I try to stay away from Pinterest as much as I can. That’s because whenever I’m on I tend to lose huge chunks of my day that could have otherwise been used for more productive things, like work and sleep. When I once in a while allow myself to indulge in an hour or two (or three) of mind-numbing pinning, I usually look for crochet-related pins, recipes, and travel ideas. Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually tried anything I’ve pinned except for a Martha Stewart Tres Leches Cake recipe. And the freezer meals came into my life.
Lately I’ve been obsessed with finding recipes that I can prepare for my son’s daily packed lunch for school. It was while searching for make ahead meals that I stumbled upon this treasure trove of prepare and freeze meals! I re-pinned my favorites, and this week I started on my fabulous freezer meal journey.
Sitting in my freezer right now are these three bags of yumminess. The first is a Rosemary Chicken recipe I found while re-reading my 2012 June Yummy Magazine. I whipped up a whole batch, then froze half and left half to continue marinading overnight in the fridge. This is what I cooked today for my kiddo’s lunch, and it smelled and tasted really good. I made very slight changes to the original recipe, and you guys will learn all about it when I launch my brand-spanking new blog feature very, very soon. Exciting!
I also tried out a Pork Adobo recipe that I found in a Filipino food blog called KainPinoy. I’m a bit intimidated by adobo because my mom’s is really unbelievable. It’s so good that some of our friends have started calling it Epic Adobo. But anyway, I decided to give it a shot, and I’m scheduled to cook this on Monday morning.
The last freezer bag holds a family Beef Tapa recipe that I am making for the first time ever. I really hope it comes out good. Pressure!!!
My freezer food research has taught me that the best and most space-saving way to keep all these make ahead meals is to place them in zip top bags, squeeze out all the air, lay the meat flat so that the marinade is evenly distributed, and freeze it this way, stacked one on top of the other on a baking sheet or tray. Once everything is frozen, you can then place them in your freezer like books on a shelf. It’s all amazingly compact and organized! Don’t forget to label your bags with the food name and the date that you froze them. Oh, and make your life easier by writing on the bags before you put stuff in them. 😉
I’ll be sharing more freezer meals with you from here on out. And that’s only one part of the fun new things that are coming to this blog, so I really do hope that you guys stick around!
What are your favorite prepare and freeze recipes? I’d love for you to share them with me so I can try to make them too!
How long can I store the pre-marinated food before it spoils in the freezer? Thank you 🙂
Hi, Talia! For the chicken I’d say 2-3 weeks. The adobo and tapa keep longer, maybe a month or so. But I don’t recommend that you keep it that long coz of freezer burn. I make sure to cook everything within a month.
Mommy! Parang gusto ko tuloy matikman yung Epic Adobo! I love adobe especially kapag si hubby ang nagluto. 😀
Hehe, believe me, epic sya talaga! I love adobo too. It’s a staple here in our house. Laging meron nyan sa refrigerator.
This is so timely! I was just about to defrost our fridge and hit the supermarket. When I have blue days aka lazy days I usually resort to quick meals which are canned goods. I know its bad but like I dont have any choice. I get tired also. This is a helpful tips since I don’t wanna cook a tasteless meal for my kids and J as well. Thanks for sharing!
Such a timely post. This is the first day that I made lunch for the hubby. Made chicken nuggets, the recipe I got from Pinterest. It wasn’t that complicated but it was still nerve wracking to make since I rarely cook. The freezer bag idea is great! Hope to get more ideas from you soon!
Chicken nuggets sounds like a great idea too. I’ve been meaning to make them at home and finally stop buying those frozen packaged ones. And yes, there’s gonna a lot to look forward to from my kitchen on this blog. 🙂 Thanks for the visit!
Recently, I bought half a kilo of ground pork. I mixed it with minced onion, garlic, bell pepper and carrots. Half I made siomai, half as meatballs. Btw, I also have zipper-lock bags in my kitchen cabinet, in case of whatever. 🙂
You can use the same filling for siomai and meatballs? I must try that! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
That’s a very nice idea. I also do that. Normally, I would have daing na bangus.. marinated chicken BBQ.. those easy to cook ones! 😀
Chicken BBQ sounds good! I usually buy the Century daing na bangus so that it’s already boneless. It’s pretty good naman.
Hi Pat! this is so cool! And organized! Shucks, I want to try making that Tres Leches cake!!
You should really try it. Super good sya, promise! I topped mine with mango slices.