| Author | |
anniemm
Forum Pro
Joined: Sept 19 2006
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 348
|
| Posted: July 14 2009 at 11:08pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
My next baby is due Aug 11, and my DH gets paid monthly on the 15th. That means that this paycheck is the one with which I will need to make any last minute baby prep. Now that I have a deep freezer, I'd love to make ahead some meals to put away for postpartum times.
The problem is that I have zero experience with this and am not sure where to turn for reliable resources and recipes.
My DH is pretty much against most casseroles, which I think might limit me as well.
What can I freeze? How do I do it? How do I appropriately reheat?
Some things that I usually make that I think might be freezer friendly are lasagna (although, my recipe uses a ricotta/egg mix - is that ok?), chicken enchiladas (w/flour tortillas?), quiche, soups... Do I actually cook them and then freeze? Do I freeze before baking? I feel so clueless!
__________________
Andrea
__________
Wife to Charlie (03)
Mama to four little girls (04), (05), (07), (09),& my 1st little guy 11/11
www.hiswillmypeace.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
kbfsc
Forum Pro
Joined: Jan 26 2009
Location: Florida
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 216
|
| Posted: July 15 2009 at 9:34am | IP Logged
|
|
|
My number 4 is due August 16! So I'm thinking along the same lines...
One favorite is to prepare a pork butt in my slow cooker, shred the meat and freeze it in meal-sized portions. The recipe I really like is super simple and makes a Mexican-flavored meat that works well on tortillas with yummy toppings or even served over rice in its own gravy.
Another thing I like to freeze is soups. Big batches can be separated in a few meal-sized portions and go a long way.
Blessings as you await your little one!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
DominaCaeli
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 24 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3711
|
| Posted: July 15 2009 at 9:49am | IP Logged
|
|
|
anniemm wrote:
| Some things that I usually make that I think might be freezer friendly are lasagna (although, my recipe uses a ricotta/egg mix - is that ok?), chicken enchiladas (w/flour tortillas?), quiche, soups... Do I actually cook them and then freeze? Do I freeze before baking? I feel so clueless! |
|
|
Lasagna, enchildads, and most soups all freeze very well (never tried quiche). I freeze before cooking, then, a day or so before I want to serve it, I pull it out from the freezer to defrost. Then I cook as usual (maybe adding a bit extra time if it's still very cold). I also freeze pasta sauce.
And I like to freeze ingredients that can be thrown together to make quick meals as well: vegetables and onions that have been diced and sauteed, shredded cooked beef (from the crock pot), cubed cooked chicken breasts, etc. The veggies and onions I will throw with some eggs and cheese to make a quiche (might be easier to do it that way than freezing the quiche itself). The meats can be tossed into a quick pasta or salad dish, used to make nachos or quesadillas, or put on a pizza with cheese and tomatoes. Just some ideas.
__________________
Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
teachingmyown
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 20 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5128
|
| Posted: July 15 2009 at 11:29am | IP Logged
|
|
|
One thing dh did for me before the last baby was make a whole bunch of pizza crusts and freeze them. That way we could pull a couple out and throw some sauce and cheese on them and dinner was made!
I am just exploring, again, the whole freezer meal thing. One thing that I have done for years is make spaghetti sauce and freeze it in freezer bags. It thaws quickly and can be used for any pasta dish. Again, pretty plain, but a good meal.
There are several books on the subject: Frozen Assets, Once a Month Cooking, to name a couple. They teach you what foods freeze well and how to prepare them. Also, Saving Dinner has some freezer meal recipes that you can buy.
I just ordered Fix, Freeze and Forget from Amazon. It is for bulk cooking in large quantities, so it may not be a help to you, but I am hoping to get some good ideas from it. I will post a review after I get it tomorrow.
My postpartum days have seen lots of chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas, so don't feel guilty if you have to resort to this sort of meal a few times a week. We have all done it!
__________________
In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Bernadette7
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 16 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 16
|
| Posted: July 15 2009 at 11:35am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I just bought this book from Amazon:
URL=http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Panic-Dinners-Freezer-Great-T asting/dp/0800730550/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=12476754 09&sr=8-1]Amazon[/URL
It's awesome! I haven't frozen any meals yet since babe isn't due until fall but I have tried many of the recipes in the book just to see if my family likes them. And, they have been a huge hit. I also bought the second book that comes after the first. They give very detailed information on how to freeze, store and what foods freeze well. Very informative! Your library might have it, too.[
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MelissaClaire
Forum Pro
Joined: May 16 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 475
|
| Posted: July 15 2009 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
#5 is due in late August so I'm doing the same thing now!
I tried freezing my chicken enchiladas once (uncooked) and had pretty miserable results. Don't know what I did wrong.
Quiche freezes well. I've seen recipes for freezing it cooked and some for uncooked, but I've only ever frozen it cooked.
What I have in the freezer now--we had MAJOR sales on meat and poultry lately so I bought over 35 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts for next to nothing and at least 30 lbs in steaks and 20 lbs of ground beef in the past month and a half so it was easiest for me to prep over half of them and throw them in the freezer:
Poultry
I have several bags of chicken breasts frozen in marinades so I can just stick them on the grill or throw them in the oven.
-carribean jerk chicken
-McCormicks zesty herb marinade--made with balsalmic vinegar and olive oil
-baja lime chicken
-chicken fajitas to just throw in a skillet with peppers
-chicken, portabello, red pepper penne pasta
-I also cooked several boneless skinless chicken breasts in a crock pot with some water, salt, pepper and a little onion. When it finished cooking it was all shredded and I bagged it for the freezer in 2 cup bags--to be used for chicken tacos, enchiladas, bbq sandwiches, etc.
Meat
I have several bags of steaks in marinades in the freezer as well:
-teriyaki,
-montreal
-another marinade recipe I found on allrecipes.com.
-I have those super thin steaks--the really cheap ones--sliced into strips with half a bottle of roasted red pepper italian dressing, cumin, lime, salt and pepper and a dash of hot sauce in a freezer bag for fajita salads.
-I bought a box of frozen burger patties too.
-I have several pounds of ground beef cooked, measured into 1.3 lbs servings and frozen ready to be turned into sloppy joes, tacos, chili, spaghetti sauce etc.
-london broil cut into cubes and frozen with italian dressing and red and green pepper and onion chunks for lazy shish kabobs (rather than putting them on the actual kabob I use a grill basket to toss them in and grill.)
Pork
-Kielbasa already sliced so it can be dumped in a pan with carrots and potatoes
-leftover pork tenderloin cut into tiny pieces for pork fried rice
-marinated pork chops
Seafood
-box of breaded tilapia fillets from Costco
-box of marinated wild alaskan salmon from Costco
Breakfast
-Disney french toast I just cooked it with regular cooking spray and used whole wheat sandwich bread
stuff frozen I didn't need to prep but will be good to have on had for easy dinners:
-hot dogs
-lunch meat
Stuff I still want to make:
-meatloaf (freeze uncooked)
-quiche
-pie crusts (to use for pot pie, quiche or pies)
-cookies (frozen in individual balls)
-want to buy a couple bags of Trader Joe's orange chicken to have on hand just in case
-2 cup bags of cooked brown rice
__________________
Melissa
Mom to a dd ('02), ds ('03), ds ('05), dd ('07) and baby due 9/01/09
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JenPre
Forum Pro
Joined: June 16 2009
Location: Rhode Island
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 366
|
| Posted: July 15 2009 at 1:43pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
My mom used to make a huge batch of chili and then freeze....all we had to do was take it out, defrost it, heat it up and eat!
__________________
Jen
Mommy to Marie-Therese born 12/4/09
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Freezing Meals w/ Baby Coming
