Central Florida Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Freezable meals? Anyone want to share?
I want to be proactive and make some meals ahead of time so that I won't have to do the following after having the baby:
a) Eat peanut butter sandwiches, mac n' cheese or spaghetti every single day since that's all Paul knows how to cook
b) Eat fast food every day
c) Make a giant mess out of my kitchen
I found two interesting dishes last night in a Real Simple magazine...some sort of taco soup and a bean soup. I don't know if tuna casserole can be frozen or not. Anyone wanna share some ideas?
Re: Freezable meals? Anyone want to share?
To make my husband some quick and lower fat meals in a jif, I like to grill chicken breasts on say a Sunday, and he uses them for quick meals when he needs them in week - 3-4 days.
Examples:
1) He slices the meat on a bias and adds it to salads
2) Adds rice and vegtables for a quick and easy stirfry on our wok
3) Wrap sliced chicken in a tortilla for a sandwich wrap, soft taco, solo enchilada, etc.
4) Add a sauce to the chicken and eat as is.
In winters I always use Sundays for my Chili/Soup prep day and have that for a week for lunches. I make my chili versatile but using it over a baked potato, or making biscuit or cornbread bowls for a change of flavor.
Since I dont eat a lot of meat, bulgar wheat (its tiny like couscous) is a huge staple for my lunches. I make all sorts of stuff with bulgar wheat. Mmmm.
Try looking for things you can make ahead and eat for a few days while the baby is a newborn. There are a lot of healthy options out there so you donit have to resort to mac and cheese and stuff every night. Cook Robin Miller has a few cookbooks that are geared to the working and busy mom. Try looking up her stuff! I love her Food Network show. We have gotten a lot of great recipes from her show.
Good luck!
Chili, pretty much any kind of a hearty soup, lasagna, and personally I think most casseroles can. Check out Cooking Light's Web site as well. They have some really good stuff on there. I've seen a few people who recommend buying those aluminum baking pans and just using those, instead of having all your pans out of commission!
Some other stuff you can make and freeze:
BBQ pulled pork
Beef Stroganoff
2 bags of meatballs
Taco meat
Black Bean Soup
Sloppy Joes
Red Beans & Rice
Of course you can always call your fav Nesties to bring over some food. I'm sure no one will notice if you just say, Zach wants to see you
Thanks for posting this!!! I'm still early in my pg, but since we are expecting me to go on bedrest around 5-6 months, I really need to be proactive and get some things in the freezer!
So far, I've frozen lasagna, chili, taco soup, split pea soup - normally I can't stand it, but this baby apparenly loves it b/c I'm craving it!!
(Also, DH buys me Healthy Choice, or frozen entres for lunches and dinners when he's not home to cook)
I'll let you know what else I find.
Steph, you crack me up! If you run out of food, I'll bring you some.
Brian became quite the chef (and a saint!!!) while I was on maternity leave. Maybe Paul will surprise you?
There are two things that came to mind that my step mom always freezes in bulk and used to stock my freezer with while I was in college....
1. Homemade chicken noodle soup separated into tupperwares
2. Beef stew with potatoes, green beans, corn, etc
We also freeze small divided portions of lasagna as someone else already mentioned.
Um, didn't I tell you that he attempted to make spaghetti a few weeks ago and completely ruined one of my Princess House sauce pans? He thought that you could heat up the burner to its highest setting and then put the pot on it. It charred the bottom, both inside and out. I was pretty angry.
I'm hoping you'll remember your buddy in the hospital and will bring me a slice of pumpkin cheesecake from either the Olive Garden or the Cheesecake Factory
Oh you know I will! And a Pumpkin Spice Latte to go with it!
Google "spagetti bake".
I also like to make big pots of chili using a Chili-O seasoning packet (I double the recipe but use only one packet).
Another good one is shepherd's pie, there are different recipes but I make mine layering (bottom to top) ground beef cooked with onions and peppers, peas and mashed potatoes (instant work).
Meatloaf freezes well but cut it into slices before freezing so you have slices for making sandwiches for lunch or to cover with gravy for dinner.
Beef, Cheese and Noodle Bake - http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1141964
Crispy Chicken and Rice Casserole - http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=480111
Do you have a crock pot? I love using mine at least once per week because all I do is toss meat, veggies (red or white creamer potatoes, onions, peppers and carrots), a couple boullion cubes and salt & pepper with enough water to cover the meat and let it cook on low all day. It's quick and easy prep, plus you can eat it as a soup or over rice or noodles.
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