Need ideas for food to freeze

[olien]

#2 is due soon & I will have a 20mo also. I think it will help me tremendously to have food for dinner in the freezer & ready to go for the 1st few weeks.

I rarely freeze food so I really dont know many things that last well in there & need some ideas. This is what I did/was planning to do so far:

eggplant parm
spag sauce
sweedish mballs
chicken cutlets (breaded) - do these freeze well?

Thats it- need more ideas.
Thanks!!

[cristeen]

I froze a bunch of (raw) meatloaves in throw-away foil pans... we just ate the last one the other day, and he's 5 mo. Enchiladas without the sauce (I use jarred sauce - just made sure I had a jar for each pan that was in the freezer). I was doing this during summer, so I also froze blanched corn on the cob, zucchini bread and diced tomatoes. I made sure I had half a dozen pkgs of ground beef (1 lb each - quick burgers, spaghetti sauce, etc.), and several packages of sausage (bratwurst type - heat and serve). I also froze chicken stock, potato leek soup, and cooked beans. And I stocked the pantry with things like pasta, coconut milk, enchilada sauce, BBQ sauce, etc. - the basics I would need to make a half dozen meals from the pantry.

[ollyoxenfree]

I've frozen breaded chicken and it was fine. I used portions cut from breasts, dipped them in a buttermilk and mustard mix first, then rolled it in bread crumbs.

Ideas:

Soups and stews
Pasta casseroles, lasagna,
Taco filling - for tacos, burritos, etc.
Larb (Thai ground chicken or pork)

[sellendie]

We freeze homemade gyro meat and falafel and keep flatbread in the freezer also. I also do baked enchiladas and a lot of different soups. Check out http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/ for some other ideas as well.

[luv-my-boys]

Im going to have some non-green tips but for our family usually after a baby were totally in survival mode so it really helps.

1. Use foil disposable pans. Literally toss when your done.

2. We typically use paper plates/cups/utensils the first week because like I said its crazy here and really with our family it can become unsanitary VERY quickly.

3. freeze a few small meals. for example take what would be 1 family serving and split into several individual servings. I usually do this with soup or pasta dishes. that way if DH wants one thing and you another you dont have to heat a whole dish up KWIM? plus I often find due to hormones that PP there are things that jsut turn me off and couldnt stomach while DH and the boys would love.

4. I've found that pre-breading things and freezing are great time savers. I do this often with my homemade chicken nuggest. I basically bread them and then I lay them on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze. When frozen I transfer to a gallon ziplock for storage.

5. I literally made a "menu" of sorts to make sure I had at least a full dinner for 2 weeks and then stocked up as close as I could to EDD with fruits and breakfast items.

6. I freeze sliced homemade bread to use during that time. But commercial bread freezes well too.

Some of the things I make sure to have on hand are:

breakfast burritos: assort fixings like eggs with sausage/veggies or beans/cheese (i freeze these individually on parchment paper, wrap in waxed paper and store)

pasta sauces: assort sauces that I basically freeze so that they heat up while I boil fresh pasta (I personally dont like re heated pasta unless its in casserole)

I make waffles and freeze. They toast up nice in toaster oven.

[olien]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Enchiladas without the sauce (I use jarred sauce - just made sure I had a jar for each pan that was in the freezer)... I also froze chicken stock, potato leek soup, and cooked beans.

I never made enchiladas before. Sellendie mentions them too. I'll search for a recipie here.
What kind of cooked beans - liked baked beans?

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

dipped them in a buttermilk and mustard mix first, then rolled it in bread crumbs.

Yum!! Must try this.

Originally Posted by sellendie

Check out http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/ for some other ideas as well.

Thanks. I just printed out a couple of recipies to try.

Originally Posted by luv-my-boys

Im going to have some non-green tips but for our family usually after a baby were totally in survival mode so it really helps.

1. Use foil disposable pans. Literally toss when your done.

2. We typically use paper plates/cups/utensils the first week because like I said its crazy here and really with our family it can become unsanitary VERY quickly.

4. I've found that pre-breading things and freezing are great time savers. I do this often with my homemade chicken nuggest. I basically bread them and then I lay them on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze. When frozen I transfer to a gallon ziplock for storage.

breakfast burritos: assort fixings like eggs with sausage/veggies or beans/cheese (i freeze these individually on parchment paper, wrap in waxed paper and store)

Good ideas.
So the chicken nuggets are raw when frozen, not cooked. Or am I not reading that correctly?

I have the hardest time with breakfast. I feel like I just rotate eggs, pancakes, french toast, etc & it gets so boring. I never thought to do a burrito. Never made one. I'll look for a recipie.

[WorldsBestMom]

It depends on what type of food want to freeze. Zip locks come in perfectly handy for me, when it comes on to freezing.

[notjustmamie]

What kind of cooked beans - liked baked beans?

Nope, just regular old beans, soaked and cooked from dry. You can defrost them and use them like canned beans, but they cost a lot less.

[onthemove]

I make a big batch of kebobs in a few different marinades...we love chowders to but if you are going to freeze leave out the milk/cream until about to use.

[Magali]

Hummus freezes really well.