Still no Jury Duty, but I had to write myself the above note so that I remember to continue to check in every day this week; otherwise, I think I'd totally forget it at this point.Had another doctor check up this morning, and everything was pretty much as it was last week: My weight remains the same, blood pressure is still good, and Norah's HR is still good. The only notable thing is that the strep test I mentioned last week came back positive. All that means is that they'll administer an antibiotic during delivery to prevent the baby's "catching" it. No big deal.
Aside from the dr appointment, my primary task for today has been cooking. See, I figure that after we arrive home from the hospital, we won't feel up to cooking, nor may we have much time to do so, so we've devised some freezable meals to prep ahead of time, so that especially in that first week home we won't have to worry about dinner. Today's meal? Lasagna.
In my opinion, lasagna is one of the best freezable meals there is: Something about it just freezes well and then heats up perfectly. Here it is in it's freezable container, all set to go:
I also plan to make a chicken enchilada recipe I found online that looks good and reportedly freezes well, and Jerry is going to make his delicious baked potato soup that should also do well in the freezer. Additionally, I've purchased a few "bag" meals -- prepackaged frozen meals that are easy to heat up and serve. I don't think we'll need much more than that, and I don't think our freezer is big enough for much more than that, but does anyone have any suggestions for make-ahead meals that might work well for my endeavor?
27 comments:
Chili! Great dish to freeze. And any soup or stew really.
I was going to say chili too. It's probably not super ideal in FL summer, but it freezes great.
If you eat pork, I found this recipe called Middle Eastern Pork and Dried Fruit. I've made it several times and it's wonderful. You do have to remember to thaw it before cooking, but otherwise it's simple to prep and make. Since I'm not diabetic I don't worry about finding no-sugar added dried cherries. And I don't add the lemon zest, just the juice.
Also, I found 100 Make Ahead Meals to be a good spot for recipes. They never quite made it to 100 but some of the ones there are simple and tasty and they tell you which ones are good for freezing.
If you like Indian food, I have a low fat butter chicken recipe that freezes well.
I was going to say- empanadas- but do you know how to make these? they are awesome - i bake mine.
I plan on freezing up some food too. You can always freeze chicken parm/eggplant parm then just whip up some pasta on the side. The other great thing to freeze is Quiche - if you make one with meat in it it will fill you for any meal really - breakfast/lunch or dinner.
Lasagna is always my favorite freezer meal! Good idea making some meals ahead of time.
I hear mothers and mothers-in-law freeze very well. :) Kidding - but they DO cook and love to provide for their kiddos! I have my Mom here now waiting for this little chick and all she wants to do is cook cook cook... I have to remind her that I am still self sufficient and the baby is not here yet! :)
You are so organized! I love to make shredded beef or pork in the crock pot. It freezes really well and makes great sandwiches.
Jeepers. Glad you gave me your menu because I was going to make sure I brought you some food too. It was a nice surprise for us to come home to. *You make a good lasagna :)
How long is this Jury Duty thing going to last???? I would have forgotten days ago also.
My wife and I will be right there! I love Chicken Enchiladas and my wife loves Baked Potato Soup. It's like you know us - brilliant!
Good thinking! You're going to be a great mommy.
I love to premake and freeze potstickers. I use Alton Brown's recipe (google Alton Brown Potsicker), but use mainly turkey filling instead of pork, it's a lot less greasy. Then it's just putting on a pot of rice and heating them in a pan.
Oh, and defrosting not required, so it's about 4 minutes in the pan total.
Way to go on the planning ahead! Whenever I make lasagne, I double the batch and freeze one to have an easy dinner ready. I like to freeze big batches of chicken tortilla soup, too.
I have a great chicken pot pie recipe that I always make for my friends who've just had babies. I'm always skeptical about spicy/tomato-based dishes (if you're planning on breastfeeding) because neither of my babies tolerated that stuff when they were little bitty. I'd be happy to pass along the recipe, if you're interested.
Great idea! I'm sure that's going to be immensely helpful soon enough!
ha! cake? you want cake? next time we meet i'll bring you a big slice...promise. just name the date and time.
Mmmm....that lasagna looks yummy. It is a great meal to freeze and always tastes so scrumptious. We have the freezer space problem, too. Sometimes I forget about it when we shop and then it's a Tetris game to get everything to fit.
My manicotti recipe is good frozen in case you're looking for more Italian food. :)
We did a thing called "Dinners By Design". We went and picked up a bunch of ready made freezable meals for 2 weeks ... and then went back and got a third!
freezer meals are awesome. kelley routinely has a freezer day where she cooks a months worth and freezes them all. lasagna's, quiche, garlic mashed potatoes, and meatballs all freeze really well. same thing with soups.
your name is in the drawing no worries!
what a great idea!!! you guys are going to be very prepared when Norah decides to join the world :)
I think it's a great idea to make meals ahead of time! good thinking. Chili freezes really well too if you like that.
Meat loaf freezes well. Wish I was there to make one fresh and bring it by! good luck...
That's totally brilliant!
My sister (due any day now) is just relying on the kindness of others--i.e., me and Wifey flying down for a week post-delivery.
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