So before I get to freezer meals, I have a BIG announcement and I couldn’t think of a clever way to work it in so I’m just going to say it…

WE’RE MOVING!!!

Southern California has been an amazing home to our family over the last 6 years! We got married here, both of our girls were born here. We love our little community and all of the memories we’ve made.

But life is calling us to South Carolina so our family is headed there for the next stop on our journey.

Obviously, The Cinnamon Mom will still be here and I can’t wait to document our new adventures. Make sure you follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss any updates!

Back to freezer meals!

You know how there are a few awkward days before you move when you want to pack up your kitchen but your family still has to eat? Rather than buying fast food for a week, creating a stash of freezer meals is a great way to make sure your family is eating healthy, homecooked meals despite being in the midst of a transition.

I built stashes of freezer meals before both of my daughters were born and it literally saved my life. After we brought each of them home from the hospital, I had two weeks worth of food stored in my freezer so we could focus less energy in our kitchen and more on our growing family.

I’m replicating the exact same process for moving and you can trust me when I say that it’s super simple and stressfree. It doesn’t involve any extra time in the kitchen and your stash will be built before you know it.

All I do is…

Cook double batches of the meals I’m making.

That’s it!

Just make twice as much of the food you’re already preparing and put half of it in your freezer.

So if I’m making spaghetti, instead of one box of pasta and one jar of marinara, I’ll cook two boxes of pasta and two jars of marinara. I’m already in the kitchen cooking, right? Even though I’m using twice as many ingredients, it takes exactly the same amount of cook time. Maaaybe a few minutes of extra chopping, but that should pretty much be it.

The amount of meals you can store depends on the size of your freezer. We have a very small freezer, but I’ve been able to store 15 meals at one time.

So far we’ve got 5 meals stocked up and I’ll probably add one or two more in the next week.

Storing the Meals

I have a few different methods for storing our freezer meals, it just depends on what type of food I’m making.

Foil Pans

Foil pans are best for casseroles or lasagna. Since I’m just cooking double of the same meal, I’ll assemble half of my ingredients in our glass casserole dish to eat right away. The other half will go in a foil pan, get cooked and cooled, and then I’ll stick in the freezer. Get the kind of pans with a paper or foil lid that lay flat and not the tall plastic lids (they take up more space).

When it’s time to eat your frozen casserole, stick the pan in the oven and keep it covered with a sheet of foil until heated through.

Try this with my sweet potato enchilada casserole!

Ziploc Bags

Get a box of gallon Ziploc freezer bags. I love these because they stack flat on top of each other and you can fit a bunch in the freezer. Just be sure to let as much air out of the bag as possible.

When you’re ready to eat your frozen food from a bag, you can microwave the whole bag or empty it into a pot and heat on the stove.

Bags are great for chili, veggie soup, sweet potato and kale soup, one pan meals, and pasta.

Freezer Paper

I like using freezer paper for food that needs to be stored individually, like sandwiches or bean and cheese burritos. Just rip off the amount of paper you need and wrap each item by itself.

I will usually just microwave my food wrapped in freezer paper for a minute or two.

Try freezer paper with my breakfast sandwiches.

Babies

I couldn’t forget about the tiny humans! See how I store purees in my guide to homemade baby food.

Two more things

Don’t forget to label your meals with a sharpie so they’re easy to identify!

And… If you’re going through the trouble of making freezer meals, you probably don’t want to worry about dishes either. Make sure to buy some paper plates and plasticware so that you can toss everything in the trash when you’re done.

Freezer meals are great for

1. Moving- Keep feeding your family real food even while your kitchen is a wreck.
2. Newborn life- The last thing you want to do when you come home with a new baby is cook.
3. Surgery or health issues- If you anticipate a medical procedure or condition, have some food stocked up.
4. Offer to loved ones in need- Keep some meals handy to bless family or friends who are going through major life events.
5. Date nights- Instead of dropping $30 on pizza every time you leave the kids with the babysitter, just pull a freezer meal out.
6. Busy nights- After a long evening of activities, you can choose a meal from your stash and have dinner on the table quickly.

I am so relieved that I’ll be able to pack our pots and pans soon and dig into our freezer meals. It’s going to feel so good not cooking for a little while as we get all of our loose ends tied up in Cali!

Leave me a comment and tell me about your experiences building a stash of freezer meals! And if you have any advice for moving cross country, I’ll take that, too! Any South Carolinians out there?

Talk to you soon!