The Experimental Garden: Freezer Meals 1

So, I mentioned a while back that I'm in freezer cooking mode, right? I loooove the idea of Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) which has been a big deal in the circles I frequent on the internet (*cough*Pinterest*cough*) lately. However, I haven't quite leveled up to the point of making 50 meals in 2 hours, or whatever these amazing women do.

Instead, when I sit down to do my weekly meal planning/grocery list composing, I try to make one or two of those meal ideas something freezable. Then I just make double or triple and freeze the extra. It hardly takes more time than cooking the meal in the first place, and having those meals ready to go has been helping us quash the urges to eat out on those lazy nights.

Here are a few of the things we have frozen lately:

	Sausage and Jalapeno Chili I've made a few tweaks to this recipe to suit our taste. I leave out the ground beef and use 1 lb beef kielbasa, sliced into about 1/4" thick semi circles. I change out crushed tomatoes for diced. I cut the brown sugar in half. And I add 2C cooked kidney beans at the end (about a can). Defrost in the fridge and serve with warm corn bread. Mmm.
	Indian Chicken Curry This is my favorite fella's specialty. He also dices the chicken, adds diced potato and carrot, and uses tomato sauce in place of stewed tomatoes. Serve over rice, and feel free to add extra veggies (zucchini is good).
	Chicken Enchiladas There are tons of recipes for enchiladas out there. Mine are pretty basic chicken with (usually) canned green sauce. I bought a few cheap 8x8 metal pans for freezing stuff that can go straight into the oven. Just prep, line with plastic wrap and then foil, and write the baking instructions on the foil. No need to thaw (just make sure you remove the plastic), and I like that they aren't disposable.
	Poverty Meal This one made me laugh because my family ate it all the time when I was a kid, but I never had a name for it. Pretty appropriate! I "fancied it up" a bit by using rotini instead of macaroni.
	Spaghetti Sauce This chunky, vegetarian spaghetti sauce is so easy to double or triple and freeze. The only change I had to make (to make my fella happy) was to shred the carrots so they weren't as noticeable. I have also been experimenting with adding hot Italian sausage seasonings, such as garlic, fennel, and red pepper flakes. I'll post a recipe if I ever figure out the best measurements. :)
	Soup Stock It's soooo easy to make and freeze your own broth. I've used this vegetable soup stock recipe a few times, but it's really as simple as learning what you like in broth, cleaning and rough-chopping the veggies, chucking it all into a soup pot with herbs and seasonings, covering with water, and simmering for a few hours. Strain out the solids, and you have broth! I save bones from roast chicken and meat in my freezer for when I have an afternoon at home to keep an eye on the stove. You can also add (clean) eggshells to add calcium.