Feed the freezer! « Back to Group Discussions

[smerkin]

Hey mamas! Anyone else trying to stockpile some meals and ingredients before our babies come? Please leave any tips or recipes you like.

Mac and Cheese: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/04/macaroni-cheese/

Chile verde: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/03/crockpot-chile-verde-recipe.html

Tomato soup: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/02/sherried_tomato_soup/

Lasagna casserole: http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/03/lasagna-casserole-recipe.html

Corn dog muffins: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-corn-dogs-and-corn-dog-muffins

Potato soup: basic recipe that a friend gave me

Chili: a recipe my husband and I throw together

Mexican chicken casserole: another one I just throw together

Fixings for quiche: cooked bacon, grated cheese, sauted veggies, etc...

Seasoned and cooked taco meat

Ingredients for crock-pot meals put together in a plastic baggie ready to be dumped in the crock-pot

Pumpkin muffins

Choc chip cookies

Pie crust (Julia Child's recipe, soo easy!)

Pancakes/waffles

I'm sure y'all have some great recipes and ideas! Please share whatever you are doing to prepare for your little ones. I make most of the meals around here and anything I can do to simplify things will be great. Husband is doing a lot better about putting things together if we have the supplies or if it just means heating something up and steaming some veggies. The good thing about birthing this time of year is that soups and casseroles seem very appealing. :)

[lulubikes]

I've been putting some things in the freezer. I wouldn't say it's stocked by any means though! When I get my act together to cook a real meal (once per week it seems these days) I make extra.

So far I have frozen some veggie lasagna with butternut squash and garbanzos (to add protein), squash and black bean enchilada casserole, veggie gumbo and some blueberry breakfast muffins. The recipes are mostly from cookbooks I have at home so not easy to share. They're all vegetarian - DH is a vegetarian and I'm not - but I try to cook vegetarian.

A friend made some marinara for us and I froze that. I also bought a few jars of store bought organic marinara and pasta that was on sale to have on hand. Costco has these organic spinach and cheese ravioli that I freeze and we can make those for quick meals. One thing I discovered is that if you take them out of the package when you get home from the store and freeze them individually on a cookie sheet, then put in a freezer ziplock, you can just toss however many you want in the boiling water when you make them. Then they don't stick to each other too. I used to just put the containers in the freezer, but we'd have to make a whole package at once, which was usually too much for 1 meal and not quite 2 meals for the 2 of us and the ravioli would stick together after freezing and sometimes fall apart in the boiling water.

We also purchased some frozen wild salmon from a local food buying club directly from the fisherman in Alaska - so we have those fillets frozen and we can pull one out to cook as well.

We are are going to use www.mealbaby.com to invite people to sign up to bring us meals after the baby is born - that will hopefully help in the early weeks!

[kaliki_kila]

I've done:

Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/spaghetti-meatballs/

Banana Bread:  http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Chocolate Chip Muffins:  http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-muffins-9326

Chicken soup:  I basically just saute some onions and garlic and then add carrots, celery, shredded up rotisserie chicken, peas, and then add stock and bring to a boil and then add pasta.

I've also picked up some easy freezer meals from Trader Joe's to have on hand.  

A friend who makes tamales gave me a bunch and I froze those as well.

When you make cookies, do you freeze the balls of cookie dough or do you actually bake the cookies all the way?

What kind of containers are you guys using?  Was thinking I need to pick up some of those foil containers for casseroles.

[mamadiamond]

oh man, i've got to start thinking about this. i'm not due till 12/21, so i've got more time than some of you, but it's still time to get on it. though mostly i'm just going to be planning what i want cooked and frozen, and making a list for my parents when they come.

i'm thinking lasagna, chicken soup, salmon chowder, tuna casserole, cream cheese and chicken pockets, taco meat, twice baked potatoes (baked once and stuffed ready for the second baking) not sure what else.

my parents will get here when i'm 39 weeks and i hope to spend that last week doing the shopping and freezer feeding and house cleaning with their help/giving direction from the couch. until then, managing to actually cook something for dinner rather than open a can is about all i can manage.

do you ladies use those disposable tin pans to freeze stuff in? cook it in real pans and ziplock it? i've got a really small freezer, and limited cookware so i'm trying to figure out the logistics. soups will be bagged for sure, but haven't decided about casseroles.

[jakesmama]

This is on my to-do list!

I've got some butternut squash soup in the freezer and some chicken soup but other than that, nothing.

I need to make a list of what I want to make and then pick up the ingredients and just do it! I do have a plan to pick out 5 recipes by 11/24 and then actually do the work on 12/1.

Anyone else stocking up on disposables? I don't like to use them very often but I would rather that things were super easy to clean up (for dp) than to watch dishes pile up.

Also working on stock piling staples like:

-bread

-green smoothie stuff

-oils (coconut, olive)

-peanut butter

-cheeses

-butter

-tortillas

-meats

-beans

-oatmeal

I'm hoping to get a friend to help me out in making double batches of the recipes so that I don't wear myself out! Plus, that's just more fun!

[chicajones]

Yes! Will post more later, but I'm so excited that this thread was started. :)

[Harmony96]

Subbing.

Today/tomorrow I'm making beef stew, and I'm going to just prep the veggies/meat for a second batch and stick it in the freezer, then will just have to thaw it out and let it soak in a pot and add some tomatoes, broth and sauce to complete it.

[smerkin]

Sounds great, everyone!

I do a mix of containers. All of the soups go into freezer bags and any stir-fry or crock-pot meals I put together ahead of time. I did get some foil casserole pans to put some things in but I also have a lot of my own containers. The throw-away ones are nice for fewer dishes. I'm also stocking up on other disposables like paper plates, napkins and paper towels. We try not to use a bunch of that stuff but I'd rather spend my time with the kiddos then doing a bunch of dishes.

We eat a lot of granola so I've been thinking I'll pick up a bunch when it goes on sale and freeze it or make my own. Anyone have a good recipe for granola?

I picked up some more meat at Costco yesterday to prep some more stuff. We also do a produce co-op every other week so I'll have some fresh stuff from that but I have tried to stock up on other things that will make life easier. Got a bunch of chicken broth. And a couple of GIANT cans of tomato paste and crushed tomatoes and I'm going to split that out in 2 cup portions and freeze it. I'm actually starting to run out of room in our freezer now but after Thanksgiving it will clear out a bit. I made 4 pans of cinnamon rolls for when my family will be here and those will be gone so I can put something else in their place.

[smerkin]

When you make cookies, do you freeze the balls of cookie dough or do you actually bake the cookies all the way?

Sometimes I freeze the balls on a cookie sheet and then stick them in a baggie when they've frozen but this time I was lazy and just put about 2 c. of cookie dough in a ziplock bag and froze it flat. I haven't frozen them baked but I'll bet that would work fine.

[kaliki_kila]

I picked up two rotisserie chickens this weekend and managed to make 5 meals for the freezer out of those (stir fries and soups).  Chili is next on my list!

[kaliki_kila]

I found a good idea for anyone that doesn't want to buy disposable pans.  You can just make your casseroles in a regular pan lined with foil and freeze that.  After it's all frozen, lift the foil out of the pan and you get your pan back! 

[lulubikes]

Kaliki - that is a great idea! I wish I had thought of that before I used up all my casserole dishes and broke down and bought some foil dishes!

[jakesmama]

Originally Posted by kaliki_kila 

I found a good idea for anyone that doesn't want to buy disposable pans.  You can just make your casseroles in a regular pan lined with foil and freeze that.  After it's all frozen, lift the foil out of the pan and you get your pan back! 

Omg! Thank you! I'm so glad I haven't prepped anything (besides soups) yet.

[Mamabeakley]

Soooo . . . . I am making a full traditional American Thanksgiving dinner for just the 5 of us (including 3 kids who won't eat most of it!)  I think I'm going to make Turkey Rice soup out of the leftover turkey.  How well do you think bread stuffing will freeze?  What about mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes?

[stegenrae]

IDK about your questions since I don't ever do "real" freezer meals--sorry. Our turkey was pretty bland, so I think we'll be doctoring it up into some Italian and Mexican dishes to freeze. Probably casserole-ish if I can find some good recipes or ideas. (um, anyone got any??) ;)

[chicajones]

Now that we're moved into the spot where we'll be giving birth, I've gone into a nesting frenzy. In the past 24 hours, I've made the following:

Milk Maker Cookies

2 Loaves Pumpkin Bread

2 Loaves Banana Bread

BBQ Chicken and Veggies

Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Corn and Black Beans

Paula Deen's Pot Roast

Make-Ahead Meatballs

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos

Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce (just add to pasta)

Still to Make:

Tomatillo Soup

Chicken in different marinades

Black Bean Chili

Cornbread

4 Pizza Crusts

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Roast Veggie Packets

I'm afraid I'm going to run out of room in my freezer! I also have a whole chicken roasting in the oven right now...

[lulubikes]

Chica - you're a rockstar! I made a bunch of stuff for our freezer (the chest freezer in the basement is full!) but I did it over a month or so. I wouldn't have had the stamina to cook that much in 24 hrs!

[chicajones]

Yeah I kinda got on a roll. :) I think I've gotten to the end of my stamina and am fine with two crazy cooking days being the last of it.