What are you freezing for postpartum?

[Astromom]

What meals are you making to freeze? All I have so far is bean soup. I need some inspiration here!

[jkg]

I was just headed here to ask the same question...I'd appreciate some vegetarian ideas!

[Nicolem]

Pot pies--we're not vegetarians so mine has chicken in it.
Homemade whole wheat pizza crusts..so then all we have to do is assemble and bake but I've also assembled them and frozen
Soups and homemade breads all different kinds
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potato casserole
Lots of frozen veggies for side dishes. DH can manage to throw something on the grill but side dishes escape him
Chili and cornbread
Marinara sauce and frozen pastas tortellini etc. Sauce is homemade pasta is store bought
Lasagne
Basically, I make extra of whatever I'm making and freeze some for post-partum
Cruise through the frozen foods section next time you're shopping it can help you get ideas of what can be pre-made and frozen.

[AnamCara]

I made a veggie chili, veggie goulash (without the rice/noodles), and potato soup. That and the bean soup might be it, small freezer and there is a little grocery VERY near with sushi and bento meals.

Although a good veggie curry sounds yummy, any recipe recommendations?

[shalena]

Black bean and sausage soup (although, freezing soup is hard, when it thaws there is a lot less broth then when I froze it, is that normal?)
Spagetti Sauce, so DH can just thaw it in the morning and cook us up spagetti easily for dinner
Lots of cassaroles

I'm not much of a cook, so it'll be a few duplicates.

[deuxceleste]

Lasagna, muffins, homemade waffles, chili, soup, beef and veggies for stirfry.

Here's the problem...

My guests keep eating it all cause I have no food in the house.

AND I'm unmotivated to cook more.
Sigh.

The perils of pregnancy.

[hrcmom]

So far:
Chicken enchiladas
Turkey meatloaf
sweet sour porkchops
Marinara sauce
meatballs
BBQ sauce for ribs
sweet potato waffles
coconut waffles
whole grain pancakes
oatmeal cherry cookies
peach crisp
and scones

Plus, my mom, sister-in-law and I just went to "Let's Dish" this weekend, so I have 4 additional entrees frozen and ready to go.

(we just bought a chest freezer, so I've been cooking away the last two weekends. This is at least one area of my life where I feel a little prepared for DD's arrival!)

[mamafish9]

I just wanted to chime in that a lot of what I had frozen before DD's birth went uneaten because she was so sensitive to what I ate - beans, tomatoes/tomato sauce, anything even a TINY bit spicy, anything with onions or garlic, gave her horrible gas. So this time, everything I'm freezing is very bland, LOL! We've also been test driving most of the prepared foods at Trader Joe's - I suspect that will provide more than a few of our postpartum meals.

[tika]

pasta bake (like baked ziti but my way and not with ziti)
meatloaf
tater tot casserole
BBQ pulled pork for sandwiches, rolls to go with them also frozen
home made chicken nuggets
chicken breast strips with marinara for sandwiches (on cheesy garlic bread)
home made pizzas

Ummm yeah, we're meat eaters

I've been trying to just double the recipe of stuff I am already making that I think might freeze well so that I'm not going out of my way to cook additional food.

You can also search for make ahead meals, freezer cooking, or OAMC.

[MamaAcorn]

Originally Posted by hrcmom

and scones

PLEASE tell me how you freeze your scones!!!! I've been pondering that all week. After my last birth, I had raspberry and white chocolate scones from my favorite restaurant (Foster's Market) and have since bought both cookbooks and can make all my favorites from home, which is good since I'm 800+ miles away. Anyway, should I cook them all the way or part way before freezing?

Our current freezer inventory is:
Chinese chicken (dh's yummy creation)
Ground chicken stroganoff
Turkey tetrazinni
Chicken apple meatloaf
Chicken burritos
3 bean sweet potato chili
Oven-roasted tomato sauce with fetucinne
Koshari
2 servings of chicken noodle soup

I'm planning on making a big batch of chicken and sweet potato soup, lentil soup, some kind of cheesy brocolli rice chicken casserole, spaghetti and turkey meatball stoup, and raspberry and white chocolate scones this week to add to the list.

I saw a yummy looking honey-baked lentil recipe with fall veggies that l thought about trying. I'm scouting out more recipes/ideas daily to add to my list!

[hrcmom]

MamaAcorn: I've had pretty good luck freezing the basic scone recipe that I use. I bake them just a little under done . . . so the bottoms are barely brown. Once cooled, I freeze in a double freezer bag. When I need them, I just take them out to thaw completely, and then pop back in a low degree oven (maybe 300) for 5-7 minutes (wrapped in foil). They pretty much taste fresh baked. Yum!!

[sparkprincess]

Ooooh. So many good ideas!!

I have a lot of chicken already frozen. Plenty of frozen veggies. Meat balls. Mini corn bread muffins. Starting this week I'm going to freeze half of every dinner I make. I plan on making up quite a bit of ground beef for things like tacos, and freezing that. I have plenty of frozen fruit too, for things like smoothies.

Now I have to go back and read through everyone's lists and see what else I can make!!!

[MissInformed]

okay....now i feel totally unprepared

i don't like to cook and don't even feel like thinking of it....maybe i can just pass this job along to dh...

[deuxceleste]

Will someone please come cook for me?

[Astromom]

Originally Posted by deuxceleste

Will someone please come cook for me?

: And clean up too?

Everyone's ideas are great, thanks!! Now I just have to actually put a list together of ingredients, go to the grocery store, and make everything. Before baby comes. (Because last night I was pretty sure it was IT, but I'm pregnant today so obviously it wasn't.)

Mamafish, I've been having trouble with those kinds of foods throughout my pregnany, and I was looking forward to finally eating garlic, spice, etc when babe was born -- but now I'm wondering if I'll have to avoid them after too. I think I'll try to stick to freezing bland things just in case....

[Holiztic]

Jumping in from April DDC to say I'm about to get started cooking/freezing (as soon as I get a chest freezer!!) Here's what I'm planning:

Meatloaf/Mashed Potatoes
Chili
Beef Stroganoff
Bolognese Sauce for Spaghetti
Chicken Tetrazini
Homemade Pizzas (2-3 varieties)
Bacon and Chicken Corn Chowder
Split Pea Soup
Potato & Ham Soup (to which fresh spinach & swiss is added before serving)
Eggplant Parmesan

Quiches (2-3 varieties)
Pancakes (2-3 varieties)
Home Fries
Egg/Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

Cheesecake with wax paper to separate each slice

I'm going to make up a big salad dressing for the fridge while in early labor so we can at least have salad with each meal. DH may have to steam some veggies on occasion, too.

I'm making big recipes on the dinner items and freezing them into dinner and lunch-size portions.

I'm a little nervous about PP eating as I do 100% of the food prep/cooking. DH wakes up each morning to a stash of prepped (by me) foods in the fridge to take to work, from breakfast to several snacks to lunch. I figure if I have all the main courses in the freezer, he can handle the veggie cutting, putting yogurt/chips/etc in a container.

Question: What are you all freezing in? I try to avoid aluminum (and disposables) , but I'm thinking about getting those disposable aluminum casserole containers/pans/whatever they are. I need it to be oven safe, so I think this may be my only option. Any other ideas??

[tika]

They have some disposable ones out now that aren't aluminum that are oven and microwave safe so I used those.

I also used a lot of freezer ziploc type bags.

[kerikadi]

The only thing I have so far is chicken noodle soup and I have a few soups and bread mixes from Tastefully Simple that will be easy to make afterwards.

My problem is that right now we are a family of 6 and my oldest is 14 and eats more than Dh or myself so it would take a LOT of food to feed us all.

So, the first challenge is finding a freezable container I can cook stuff in that I won't need between now and then and then having space in the freezer. We have 2 refrigerators so we do have some extra room but not tons. I'm thinking I'll make a lasagna but what do I freeze it in??? I'll need the baking pan I usually use to make other dishes. When I had my last baby some people brought dinners frozen in those disposable foil pans but they are so flimsy!

I need to make a list of dishes to make and get started

Keri

[hapahaolegirl]

I don't cook so nothing is being frozen here. DH is the cook around here, without him I wouldn't be eating very well! I'm hoping he just keeps cooking for us as he always does so we don't starve!