I'm officially off work now and am due in 2 weeks! One thing I'd like to do this week is cook and freeze 2-3 easy meals for heating up after the baby arrives. Do you have recommendations for easy-to-make summer meals that freeze well in portions? Not a fan of ham/pork, shellfish, cream sauce, peppers, onions. Thanks in advance!
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Lasagna can be frozen. I tried a white lasagna a couple months ago but I wasn't too happy about how it turned out.
Manicotti maybe? Can you tell I'm a pasta lover?
Have you checked out onceamonthmom.com?
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@bluestriped bee: Love lasagna and all Italian food. Maybe I'll try that! Thanks for the suggestion. Also haven't tried the website you recommended, so I'll take a look. Thanks!
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My mom made me chicken in a pot (chicken with veggies), spinach lasagna, and turkey meatloaf. I feel like most things are fine frozen as long as you portion it off so you don't have a huge hunk of meat to defrost that you can't eat all at once.
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All my go to meals are on your do not likes: homemade Mac & Cheese, Chicken Pot Pie, and stuffed peppers. Sorry!
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Pesto sauce is super easy to make (and basil is in season) and freezes well. Then you just cook up pasta or gnocchi and you're good to go.
Also like the lasagna idea, or stuffed shells.
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@pregnantbee: Yeah, I saw those disposable foil baking pans on sale and grabbed a bunch of them for freezer meals.
I made a chicken taco chili, turkey meat loaf, and a sweet and sour chicken in a freezer meal. I got it from the Once A Month Mom site.
That site also got me to start freezing fruit smoothies. Yummy for breakfast on the run.
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@artbee: Thanks for the suggestion! Yes, I do agree that as long as it's not frozen in a huge portion, we should be ok.
@MamaMoose: Well, I do like Mac & Cheese and Pot Pie.....
@yoursilverlining: love pesto, but maybe I'll just get a jar from Trader Joe's and freeze some tortellini or something
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@pregnantbee: I figured they would break the cream sauce rule. Betty Crockers pot pie recipe is the best. And super easy to make and freeze!
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Man you rule out all my suggestions with your dislikes
haha what about meatloaf, cheesy chicken casserole?
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@MamaMoose: Will take a look! We have the cookbook at home
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We have a freezer and crock pot recipe board on pinterest.
http://pinterest.com/hellobee/recipes-freezer-crock-pot/
for crock pot meals, i prepare a bunch at once. what i do is prep all the ingredients, put them in a large ziploc bag and freeze. then when i'm ready to cook i put in the fridge overnight to defrost, and pop in the crock pot the next day. saves so much time!
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@jessiejo17: Hehe -- sorry! Love meatloaf and chicken. Thanks!
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@Mrs. Bee: Oh, didn't know that! Thanks so much for the tip.....heading to Pinterest now.
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I love doing calzones in the freezer, I will make a huge batch of dough and do a bunch of different ones so we at least have some variety. I freeze them before cooking and just throw them in the oven frozen, it only takes a few minutes longer than fresh.
You could do frittatas, burritos (breakfast ones or regular) or soups/ chili. I also like freezing individual components of things like shredded cheese, taco meat (cooked), tortillas, turkey burgers, hamburger buns and so on. It is amazing how sometimes the simple act of shredding some cheese is enough to send you to the phone for take out so having it on hand makes life a lot easier!
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OK, ladies, now I'm officially hungry! Thanks so much for your suggestions. Can't wait to try them out.
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Chili...I flat pack freeze it. Soups, stews...e-mealz is another good website for meal planning-you have to pay but google for a discount code. I've found it to be well worth it.
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I love cooking from my freezer and I'm not even close to delivering this baby
But I already am making a little list of meals or components we make regularly that I plan to stash come this October so that we're ready to go. I also second Cole's suggeston of freezing meal components for things you like that aren't great frozen all prepared. Casseroles get old and if you're delivering in a couple weeks, it's already most likely pretty hot outside!Meatballs - Prepare and cook, then freeze on a tray and put in a big ziploc. They're great for spaghetti (just boil pasta and heat the frozen meatballs in sauce while it cooks) or meatball sandwiches. You can go a different route and make an asian sauce with soy and hoisin to serve them over rice with some veggies (also frozen).
Chili - Prepare and portion into a ziploc bag and lay flat on a tray to freeze. Then stack in the freezer and thaw overnight before heating it up. Make it however you like it, mine always has black beans and corn.
Waffles and Pancakes - Prepare, cook, and freeze stacked in a ziploc with a piece of wax paper between each one. Toast them up and you've got breakfast for dinner.
Ziti - Same flavors as your favorite lasagna recipes but not as time consuming to prepare ahead of time.
Cooked Rice - Nice to have on hand for meals in general and I do this when I can. Cook, cool and put in a ziploc, flatten and freeze on a tray. Then stack in the freezer and microwave it when you want to use it. Great for a side with veggies (frozen) and a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. -
Jambalaya (just substitute meat - I can't do shellfish), chicken enchiladas (verde sauce), curry meat or veggies (just plop it in a pan with jarred sauce, heat, and you're done), chicken and veggies sauteed with Worcestershire sauce (western stir fry)... I'd say gazpacho, but I hate gazpacho.
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I second the pesto vote. It's one of the few things I actually will freeze and then use. (We end up wasting a lot of what we freeze.) It's pretty simple to make on your own if you have a food processor and I freeze in small containers that are prefect for one time use.
My only plan so far for meals is to make a huge sauce and freeze smaller containers. I will also be making meatballs and sausage to go with the sauce, but freeze those individually as well. This will allow us to easily have pasta or sandwiches if we want to. I may throw a small lasagna in there too. Otherwise DH and I spoke about it and he knows he is going to have to take the lead with meal planning/prep for a while and he's comfortable with that.
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Check out http://www.moneysavingmom.com. Her website has a ton of freezer cooking tips and recipes. She just finished up a freezer cooking series. I like her recipes because it's not all casseroles that you bake and then reheat. She does a lot of freezing marinated meat so you just have to dump in the crockpot or reheat individual servings of things like breakfast burritos or ham and cheese pockets.
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Thanks again, everyone, for the suggestions! Yesterday I made a meat lasagne, had some for dinner, then cut it up and froze it in baggies in portions. Today, I'm making sweet meatballs in the crock pot. I think they'll taste great with some of Trader Joe's 3-min frozen rice or noodles or something. My house smells amazing!
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Don't make too much, though, if you plan on nursing and you have food intolerances, who's going to eat all of that wonderful stuff you made....that was my thinking, anyway.
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I'm trying to do the same thing myself and so far have only made (and froze) potatoes au gratin, butter chicken, and breakfast burritos.
I'm planning to make chicken soup, spaghetti, and chicken cacciatore as well but just haven't gotten around to it yet.
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This thread is making me really hungry!
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