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Freezer meals?
I plan on stocking up the freezer with some meals before LO arrives. But I'm not sure what to do or what freezes and cooks/heats well.
What meals work best? What meals have you done? How did they turn out? Any other tips I should know about freezing meals?
Thanks for the help ladies.
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Re: Freezer meals?
I think soups freeze the best. As does chili. Maybe I'm picky but I don't like the way casseroles reheat after being frozen.
Honestly, I didn't make any meals for after Sophia was born and we did just fine. I had no appetite for the first two weeks and when I did want something to eat I would just send T out for it right then and there or we would order in. After two weeks I was feeling at about 85% and went back to cooking like I did pre-baby.
Pasta dishes like lasagna and baked ziti tend to freeze well. Soup is pretty easy to freeze and thaw as long as you put it in smaller containers
Our easiest ones are soups and stews for the crock pot. You could also do pork chops, roasts, etc. I put all the ingredients in the jumbo Ziplock freezer bags, then freeze. I can either pull it out of the freezer the night before I need it so it thaws a bit, or I just run the frozen bag under hot water to thaw it enough to dump it into the crock pot.
Lasagnas are also perfect for the freezer, but they take more time to prep.
I freeze soup*, homemade chicken pot pie, baked spaghetti, ingredients for crockpot meals, pizza dough, homemade chicken stock, spaghetti sauce and breads. I do this on a regular basis so when I'm too tired or overwhelmed from school/work I have an easy meal.
I also premeasure dry bread ingredients for my bread machine or even handmade bread. So much easier to do it all at once than over time.
I also buy vegetables in bulk when on sale like the commissary case lot had onions for cheap. I diced, minced, and sliced them then froze them to use later.
*in a big ziplock and I freeze it laying flat on a cookie sheet so it is thin and not a blob
Right now, in the freezer, I have some crock pot salsa chicken, two different pasta sauces, and four different soups (chicken and barley, beef and barley, bean, and another chicken and barley - I made two batches at two different times...).
I don't have much variety yet, but it'll get there.
Later this week or next, I'll be adding a lemon chicken soup, and maybe some crockpot bbq pulled pork. The chicken soup because I cooked a whole chicken yesterday, and am making the chicken stock today. The bbq pork because DH really likes it, and I have a long business trip coming up.
Everything gets frozen in individual portions. If DH and I are both eating something, we pull out two containers.
The soups work in place of canned soup, and are better for me. The pasta sauces can be heated and served over freshly cooked pasta (or, if I'm really tired, with a nice bread - they're thick). The pork kinda needs a veggie side added to make a whole meal, but they have those steamer bags of veggies that are awesome. The salsa chicken can be turned into a few things - eaten plain, maybe with rice, mixed with a bit of rice and cheese and turned into a burrito; spread inside a tortilla and baked into an enchilada...
I find cream things don't freeze very well for me. And potatoes sometimes lose their consistency (not too big a deal in a soup, but might be in other dishes).
I prebagged a ton of crock pot meals and pasta dishes before my little people were born. Just cut everything up, add your meats and seasonings and then throw them in the pot when you are ready.
Go check my Pinterest. There are several pins for freezer and crock pot meals.
http://joelens.blogspot.com/2007/01/freezer-friendlymake-ahead.html
She has a whole list on her blog of stuff that is great to freeze.