Feeding the fridge is a great way to prep for the week, but what about those weeks where everything starts to fall apart and fall behind! How do you still make a quick, healthy dinner, and help with homework, while also tidying up from the day all the while watching the clock tick closer to that time when people start to say “I’m starving and can’t survive another minute without dinner!” You have no plan in place for dinner because you simply have not planned ahead yet. This is where the feeding the freezer comes in!

While I like prepping for the week and planning what to make out of leftovers, I find it even more rewarding to cook double the meat so that one portion is used for dinner that night, and one goes straight into the freezer for another random night! Oh, how this has saved me SOOOO many times!

Here are my must haves in the freezer.

Chicken

I love having chicken in the freezer. I stock it with both raw and cooked chicken. If it’s cooked first, I freeze different bags so that I can use it in different ways. I will usually either shred it or cube it for different purposes. It’s so handy for almost an endless number of options for dinner or even lunch!

Ground meat

Ground meat is like the chicken. I love having some raw, but I especially find cooked and seasoned ground meat extremely handy and delicious. I love having it seasoned with a variety of seasonings, especially taco seasoning or chili, to create a variety of meals with different flavours. I also often have some cooked without seasoning so that I can add what I want when I am heating it up.

Mixed veg for sauce, chili, or casseroles

I love adding a bunch of veggies to as many meals as I can! It’s especially easy to add veggies in sauces (if your kids are picky, you can even blend them and mix them into the sauce. I almost guarantee they won’t notice it. I love dicing up some peppers, onion, mushrooms, zucchini, or pretty much any veggie I have! Cook it up in some oil with some salt and pepper. Sometimes, I will add seasonings like chili, thyme, sage, or whatever twang I want to add to the meal when I am ready to assemble it. You can use your frozen veg mixes as a base for chili, add it to your spaghetti sauce as it heats up, mix it in a pan with some perogies, add it to some rice and chicken and maybe some salsa. It’s so versatile – hence why I love it. I can make a big batch of it, separate it into meal sized portions, and then I know it’s there when I need it! It’s also a great way to use up some less than perfect looking veggies before they need to go into the trash!

Mixed veg for soup mix

During the fall and winter, I love making soups. To make it even easier, I love stocking the freezer with lots of soup base options. My fav veggie options for soup are carrots, celery, and onion. Dice them up, cook them a bit, then put them in a freezer bag to be added to soup on a moments notice! Add some other seasonings, some of that cubed chicken, and some leftover pasta in the last minutes of boiling and boom! You have yourself a great chicken noodle soup. You can also cook up and then freeze some cauliflower, butternut squash or broccoli to use for some of those creamier soups!

Veggie scraps

Speaking of soup! Why not use some veggie scraps to make your own veggie stock. As you trim ends off veggies, put them aside in a freezer bag. Use carrot ends, onion scraps, and celery bases. Whatever you have will work. When you have collected enough, boil it up in some water to make a delicious soup stock! I love this way of reusing the scraps and giving them a second life!

Mixed leftover meat

Let’s say you made some sausages for dinner, but you have only one as a leftover. Only enough for one person rather than a whole meal. If you dice it up and put it in the freezer, you have a great topping to add to pizza, eggs, and even soup! The same goes for leftover pieces of bacon. Leftover steak. Even leftover pepperoni or pepperoni sticks that are about to go bad. The same could be for deli meat about to go bad. Dice it up! Put a mix of all the kinds of meat into one bag if you love a meaty pizza, or keep it all separate for lots of variety and options. You can also use it to top nachos, throw it in a quesadilla, or even add it to a salad. The options abound!

Shredded cheese

My all time favourite thing to stuff in the freezer is grated cheese! Stock up on the blocks while they’re on sale, get them home, then shred them up and freeze! It is so easy to pull out just a bit for pretty much anything! I love stealing it for scrambled eggs, tuna melts, pizza, and even on top of spaghetti!! It’s also great for cheese sauces, dips, or even fondue. If you’re craving a low-carb snack, lay out a pan of pepperoni, add a sprinkle of cheese, and broil it until the cheese is bubbly! Delish!

Leftover rice

Freeze it!! Don’t let it go to waste! The same goes for things like quinoa or couscous. Use it for fried rice, add it into soups, season it for tacos or wraps, or even mix it into a salad for a filler or a boost of protein. Use it in a casserole or make a stir fry to go with it. Again, there are so many options. Having it frozen and already cooked saves time with prepping your meal, cooking your meal AND cleaning up after!

Breads

Bread products freeze and thaw very well when they are well sealed! If you have had bad luck with it before, try sealing it up and ensuring very little air can exchange between the freezer and the breads. It’s handy for a quick meal, snack, or even breakfast! Toast it up frozen, or pull it out the night before. Our favs to have on hand are bagels, bread, English muffins, and garlic bread. On a more cheating note, another great bready type of item to freeze are things like donuts, scones, muffins, store bought cookies, or even butter tarts – You’re welcome! Sometimes, I want something, but not all of it. Having it in the freezer (and having good portion control) can be a great way to get in a little treat without feeling like you need to eat it all before it goes bad!

Fruit that’s about to go bad

Take your hand at making your very own smoothie kits! Trim and wash the fruit and portion it out for individual or family amounts of smoothie. You can literally throw in any fruit and even your sad looking greens! You can also use the fruit for dessert toppings on ice cream or make a jumble pie filling for a fancy dessert.

On top of having all these bits and pieces in my freezer, I still sometimes just want something that is a whole meal! Or, at the very least, more of a full meal than a plain chicken breast! I love making the “filler” of a casserole. Things like meat sauce all mixed together for lasagna, the meat and veg mix for shepherd’s pie, the meat and veg mix for chili, the base for sloppy joe’s. I also put some raw meals in for the days when I have a bit more time to let something cook in the oven. Things like marinated raw chicken breasts, prepared meatloaf (which you could cook then freeze, but I prefer it fresher), burger patties, even raw shrimp!

Having easy to use ingredients and meals at your disposal doesn’t take a lot of work and planning, but it does take some. For me, it’s the difference between “I don’t know what to make, maybe we should just order something” and “I know I have something delicious I can whip up!”

What’s your favourite thing to freeze? Let me know below!

Thanks for coming home!