Freezer Meals: Mini Cheeseburger Meatloaves

Aside from cheddar cheese and a combination of both ground beef and ground pork, I added a few other ingredients to use up random items I had in my fridge.... diced bell peppers, green onions, parsley, garlic and even some crumbled crisp bacon. Since we're only a family of two at this point, I baked individual meatloaves in mini loaf pans. Leftovers can easily be cooled and frozen to enjoy for another day.

Mini Cheeseburger Meatloaves
original Joelen recipe

1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef (85/15)
1 slice day old bread, processed into crumbs
4 strips bacon, cooked, cooled and crumbled
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced bell pepper (any color of your choice)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 green onions, thinly sliced (green part only)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, add all the ingredients except the ketchup and mix to combine.

Place mixture in a standard loaf pan or divide the mixture equally between 4 mini loaf pans. Top the meatloaf with the ketchup.

Place filled loaf pan(s) on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes to 1 hour if in a standard loaf pan, or 30-35 minutes if in mini loaf pans.

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving.

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Sweet and Tangy Meatballs

Sweet & Tangy Meatballs

1 large bag of meatballs (or 2 small, you want about 12-14 meatballs per bag – I make my own because it’s hard to find gluten free meatballs)
2 jar grape jelly (I use Polaner’s all fruit spread – no yucky hfcs, artificial colors or sweeteners)
20 oz bbq sauce (Trader Joe’s is really good – again, no hfcs or other yucky ingredients)

Put everything into two gallon freezer bags, shake it up, seal, label and put in freezer. Instructions for Bag: Cook on low for 2-4 hours ‘til warmed completely. Serve over hot rice w/ a side of veges.

Sausage and Peppers

Sausage & Peppers

6 Italian Sausage (or chicken sausage)
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 large red onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans italian diced tomatoes
drizzle olive oil
1 Tbs Italian seasoning

Follow directions above, and put everything into two gallon freezer bags, shake it up, seal, label and put in the freezer. Instructions for Bag: Cook on low 8 hours, or grill. After cooking, serve over hot pasta or on hollowed out, buttered crusty bread.

More Freezer Cooking Meals

Moroccan Lamb, Italian Beef and Cranberry Chicken Freezer Meals

May 16, 2011 By Stephanie 63 Comments

The menu I did recently was Moroccan Lamb Stew, Italian Beef Stew and Cranberry Chicken. A trick that I have learned, for an even speedier assembly of meals, is to group all ingredients first. Sometimes you have items that overlap, like chopped onions, that go into to different recipes. Just separate them out as much as you can, and then go down the line.

First, I assemble all dry ingredients and vegetables in the gallon bags. Then I add the raw meat last. This time I bought my meat already cubed, so that save me a bunch of time.

Doing my big cooking day this way (with only slow cooker meals), I do this about every two weeks. I do three different recipes and double each recipe for a total 6 bags of food. Each bag, is two dinners and lunch, so that leaves several days that we can use to eat out, or if I get inspired to cook something not in our freezer meal rotation, like a roast chicken.

Not including grocery shopping time, it takes me less than two hours to chop all the veggies, assemble the bags and clean up. Pretty awesome, right?! Here are the recipes, and remember we always buy all organic ingredients.

Cranberry Chicken:

2 medium apples, cut into wedges

1 medium onion, chopped

2 pounds chicken breasts or thighs

The juice of two lemons

2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

2 tablespoons honey

1 can of cranberry sauce (or you can use fresh cranberries if they are in season)

Dump everything into gallon freezer bag and label. When ready to cook, dump into slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours. Serve with rice or couscous.

Moroccan Lamb Stew:

2 pounds boneless lamb

2 large onions chopped

1 can/1 cup chopped tomato

2 cups carrots

2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon of red pepper

.5 cup of raisins

Dump everything into gallon freezer bag and label (except broth, just add that the day you cook it). When ready to cook, dump into slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours. Serve with couscous.

Italian Beef:

4 pounds of beef sirloin or rump roast,cubed

1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon red pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 cups beef broth

2 red peppers, thinly sliced

Dump everything into gallon freezer bag and label (except broth, just add that the day you cook it.) When ready to cook, dump into slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours. Serve with couscous, or on rolls to make a sandwich or even on a pizza and add some cheese.

Enjoy!!

http://mamaandbabylove.com/2011/05/16/moroccan-lamb-italian-beef-and-cranberry-chicken-freezer-meals/