Freezer Recipe Swap for Post-Partum

[wife&mommy]

Is anyone else planning to stock the freezer with recipes after the baby is born? I thought maybe we could share good ones that we have come across or ones we plan to make. That way we will all have a lot more recipes if we share!

So everyone post a couple if you are interested and we'll see what we come up with!

[ohiomommy1122]

I dont know of any...... would like to try some though

[zjande]

I've somehow never stocked up a bit for after a birth & done fine. I always have a lot of family around & a dh that can cook I guess. This time I'll have dh, his mom AND my mom staying with us for at least several days or weeks after. And also my 16yr old dd. I expect them to present me lots of delicious food in my bed chamber!! I am a birthing queen, FEED ME!

This wasn't at all helpful to this thread.

[Artichokie]

Originally Posted by wife&mommy

Is anyone else planning to stock the freezer with recipes after the baby is born? I thought maybe we could share good ones that we have come across or ones we plan to make. That way we will all have a lot more recipes if we share!

So everyone post a couple if you are interested and we'll see what we come up with!

I think that is a great idea! I have two casserole dishes on my list to make:
1. Spinach lasagna
2. Broccoli mushroom casserole

Both are meatless but contain cheese.

I'd be happy to share the recipe for either with anyone interested!

[Sihaya]

I am planning to do this, but we eat NT, so it's a bit harder to find freezer recipes and it is unlikely that many people here would be interested in the ones I do find. When I was looking for non-NT freezer recipes, I found this website helpful - under Preparation, click OAMC (Once a Month Cooking). Also, if you google search for that acronym, you can find all kinds of related sites. There are also cookbooks with OAMC recipes. I was able to find several at my local library.

[AGlimmeringHope]

It depends. There's a slight chance that we will be back in our old house (the house I grew up in, where we lived until last Nov. when we moved in with my parents for financial reasons) at that time, so if we are, we'll be doing this. If not, we won't since there will be 3 other adults around at any given time to help cook.

[wife&mommy]

I am trying to find a few dairy free recipes or ones that can be converted to dairy free easily. My first DS is sensitive to it and since I'll be bfing I wanted to cut out the dairy for the new baby just until we see if he/she is sensitive or not.

MoreThanApplesauce - I'd love your recipes!

Steph you could always post your recipes and if someone could use them, then great!

[wife&mommy]

I had this one the other night and it was really good! I am sure it would freeze great. Just let it cool first and freeze into whatever portion sizes you'd like.

Black Bean Soup

1 cup salsa
3 cans black beans
2 cups chicken stock
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup chopped small carrots
2 tbsp. cilantro (fresh, chopped)
1 tsp. lime juice (optional)

Warm the salsa in your soup pot until a little bubbly, then add the black beans to heat and then the chicken stock, garlic powder, carrots into the pot. Bring to a boil while stirring and then lower the heat to simmer and cover the pot for around 15-20 minutes. Then use a hand immersion blender and blend what is about half of the soup (to thicken) being careful not to splash. You can also do this with a regular blender just be sure to let the soup cool before you blend it or ladel it out. Then add your cilantro along with the lime juice if you like and its ready to go! Sometimes I let it thicken up a bit and cook down more. I also often make brown rice on the side and put a little in the bowl before putting my soup on top. You can also add sour cream to it if you like on top.

[wife&mommy]

I saw this one on another freezer thread a while back so it is made for freezing, too. I don't think I'm using this one but thought someone else might like it...

Scrumptious Chicken

¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
1 ½ cups chicken broth
8 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter over low heat. Mix in the flour making a rue. Add the broth and continue to cook until the sauce is thick. Add the cheese and melt.

To the sauce add:
4 cups of cooked cubed chicken breast, about 4 breast halves. (I think I use about 3 cups)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup sliced cooked carrots

Mix into the white sauce. Let cool, then pour into a gallon ziplock baggie and freeze flat.

Melt ¼ cup (half a stick) of butter. Add 1 cup of corn bread stuffing and mix well. Let cool and pour into a sandwich size baggie. Freeze.

Defrost. Pour into a casserole dish and top with the crumb topping. Bake 40-45 minutes.

[wife&mommy]

Here is a list of some things I am already planning to make. If anyone needs the recipes for any of this just let me know, I'm just copying and pasting what I have.


-Zucchini Beef Bake
-Pancakes
-Muffins
-Scrumptious Chicken
-Ground beef (cooked with onion for easy meals)
-Macaroni & Cheese
-Rotissere Chicken (shredded for easy meals)
-Chili
-Vegetable Soup
-Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas
-Burritos
-French Toast Sticks
-"Dump" Chicken (a whole site on this, looks neat)
-Baked Ziti
-Veggie Lasagna
-Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
-Meatloaf
-Meatballs
-Various casseroles

And looking for more ideas! We have an extra freezer and I want it FULL. My DH will be working A LOT then and it will just be me and a 2 year old and new baby and I don't want to have to worry about cooking, but still want nutritious meals for us.



A list I copied from somewhere of stuff that doesn't freeze well:
Here is a general list of things that do not freeze well.
Cooked egg whites and soft meringues
Jell-O or gelatin( it weeps) except in soufflés that will be eaten frozen
Cake or pie with custard filling
Cake icing that contains egg white
Mayonnaise ( separates and gets runny)
Cloves and imitation vanilla
Sauces thickened with flour or cornstarch, except when used as a binder for other ingredients.
Milk, light cream or sour cream .( We do freeze milk sometimes but it tends to separate)
Heavy cream, except when whipped
Vegetables high in water content, such as celery, fennel, tomatoes, leafy salad greens, cucumbers, radishes, potatoes, zucchini and eggplant, UNLESS they have been cooked and finely chopped or pureed
Raw vegetables unless they have been blanched first

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

We haven't ever done this before, but both my boys were born in the hospital so we didn't come home for 3-4 days. This time I'm hoping while I'm laboring to be making stuff, I've heard it really helps take your mind off. But right now I'm doing all the canning that I can, I've got lots of jams done and once tomatoes are done hoping to do salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc. So once September/October hits I'll be doing more of a freezing stuff. DH does cook and is really good about it and my mom and inlaws are around, but its nice to have some food that I have cooked, sometimes it hits the spot a little better than DH's mish-mash. Shhhhh...

[Artichokie]

Originally Posted by wife&mommy

I am trying to find a few dairy free recipes or ones that can be converted to dairy free easily. My first DS is sensitive to it and since I'll be bfing I wanted to cut out the dairy for the new baby just until we see if he/she is sensitive or not.

MoreThanApplesauce - I'd love your recipes!

N/p! I'll be tomorrow morning before I get around to posting them, though.

[starry_mama]

bumping this so it doesn't get lost. I want to C/P this! Woo hoo!

[Belleweather]

We'll be doing this; I'm just weeping because we're moving from a house with a lovely big side-by-side refrigerator to one with just a small upper freezer. We'll still have our chest freezer, but I'm going to have to be a LOT more organized than I was last time I had a baby.

I usually make a TON of curry, which can be frozen in portion-sized containers, enchilladas (black bean and chicken), lasagne, stuffed shells or manicotti, our own frozen pizzas, and a bunch of batches of cookies, frozen in little dough-balls for late night breastfeeding chocolate cravings. I want to branch out a bit this time and make breakfast burritos, more soups (if anyone knows how to freeze matzoh balls, they'd be my hero!), and muffins as well as anything else I can think up. Plus, I'm planning on making a roast the size of chicago for Christmas Dinner, so we can always freeze and eat the left overs!

... plus, we have a trader joes here now, so I can pack my freezer with emergency goodies from there as well.

[SheBear]

Sihaya, what is NT? I'm prolly being really obtuse, but I can't get my brain to figure it out....

Subbing to this thread so I don't lose it! I was planning to start a similar thread soon, and I have a few recipes to share! We finally have a small chest freezer (never managed to get one before the other babies were born, in spite of our best intentions) so I'm really determined to fill it. Problem is, dh has a major aversion to leftovers and frozen stuff, so I've got to find recipes that freeze really well, so he won't turn up his nose.

Pasta freezes well, IME. Esp if the noodles are completely or mostly uncooked. I have a great recipe for stuffed manicotti that I'll share. I usually do something like that to take to people for births and funerals. Since baby is coming in winter, I'm thinking I'd love to have some homemade chili and other soups in the freezer. I love soup!

I would also REALLY love to have some ideas for quick, healthy, kid-friendly meals to feed my kids after dh has to return to work. I don't want to resort to mac & cheese and chicken nuggets too often, although I'm not above doing so during the first few weeks, LOL! Heck, I'm not even above serving Ramen if I get too desperate during a nursing marathon!

[*MamaJen*]

This is a great thread. I *plan* on stocking up the freezer, but seeing as I can barely find time to do my own laundry, we'll see how that goes.
Here's my favorite recipe to freeze. The key is to add lots of salt and pepper. You can add other spices if you like. You can freeze the rice separately in a plastic bag.

Lentil soup

1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
6 gloves garlic, chopped
1 bag lentils
Basil
Thyme
Oregano
bay leaves
(can add ham hock)
Salt and pepper to taste

In bottom of large pot, sauté vegetables. Add lentils, fill about halfway with water. Add spices. Simmer one to two hours or until done. Serve over rice.

[Sihaya]

Originally Posted by SheBear

Sihaya, what is NT? I'm prolly being really obtuse, but I can't get my brain to figure it out....

NT=Nourishing Traditions, also referred to as Traditional Foods. There was a thread on it in our DDC a few months ago and this forum has tons of info. I should stop using that acronym outside of that forum, but I alway forget

[SheBear]

Cool, thanks! I didn't know there was a name or "philosophy" behind it, but that's very much the way we eat. I have been frequently known to say, "if it was good enough for my great-great grandmother on the wind-swept prairie, then it's probably good enough for me!

I'm glad to find that other forum...I imagine I'll be browsing there quite a bit now!

BTW, I happen to know where you can get a great sourdough starter--one which has been growing, unbroken, since at least 1847! Really good starter, and free! Well, for the cost of an SASE.

http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/

[wife&mommy]

I have one to add... just made this the other night and it was really good, and the leftovers were even better. I got it here:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group...EatingHealthy/

Zucchini-Beef Bake

3 medium zucchini, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tbs. oil
1 pound ground beef
1 can soup beans
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. basil
Celtic Salt & fresh ground peper to taste.
2 cups shredded cheese, your choice (Monterey Jack, Raw)

Saute garlic in oil until brown, Add zucchini, mushrooms and spices until tender. Cook ground beef and onion until browned in separate pan; drain. Stir in tomato sauce and soup beans.
Layer half of zucchini mixture in a lightly greased 13x9 pan. Spoon half of ground beef mixture over vegetables.

Sprinkle with half of cheese. Repeat leayers of vegetables and ground beef. Top with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 30 minutes.

[Cativari]

I too was thinking about stocking the freezer with homemade ready to eat food.