A reader asked the other day about what types of foods are good for freezing in single servings. She’s got a hungry teenage boy to fill up. (I can relate to that!)
Short of keeping the kitchen open all the time, with a cook waiting on hand, filling the freezer with single serving foods is the best way to keep those boys filled up. And it works for others in the family too, who need to eat at off hours.
If you’re trying to feed boys, there are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Include protein. They like foods that will stick with them.
2. Make it easy. Hand-held is good.
3. Keep a list on the freezer so they know what’s in there and where to find it. Or is it just my boys who forget what I’ve told them?
Here’s a list of recipes that will keep all kinds of hungry people happy:
1. Pizza
My boys love when I have these Mini Deep Dish Pizzas stashed away in the freezer.
Hamburgers
Grill a large batch of hamburgers and freeze them. These are easy to heat in the microwave.
Meatballs
Meatballs and sauce can be frozen in small quantities (4-6 meatballs and sauce per bag). This makes it easy to make meatball subs. Just toast a bun, warm the meat and sauce and add cheese. Even though this one is a bit more prep work, the reward is worth it. At least, that’s incentive enough for my boys.
Taco Meat
Any kind of taco meat, frozen in small amounts is great for quick fill ups. Pork Carnitas, Smokey Chipotle Chicken Tacos, Shredded Beef Tacos or regular ground beef tacos.
BBQ
Any kind of BBQ meat makes for quick sandwiches. Whether you use chicken or pork or beef, it’s all good.
Chili
Chili is a hearty enough soup, even to fill up boys in the age of meat. Try Mel’s Diner Chili or Velma’s Chili.
Freezer Burritos
You’ll likely want to add some kind of cooked meat to this recipe, if you’re feeding hungry boys. You can add any type of cooked, shredded meat, like pork, chicken or beef. Or use cooked ground beef, turkey or pork. Italian sausage would also be good.
great ideas 🙂 I have one of these myself – plus a teenaged girl and a tween – but the boy, bottomless!!!!!
Things that work for us are just having extra protein ready in the fridge – I cannot make enough fiddly things to make it worth my time – he will eat a dozen mini whatevers for a snack – and want dinner an hour later. so I focus on proteins
I will often roast a family pack of chicken of some sort just to put in a ziploc and leave the fridge – it’s gone in a few days at most – chicken drumsticks, thighs, work best for us – fingers might work well for someone else.
Meatloaf – I make several large meat loaves at a time and freeze them, generally sliced in half. If I’m low on ”teen snacks’ I will grab a half and leave it in the fridge to thaw then slice it and rebag – he’ll grab a slice or two for a snack – can put it on a sandwich or eat it plan hot or cold.
Meatballs do work well here – to make enough I press the mixture into a cookie sheet [often two] and simply score it in meatball squares – then score again when it’s cooked and break them up – flash freeze for easy retreival or bag in small batches as you’ve said – again I don’t get involved in such detail LOL I feel like I’m dealing with a ravening wolf – not time for finesse!
Leftover pasta is also a big deal – I usually make extra just to have it on hand – he’s not a huge breakfast fan but will often eat pasta for breakfast
Great ideas! I especially like the chicken legs.
Meatball squares = genius
When my son was playing football, you would think he was starving. His favorite thing to eat any time of day was waffles I had made ahead and frozen. He would eat 5-6 every day!
Waffles are a good idea. Those are always popular at my house too.
We are a house of 5 adults (me, my oldest daughter, her boy friend, my younger daughter, and my son). We all have different work schedules (mine being the only one that does not change) and we ALL want to have home made foods, not pre-made freezer things. For the past several years, on weekends when both my oldest and I are home, we make up large quantities of personal sized meatloaves with a few larger ones as well. Depending upon who is going to be home for dinner, one or two of these are pulled out in the morning and anyone can cook them up in the evening.
We also make personal sized chicken pot pies. I taped the cooking directions on top of the cover and anyone can pull one out and cook it up when they want it. Frozen calzones are popular too. Again, some that are individual sized but a few that can serve 2 or 3.
Another thing we have done is, when making the big family sized trays of chicken enchiladas and lasagna, we make a few of the single serving sizes too.
It’s really helped us in several ways. 1 – there is always something fresh made that can be pulled out for dinner. 2 – no more processed foods. 3 – I have been dropping a few pounds while the young men are not putting any weight on by eating garbage food.
I freeze soups of all kinds (as long as there are no potatoes in them) in single servings. I also keep peanut butter balls in the freezer. As far as meats go, sloppy joes and BBQ are hits.
I love it because on activity nights, dinner is mostly done. I work on stocking up when activities slow down over the holidays and summers.
Peanut butter balls?!! That is pure genius!
Yep. I use the recipe on southernplate.com. It makes a plethora. Nothing bad in them. Just PB, oatmeal, honey, and powdered milk.
What is a peanut butter ball and What do you do with peanut butter balls?
Google ‘Buckeyes’. They’re wonderful!
I LOVE all of these ideas! Thank you for these ideas for older kids. I thought I would never find good suggestions to feed bottomless pits.
I make up a meat mixture hamburger/turkey (which ever is on sale) and sausage.light general season (salt pepper garlic). ..keep in a container in fridge and pasta…u can use meat for everything. .single pizzas (bolo buns), pasta with garlic and butter, tacos salads,bbq sandwich or full meals…its alway ready and cooked and seasoned