Dinner Done Yesterday: Freezer Meal Menu Coordination

The hardest part of planning well for me is staying on topic, focused, not getting swept hither and yon on whims of interest (or Pinterest, haha). It's too easy to just pick out a bunch of tasty recipes for a week's worth of menus without thinking about how they will fit together, whether there's a good balance of ease of preparation and nutritional variety. Especially if you're planning to sock away a bunch of meals at once, you don't want to wind up choosing 7 dinners that each require a great deal of unique preparation, without taking advantage of the ability to coordinate shopping or prep work among them.

Here are some suggested recipe collections, either grouped by main ingredient (for shop-ahead coordination to take advantage of sales) or preparation technique (to streamline freezer meal preparations). I've included a few recipes that are not freezable but would be good to have for dinner on the day you do your freezer prepwork.

When red peppers are on sale:

Peppers freeze well after roasting. You can add them as needed to recipes out of the freezer, or prep ahead several red pepper-based dishes.

When mushrooms are on sale:

Buy a bunch and slice them in the food processor to make:

BBQ mushroom quesadillas (24 oz. mushrooms)
Tofu Parmesan (8 oz. mushrooms)
Mushroom Casserole (24 oz. mushrooms for 1 casserole)
Quiche (8 oz. mushrooms)
Blue Cheese Artichoke Pasta (4 oz. mushrooms)

Take about a cup of the sliced 'shrooms and put them back in the food processor with the regular chopping blade to make:

Turkey Burgers (6 oz. mushrooms)

Then roast a bunch of the sliced mushrooms to make:

Roasted Mushroom Sandwiches (to eat for dinner on Prep Day; 32 oz. mushrooms)
Mushroom Lasagne (24 oz. sliced mushrooms + 8 large portabella caps or 24 oz. whole button/cremini mushrooms)

Use the trimmings to make:

Mushroom Stock

When you make a lot of white sauce:

Figure out how much sauce you need. Use that amount of milk with 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp butter per 3/4 cup of milk. See link above for technique (don't add cheese for regular white sauce/bechamel).

By the way, you can make the bechamel alone, portion it and freeze it by itself if you don't want to prep the following recipes in their entirety.

Use 1 cup for Creamed Greens
Use 3/4 cup for Creamed Corn
Use 2 1/2 cups for Seafood Lasagne
Use 4 1/2 cups for Mushroom Lasagne
Use 6 cups (+ 1/2 tsp dillweed) for Asparagus Potato Lasagne

Stir in cheese to make:

Use 1 1/2 cups white sauce + 3/4 cup shredded cheese (any type) for Scalloped Potatoes
Use 1 1/2 cups white sauce + 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese for Ham and Cheese Divan
Use 3 cups white sauce + 4 oz. blue cheese for Blue Cheese Artichoke Pasta

When whole chicken is on sale

First of all, the most space-efficient way to freeze multiple whole chickens is to spatchcock, or butterfly, them. They'll cook faster too. You can prepare the following recipes with either spatchcocked, whole or halved chickens.

Gai Khamin

To buy: lemongrass (fresh or puree)
Pantry staples: garlic, turmeric, salt, black peppercorns

Chicken Veronique

To buy: 3/4 lb. grapes
Pantry staples: oil, salt, pepper, wine/stock, milk, butter/flour

Chinese Maple Roast Chicken

Pantry staples: maple syrup, soy sauce, 5 spice powder, ginger, sherry

Spatchcocked Chicken & Saffron Stuffing

To buy: cornbread mix (or make from scratch)
Pantry staples: saffron, onions, celery, stock

Salad Dressing Chicken

To buy: 16 oz. bottle salad dressing

Piri Piri Chicken

To buy: 2 red bell peppers, 3 lemons, 5 serranos
Pantry/garden/freezer staples: mint/parsley, red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika

Cinnamon Chipotle Brined Chicken (Prepare the brine and freeze separately from the bird; thaw everything a day in advance of cooking to allow up to 24 hours for brining)

To buy: 1/4 cup fennel seed, aniseed, chipotle
Pantry staples: ground coriander (3 tbsp), star anise, cocoa powder, red chili flake, thyme, parsley, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks (5), bay leaves, white sugar, brown sugar, salt, garlic, liquid smoke

To use whole chickens for parts (don't forget to save any backs from spatchcocking to add to the stockpot!):

2 Chickens 4 Ways

2 chickens
To buy: 1 lb. frozen stirfry veggies x 2, 8 oz. romano cheese, 8 oz. frozen pot pie veggies, waffles (if you want to skip making your own waffles)
Pantry/freezer staples: stirfry sauce x 2, carrots, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, cumin, paprika, black olives, tomato paste, bay leaves, peppercorns, flour, milk, eggs, chicken stock (about 2 quarts, if you don't make your own in step 3)

Coca Cola Chicken (crockpot version)

1 chicken
To buy: 1 green bell pepper, 1 can Coke
Pantry staples: onion, celery, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, Italian seasoning, pepper, hot sauce

How to plan to use up leftover chicken from whole cooked chickens:

Chicken Veggie Croissant Loaf

1 1/2 cups chicken
To buy: 1 cup broccoli, red bell pepper, 2 8 oz. tubes crescent roll dough, sour cream
Pantry/freezer staples: carrots, garlic, shredded cheese, egg, sliced almonds

Chicken Wellington

3-4 cups chicken
To buy: puff pastry, 8 oz mushrooms, 8 oz cream cheese
Pantry/freezer/garden staples: butter, onion, garlic, thyme, sage, dijon mustard, parsley

Chicken Biscuits

1 cup chicken
To buy: biscuits (if not from scratch), tomato
Pantry/freezer staples: shredded cheese, minced onion

Southwest Egg Rolls

1 cup chicken
To buy: egg roll wrappers, red bell pepper
Pantry/freezer staples: garlic, frozen corn, beans, shredded cheese, minced jalapenos, cumin, chili powder

Poppyseed chicken and green bean casserole

3 cups chicken
To buy: frozen green beans, 3 cups chicken stock (if not from scratch), sour cream, poppy seeds
Pantry/freezer staples: butter, flour, bread crumbs

When Chicken Breast is on sale

Honey Beer Chicken

1 lb. chicken
To buy: 1 shallot
Pantry staples: beer, honey, dijon mustard, soy sauce

Hula Chicken

2 lbs. chicken
To buy: 2 lbs. frozen stirfry veggies, 20 oz. pineapple chunks, 4 packets ramen
Pantry/freezer staples: stirfry sauce

Doomsday Chicken

1 lb chicken
To buy: 3 bell peppers
Pantry staples: onion, garlic, wine/stock

Salad Dressing Chicken

2 lbs. chicken
To buy: 16 oz. bottle salad dressing

Asian Chicken and Veg Packets

3 lbs. chicken
To buy: 2 lbs. frozen broccoli, 1 1/2 lbs. frozen snap peas, 2 cans water chestnuts, 1 bell pepper
Pantry staples: sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger

Grapefruit chicken

l lb. chicken
To buy: 1-2 grapefruit (if you don't have zest in your freezer stash), sliced almonds
Pantry/freezer staples: grapefruit zest (if you have it in your freezer stash), olive oil, chicken stock

Chicken Francese

1 1/2 lbs. chicken
To buy: capers, black olives (if not in your pantry)
Pantry staples: capers, black olives, olive oil, butter, lemon juice

When seafood is on sale

These recipes are all pretty well interchangeable. You can use the sauces and seasonings on just about whatever fish or shellfish is on sale to make several seafood freezer meals...even if the recipe calls for salmon or tilapia in particular, it will work with other types of fish.

These recipes really need to be made IMHO with the type of fish/shellfish named in the recipe.

Big Batch Marinades

Make double or triple recipes of these marinades, rubs and condiments. Apply them to different proteins and use different cooking techniques for variety (e.g. grilled pork, baked chicken, roasted veggies, pan-fried fish, burgers/meatloaf, stirfried tofu, etc.)

Big Batch Tomato Sauce

When ground beef is on sale

A balanced week

Easy favorites

All crockpot

Cook once, eat twice (plan to use leftovers)

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Freezer Meal Menu Coordination

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