Feed your freezer ideas « Back to Group Discussions

[CoBabyMaker]

I know we've got a few months to go yet but we are at the third trimester so I thought I'd get a thread of freezer meal ideas going.  I would love to hear if you have any other food prep plans or ideas for when baby comes. 

My kids have some food sensitivities so I really feel like planning ahead is important.  I am very blessed that DH can cook but he can't stay home forever (and he tends to blow the budget, sweet man).  I have the freezer to crockpot ecookbook from MamaBabyLove blog that I will be using some. 

Beans (black and garbanzo) cooked in large batches and frozen into smaller portions.

Brown rice

pancakes for kids breakfast

muffins (a few types) for kids breakfast

breakfast "cookies"

granola bars

freeze smoothies (usually berries, bananas, orange, greens and carrot juice) into popsicles for quick snacks

turkey breakfast sausage

meatballs

burger patties

crockpot chicken curry

buffalo turkey meatballs

taco meat

muffin tin tacos (maybe)

homemade frozen pizza

spaghetti sauce

marinated rosemary, lemon chicken

garlic herb crockpot chicken

cilantro lime chicken

lime and coconut chicken

stuffed peppers (can be cooked in the crockpot)

Chicken and spinach quesadillas

Fajitas (meat, spices, peppers and onions)

coconut chicken nuggets

chicken soup

Not sure I'll get all of those made but those are my ideas!

I am trying to figure out a good snacks to have available that the kids can grab themselves.  I am hoping if I have a basket in the cupboard and one in the fridge with healthy snacks they can get them.

[TwilightJoy]

I have made one freezer meal so far- tater tot casserole.

I need to stock up on glass casserole dishes to freeze things in!

[wishin'&hopin']

So far I've frozen:

Vegetarian chili (half batch which is enough for one meal for us)

Lentil loaf

Plan on making

Frozen calzones

Lasagna

But, our freezer is super small...so I won't have a ton of space.  Mostly I'll just make sure we're stocked up on pantry/freezer basics (frozen berries, quinoa, noodles) for quick meals.  My wife and I will both be home for the three months of her maternity leave...and I find cooking relaxing.  I didn't really "feed the freezer" when DS was born either...just made sure we had a list of quick and easy to cook meals for DW to make us.  

[FarmerMomma]

I think stouffers may feed my freezer. Just saying cause there's probably someone that needs to hear this. Been hedging bets on wether the baby or the strawberries get here first. I know we can't live on strawberries alone but peas come soon after. I just won't worry myself over cooking ahead. Some may happen but not much.

[pastormama]

I've decided to fix ahead the slow-cooker meals described here:  http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/slow-cooker-freezer-meals-make-8-meals.html

I've adapted the recipes so they all use real food, rather than some of the "cream of" soups, etc, in the recipes as is.  (Although not sure if I'll find a good real food substitute for jarred alfredo sauce!  Real alfredo is so delicious, but it just doesn't freeze.  Might just have to leave that one out.)  So far I've made the turkey taco soup and the maple-dijon chicken.  I like these because you freeze in Ziplocs and lay flat.  We don't have a lot of freezer space either!

[Quinalla]

Originally Posted by FarmerMomma 

I think stouffers may feed my freezer. Just saying cause there's probably someone that needs to hear this. Been hedging bets on wether the baby or the strawberries get here first. I know we can't live on strawberries alone but peas come soon after. I just won't worry myself over cooking ahead. Some may happen but not much.

Me too, my freezer is small, so I'll be stocking it up at the grocery store mostly. But I do appreciate the lists as it gives me ideas for easy-to-prepare meals. Our next house will have a big freezer!

[BabySmurf]

I just made this and it came out awesome: http://nourishedkitchen.com/baked-oatmeal/

It saved us when we just lost power for 4 days and we had to camp out at my aunt's house and my son and I both have food sensitivities - super filling and delish. I don't have a ton of freezer space either, but I am determined to stock up as much as possible, since DH has no idea what to buy from the store (he's trying to learn) and almost everything has to be made because of the food issues.  Definitely going to be looking for inspiration on this thread!!

[nstewart]

I'm fortunate to have a large freezer.  DH and I invested in a stand-up freezer recently.  Right now, I have a 1/4 of beef taking up a ton of room though, so I don't have a lot of space to feed the freezer.

Today I am going to cook pulled pork using this recipe.  I'm doing a big batch, 2 pork shoulders, so I can split that between some for this week, and enough for 2 more large freezer portions.

I am also going to do homemade mac and cheese with spinich today (one batch for DH and I and one batch for DS who can't have wheat or cows milk).

I made homemade perogies at Christmas, and still have a pile of those in the freezer.

I'll probably do some soups and meat sauce.  It's nice that they can just be frozen flat in freezer bags so they don't take up much room.  The usuals would be bean soup with ham, a chickpea, chicken, and sausage soup and I might try chicken soup with Quinoa instead of noodles since noodles never freeze well.

And we'll see what else ends up in the freezer.  Just whatever I happen to cook that is freezer friendly, probably, will get cooked in a double batch.

[CoBabyMaker]

Thanks for sharing ladies!
PastorMama, I was looking at the six sisters meals on pinterest. They look good and I agree, other than the alfredo, pretty easy to convert to whole foods.

NStewart, Have you frozen gluten-free mac and cheese before. I have considered it but I wasn't sure if the GF noodles would get mushy after freezing. Would you share your recipe with me?

I totally understand not being able to make freezer meals. With DD1 we had a small fridge and freezer and I didn't have room!

[nstewart]

Co, I have frozen the brown rice pasta before (it was shells, I think) and it froze just fine.  I cooked it al dente as the noodles absorbed moisture from the cheese sauce.

I don't have a recipe, but can tell you how I make mine.

I make my roux with vegan butter and corn starch instead of butter/flour.  I then use plain almond milk to make the roux into a sauce, and use "old" goat chedder for the cheese (if your DD can't do goat cheese, then you could try a vegan cheese. I haven't tried that before). I don't freeze the mac and cheese with breadcrumbs on it.  I put those on right before baking (I found rice flour bread crumbs at our local natural foods store).  I mix the bread crumbs with a bit of vegan butter, salt, pepper, and thyme before baking the mac and cheese (to warm through more than anything).  For seasoning, I use dry mustard, worcestershire sauce, pepper, and salt all just to taste.  If I am going to do spinich in the mac and cheese, I just dump raw spinich into the cheese sauce, stir it around until the spinich wilts, then dump in the noodles, mix, and pour into containers (I like buying those metal trays since I only have 2 glass casseroles).    I've also done portabella mushrooms with garlic and thyme instead of spinich (just chop the mushrooms up, use some onion too, saute with oil or butter, crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme to taste) then stir the mixture in with the noodles and cheese sauce, bake as usual.  That was divine, but more an "adult" flavor for sure.

[CoBabyMaker]

Thanks!  That's just my kind of "recipe"!  It sounds really good with the mushrooms!

[TwilightJoy]

Searched for this old thread this morning, because I've been seriously slacking in making freezer meals. I need to get going!

[Loogiejane]

Here's my list of made and need to make:
Made:
Artichoke chicken
Spinach frittata
Chicken fingers
Lentil soup
Banana zucchini carrot muffins
Smoothie pops and watermelon strawberry lemon pops for labor and the following hot summer days
Pasta for mac n cheese

Need to still make:
Whole wheat mac n cheese with zucchini
Meatballs (either sweet and sour or plain and either turkey beef combo or separate)
Butternut squash red lentil soup
Red sauce
Plain brown rice in small containers
Maybe mini pizza bagels (have some mozz in the fridge we're not in love with, this would be a good use for it)
Roasted veggies (for adding to whatever-pasta, rice, etc)

Errrrr this doesn't feel like enough variety. What else should I make? My sis is also going to bring us apricot chicken and spinach noodle kugel and sweet potato kugel. And we'll also be stocked on pb&j, cheeses, breads, snacks. We also live one block from any food we'd need or want so DH can always run out.

[OtherMother]

I have to make some grain/dairy free baked goods- pancakes, muffins, etc.- and freeze. Getting down to the wire.

[berrymama]

My family is now vegetarian (and I am mostly vegan). We have some chicken broth, pulled pork and shredded chicken in our freezer I am not sure what to do with...

This is what has made it to the freezer so far:

Taco spiced lentils (for tacos)

Lentil soup

Black bean veggie burgers

Chickpea cutlets and some mushroom gravy (want to make more of these. They are soooo good!)

Moroccan stew (tried some last night over couscous and this was also very good) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/make-ahead-vegetarian-moroccan-stew/

Muffins

Granola (need to make more of this)

Hummus

Homemade Lara bars

Still need to make:

Crackers (I make them with brown rice and quinoa)

Sloppy sams (like sloppy joes, but with lentils)

[Loogiejane]

Interesting, you freeze your chummus?

[pastormama]

Loogie it sounds like you have so much!! I bet you will be set. I had to lay off because our freezer is literally bursting.

[berrymama]

Originally Posted by Loogiejane 

Interesting, you freeze your chummus?

Yup. I make a big batch and freeze in 2 cup portions. I've read some mixed reviews on the texture after thawing, but I don't have a problem with it (I make it with lemon juice and olive oil).

[Loogiejane]

Originally Posted by pastormama 

Loogie it sounds like you have so much!! I bet you will be set. I had to lay off because our freezer is literally bursting.

We actually bought a new, small chest freezer just so I could cook for it and so we could stock up on backup food this year when we do food shops. Otherwise I would NOT have the space for it all :P
But now that we have this freezer all I see is the empty space! I have to be careful though to not stack too deep as its a chest that opens from the top and we'll never find anything if its stacked too deep.

Today's accomplishment has been mac n cheese and butternut squash lentil soup. Might make apple crumble cuz a friend brought over a bag of sliced apples that we prob wont get through all of.
Edited by Loogiejane - 4/29/13 at 2:49pm

[Loogiejane]

That's what i put in my chummus too. Along with some tahini and garlic. Hmmm I wonder if I should give freezing it a try.