Freezer Meals: BBQ Pork Ribs, Honey Glazed Chicken, Candied Garlic Chicken, Herb and Garlic Chuck Steak, Steak Sauce Chuck Steak, Teriyaki Pork, and Cranberry Dijon Pork

Last Sunday Kent and I finished up the last of the freezer meal prep for the coming month(s). We had 2 pork tenderloins, 2 packages of steaks, a large package of country style ribs and chicken leg quarters to use up. Kenneth was ready to have the refrigerator "back" after a couple days of it being pretty packed full of meat! But after all the recipes we worked on today, I can say it's in good shape in there again and there was even room for the leftover mac n cheese we had to put away after lunch. :) Yay for progress! I'm excited about my freezer which is now very well stocked with lots of great meals to choose from which will make dinner prep SO much easier in the coming weeks! I can't wait to start trying them out and see what we think - hopefully I picked some good ones that we will all enjoy. There are more dishes I would like to make and freeze, but I'm pretty much out of room in the deep freezer at the moment - so we'll just see how things go with the dishes I prepared and then maybe in another month after we've made a good dent, we can re-evaluate and try again with some new dishes and of course remaking the ones that went over well.

It was quite an "event" to do this over a 3-day period and I think now that I've done this once, I would be better prepared to try this again as a 1-day event next time starting with a shopping trip either the night before or the day of and then knocking everything out in one day. It was probably a good 4+ hour investment of time to get them all put away, but that really feels like nothing when I think about how much was done! There were a few key ingredients I would definitely want to make sure to have at least 2 of on hand, or a good stock of, before starting. I did run out of Dijon mustard and minced garlic and had to get more, and just about used up my Worcestershire and steak sauces, went through almost 2 bottles of soy sauce, finished off a really big bottle of honey, and used up over a bottle of ketchup in the prep process too. I went through probably 6 onions as well (having them pre-diced and ready to go was a very good convenience when it came time to assembling the bags!)

I looked through the recipes I'd previously selected, and found some new ones to use for those specific cuts of meat, and this is what we ended up storing away on Sunday:

Crock Pot Teriyaki Pork for the Freezer from Homemaking on the Homestead

Ingredients
2.5 - 3 lbs pork tenderloin (original recipe suggests dicing the tenderloin, I left mine whole)
1 onion, sliced (I used diced)
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup  brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp ground ginger

Directions

1. Put all ingredients into a large Ziploc bag. Seal the bag and knead mixture to thoroughly combine and coat meat. Press flat, and freeze. 
2. On cooking day, dump contents into crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours, or until meat is cooked and tender. 
3. Serve over brown rice if desired. 

Cranberry-Dijon Pork Tenderloin from The Virtuous Wife

Ingredients
1 can whole cranberry sauce (I used jellied)
1 package onion soup mix
1 (2.5 - 3 lb) raw pork tenderloin (or pork roast)
2 TBS Dijon mustard

Directions

1. To assemble: label the Ziploc bag. Combine all ingredients in the bag, knead mixture to thoroughly coat meat. Freeze.
2. To cook: Thaw overnight in the fridge. The next morning, pour contents into your crock-pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

A-1 Steak Sauce Chuck Steak Recipe from Cully's Kitchen

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion sliced (I used diced)

2 lbs beef chuck steak, about one-inch thick

1/2 cup bottled steak sauce

2 cups beef broth

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

1 teaspoon lemon juice

5-6 large mushrooms, thickly sliced

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a large freezer safe Ziploc bag. Press out air and seal. Knead contents to thoroughly combine and ensure meat is coated. Press flat and freeze.
2. When you're ready to eat - thaw overnight. Pour contents into a large non-stick skillet heated over medium-high heat. Bring contents to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, and cover with a lid. Simmer 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until very tender.
3. If you want a thicker gravy, remove cover and simmer until sauce reduces to desired thickness, or remove steaks from pan (set aside on a plate, cover to keep warm) and create a slurry (2 TBS Flour to ¼ cup water); whisk briskly to blend slurry thoroughly into sauce. Bring mixture to a boil until desired consistency is reached (if this causes the mixture to become too thick, thin with a little water).
4. Serving suggestion: serve over mashed potatoes

Herb and Garlic Marinade for Chuck Steak from Easy Steak Marinades

Ingredients 

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 minced cloves garlic

1 TBS Dijon mustard

1/4 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup minced onion

1 teaspoon crushed, dried thyme

2 teaspoon dried parsley

2 lbs chuck steaks

Directions

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a large freezer safe Ziploc bag. Add chuck shoulder steaks to the bag.
2. Press out air and seal the bag; knead marinade into steaks to thoroughly coat each of them. Press flat and freeze.
3. When ready to eat; thaw them overnight in the refrigerator then prepare as usual (suggestion: grill over medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes per side or until desired doneness is reached).

Candied Garlic Chicken from Making Miracles

Ingredients

1.5 cups honey
6 TBS soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 2.5 lbs chicken quarters

Directions

1. Combine marinade ingredients in a large freezer safe Ziploc bag. Add chicken to bag and squeeze out all excess air then seal. Knead marinade into meat and make sure everything is evenly combined. Press flat and freeze.
2. Thaw overnight.
3. Place contents in a 9x13 baking dish; cover with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees or until cooked through (or almost cooked through). Turn heat up to 425, remove foil, and bake another 10-15 minutes or until browned. You can use lo-broil as well, just watch them carefully.

 Honey Glazed Chicken from Making Miracles

Ingredients
1/4 cup + 1 tsp honey
2 Tbs + 1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbs soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 tsp each)
3 chicken leg quarters with skin on

Directions

1. Combine glaze ingredients in a large freezer safe Ziploc bag and add chicken. Press out excess air, seal, and knead ingredients to combine and thoroughly coat meat. Press flat and freeze.
2. Thaw overnight. 
3. Place the chicken legs on a baking sheet, skin-side down, cover with aluminum foil, and slow roast at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes. 
4. Flip the pieces to have the skin side up, brush some more of the glaze over, cover with aluminum foil again, and continue cooking for  another 40-45 minutes. 
5. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees, remove the aluminum foil and roast until the skin is dark brown, 10 to 15  minutes.

Stovetop BBQ Country Style Pork Ribs from Making Miracles

Ingredients

1/4 cup steak sauce (such as A1®) 

1/4 cup ketchup 

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

1 tablespoon minced garlic 

1/4 cup water 

4 (6 ounce) country style pork ribs 

1 onion, cut into rings 

Directions

1. Combine steak sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and water in a large freezer safe Ziploc bag. Add in pork ribs and onions. Press out excess air, seal, and knead ingredients until thoroughly combined and meat is well coated. Press flat and freeze.
2. Thaw overnight. 
3. Pour contents into a non-stick skillet and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer the ribs on low for 45 minutes, or until tender. If the sauce simmers off, add additional water or sauce if needed to keep moist.