April 2021 Moms

Freezer Meals/Recipes

Re: Freezer Meals/Recipes

  • This is where I get to point out how lucky I am. Ecause SO cooks, loves to cook, and will do just about anything to get me out of the kitchen. So, he takes advantage of the PP period, lol
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  • @aisukurimsarang lucky! If I left it to DH we would starve. He'd look at me blankly like "Dinner has to be made?". He's amazing, but cooking is not one of his skills. 
  • Over time, DH has learned to cook but he doesn't *LOVE* it like I do. We have an equal distaste for dishes but he does them while I cook b/c #teamwork.

    Freezer breakfast burritos
    These are my go to for mornings postpartum. I usually eat at least 2 of them and DH eats them, too so we make a lot. Honestly, I think I probably went off of this one at first but I do it from memory now: https://damndelicious.net/2016/08/10/freezer-breakfast-burritos/
    -basically one egg per each burrito (important not to over stuff and if you start with too much egg it's easy to do)
    -breakfast sausage/bacon/chicken sausage/leave this out if you want
    -black beans (optional, recipe uses refried)
    -salsa and/or fresh or diced tomatoes
    -roasted potatoes (this recipe uses tater tots which I find odd)
    -cheese (DH doesn't use this)
    I wrap in parchment then in foil and take the foil off before microwaving. 

    Enchiladas are great to reheat IMO
    I do salsa+chicken breast in the IP and shred with the hand mixer. Add roasted sweet potato and black beans.
    This is the recipe I use for sauce: https://cookieandkate.com/enchilada-sauce-recipe/
    She has some good enchilada recipes but she's vegetarian and I am not. I just looked up a bunch of freezer enchilada recipes and made my own how I like them but there's lots of good ones out there.
    If you're going to make the sauce, make a ton (2-3x the recipe) and freeze into ice cube trays, silicone cupcake liners (this is what I do), etc. I use about half the recipe for soaking the tortilla before freezing but everything I've seen recommends adding the sauce fresh when reheating which is what I do (just zap the frozen in the microwave or, if you have forethought, defrost in the fridge 24 hours in advance).

    There's lots of casserole recipes for postpartum that float around but I don't love a lot of them, personally (just not what I normally eat so not what I crave postpartum).
    Creamy sun dried tomato chicken and orzo: This would reheat really well - it has a step of putting it in the oven so I'd freeze before that step and then put in the oven a bit longer: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/one-skillet-creamy-sun-dried-tomato-chicken-and-orzo/

    I also love chicken pot pie. Any recipe would be good but I use one from a barefoot contessa cookbook (Make It Ahead) that I love. Similar but not quite this one (this one looks good, though!): https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/chicken-pot-pie



    Babysizer Cravings Pregnancy  Baby Tracker

  • I make Chili and Vegetable soup, portion off and feeeze. I have a recipe for the soup, but the chili I've never really measured out. 

    Vegetabke soup:
    1 large bottle of V8
    Broccoli cut into large pieces
    Cauliflower cut into larger pieces
    1 zucchini, chunked
    1 yellow squash, chunked
    1 large yellow onion, cut into various sizes
    1/2 head of cabbage, cut into various sizes. 
    Garlic (fresh, minced, or powdered), salt, pepper to taste

    Optional - baby carrots, celery, bell pepper, peas, green beans, protein (I usually add sirloin steak)

    Pour V8 into large stock pot. Bring to boil. Add vegetables. Cook to desired tenderness. Add cooked protein and pan juices.

    Allow to cool. Pour into freezer safe containers. Freeze. 
  • @aisukurimsarang oo vegetable soup would be perfect for an April baby! And I would have just assumed chicken but steak would be great for postpartum.

    Babysizer Cravings Pregnancy  Baby Tracker

  • @kvh22 with my first and maybe even my second, I made a good number of freezer meals but they really weren’t what we normally eat. With three kids now, all of our dinners come together in 30 min or less, so I’m not doing any this time either. I love your breakfast burrito idea though. That would be great for normal life in general! I may also try to do it with breakfast sandwiches. My kids would love it. I’m also 100% accepting a meal train this time. 
    Pregnancy Ticker

  • I’m with @aisukurimsarang - super lucky that DH really enjoys cooking and does the majority of cooking in our household! Hoping that nothing about that changes when baby comes haha.
  • I think the main freezer meals I’m going to prep are the ones we use right now - I’m with a few others, I tried a bunch of random freezer meals and they just weren’t our fav. I do always double batch my chicken pot pie (love that so many others love the pot pie too!!), so I’ll probably freeze maybe 4? And then make sure I have crusts in the freezer. And then I also always double batch my meatloaf, so I’ll freeze a few of those. 

    I do have a FAV lactation cookie recipe and I will for sure be making a few dozen & then freezing individually on a cookie sheet (and then dumping all into a gallon ziplock) so that they’re ready to make a few at a time 🙌🏻

    @aisukurimsarang I do love the idea of a veggie soup! I often freeze my chicken soups but I think I’m going to try yours now and see if we can work it into our rotation!
  • @goldpolkadot mind sharing your fav lactation cookie recipe?? 
  • @theblondebump yes!! This!!
    https://www.simplisticallyliving.com/homemade-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-lactation-cookies/
    I cannot tell you how many dozens of these I’ve made at this point!! They basically taste like heartier classic chocolate chip cookies and they are so good! 
  • I like to make a lot of meals ahead of time so we have at least two weeks worth. I haven't decide what I'll make this time.
    I do very highly recommend if nothing else to make breakfast food though!! We did breakfast burritos last time as well and they were perfect!! I think I made like 50 haha. I also made baked oatmeal in muffin tins, banana bread, and several quiches. I said in another thread but with breastfeeding I'm ravenous for breakfast and usually it's so hard for me to find time to make anything with a newborn and other littles. 
  • I finally cleaned out my gross freezer and have some space to freeze meals.  I didn't do any meal prep last time and regretted it.  My MIL sent us a few frozen meals and those were clutch.  She sent chili with polenta in individual ramekins that could go straight from the freezer to the oven.  We never gave back the dishes so I'm going to make the same thing and freeze them again.

    Pregnancy Ticker
  • I love this thread! Definitely getting some good ideas and adding to my Pinterest so I don’t forget. Along with the new ideas, I have the goal to make stuffed shells, shepherds pie, some spaghetti sauce, a chicken/noodle/broccoli casserole, and chicken taco soup. I also plan on having some Trader Joe’s frozen meals on hand. This is a good reminder to start clearing out the junk food in the freezer to make room for actual meals. 
  • @goldpolkadot YES on those lactation cookies!!! Those are my go to also and I just finished a batch I had made without brewers yeast bc they're THAT amazing. 

    Loving all these freezer ideas!
  • STM - will do maybe a couple freezer meals (food we already eat and enjoy, like chicken curry and frozen naan, salsa chicken, maybe an eggplant parm) and will supplement with lots of takeout, 10 minute dinners (grilled cheese and soup, quesadillas, toasted subs), and the prepared meals from our local grocery store (Sprouts). 
  • @eahayes they are sooooo good! dang now I may need to make a batch!!
  • I went down a rabbit hole on Pinterest of crock pot freezer meals. Like you prep everything and put it together (they're usually frozen flat in a gallon ziploc bag) and then you just put the whole frozen mass in the crock pot when you're ready to use it. Has anyone tried those? I was curious how well they work, considering you usually don't put frozen ingredients in a crock pot!
  • @bblair24 I have! I really liked some of them actually and ended up remaking some when my 2nd was born. I'll probably do the same ones again (linked in my original comment on this thread).
  • @juliebird6 that’s good to know! I haven’t clicked on links to read recipes yet, just skimmed the comments. I’ll check out your recommendations! 
  • @bblair24 I made a bunch of those last time. Some were great and some not, but idk if it had anything to do with them being frozen! It was definitely convenient!
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