Freezer Friendly Meals

[LttlMichey]

I'm currently pregnant with our first child and due in mid-September. It just hit me that we have less than 2 months to go so I'd like to start stocking our freezer with dinners if I can. Any great freezer-friendly recipes out there? Thanks so much!

[tdz]

Every time we have a rotisserie chicken we end up with bunches of left overs. This is what we make:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chic...0000001160570/

Its actually fairly easy to make too. I line the pan with foil for the assembly and once froze pop it out. Time to cook, just pop it back in. Easy on clean up too.

[margeslp]

I'm currently pregnant with our first child and due in mid-September. It just hit me that we have less than 2 months to go so I'd like to start stocking our freezer with dinners if I can. Any great freezer-friendly recipes out there? Thanks so much!

Just about anything is a good freezer dish unless there is mayonaisse in recipe. Some thick suaces thin out.

[mamakjoy]

Thanks for starting this thread. I've got baby #2 coming 9/4 and I don't have anything in the freezer yet. I did note this recipe but I haven't made it up yet. Hoping to pick up some chard at the farmer's market this week.
Slow Cooker Spicy Vegetarian Pinto Bean and Chard Burritos
from Kalyn's Kitchen blog
(Makes about 12 small burritos; can be cut in half but the mixture freezes well. Recipe created by Kalyn.)

Ingredients:
1 lb. dry pinto beans (2 heaping cups)
6 cups water
1 chopped onion
1 T ground cumin
1 T garlic powder
1 1/2 cup salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce medium)
1 tsp. salt
2-4 T Cholula hot sauce (or other hot sauce of your choice; hot sauce is optional but I liked the spiciness of this.)
6-8 cups chopped swiss chard leaves
1 pkg. whole wheat or low carb flour tortillas (I used soft taco size which made small burritos)
low-fat grated mozzarella blend cheese (for making finished burritos; I used about 2 T per burrito)
thinly sliced green onions (for making finished burritos; I used about 1 T per burrito)

Instructions:
I recommend pre-soaking the beans for best results, but if you forget to soak them, add 1-2 hours more time for cooking the beans. I used a Crock-Pot 5-Quart Smart-Pot Slow Cooker for this recipe so I could fit a generous amount of chard into the slow cooker.)

Soak beans overnight in cold water to cover by several inches. (I just soaked them in the crockery part of the slow cooker.) The next day, drain beans, then add them back to the slow cooker with 6 cups water, onion, ground cumin, and garlic powder. Cook on high until beans are quite soft. (I cooked my soaked beans for a little over 4 hours to get them as soft as I preferred. Unsoaked beans or beans that aren't fresh may take a couple hours longer for this step.)

When the beans are soft, drain them and return to the slow cooker, saving 1/4 cup of the bean cooking water. Add the salsa, salt, and hot sauce (if using) and let beans continue to cook on high while you chop and wash the swiss chard. Cut off chard stems, stack up some chard leaves, and then slice and chop the leaves until you have 6-8 cups of chopped leaves. If you're using garden chard, wash with a salad spinner.

Put the chopped chard leaves in the slow cooker, pressing down to get them all in if needed. Cover the slow cooker and continue to cook on high to wilt the leaves. When they're all wilted (about 30-45 minutes) stir to combine and then continue to cook the beans and chard leaves about an hour longer, or until the chard leaves are very soft and beans are nearly falling apart. Check to see if the mixture seems dry and add the saved cooking water if needed.

Instructions for Assembling Burritos:
Thinly slice enough green onions for the number of burritos you're making. Have grated low-fat mozzarella blend cheese ready. Heat a tortilla in the microwave for a few minutes (or for making a lot of burritos at once, I like to wrap them in a double layer of aluminum foil and heat in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.) Lay the softened burrito on a plate or cutting board, add about 1/3 cup of the bean/chard filling mixture, spreading it in a line from the outside edge of the tortilla to about 2/3 of the way down (leaving about 1/3 of the end to fold up to hold the mixture inside.) Top with about 2 T grated cheese and 1 T thinly sliced green onions (plus extra hot sauce if desired.) Fold up the end of the burrito, then fold in the sides over the end so you have one open end and one end that's closed to keep the filling in. Serve hot.

The burrito mixture and extra tortillas will freeze well if you don't eat this all right away.

[Yoga0829]

Every time we have a rotisserie chicken we end up with bunches of left overs. This is what we make:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chic...0000001160570/

Its actually fairly easy to make too. I line the pan with foil for the assembly and once froze pop it out. Time to cook, just pop it back in. Easy on clean up too.

When you freeze this, do you bake it first and then freeze? Or assemble it and then freeze it?

[erin elizabeth]

This link is to a bunch of threads from this BB. Should give you some real tried-and-trues.

Freezer Meals threads

[LttlMichey]

Thanks everyone! Looks like this should help keep me busy until the baby comes.

[GayeC]

I like to make big batches of soup and freeze them, especially vegetable beef and chicken noodle. For chicken noodle I add the noodles when I am ready to serve the soup. I don't think they would freeze well, although I haven't tried it.

Gaye
Calm.Healthy.Sexy. The Life You Really Want

[DanaSD]

There's a few great blogs out there - just search for OAMC

Here's a good one that I use:
http://onceamonthmom.com/

and
http://littleredhen4.blogspot.com/se...onth%20cooking

When I was pregnant I went to one of those freezer meal prep places (not sure if there are any left) and filled up my freezer with frozen foods from Trader Joes

[cher48603]

I love this idea. She put together crockpot meals and placed them in crockpot liners before freezing.

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/...2+by+Jillee%29