Cooking for the freezer

I am prepared this pregnancy! At least I want to be prepared! When I was pregnant with Jimmy it was right around the 22 week mark that I went on bed rest. (I am 21 weeks right now!) At 27 weeks we started the never ending hospital short stays for procedures and follow ups and pre-term labor panics. Needless to say, if I was at home the second half of my pregnancy, I wasn’t much help. And that made me feel awful.

I LOVE to cook! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy coming up with new recipes or attempting to re-create something I made but didn’t write down the recipe. (My sister is always getting after me to write it down as I go! But I never do…) Both Jon and Liz are good cooks and they stepped up to the challenge of keeping everyone fed and balancing everything else they were doing while I was on bed rest with Jimmy.

This time, however, I plan to be prepared! I am stocking our freezer with pre-done meals that can be just warmed and served. My goal is to have a really good stash of meals ready to go if/when that time comes this pregnancy when I am banned from the kitchen.

Someone recently asked about my plan and I tried my best to lay it out as simple as possible. It isn’t always easy to do extra cooking in a busy moms schedule. (Or stay on your feet any longer then you have too when pregnant) But having a good stock of ready meals in the freezer isn’t just great for pregnant mammas. It’s great for any mamma! It really helps to know that at the end of the day you have a healthy, cheap, homemade meal ready to go at home. Saves money, saves time, saves your hubby, saves your sanity (especially on those “special” hormonal days)

First thing I do is make a list of meals that I make that are simple and freezable. I usually separate them into categories according to meat type. (i.e. ground beef, chicken, etc)

Tacos
spagetti
lasagna
beef taquitos
Hamburger gravy
chili
meatballs
meatloaf

Chicken enchiladas
grilled chicken for salad
Chicken taquitos

Pizza

I recently got 9 lbs of ground beef for an awesome deal! (it also came in this giant tube. So, I have to do something with it all at once!) My plan is to brown up 8 lbs of it. I then separate it into thirds one pan is taco meat, one pan chili, one pan plain beef with onions and other mild seasonings. Cool and bag it in meal portions in freezer bags. 


I keep a couple of bags plain ground beef to be turned into the hamburger gravy, spaghetti, or chili. You can completely make them and freeze them too.

For the meatballs, I cook them, cool and freeze.

The lasagna I assemble in a disposable pan and don’t bake. I also don’t cook the noodles, just add extra water to the sauce.

I basically do the same thing for the chicken. I found another good sale on chicken leg quarters. I bake them off with simple seasonings. Garlic salt, pepper, and paprika. Cool and shred. I freeze in meal portions. 

For the enchiladas I do the same as the lasagna.

I regularly make pizza dough. It freezes really well and I can turn leftovers into pizza or calzones really easily! 

You really can use any recipe. Mine is:

1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
(makes one regular pizza crust or two thin crust)

The beef and chicken taquitos can be partial baked as well and then frozen.They really stick together though, so freeze in amounts you will use at one meal.

Soups freeze really good too. 

Pretty much any steps that you take in the prep process n have done really helps. Even slicing and freezing onions can be a lifesaver!



There is a ton of information on the internet these days for freezer meals with recipes and tips. Take advantage of it! Save yourself some time and money and cook for the freezer.




Happy Cooking,


Keikilani