make ahead meals

Texas77again · January 2012

so in the next month i want to start gathering recipes for meals to make ahead when baby is here. anyone else doing this? what are you making?

ETA: omg, with one click of the mouse i found this website with a bunch of great looking recipes. how many do you think are needed?

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipes/easy/make-ahead-meal-recipes

ETA #2: i just went over to 3rd tri and there was the same post over there. someone posted another website. thought i'd share.

https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/61818075.aspx

RobinIan · January 2012

I plan to do this, but like you..have yet to gather any recipes. I did make a crock-pot full of chili the other day and froze some of it, so if it freezes well, I will post that recipe :]

pink100 · January 2012

I plan to do this as well and am interested to read the responses

. I make chicken enchiladas that freeze well, so those will be on my list (I'll share the recipe). I'll also make vodka sauce and red sauce with meatballs for a quick and easy meal DH can cook! Not sure what else. Will be sure to have lots of Ground beef and turkey in the freezer for tacos, sloppy joes and stuffed peppers.

snowflakemom · January 2012

I haven't gotten organized yet this time around but when I was pg with DD#2 I made:

lasagna

lasagna rolls

chicken tetrazzini

chili

vegetable beef soup

??

I'm trying to think of what else...

I think this time I will make some of the same. The soup is really handy to defrost for lunches and I put them in individual containers. I think I'm going to search for some good freezer-ready meals. Another thing that helps is to brown ground beef (1-2lbs per pkg) then freeze it. I thawed it out for things like tacos, to add to spaghetti sauce, casseroles, etc. Same goes for chicken breasts - bake or saute with some olive oil and then it's ready to go for stir fry, casseroles, etc.

manda1129 · January 2012

I found this on pinterest and thought its a great idea ill be preping some of these

https://mamaandbabylove.blogspot.com/2011/04/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker.html

JennPierog · January 2012

https://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/05/freezer-meals-preparations.html

I havn't made my plan yet but thanks for the site. Check this one out too

Squishy622 · January 2012

A blogging buddy of mine posted this list, I have it bookmarked to get started on next month! https://elefantitasalegres.blogspot.com/2011/12/like-crazed-squirrel-stockpiling-nuts.html

barnwife · January 2012

I made some meals ahead of time, but not that many. My mom did come for a week to help out, which was great. Especially since I wasn't allowed to climb stairs for 2 weeks, so I couldn't get to the kitchen. (I was upstairs in the bedroom, bathroom, and living room.)

And the best gift we got after baby arrived was my aunt dropping off a bunch of casseroles. I don't think DH cooked at all during the two weeks I couldn't get tot eh kitchen.

And we didn't cook much for the following few weeks either. It was amazing to just have food ready to go. Especially already having a LO who I do want to have good meals, I'd say more is better. So my advice is to make as many as you can fit in your freezer!

That being said, I'll probably make:
lasagne
cheesy potatoes and ham
soup (chili, spilt pea, chicken noodle, whatever you like)
mac and cheese (hey, our kid likes it!)
ground beef and baked bean casserole
dijon chicken (chicken breasts cooked in crockpot covered in cream of chicken soup with some dijon mustard and pepper...make some potatoes when you take it out and you're good to go)
spicy mexican skillet (chicken or ground beef cooked with onions, peppers, whatever you like and spiced with chili pepper, then add salsa. Serve with rice.)

Honestly, most of what we usually eat for dinner freezes okay. So I'll probably stick to things I know we like.

Nell1217 · January 2012

I did this with my other LOs and it is a huge help; however, if you are planning on breastfeeding know that some foods may not agree with your LO. Beans, garlic, spicy, may make LO fussy and gassy (not fun!). I also had to limit my dairy with each baby b/c it made them gassy/fussy. So make sure you make a variety of meals in case certain foods don't work.

Also, make up some muffins/breads something for breakfast and lunch (chicken and rice rolled up in a tortilla freeze really well). DH was always home for dinner and could cook if needed, but it was usually just me during the day, so something quick and easy (and something you can eat with 1 hand) is essential!

Just thought I'd throw in my 0.2

LizzyBlueEyes · January 2012

I am planning to start doing this too. On my list so far is beef stew, soups, stuffed peppers, meatballs...

Anyone know if you can freeze stuffed shells and zitti bake?

Squishy622 · January 2012

LizzyBlueEyes:
Anyone know if you can freeze stuffed shells and zitti bake?

Absolutely! Just cook the pasta al dente or even a little firmer than al dente- it'll finish cooking all the way through when you reheat.

snowflakemom · January 2012

LGLDVM:

I was thinking about going to one of those meal prep places like super suppers or dream dinners. They advertise that their meals freeze really well and we could put together a bunch of stuff all in one day without having to do all of the prep work.

Has anyone used one of these? One of my friends did it and really liked it, but I'm curious if others have tried it or plan to do this.

I did Sociale Gourmet. Yum! So good. I went with a cousin and my sister-in-law. It was super fun and handy. Plus the meals were really good and not the same old, same old.

TheMutleys · January 2012

Last time, I didn't even have a fully functioning kitchen when I went into labor... so there were no freezer meals. Haha. This did mean that lots of people brought us food.

This time, I've been compiling tons of recipes. I will be starting this Wednesday. My plan is to make a couple of recipes a week. I will double or triple the recipe for whatever I am making for dinner. This will give us dinner for the night and then 1 or 2 freezer meals. I don't think that I am up for a giant marathon of cooking. I also feel like this will let us know what we like ahead of time. Then I will add to the stash for our favorite meals by making them again.

We also scored a bunch of meals from Omaha Steaks through groupon. Those are already hanging out in the freezer.

Here is my pinterest board with recipes and tips: Make Ahead Meals

Squishy622 · January 2012

TheMutleys:
Here is my pinterest board with recipes and tips: Make Ahead Meals

Love it! I followed your board Big Smile

TheMutleys · January 2012

Squishy622:
TheMutleys:
Here is my pinterest board with recipes and tips: Make Ahead Meals
Love it! I followed your board

I've been plotting for awhile. Haha.

I wanted to add that I also plan on stashing up when certain meats go on sale. In a lot of my reading, several bloggers mention great ways to use one base meat in several different freezer meals. This saves on prep time.

kmberman · January 2012

I plan on doing this so that there are few nights that I have to stand in the kitchen for hours cooking or all day deciding on what I want to make. I am going to be buying a bigger crock pot since I have a very small one, but I have yet to gather recepies to freeze. FI hates lasagna so that is out and that is the easiest thing to make a freeze and its so yummy. This reminds me that I have to clean out my deep freezer today along with the rest of my house.

Thanks for the links!!

DGandDG · January 2012

Great post. Thanks to everyone for sharing!!

TheMutleys · January 2012

I just ordered these on Amazon. I was not able to find them in any stores nearby. However, they can go straight from the freezer to the oven AND they are reusable. I think they will be helpful for organizing our freezer. We have a chest freezer, so I want to be able to stack everything neatly.

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