15 Trim Healthy Mama Freezer Meals in 90 Minutes

My freezer was empty, and my lovely readers have asked for more freezer cooking sessions (love you guys, but it took me awhile because this is not my favorite thing to do), so I made 15 freezer meals in 90 minutes.

We still LOVE the recipes from the THM cookbook, so this freezer cooking session is a little different, because I didn't include any recipes. Instead, I gave you the cookbook page numbers AND directions to make 15 meals to freeze in 90 minutes. 

I have the basic instructions below for you to copy and paste, or you can download a full printable packet with a shopping list at the bottom of this post. 

I included a printable Freezer Inventory Sheet, a blank Freezer Inventory Sheet, my Cooking Directions, and a Printable Shopping List – all for FREE and downloadable below. The reason that I was able to do these so quickly is that it's just 5 recipes, tripled, and for several of them the most time-consuming part is measuring out the ingredients three times into three separate bags. I was moving quickly, but not rushing, so while I have to post the disclaimer that I can't guarantee you'll do these in 90 minutes, know that it's doable! I love that I got so much done in such a short amount of time! 

The first time I made this round of freezer meals was 9 years ago – but I've done it often over the years! When I originally planned out this freezer session, I had written that it took 90 minutes including: 

• calming a cranky baby
• stopping my son from gluing things to the dog
• unloadeding half of the dishwasher (I only did half because I remembered that I was timing myself for this blog post, so I had to jump back into cooking action)
• listeningto a dramatic, irrelevant story from my 3-year-old

This last time my house was SO much quieter 😭, so I got it done in just over an hour.

If you have a smaller family, you could divide each meal into six bags, instead of three, and end up with 30 freezer meals that serve 3-4 instead of 15 freezer meals that serve 6-8. 

If you've been visiting thewellplannedkitchen.com l for awhile, you're probably aware that I find freezer cooking loathsome distasteful. I am not a fan. I don't have time (or energy, really) to spend all day in the kitchen. I greatly admire the women who make freezer cooking a routine part of their lives, and if you are one of those women, I wish I was you and will you please come to my house and cook for me. 

Just kidding. Kind of. 

Since I'm not a fan of all-day-long cooking sessions, I've had to come up with shorter, more doable freezer cooking options. So far, we've done 24 Freezer Meals, and How to Fill Your Freezer without Spending Hours in the Kitchen. 

You will need the new Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook (I'm sorry if you don't have it, but I strongly recommend buying it if you don't! Or you could get it from your library, but you'll probably want to buy it once you see it, anyway). This freezer cooking session is a special treat for my THM readers, but ANYONE can make and enjoy this recipes, as they are all gluten-free and delicious. One of my favorite things about these recipes is that the only “special” ingredient you need is THM Sweet Blend or pure stevia, but you could always use another stevia that you have on hand. 

I made them, froze them, and cooked them again to make sure they tasted great and I was very, very pleased with the results. 

 As I'm getting feedback from this menu, some mamas are doing it faster, and some are doing it slower. The shortest I've heard is 1 hour and 10 minutes, and the longest I've heard is 3 hours. I feel bad that it's taken longer for some people, so I just want to warn you that you may need additional time. You're not really chopping veggies, the time is mostly spent measuring ingredients. 

**One way to save some time is to set up the three ziplock freezer bags and measure one spice at a time. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 tsp salt, you would measure 1 tsp of salt into each bag. Then if the recipe called for one can of tomatoes, you would open and dump 1 can of tomatoes into each bag. I pulled out all of my spices and seasonings ahead of time so that they were within easy reach to measure into each bag. **

Download your printable packet blow, and please let me know how your cooking session goes! 

These are the recipes you'll be making: 

Wipe Your Mouth BBQ x 3 (page 43)

Lemon Herb Drummies x 3 (page 51)

Slim Sloppy Joes x 3 (page 63)

Cowboy Grub x 3 (page 59)

Crispy Lickin’ Chicken x 3 (page 163)

These page numbers and recipe names are included on the Freezer Inventory printable and the Cooking Directions, too. 

Included in your download is a Printable Shopping List, Cooking Notes (please note that these recipes belong to the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook, so I'm not including anything from their cookbook here. You really do need to have the cookbook, or this won't make sense. But I included notes on how I made these meals, and in what order, to get it all done in 90 minutes or less), and two Freezer Inventory Sheets.

OK, here are the basic directions: 

Before your cooking session:

1. Make sure you have all ingredients necessary.
2. Thaw the frozen chicken leg quarters just enough to break them apart and put into freezer bags. This is important for when you actually cook the chicken.
3. Thaw all of your ground turkey and ground beef so that they are ready to cook.

Cooking Day Directions:

1. Start cooking your brown rice. You’ll need 6 cups of cooked rice for Cowboy Grub on page 59.
2. Start two pans cooking on your stovetop – one for ground beef, and one for ground turkey. You’ll want to stir both of these pans from time to time. If you don’t have giant skillets or pans, you’ll need to cook the meat in batches.
3. Follow directions on page 43 TRIPLING EACH INGREDIENT, but separating them into three separate bags for Wipe Your Mouth BBQ. You’ll make six freezer bags – three with chicken, and three with sauce (directions in step 2). On each bag, use a sharpie to write down the directions under “Freezer-to-Crock Prep” so that you’ll know what you need to do on cooking day.
4. Stir the beef and turkey, and if you are cooking in batches, move the first batches to drain on paper towels if it’s cooked all the way through (keep turkey and beef separate).
5. On page 51, follow directions for Lemon Herb Drummies under “Freezer-to-Crock Prep” TRIPLING EACH INGREDIENT, but separating them into three separate bags. On each bag, use a sharpie to write down the directions so that you’ll know what you need to do on cooking day. I omitted the Not Naughty Rice because I didn’t have any.
6. Stir the beef and turkey, or continue cooking raw meat until you get it cooked through if you are cooking in batches.  

7. Turn to page 163 to make Crispy Lickin’ Chicken. For this recipe, you’ll need three gallon size freezer bags and six smaller snack or sandwich size freezer bags. Since you’ve already broken apart the chicken pieces*, you can separate the 24 pounds of leg quarters into three gallon freezer bags. Then take another three snack or sandwich size bags, and measure seasonings into each of the three small bags (don’t forget that you are tripling the recipe, and you’ll need to measure the ingredients listed out three times). Now you will need to measure the liquid smoke and hot sauce into another set of the three separate bags. To assemble these meals, put one seasoning bag and one liquid bag into each gallon bag with chicken. You can write the directions with a sharpie on each bag so you know what to do on cooking day. *I learned from experience that since you are cooking the chicken from frozen, you have to make sure they aren’t frozen into one large solid clump. If each piece is flash frozen (or if you separate them beforehand they should be fine).

8. If your ground beef and ground turkey are done by now (hopefully they are), turn to page 63 to make Slim Sloppy Joes, TRIPLING EACH INGREDIENT, but separating them into three separate bags. I followed the directions straight through for this one, and you don’t need to freeze the meat separately from the other ingredients. Write the cooking directions down with a sharpie on each bag, flatten, and freeze. I just thawed this the day before we used it and reheated it in the skillet as directed. The day we served it, I made some quick Swiss Bread muffins and Light and Lovely Coleslaw (these recipes are in the THM cookbook, but the ingredients aren’t included in your shopping list).

9. Turn to page 59 to make Cowboy Grub. Please remember that you need to TRIPLE EACH INGREDIENT, but separate them into three separate bags. Just add the ingredients to each bag, but don’t bother to sauté anything. I just combined the frozen veggies with the ground turkey and all other ingredients in the ziplock bag.  This is a great recipe because it freezes beautifully and tastes amazing when you thaw it. If you didn’t have time to cook the rice before, you could always freeze it without the rice and just make the rice on your cooking day if you’d like to. I thawed the bag the day before I wanted to cook it. On cooking day, I put it all in a pan and heated it through. This is one of our favorite recipes, and we serve it with a spoonful of 0% Greek Yogurt on top. 

10. You should be done! This freezer cooking session should leave you with 15 meals – 3 Wipe Your Mouth BBQ (E), 3 Lemon Herb Drummies (S), 3 Slim Sloppy Joes (S), 3 Cowboy Grubs (E), and 3 Crispy Lickin' Chickens (S). Now put your feet up, and enjoy a freezer full of healthy THM meals for the whole family!

P.S. If you need more help with kitchen prep, my resource Perpetually Prepped Kitchen: The Simple Method for Meals in Minutes can help you get dinner on the table FAST for those nights that you don't feel like cooking! This method has eliminated the drive thru costs from our budget!