Although I love giving gifts I struggle every year for birthdays and Christmas for a few certain people in my family that have every thing they need, and don’t really want anything. Gift cards are a useful standby gift, but not much fun to give. This year I had a great idea while attending a Wildtree Freezer Meal Workshop – FOOD. Everyone needs to eat, right?!

At first I ordered some of the spices and things, thinking I could give those away, but later I decided to actually make a couple freezer meals to give as gifts. It’s the perfect thing for people like my grandparent who can’t or don’t like to leave the house in the winter. Since I live too far away to cook dinner for them, the next best thing would be a deliciously prepared meal they can simply thaw and pop in the crock pot or oven with little to no additional prep work.

During the workshop I attended we made 10 freezer meals so I picked some of my favorite recipes and mixed up the bags. Then I found some free printable recipe cards, enlarged them so it will be easier for my grandparents to read, and typed up the simple instructions. I still wanted them to have something to open so I wrapped up personalized kitchen chart to keep with the kitchen/food theme, and added a little note to check their freezer for the rest of the gift.

There are lots of additional items you could give with a freezer meal:

• Baking sheet
• Glass baking pan (see my post on how I used Etching Cream to personalize a glass item.)
• Hot Pads
• Oven Mitts
• Kitchen Towels
• Meat Thermometer
• Kitchen Chart
• Crock Pot

Here are the two recipes I selected for this project:

Country Baked Meatloaf Steaks

Bag 1 (Gallon Size)
2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 cup Wildtree Just Like Mom’s Meatloaf
1 TBS Wildtree Scampi Blend
1/2 cup Honey Dijon Dressing
1/4 cup soy sauce

Bag #2 (Quart Size)
1 TBS Wildtree Scampi Blend
1 1/2 Cup Panko Break Crumbs (Japanese bread crumbs)

Need at cooking time
2 Eggs

MAKE YOUR FREEZER BAG: Mix all ingredients into bags as noted above. Remove air and seal. Freeze.

TO PREPARE MEAL: Defrost bag in fridge before cooking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour meat mixture (Bag #1) into a large bowl, add 2 slightly beaten eggs and mix well. Pour bread crumb mixture (Bag #2) onto a plate. Form meat mixture into burger size patties. Place burger patty on break crumbs to coat, flip and coat the other side. Place patties onto a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, turn patties, bake for another 15 minutes or until done*. Cook time will depend on patty thickness.

NOTE: This made a fairly big batch of patties when I made it for my family so after mixing up the bags I split them into two more bags so my grandparents would have two separate meals out of them. Plus I think there’s still enough for leftovers in each bag.

*If you can never remember what the internal temperatures should be when cooking meat you should check out my removable/re-positionable kitchen charts. Simply stick it to the inside of your cupboard and refer to it as necessary. The larger versions have room to write your own notes.

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Italian Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Bag #1 (Gallon Size)
1 Pkg Boneless Pork Tenderloins (approximately 2-2.5 lbs) – “butterfly cut” by making 1″ deep cut down the length of each, do not cut all the way through
2 TBS Wiltree Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oil
1 TBSP Wildtree Tuscany Bread Dipper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Bag #2 (Gallon Size)
1 onion, diced
1 TBS Wildtree Basil Pesto Grapeseed Oil
2 TBSP Wildtree Scampi Blend
2 tsp Wildtree Garlic & Herb Blend
3 TBS chopped sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles

Need at cooking time
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves

MAKE YOUR FREEZER BAG: Mix all ingredients into bags as noted above. Remove air and seal. Freeze.

TO PREPARE MEAL: Defrost bags in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add the baby spinach to Bag #2 and mix well. Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Spoon the mixture from Bag #2 into the the center cut of the tenderloins. Secure with toothpicks or baking string. Place in baking dish and put into the oven for 30 minutes or until meat is done. (Or, if you’re a big crock pot fan like me, put them in the crock pot on low until done.)

NOTE: This was enough to make two meals so once again I split the recipe into multiple bags. I used chopped frozen baby spinach (which I thawed and squeeze dried) because that’s what I had on hand, and I pre-stuffed the loins so it was even less work for the recipients.

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I am a huge fan of these freezer meal workshops now since I’m always pressed for time, never know what to make, and don’t like taking the time required to try recipes with more than like 5 ingredients. Now I simply spend a few hours shopping and prepping bags, then we have lots of yummy meals from which to choose!

If you have any favorite freezer meal recipes or favorite “good for anyone” gift ideas please share in the comments!