Frozen meals

MrsRiceARoni

So a few weeks ago I saw someone had posted about freezing some meals now to eat after LO gets here. I decided this was a great idea and began making some frozen dinners of my own so that DH doesn't feel too neglected once LO gets here. I took inventory tonight and so far I have: 2 lasagnas, one tray of enchiladas, taco bake, 2 turkey pot pies, and three different soups.. Is anyone else out there storing up for after LO's arrival? If so what are you making? I'm running out of ideas and hoping for some new suggestions.

KERJF

I wish we had the room to do this! If we did I totally would be browsing google to find freezer-friendly meals!

MG7

I want to do this but DH can't have any dairy and I have a hard time finding things he can eat that I can freeze.

I did read somewhere that someone suggested rather than freezing whole casseroles you should freeze the food in smaller servings so you don't end up getting sick of things. 

Maybe we should have some sort of weekly freezer meal share

MrsB*7*21

My mom and MIL are taking this task on for me! I LOVE them!

Sounds like you have a great start! We always have several beef roasts on hand - super easy to just toss in the crock pot in the morning and forget about until supper time...and it requires no prep now, besides buying it!  I have also learned that Papa Murphy's pizzas freeze really well - just ask them to double wrap them, way tastier than store bought frozen ones and cheaper than delivery.  Set them out for about half an hour before you bake them. 

heylee

I will be making some of what you said plus Beef Stew and lemon chicken reheats nicely. Taco Bake sounds yummy!

hf08

MG7:

I want to do this but DH can't have any dairy and I have a hard time finding things he can eat that I can freeze.

I did read somewhere that someone suggested rather than freezing whole casseroles you should freeze the food in smaller servings so you don't end up getting sick of things. 

Maybe we should have some sort of weekly freezer meal share

I'm trying to get motivated to do some as well and would love to do a weekly share. 

Besides what's already been mentioned, I've heard soups and chili are good.  I also saw a great recipe for breakfast burritos, but can't find it now  It had eggs, sausage, and peppers.

genaruthp

I like the idea of sharing recipes weekly!

I try and freeze meals in smaller portions. Like when I make mac and cheese, I put half in the freezer. I do this off and on anyways. I need to start again though, I have been so tired I barely cook

PAmiler82

Way to go with all those freezer meals ladies!  Last time we were very lucky to have lots of people offer to cook for us (the church actually had a sign up sheet!) but this time I think we'll be more on our own.  I think I need to freezer meals to get us through.

I'd also encourage you to think about easy, grab n' go type snacks.  Especially at the very beginning it's sometimes difficult to sit down and eat a whole meal.  Your schedule is all thrown off, LO interrupts you constantly, you're up at weird hours and need snacks to get you through, you may not have much of an appetite (I didn't), but you still need to eat to keep your energy up (and to help produce milk if you're BFing).  I was very thankful to have easy, healthy snacks on hand.  I ate a lot granola bars, yogurt, pretzels, hand held fruit, laughing cow cheese, veggies and hummus, etc. 

 

MrsRiceARoni

MrsB*7*21:

My mom and MIL are taking this task on for me! I LOVE them!

Sounds like you have a great start! We always have several beef roasts on hand - super easy to just toss in the crock pot in the morning and forget about until supper time...and it requires no prep now, besides buying it!  I have also learned that Papa Murphy's pizzas freeze really well - just ask them to double wrap them, way tastier than store bought frozen ones and cheaper than delivery.  Set them out for about half an hour before you bake them. 

I'd love it if my mom could make us some frozen dinners, but our families live in CA and we live in AZ My mom will be coming out for two weeks, so I'm guessing she'll probably feed us most of the days she's here (Can't wait!!). The frozen meals are for after she leaves. I'm just hoping MIL is only here while my mom is here because she may try making us dinners, and her cooking isn't very good.... As for the pp who mentioned freezing individual meals, for us a tray of something sort of is. DH is not a small guy, and our friend who will be moving in with us temporarily is also a big guy and a big eater. So with the three of us here, there May be enough for one or two of us to have leftovers the next day for lunch. Which is great since DH works from home and I'll be a SAHM so we love leftovers for lunch!

nugget0411

tortellini soup recipe...DELICOUS - i bought a bunch of smaller 1 serving or 2 serving tupperware/ziplock containers and froze them individually so they're easy to serve up when hungry.

Tortellini Bean Soup

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

Vegetables and pasta make a winning combination in this substantial soup. Look for fresh tortellini in the deli section at your grocery store. You can use the leftover canned beans for lunch the next day either tossed in a salad or added to rice pilaf.

This recipe makes 4 serving(s)

Nutritional information available online.

Ingredients

2 2tsp tsp(10 mL) (10 mL) vegetable oil4 4carrotcarrots, chopped1 1oniononions, chopped2 2cloves garlic, minced1 1tsp tsp(5 mL) (5 mL) dried basil1 1bay leafbay leaves3 3cups cups(750 mL) (750 mL) chicken stock1 1can (19 oz/540 mL) can (19 oz/540 mL)tomatotomatoes8 8oz oz(227 g) (227 g) fresh meat-filled tortellini1 1cup cup(250 mL) (250 mL) drained rinsed canned black beans1/4 1/4tsp tsp(1 mL) (1 mL) pepper1/4 1/4cup cup(50 mL) (50 mL) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; cook chopped carrots, onion, garlic, dried basil and bay leaf, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until onion is softened.

Add chicken stock and tomatoes, breaking up with back of spoon; bring to boil. Add tortellini; return to boil.

Reduce heat to medium-high; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until pasta is almost tender but firm. Stir in beans and season with pepper; heat until simmering. Discard bay leaf. Serve sprinkled with cheese.

nugget0411

i also make a REALLY good chili that freezes well -

1 can each of black beans, kidney beans, canned corn, chick peas (all rinsed to remove excess salt), large can of tomatoes,  1 onion chopped, 2-3 cloves of garlic,  i'd say approx 1tbs of each chili powder, cumin...cayanne pepper to taste. salt and pepper to taste as well. i like to sautee the onion and garlic for a few min first to soften. 

put all either in the crock pot for a few hours or in a pot on the stove for an hour or so...

*right at the end i like to throw in half a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of white vinegar to bring it all together

 

no real recipe on this one - i just throw it all in a pot  and cook! it's delicious!!.

ohiostategal

I plan on doing this on a Sat with my mom.  While my kitchen is decent, her kitchen is HUGE so we are going to just make a whole lot of stuff at once.  I have been copying recipes and website as I see them.  If you lurk on third tri you will see posts on this a lot and get some great ideas.  

ManiacMcGee

Stuffed shells freeze really well. You just stuff them and freeze them on a tray (without the sauce). Once frozen you can throw them all into a bag and only pick out the number you want later on. 

BlackBean Burritos freeze well too. 

peanut0411

This website has a ton of frozen meal ideas: https://onceamonthmom.com/

kje120

I would LOVE to do this, but we don't have the room. I hate our refrigerator!

GHBEA

I'll do some but my DH loves to cook and it will make him proud to cook after the baby is born.  He likes feeling like he is doing something good. 

Nanna

https://adventuresinmyfreezer.blogspot.com/

 

helm74

This is how I always cook so I will just be stepping it up a little before he gets here.  I just double recipes and freeze half, it keeps us from grabbing something out on nights we are really busy.  So here is my standard list of frozen dinners on hand:

• Quiche - freezes great but only for a month or so.
• Italian Beef - Freezes great for up to 3 months and all you have to do is heat and put on buns.
• Meatballs - I make them and freeze them plain and add to jar sauce for spaghetti or sandwhiches.
• Loose meat - Heat and put on a bun (with cheese in my house).
• Meatloaf - I usually tripple the recipe and freeze 2 because they freeze so well.  Then we thaw and slice and put on the grill, makes is extra yummy.
• Grilled Chicken Breasts and Pork Chops - Just grill them with seasoning and you have the meat done for several easy meals.
• All the meat and veggies for frittata then you just heat it up and add the eggs.
• Taco Lasagna - I don't cook this first just put all the layers together and pop in the oven.
• Chili
• BBQ Shoulder - On a bun, as nachos, on a baked potato, lots of uses.
• Beef stew
• Chicken & Rice Soup
• Browned ground turkey - I never freeze the stuff raw, cook it first and its ready for lots of uses.
• Turkey burgers - Grilled
• Salsbury Steak, Swiss Steak or Chicken Fried Steak

I use a food saver for all of this and I'm sure there are lots more.  I don't always have all of them but maybe half of the list is always in my big freezer.  Plus you can cook plain pasta and freeze it then just dunk in boiling water for a minute or so and its great.  Mashed potatoes also freeze well, I put them in muffin tins and after they are frozen into little circles put them in a bag.  This makes for easy serving size seperation. Anything made with ground meat I always use turkey.  My husband isn't actually supposed to eat red meat (Crohns Disease) so I try to limit it but the man loves Italian Beef.

I hope this helps and wasn't to long.  If you need a recipe for anything let me know. 

MrsRoy07

I just talked DH into buying a small used chest freezer so that we could do this- I'm so excited to stock up!! I'm going to wait until after we move though, so I'll tackle this project probably all at once in a few weeks. My mom and sis will help.

I am ridiculously excited for the chest freezer too so that I can make and freeze baby food for Evie- woohoo!