Freezer Meals- Recipes, methods, etc for Postpartum eating

[pixiesmommy]

I'm making a whole new thread to condense the others into so Chanley can sticky it for us

[isosmom]

Sounds good to me. Although my freezer is at capacity!

[joannalovesyou]

here's one from my cookbook:

this is my partner's and my favorite soup, and it's perfect for breastfeeding mamas because it's high in protein. this will be in my soon-to-be-released cookbook, but it's free to all you mamas. smooch.

Mom's Lentil Soup
makes 8-12 servings

This is a version of the lentil soup my mom makes. I am not exaggerating when I say it's the greatest lentil soup ever. Try it if you don't believe me.

This freezes well, which is good to know because it makes a boatload. When you reheat the leftovers, add 1/4 cup of water or so per serving, as the soup tends to absorb the broth when it's chilling in the fridge or freezer.

2 Tbs non-hydrogenated margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs of celery, halved lengthwise and then diced*
6 cups veggie broth or water
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups dry brown or LePuy lentils
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup red wine
liberal amounts of salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine

*What you're looking for here is a traditional mirepoix, which is a ratio of onions, carrots, and celery at 2:1:1. So if this amount of ingredients doesn't give you that ratio (or near enough), adjust.

Heat margarine on medium-low in largest stock pot you own. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or two or until garlic is fragrant. Add onion, carrots, and celery, coating the vegetables well, and sauté for 8-10 minutes or so.

Add veggie broth, bay leaves, lentils, and a little salt and pepper to pot. Bring soup to a boil and then immediately reduce heat to low simmer and cover the pot. Allow to simmer, covered, for 40 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes or so.

Take half the can of tomatoes and blend them well in a blender or food processor. Add diced tomatoes, blended tomatoes, and thyme to pot at the same time. Mix well, cover again, and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.

Finally, remove soup from heat. Fish out the bay leaves. If you prefer the soup to be more creamy than hearty, transfer half of the soup to a blender or food processor and blend smooth and then fold it back in with the rest of the soup. Stir in cloves, red wine, and salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, stir in parsley.

[isosmom]

Links to the other threads should be here http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...d.php?t=770257 and herehttp://mothering.com/discussions/sho...d.php?t=706733.

[isosmom]

So I just made a list of what all I've got in the freezer, ready to go. Most are just enough for one meal, but it's more than I thought it would be.
I've got: pizza, fried rice, cheese ravioli, cornmeal crepes, stuffed bells, maple cupcakes, black beans, pupusas, black bean burgers, tuscan white bean soup, curried cecis with kale, black beans with veg sausage, mashed squash with pecans, lentil chili, veggie chx nuggets, tomato sauce, potstickers, yellow split pea soup, winter squash soup, peanut butter chocolate cookies, and zucchini muffins.
And for dc and dh, a bit of meat, trout, breaded fish, chx apple sausage, chx tamales, chx, and chx pot pies.
I think I'm set. There's no more room, really. Dh says we should be eating it now, but I've got time and energy right now, so I'm cooking and adding to it by doubling recipes.
Kind of proud of myself, I've never done this before with the other 2, so looking forward to good eats in the weeks after babe.

[boogiemonster]

isosmom:

Maple cupcakes????

Do tell...

[isosmom]

Sure, not my recipe. Comes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, which I bake out of way too often.
I didn't make the frosting, thought it would be too much.

First make sugared walnuts (I used pecans). Toast 1 c nut pieces. Heat 1/3 c sugar, 3 T syrup, and a dash of salt until sugar melts and bubbly, 5 minutes. Keep stirring until it's thicke and light caramely colored. Take it off the heat and add a dash of cinnamon and the toasted nuts. Spread them out to cool. (At this point, dc and I ate way too many! The nuts are so good just by themselves. )
Now make the cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350. Mix 1/2 c soymilk and 1/2 t cider vin and let it hang out for a few minutes.
Sift 1 1/3 c floiur, 3/4 t baking powder, 1/2 t baking soda, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t nutmeg. Whisk into the soymilk 1/2 c syrup, 1/3 c canola oil, 2 T brown sugar, and 1/2 t vanilla. Mix wet into dry and fold in nuts. Bake 20 minutes in muffin pan.

[kgrfcharlton]

I made a quiche. I'll let you know if it unfreezes well. I also made a chicken, artichoke, feta, pasta dish, but we ate that already (anyone else do that???)! It re-heats really well. I'm going to try to make some White bean chili this week to freeze.