Typically I post a tip on Wednesday that works for me.. in honor of April Fool’s I’d love to hear from you for Backwards WFMW!
I would love some ideas for items I can cook/bake that will hold up well in the freezer for post baby. I would love muffins, breads, chicken dishes etc…
Also, I have 5 house guests next week (including 3 children). Any ideas for muffins/breads I can bake ahead as snacks for them? I have tons of bananas and apples on hand in particular.
Thank you for sharing your ideas below!
I make a chicken pot pie that is EASY PEASY and can be thrown in the freezer.
http://stretchmarkmama.blogspot.com/2009/03/quick-and-easy-chicken-pot-pie.html
I’d love to hear others thoughts on this as well. Pop over to my blog with any comments or easy great recipes.
I like doing shephard’s pie and they freeze really well. A hint – when I make the mashed potato, I don’t mash it with a masher, I actually blend it with my stick mixer.
It gets rid of the lumps really well, and it makes the mashed potato almost like a really think liquid, reay to pour over the meat.
I add in heaps of veggies to the mince (fresh or frozen). This is a meal which is easy to make in super bulk (I make anything from 4 to 10 at a time, depending on how much freezer room I have!)
When it comes time to eat it, either I take it out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge to defrost, or I just leave it to defrost on the bench for an hour or two before putting it in the oven.
Hope that helps – good luck with bub!
Any quick bread recipe that you make you can make into muffins and then let them cool totally before putting in freezer bags for the freezer.
I do some meals for the freezer but the majority of my freezer is full of meal size portions of meat either cooked or ready to cook.
You can find out some of the things that I do by heading over to my blog, check the labels for freezer, and once a month cooking. Also if you are looking for some bread recipes, I have several over at my blog here.
HTH!
I do a lot of Once A Month Cooking. You can see all of my meal plans and recipes here:
http://extraordinaryordinarylife.wordpress.com/master-list-of-meals/.
I did a LOT of chicken meals this past month. And I agree with the others most breads freeze well – muffins, banana bread, pumpkin bread, homemade wheat bread, pie crust, pizza dough. Hope that helps – I do love freezer cooking!
I do a lot of cooking ahead (like browning ground beef or turkey with diced onions and green peppers), that you can then defrost and use for easy tacos or to put into other meals. It saves you a lot of time! Here are some links:
http://www.moneywisemoms.com/search/label/Cooking%20Ahead
Banana choco chips muffins, any type of casserole you family enjoys, cooked meatballs (just have thaw, add sauce and serve over rice or noodles, cookies of all types can be frozen, french toast, pancakes, chic pcs in marinades, precooked chicken fingers, so many things.
we have 2 different recipes that freeze really nicely:
Tamale Pie:
http://www.coupons-feed-u.com/?p=241
and
Manicotti (more like a lasagna):
http://www.coupons-feed-u.com/?p=206
There was a cool blog talked about on Menu Plan Monday this week…..Once a Month Mom
http://onceamonthmom.com/april-menu-instructions-grocery-list-labels-podcast/
Thank you for all the great ideas ladies!
Click on my name for my recipe page. Some that would be particularly good for you:
Honey Baked Lentils can be frozen if you pack a plastic tub completely full of them after they’re baked and cooled. But that recipe is so easy to make, you could do it when you have 5 minutes to spare, and then it just bakes for an hour and is ready to eat! 🙂
Raisin Bran Bread is popular but also very nutritious–high in iron and fiber, which you’ll need after giving birth.
Freeze some chopped kale for a quick-cooking vegetable you can add to all kinds of things.
The two burrito recipes at
http://www.earthlingshandbook.org/cookbook
freeze well.