Awesome recipes for freezing meals? - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[LibraryMo]

Hyde, that manicotti sounds fantastic. Does the addition of water into the pan help the noodles cook? If so, I guess my instinct to leave it out would be waaaay off.

[hyde]

Yep, or at least that's the idea. I mix just a little extra into the sauce if it's thick- really not too much bc I'm equally wary of ending up with watery sauce on one hand or hard noodles on the other. It's worked out well this way, but it may work just fine without any added liquid, especially since it's baked covered--probably would, really, if you just make sure the noodles are completely covered in enough sauce. (Let me know if you try it!)
 

[Bbean]

Here is my list for the freezer:

Spaghetti sauce - done

Enchiladas - done

Beef stew - done

Zucchini, Squash, mushroom and onion saute

Zucchini bread

Banana Bread

Chicken Divan

Chicken and Wild Rice

Chili

Tomato soup ( I googled a copy cat recipe for La Madeleine's tomato basil)

Carrot Ginger soup

Mac & Cheese

Ratatouille

Garlic Bread

Muffins- blueberry, but also a savory bacon and cheese

Thai Food

I love the idea of the Lactation cookies with oatmeal! 

[ascher21]

Originally Posted by hyde 

I have a bit of a hate affair with my freezer, but we're going to have to make a truce in the coming weeks. ;) Think there's already a recipe or two for this in here, but I thought I'd share the link to the turkey chili I make. It thaws well and has some really rich flavors (I do a tsp cocoa instead of a tbsp, fwiw).

I kind of improvise on the manicotti- 15oz tub of ricotta, 8oz bag of mozz, 4oz cream cheese (trust me!), some parmesan, 2 eggs, spinach, salt, and pepper.. you can play with the cheeses but the nice thing is that if you toss that into a bag and pipe it into the shells, you can freeze them without cooking the noodles first. Thaw and toss them in a baking dish with sauce over and under, maybe a little bit of added water, cover with foil and bake at 350-375 for 40-45 minutes.

I would love to have a vacuum sealer but make do with sucking the air out of the bags myself.. if you have a straw you can stick it in a corner and do it that way, works pretty well.

Hyde--I made your turkey chili this weekend while we were stuck inside all day waiting for TS Isaac to pass through. It was awesome! I love the cinnamon addition. It makes it like a mole. A little bit of sour cream and some cut up scallions...omg it was good! We stocked up on 5 servings of that. We've also got 4 servings of pulled pork, and 6 servings of beef stew. I also bought a quiche the other day and have that in the freezer, too. Now my freezer has no space left. It's so small!

[BRC_MacKenzie]

I just finished all my freezer cooking! I put up a post on my blog with links to most of the recipes I used in case y'all are interested:

http://brcbanter.blogspot.com/2012/08/37-weeks-so-its-time-to-start-guessing.html

[ascher21]

Does anyone know of a good lactation cookie recipe? That's the last thing I'd like to add to my arsenal.

[BRC_MacKenzie]

I actually posted the one I used last time I was pregnant:  http://brcbanter.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-mama-cookies.html

[MadiMamacita]

So I made a bunch of meals for the freezer, and they have been awesome! I made some breakfast burritos that have been a life saver. not only are they fast and easy in the morning, but easy to eat with one hand while holding/nursing baby.
I am going to enlist DH to help me make a bunch more. I loosely followed this recipe: http://iowagirleats.com/2012/03/27/diy-frozen-breakfast-burritos/
I made mine with broccoli, eggs, cheese, and turkey sausage. I meant to put some diced sauteed potatoes in but I forgot.

[ascher21]

yum! I wish I had more room in my freezer. :( DH was like..."I'll just make you some eggs!" And I said..."no, you need to think one-handed in bed". I can't eat an egg with one hand! But a burrito...heck yeah!

[MIrandaM]

Saw this article about food to bring to new moms today on Apartment Therapy (ok the Kitchn, but it's run by AT) - some look like good ideas for freezer food, but in the comments are a lot more great ideas.  There's one about meatball set, stuff to make meatball subs, spaghetti, and meatball soup all frozen and ready to go.  Clever.  Seems like that's always the way with AT, articles are just ok then fantastic ideas in the comments. 

I went over our food budget for the month of August because we had company in town so it's been very slim pickings lately, but the budget resets on September 7th and if this baby's not here by then I am so looking forward to doing some more cooking for my freezer.  If the baby is here by then, I'm just looking forward to having money in my food budget again!!!

Oh while I'm here, for those of us who haven't frozen a lot of food in advance I read an account recently of a family that just agreed that meals would be serve yourself and super simple for the first month . . . she sent her husband to the store with a list that sounded so great to me and I've added a few things that we would also do:

- stuff for a ton of different types of sandwiches: sliced bread, sliced meats, cheeses, vegetables

- eggs to hard boil and keep in the fridge for a quick snack

- crackers - like ritz and triscuits for different types of snacks

- nut butters like peanut or almond butter for snacking: with celery or apples or crackers, on toast, on sandwiches

- cheese for sandwiches or just snacking

- carrots, celery, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes to cut up and eat with or without dip or hummus, her DH washed and chopped it all (you could make and freeze dip ahead so that it's healthier)

- a couple tubs of hummus to add to sandwiches or eat with crackers, or vegetables

- lots of fruit that he then washed and dried so that it was ready to just pick up and eat

- granola & yogurt for breakfasts

- slow cook oats that her DH made a big batch up and they could reheat with milk each morning for a few days of easy breakfast

- raisins, apples, pears to dice and put into a bowl of oatmeal

- nuts, especially walnuts to chop and put on oatmeal

Then each evening, dinner was something she had made/bought ahead of time and frozen.  That way they were only doing one hot meal per day (not counting oatmeal for breakfast) and didn't have to schedule, plan for, or clean up massively after meals. That sounds like a huge relief. 

This also means no pots & pans type dishes, just washing a knife and cutting board etc and loading the plates after.  That makes a big difference in my kitchen.

[teegan db]

MirandaM, most of the friends I have around are my age or younger and not big cooks, and that kind of food is exactly what we've been recommending when they ask what they can bring after the baby comes. I don't expect my 21 year old coworkers to cook up elaborate casseroles, but I would LOVE for them to show up with fruit, cheese, easy veggies, olives, crackers, bagels & cream cheese, etc. Anything DH can throw on a plate and bring my way!

[Jend1002]

One of the best things that a friend brought after DS was born was a veggie, cheese, and fruit tray.  I loved it!  Another friend sent an edible arrangement (all fruit).  This was so cool because shortly after DS came home, he had to go back to the hospital for a few days.  DH took it apart and sent it to the hospital with me so I could have healthy snacks while staying with DS.  I would have thought actual meals would have been better but it turned out that in the first few days, healthy snacks were what I needed/wanted the most! 

[ascher21]

Good idea! I will have to let people know. That's basically how I eat, anyway. I snack through meals. I love fruit and cheese platters. And bagels...boy do I miss them.