January 2017 Moms
canavara
member
Freezer Meals
canavara
member
I didn't see a thread for this on the past few pages, but given that we're all near the very end of our pregnancies and a lot of us are in final nesting mode, it seemed like we could have a place for sharing freezer meal and/or slow cooker recipes for things we're making.
Re: Freezer Meals
Broccoli Quinoa Casserole
Preheat the oven to 400F.
In a baking dish, place the quinoa and green onions. On the meantime, place the broccoli in a large bowl and microwave on high for 4-5 minutes. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the vegetable stock, pesto, arrowroot powder and salt. Heat mixture until boil. You can do this on your stove top or microwave. I used my microwave.
Add the vegetable stock to the quinoa followed by the spinach, parmesan and 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Take the quinoa casserole out of the oven and mix in the broccoli. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the quinoa and broccoli and place back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. If you like you can add more parmesan cheese over the top as well.
Also prepped "breastfeeding smoothies" into 10 quart-sized bags:
I saw someone I know from the December board on Instagram prepping breakfast sandwiches, which sounds like a smart idea (looked like biscuit + cheese + egg + bacon), so maybe that as well if there's time--which is a weird delicate balance. I put off making my freezer meals until I was 38 weeks and kind of regret it now because I have to sit down to rest like every 10 minutes I'm up lol. If you're starting around 36 weeks, you're probably in a better place!
Im still thinking about the best way to plan freezer meals because I have low tolerance for leftovers. I get tired of food after eating it twice. The breakfast sandwich idea is glorious, especially since Breakfast for Dinner is one of mankind's best inventions. Am also thinking of making a couple different types of chickpea curry, chicken pot pie, and some soup bases into which I can just through some fresh greens like spinach or kale after defrosting.
I'm going to make a couple different kinds of breakfast cookies and not bake them, but freeze them. I figure they'll be great for my DD's, DH, and me some mornings. I also plan to make and freeze (before baking) cinnamon rolls for weekends. I usually make the pioneer woman's freezable waffles, too.
These are chocolate chip lactation cookies and they taste just as good as normal cookies! The active ingredients are brewer's yeast and flaxseed meal, so make sure you have those two things (and don't sub them!) and you'll have good lactation support from them. I think you can also make them with yogurt or applesauce in lieu of all that butter if you're looking for fewer calories.
Freezer Mac and Cheese
Ingredients:
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 quart milk, heated
- 4 cups cheddar, shredded
- 2 ounces grated parmesan
- 2 tsp. dry mustard
- 2 tbsp. salt
- 1 pound short pasta (elbow, shell, etc)
- bread crumbs
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Boil macaroni
- In saucepan, melt 6tbsp of butter, whisk in flour.
- Increase heat to medium and whisk in milk for 10 minutes, stirring frequently
- Add cheese and mustard and whisk until melted
- Add pasta and season
- Saute bread crumbs and 2tbsp of butter over medium heat
- Add macaroni + cheese mixture to baking pan and cover with bread crumb mixture
- Bake for 30 minutes
Kale + Mushroom Lasagna
Ingredients:
- 1 cup jarred roasted red peppers, chopped
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 28oz can whole plum tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
- 2 large egg whites
- 9 sheets no-boil lasagna
- 15 ounces skim ricotta
- 1 tbsp EVOO
- 4 portobello mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced 1/4" thick
- 1 small bunch of kale, stems removed and coarse chopped
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 2 clove of garlic, thin sliced
- 2 tbsp. of chopped parsley
Instructions:
- Preheat over to 350F
- Puree peppers, oregano, tomatoes, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp pepper until smooth, set aside
- Mix 1 cup of mozzarella with egg whites and ricotta in medium bowl
- On medium-high heat in a large skillet, add mushrooms in EVOO, cook about 10 minutes, stir in kale in batches and add pepper flakes, garlic, salt until kale wilted and bright green.
- Spray baking pan with nonstick spray and spread 3/4 cup of tomato sauce mixture at bottom.
- Add 3 noodles and 1/2 of ricotta mixture, 1/2 mushroom mix, repeat with sauce.
- Top with remaining noodles + sauce
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake 50 minutes
- Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cheese and bake 5 more minutes.
- Sprinkle with parsley.
Butternut Squash Chili with Porter
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 jalapeño (or habanero if you're up for it!) seeded and minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1 cup porter
- 28oz can diced tomatoes
- 3 cups cooked black beans (2 cans?)
- 1 small butternut squash, cubed
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions:
Mix together, store in a gallon ziplock bag and add to slow cooker for 8-10 hours on low when you're ready to make it
Cheesy Taco Bake
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 20oz. lean ground beef
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tsp. fresh lime juice
- 2 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 can tomato sauce (15 oz)
Instructions:
- Cook brown rice
- Spray baking dish with EVOO
- In 12" pan, saute onion, garlic, jalapeno/habanero on med-high heat for 1 minute
- Add ground beef, breaking it up as it browns. Cook 5 minutes and add bell pepper
- Cook 3-4 minutes until meat no longer pink
- Add lime juice and seasonings, stir.
- Remove from heat and add rice, tomato sauce, and 1/4 cup of cheese, stir.
- Pour into baking dish, top with remaining cheddar, cover.
- Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 50 minutes when ready to eat, removing foil at 40 minutes for 10 minutes.
Egg McMuffins
Ingredients:
- 7-10 eggs (less if large, more if medium)
- 1 cup whole milk
- salt, pepper to taste
- 6-12 slices of sharp cheddar
- 6 English muffins
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Mix whisked eggs with milk, salt, pepper
- Pour eggs in oil-lined baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Cut the baked egg out in circles the size of your English muffins.
- Assemble into egg sandwiches with cheese, egg inside muffin.
- Freeze and reheat at 300 (or in microwave)
ETA: Each of these makes about 5-6 servings. For the mac+cheese, lasagna, and taco bake, I split mine up across 2 8"x8" foil tins so that we'd have enough for 2 of us for 1 meal, effectively giving us 12-14 meals
-scrambled eggs (baked in muffin tray)
-hash brown (those frozen flat ones)
-sliced ham or diced breakfast sausage
-diced red pepper or salsa
-shredded cheddar
I just used regular flour tortillas, then wrapped them individually in Saran Wrap!
**Also helps the reheating process if you take one out of freezer into the fridge the night before.
Jan17 Sept Sig: Pumpkin Spice gone too far