Freezer Meals (not Stouffers)!

We cook A LOT at home. For a while now...in a effort to save money (and sanity b/c it's not that fun to take a 1 and 3 yr old out to eat) I do a lot of cooking at home. In the process I've experimented with a lot of new things...and REALLY enjoy cooking now. Anywho, earlier this week I made several meals that froze really well and thought I would share. I just served up enough for us to eat (we don't usually end up eating a lot of leftovers, so this works for us)...and froze the other half of it. One night, we made taco soup (yes, random in the 90+ degree weather, but we were craving it), one night I made homemade meatballs for spaghetti & meatballs (PW recipe of course...with a few variations that I've made since I started making them) and some chicken and dressing. It is SOOOOO nice to know that there are several back up meals in the freezer for those nights that you can't possibly imagine cooking..or just out of ideas! Sometimes it requires a little more work up front, but it is really nice.
Anywho, I say all of that to just give some of you mamas an idea of things to make your life easier when it comes to cooking. It really helps me...and I need all the help I can get these days! :) And those nights that you don't want to cook...you can avoid the drive-thru and go to your freezer. Let me know if you have a good meal that also freezes well...I'm always up for trying something new.

I buy these aluminum tins...and use them for everything. They are great for the freezer b/c they just stack on top of each other. And I don't have to use up all of my tupperware.

If yall have any other ideas on how to make our cooking lives easier...please share. My friends at church and just recently had a recipe exchange! It was REALLY fun. We always talked about cooking the same things and needing new ideas, so we thought we'd make a party out of it. Everyone signed up to bring a dish or two...and we taste tested everything. I had everyone send me the recipes and I made a little collection of all the recipes to send home with the girls. It was GREAT. I've already tried out 3 or 4 new things. I am so much more likely to try something new if I've tasted it before...so this was perfect!