Freezer meals...?

[photocowgirl]

Anyone doing this for when babe is born... How early do you start? I made 9 meals today, but the "rules" say to only keep freezer meals with meat for 1.5 to 3 months... What have you made/planning to make... my family is awful about eating casseroles, so I mostly have the meat and sauces done for spaghetti, tacos, etc. and homemade hot pockets... Also planning pizzas, chicken fajitas, chili, chicken noodle soup... I usually freeze by the quart bag so we can just heat up what we will eat for a meal in a microwave bowl...

[dannic]

I have in the past; we have food intolerances and so I don't usually get offers to bring a meal. Last time, it really stressed me out thinking that I'd have to be on my game for all three meals all the time, so I made a few things like enchiladas, spaghetti sauces, cooked meats, ect.
This time, I would love to, but haven't even thought about it, seriously. Also, money is a bit tight just now, so not sure how much I can plan ahead. I think having a menu and a well stocked pantry/freezer are almost as easy--and don't forget the crockpot!

[li'l skeeter]

I've been thinking about this too and am figuring about starting my stock pile in another month since I'm not due until the end of Oct. Some items I plan to prepare and freeze:

Chili/soups
Chicken potpie
Lasagna (store bought is easiest!)
Enchiladas
Spag. sauce
Roast that be thrown in crockpot with potatos/carrots
Frozen pastas
Garden veggies from this summer

[MomdeIsla]

I'm going to be stocking my freezer after school starts when I can think about it uninterrupted.

this blog is no longer active, but the archives have some recipes and lots of tips for freezing your own recipes

I love the chicken penne and the choc chip cookie recipe!

[Eileen]

I'm planning to do some as well - wish I would have done it before DD was born but I just didn't know Check out www.onceamonthmom.com - lots of good recipes there! In general though, soups and sauces do great, and chili sounds amazing to me right now! If you're worried about the meat meals then maybe hold off until early September to do those. I was planning to do most of my meal-making throughout the month of September so that I could be done with a little time to spare before baby comes, but so that I didn't have to worry about them going bad either. (Honestly, though, I've used meals that have been frozen for 3+ months and had no trouble, so I wouldn't freak out too much) Also, if you want to make it easier on yourself, just make double batches every once in a while when you're cooking and freeze half of it. Then you don't have to wear yourself out with a huge cooking day. Those exhaust me even when I'm not preggo! But totally worth it - I did it right at the beginning of my pregnancy and it totally got me through the yucky first trimester

[photocowgirl]

Some great ideas - thanks ladies! I really need to work on doubling up meals... DD and me and spent 2 mornings freezing meals and it is tiring...

[agomez]

I love doing the crock pot and just premake what gets thrown in the crockpot and freeze that. It seems to freeze well and then you just throw in brick pot and cook it all day. Super easy and fresh tasting !!!

[Eileen]

oooh, I love that idea!^^

[amcess721]

The other thing I put in the freezer besides just a main dish - is mini loaves of banana breads and pumpkin breads... then I can pull one out with each casserole or whatever - or it can be a quick snack or a breakfast. You could also make batches of pancakes or waffles?

[spideyswifey]

I've been doubling dinner and baking and freezing 1/2. Hopefully I'll have a decent amout to get us through the end of the year. Cooking with 3 under 4 sound daunting