Any Good Make Ahead and Freeze Dishes (Ala "Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, Etc)

E. - I'll get a few of my recipes together for you this week - I do a lot of freeze ahead when we stay in the motorhome - normally at home I just prebrown hamb - make up meatloafs and stuffed pork tenderloins to freeze - that and double batches of anything italian as that always freezes good!

Teri

Hi E.,

My name is S. and I'm the owner of The Dinner Station in Carrollton.

I would love to set up a time that we can talk about your budget for food. I have several mom that are stay home moms that make The Dinner Station work for them. I would love to show you that you can buy a package for $2.50 per serving.
We are a lot cheaper then some of the other meal assembly stores and a lot cheaper then the grocery store. I know it's hard to believe.

Please let me help, I not a pushy person and would never make you feel like you need this service. I may or maynot be able to help you but I'm willing to try.

S.

Before my son was born, I made several of these casseroles from a website I found. They were pretty easy to make. I just froze them and dinner was so easy during those first few weeks! My husband and I liked all the ones we tried. They make huge portions, so next time I make them I will probably cut them in half. Here is the website...I hope it helps!

http://busycooks.about.com/od/makeaheadrecipes/a/freezeca...

Before I knew about At Home Dinners, Super Suppers, etc., I bought some cook books to try and do the concept at home. I was very happy with the results, I have since found that going to those places really seemed to save me in the long run. (The amount of time to chop, dice, cook, shop, clean up, etc. took me all day plus, and I hired a "mother's helper" to watch my daughter while I did it. So for me, to go to one of those places and accomplish the same thing in under 2 hours seemed more cost effective overall. Here are a few cook book suggestions-- available at www.amazon.com that you might want to try. Invite a friend over to help & share the work and both go home with dinners!
Once a Month Cooking
Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer
Frozen Assets

Good luck!
A.

Hello E. & ALL of you who need help with dinnertime!!

That is my specialty!! My name is A. G. and I hold cooking classes once a month in my home in Plano and have been for the last 5 years!

I plan the menu, do the grocery shopping, and all you do is show up to my home with a cooler and a bag of ice!! YES...it's that painless! Our meals are nutritional and feed 4-6 people per meal! YOU leave with 7 meals for your freezer in just 2 hours for $100! That averages to about $3.50 per person per meal...WOW...I love it too or I would not still be doing it after all these years!!

I can also do private groups minimum of 6 attendees in my home!! Let me help you take the stress out of your life and help you ENJOY your mealtimes!!

I am happy to chat with you more if your interested please call or email me anytime! I do this meal planning full-time from my home and I have many happy customers!!

A. G.
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Hi E.,

Funny, I was just going to post the same question this morning. I'm busy doing craft fairs the next few months but still want to have good meals for my family.

Yesterday, my hustband and I made several batches of chicken enchilda's. We made some with green sauce and some with red sauce. I also have a casserole recipe for Ortega Chicken & Rice, which is very good. If you e-mail me directly at ____@____.com I will send you some of the recipes I have. Put mamasource somewhere in the subject, so I know you're not SPAM.

A Little About Me:

SAHM with a 15 mo old daughter who amazes me on a daily basis. It really is true what they say, that time flys by so quickly. I'm happy at all of her accomplishments but miss her being small too. I'd like to meet other SAHM's with a child or children around my daughters age. I sell personalized music and interactive audio story book CD's for children. www.kiddosdelight.com My husband and I love to waterski and would love to meet other couples who have water toys and have a passion for the water. Also, love to travel, read a good book, enjoy a good meal with a glass of wine, scrapbook and work on my computer!

When Chicken breasts go on sale buy 2 pounds- then mix 1 8oz bottle Catalina dressing (Fat free is fine) 1 envelope of dry onion soup mix and 1 can of whole berry cranberry sauce. Mix all and put over chicken, then split into what you and your family would eat (like 2 breast halves w/ some coating) in freezer bags. Pull out what you want. As it thaws it will marinate. Cook in sauce in a covered casserole at 350 for approx 45 minutes. I serve it with the Mahatma Yellow rice (which is like 45 cents a bag) and a veggie.

Make ahead just about any casserole and place in smaller foil containers, Cover with plastic wrap and foil. With just feeding 2 adults and one toddler a casserole will go far.

Meatloaf can be mixed ahead and made into smaller bunches, thaw it and cook it in muffin pans- only takes about 30 minutes to cook that way.

The Kraft foods web page has a ton of easy recipes. You can sign up for their free magazine and web news letters.

If you need anything else or want more recipes just e-mail me! With 4 busy kids and tight budget I've got tons of ideas!

D.

In case any of you are looking for a healthier/lower cost approach to the Super Supper concept, there is a subscription do-it-yourself website called www.savingdinner.com. For those of you who are familiar with "Flylady" on the internet (household management tips www.flylady.net), Leanne Ely is the nutritional consultant who started the saving dinner website (they work together). They give you menus for 20 healthy dinners you can prep all in one afternoon and put in your freezer, and it's actually real, homemade food.

My friend has done it before & swears by it.

Good luck!
C.