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October 2020 Moms
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Meal Plan Mthursday

baseballismyfavoriteseasonbaseballismyfavoriteseason member
in October 2020 Moms
I meant to post this Monday and forgot, and don’t want to wait until next Monday in case I forget again. 🤪

I am starting to plan (just getting ideas for now, not cooking yet) some freezer meals for after baby arrives. Do you have a favorite meal, recipe, website, or resource that you would be willing to share? Would love all categories: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, lactation treats. If it can live in my freezer for a month or two, let’s hear it! 

(We’re a tree-nut-free household, but feel free to share as others may not be!)
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Re: Meal Plan Mthursday

  • baseballismyfavoriteseasonbaseballismyfavoriteseason member
    In a brief previous discussion about this (that I can no longer find) someone mentioned making extra portions and freezing leftovers. I loved this idea, but we end up eating our leftovers for lunches!
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  • JLaVO888JLaVO888 member
    edited July 2020
    We always eat out left overs too! But if you make a casserole or lasagna just make two! Freeze the second right away. 

    I’ve got a great green chili chicken enchilada recipe that’s great for freezing if anyone is interested. 

    The other thing I’ve seen that’s really helpful is prepping things for crock pot meals. Don’t cook it just freeze all the ingredients in a bag and then throw it in the crock pot in the morning! Great for fall and winter! 
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  • baseballismyfavoriteseasonbaseballismyfavoriteseason member
    @JLaVO888 Oh I am VERY interested!
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  • mamahoschmamahosch member
    Chili is great after freezing it! I just have a basic recipe but SO yummy if anyone wants it. 

    I need to get more containers to put freezer food in. We don’t have nearly enough. 
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  • JLaVO888JLaVO888 member
    edited July 2020
    Just a fair warning I don’t cook with measurements. I just cook. But I tried to put in estimated measurements for you guys. 🤪😂

    Olive oil
    1 yellow onion diced
    garlic minced
    4-5 chicken breasts or thighs (your preference) 
    2 boxes of chicken broth 
    ~2tbs flour
    ~2 tbs corn starch
    1pkg corn tortillas
    diced green chilies- measure to your spice level
    Garlic salt
    pepper
    1 block coby jack or cheddar cheese-grated 
    optional-can if pinto beans

    Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until clear. Add chicken, diced. Cook until chicken is mostly done. Add flour and let brown a tad. Add chicken broth. Bring to simmer. Mix corn starch with a bit of cold water in measuring cup. Add to pot. Add diced green chilies. Simmer until thickens. Add more corn starch if needed. Garlic salt and pepper to taste. 

    Dip corn tortillas in chili mixture and layer bottom of foil lasagna pan. Add layer of grated cheese. Add layer of chicken and chili sauce. Keep layering. Top layer should be corn tortillas with desired amount of grated cheese on top.

    (You can add a can of pinto beans to the chicken and chili for extra protein and flavor if you like beans! We always do! ) 

    To reheat set oven at 350.
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  • mckjacksmckjacks member
    I was literally just working on making a list of meals this morning. I’ll post it later when I’m on my actual computer. 
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  • baseballismyfavoriteseasonbaseballismyfavoriteseason member
    @JLaVO888 oh wow. I just got REALLY hungry...🤤 Being in NM do you use Hatch chiles or something else?
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  • JLaVO888JLaVO888 member
    @baseballismyfavoriteseason yes hatch only haha!(although Colorado has started to try and take over our fame as the green chili state! Don’t tell anyone I said this but did buy some from CO one year and it was great as well.)

    We buy, peel and freeze THREE boxes every fall! 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ And that usually just gets us through the year. 🤣  

    You can find jarred hatch green chili on amazon if you really want that and are not able to get it in store. Our grocery stores sell it in frozen tubs too but I’m not sure how far from NM that reaches. 
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  • baseballismyfavoriteseasonbaseballismyfavoriteseason member
    @JLaVO888 We have definitely ordered some online before but last summer-ish we DID have some in the grocery stores, so I’m crossing my fingers for this year!!!!
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  • JLaVO888JLaVO888 member
    @baseballismyfavoriteseason what state are you in? Last time I tried to look at the spreadsheet it was a mess. 
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  • baseballismyfavoriteseasonbaseballismyfavoriteseason member
    @JLaVO888 Washington State. But my husband lived in west Texas for a couple years before we got together and completely fell in love with Hatch chiles and then introduced them to me. 😁
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  • babycakesdaybabycakesday member


    I make this enchilada casserole for new moms and always take them an extra to freeze for later. I’ve subbed the green chili stew for green enchilada sauce, my own homemade sauce, red sauce pretty much whatever is on sale. I also do not use that rub and use whatever seasons I feel like. 

    I would put in ziploc baggies frozen veggies and fruit to just dump into my blender with protein powder and almond milk. That would be my quick breakfast. I also bought the Costco box of individual size oatmeal packets. 
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  • carrotsandpeas3carrotsandpeas3 member
    I make the pioneer woman meatballs but like triple the recipe and then freeze them in ziplocks of like 12. They are so great to pull out and throw on pasta, and my 2 yo loves them!
    https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a9897/spaghetti-meatballs/
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  • aefsparrowaefsparrow member
    I like making my own sauces and soups, so whenever I do I'll make a giant pot and freeze half in ziplock freezer bags. Then I'll repurpose them as much as possible such as using cooked down soup or chili over baked potatoes or mashed califlower. Or putting frozen leftover soup as a binder for a casserole. I personally love a creamy califlower leek soup, my basic vegetable soup, and a tri-bean vegetarian chili. I've also made a great nearly vegetarian portobello french onion soup (I use regular Worcestershire so not 100% vegetarian). 
    My mom always recommends buying ground meat on sale and portioning it out into servings then wrapping it and freezing it. That way you dont have to worry about shopping. 
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  • mammatoomcmammatoomc member
    @mckjacks do you freeze the cookies or the dough?? Those sound delicious and I want to get a head start on my lactation boosters this time around. 
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  • mammatoomcmammatoomc member
    I wanted to meal prep before my last and never got around to it. But I will say, the instant pot has been life changing for me and I also have the instant pot vortex which is an air fryer 7-in-1 convention oven. Both make cooking so much more convenient and fast or easy meal options. 
    I will definitely get on board with soups and chili’s for sure since we eat a lot of those in fall/winter anyways. 

    I’ve started taking pictures of certain grocery items needed for a recipe so that my SO can take over some of the grocery shopping for a little and it’ll be fool proof with pictures right in front of him of what I need. At least I hope 😂 we’ll see how that goes. 
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  • mckjacksmckjacks member
    @mammatoomc I’ve never made any of those cookies specifically (FTM), but I always freeze the cookie dough in balls and bake from frozen!
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  • poppyseed314poppyseed314 member
    We love to make fresh pesto and then freeze it in an ice cube tray. Then when you want luxurious pasta just throw in a couple pesto cubes to the noodles once they're cooked and within a minute you start to feel Italian 😉👌 I imagine this works with other sauces too, and the cubes are small enough that they melt really fast and can be easily portioned.
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  • mlopez18mlopez18 member
    @aefsparrow Love that advice from your mom. I usually try to buy a bunch of meat (hopefully on sale, but rarely happens in my small town..) and I use a Food Saver to vacuum seal it. Not that it ever lasts long enough to get too freezer burned haha.

    @mammatoomc The instant pot is absolutely hands-down my favorite appliance in the kitchen! I love that I can cook chicken from frozen in 10 mins (once up to pressure anyway) and it is pull apart tender! I also really love making roasts in under an hour 😋

    @poppyseed314 Do you have a recipe for pesto? I would love to have it on hand in the freezer, that sounds so quick and easy for future meals!! 
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  • poppyseed314poppyseed314 member
    @mlopez18 This is the recipe I use: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2653-basic-pesto

    If you don't plan to use the stuff you freeze fairly soon (maybe within a week?) then I would suggest leaving our the cheese and adding it fresh when you want it. 
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  • mlopez18mlopez18 member
    @poppyseed314 Thank you! Might make that this weekend 😋 
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