. He’s in med school and needs something better to eat every night than just grilled chicken and hot dogs! Thanks!
Katie- Hope he loves them! And it will defiantly help mix up the grilled chicken and hot dogs!
Love this post. Looks easy and healthy. Will try for sure. Thanks
I did five of the meals today and it was super easy. We ate the chicken stir fry as fried rice and it was incredible! Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoyed it! Freezer meals have been such a time saver for me!
Going to try the sausage and peppers tonight. Loved all the others so far. How long did you cook it in the skillet and at what setting? Thanks! These have been great for my busy family.
Hi there, I have this on my pinboard to try. . .I’m wondering about that Mexican ground beef. . .do you use it as its own meal with the beans and corn (maybe rice)? I could see that making a tasty burrito bowl type thing. Or do you have some other way of using it?
I use the Mexican Ground Beef in lots of dishes! Burritos, nachos, quesadillas, and casseroles! Check out the recipe page for recipes!
Can these be cooked in the oven instead of the slow cooker?
You honestly are a savior! I just found out i’m a celiac too and with 2 kids plus the hubs, these will be great!! thanks so much!
Okay – it looks like several meals have one chicken breast per bag. You would be feeding two adults and three children with one breast, or did I misunderstand?
Great question. At the time I wrote these recipes all the kids weren’t on regular food. Basically put in how ever many chicken breasts you need.
I was also wondering how many each bag was intended to serve, and do you slice the meat into strips for the stir fries? One other question – should I blanch the veggies before putting them in the freezer? Thanks, I can’t wait to try this – my 2-year-old has celiac disease, I have a 5-year-old in school, and I have a baby due next month. Sounds like this will be a great time saver!
Amelia,
Each bag was for 2/3 people. You can put in as much meat at you need for your family. I did not slice the chicken when I put it in the bag becauseI was using frozen chicken. I sliced it just prior to cooking it.
I did not blanch the veggies either, just throw them in fresh and let them freeze.
Good luck with all the kiddos! GF toddlers is a challenge!
What is EVOO????
This comment has been removed by the author.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For the Mexican ground beef, do you add the water usually used with a packet of Taco seasoning? Or just the seasoning?
Hi- What brand of teriyaki sauce did you use?
make sure the chicken you use is gluten free, if it is injected with a broth, sometimes it is not gluten free, just thought I’d share this info
I could not open the link for the chicken stir fry recipe with instructions to cook it.
Allison, Sorry for the confusion. The link is fixed now!
Any suggestions for people who can’t come home from work at lunch time to start the slow cooker?
Liz,
Get a slow cooker with a timer on it. You can set it to start and stop at a certain time. One of mine is that way and it rocks!
Pam
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays Party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy
I was diagnosed with celiacs about 10 months ago and my son who is 9 . I am so glad that my friend shared this site. I am going to try some of the slow cooker recipes as my boys play sports and I need all the help with easy ideas form meals!! Thanks so much.
So glad you found the site! I hope the recipes make your life easier and your boys love them!
Pam
What is the nutritional breakdown for each meal?
Thank you.
Paula,
Sorry, I have no way to calculate the nutritional information. You will need to look at the individual ingredients you use and make your own judgement.
Thanks for stopping by!
Pam
I dont mean to criticize, its a great idea. However i dont think people should be storing raw chicken or any meat and the vegetables in the same bag. Even if its frozen, its just too risky to spread bacteria. I think its a great idea, but store the meats separate to the other ingredients.
I understand your concern. Obviously do whatever you feel is safe for your family.
We haven’t had an issue combining in our experience.
Thanks, this is great. I was just diagnosed with Hashimotos and went gluten and dairy free. The recipes seem simple but they all sound good. It’s all stuff I like, and it’s all stuff I can eat.
Hope you enjoy the recipes. They are a huge time saver and really easy to put together!