I have a friend who is having her 3rd baby in a few weeks and another who is having health issues. I would like to make them both some dinners that can be frozen and reheated for easy dinners. The other kids are 5, 3, and 1 and are all pretty good eaters, but the meals should be kid friendly and healthy. I also don't want to have to spend a fortune on ingredients if I can help it!
Anyone have a recipe beyond lasagna and enchiladas?
Thank you!
What a great idea and good friend. I do not have any ideas as I'm not really a cook but I did a quick search and found this from the food network site:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/quick-and-easy/freezer-friendl...
A couple that I've delivered recently:
potato leek soup (http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/creamy-potato-and-leek-soup...)
sloppy lennies (http://www.vegsource.com/talk/recipes/messages/70360.html)
black bean burger patties (http://gooddealgal.blogspot.com/search/label/Weekly%20Menus)
and biscuits with any of the above (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Biscuit-Mixture/Detail....)
Veggie penne (http://www.activelifecooking.com/2009/05/vegetarian-baked...)
Spinach-Cheese Balls With Pasta Sauce (http://www.recipezaar.com/Spinach-Cheese-Balls-With-Pasta...)
miso soup, but the recipe I use isn't online. There's lots of good ones!
Chili or soup freezes well. Jana has given you quite a few good choices that I would have suggested as well.
I cook this way all the time because my husband works from home and after I come home from a long day at work, it's nice that he can get dinner started for our family. I have a couple of cookbooks that have tons of great family friendly recipes. My favorite is Freezer Cooking Manual from the 30 Day Gourmet. It has a lot of recipes that you assemble and freeze, then do the cooking on the day you want to eat them. Also, this one is geared toward being able to pack a month's worth of meals into a standard size freezer, no need for a deep freeze. None of the ingredients are strange or expensive in my experience. Also, the Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer series is good. I also have Fix, Freeze Feast, but I find that one is more geared toward cooking large amounts (warehouse sizes) and it can get boring to eat the same thing so many times in a month.
you can make a lasagna in a foil pan and freeze it once cooked..they can reheat it when ready with some garlic bread and a salad...also you could do the same thing with a roast,enchiladas..etc!
Hi!
When I was prego with #2 my work did this for me too and it was great!
Some things that were made:
Spaghetti sauce, noodles boiled and put in a ziplock bags (2 seperate)
Ground hamburger w/taco seasoning (for tacos)
Meatballs
Sloppy Joe Mix
Meatloaf
Muffins
Cookies (dessert, right? :) )
There was other food too like white rice with a stroganoff to go over it (not sure about the kids liking it though).
Surprisingly, cooked pasta froze really well.
They are lucky to have a friend like you!
Stews and Spagetti are always good freezer meals. YOu can also prepare something like grilled chicken, rice or potatoes and veggie and freeze them in individual servings and then everyone can just choose what they want for dinner, heat it up and go. I did that for my sister and made things like meatloaf, (loaded with veggies and made with beef and ground turkey) grilled chicken, Pork chops, etc. Each with a starch and a veggie. Most veggies I didn't even cook ahead of time because when they are re-heated they will be cooked. I then taped a mini ziplock to the top of the container with any toppings like cheese, butter, etc. along with instructions for re-heating.
My sis-in-law just had #4 and we included freezer meals as a gift option for her baby shower. The meal I did for her would be good for a vegetarian (they like to go meatless regularly). It's called Sloppy Lentils (like Sloppy Joes but lentils instead of ground beef). We serve it with coleslaw which is a good salad option since it lasts longer in the fridge. Another good one is Shepherd's Pie or Chicken Pot Pie. You could also do soup since it freezes so well. If you want any of my recipes let me know. :)
We love to make batches of beans and make burritos to freeze - can use whole wheat flour tortillas, mexican cheese, sour cream, salsa, chicken, cilantro, onions, etc. to fill them. We freeze them in gallon bags and then get out a few at a time to microwave for lunch or dinner.
Anything in a crock pot would be great! Easy and delicious. You can find crock pot or slow cooker recipes online.
baked ziti - pasta, meat, sauce and cheese.
tater tot casserole - layer baking dish with tater tots. mix 2 cans of either cream of potato or cream of mushroom with 1 can of cheese soup with a pound of cooked ground hamburger. spread mixture over the top of tots. sprinkle shredded cheese across the top. You can add a layer of green beans or mushrooms depending on what the kids will eat. Bake on 350 for 50-60 minutes (edges should bubble).
I make the following for people...not sure that rice freezes, but minute rice is pretty easy to make, so hopefully even under the circumstances, they can do it...
Chicken breast (boneless) in a dish, cover with a mixture of 1 can cranberries, 1 packet lipton onion soup, 1 bottle catalina dressing - bake for an hour (I think) - you can likely google the ingredients for the recipe...serve with rice, salad in a bag. We don't eat meat, but I remember this from my childhood - it was one of my favorite dishes!
Shepherd's pie is a perfect one-dish meal if you pack it with veggies (peas, corn, spinach, etc), and very economical to make. I also like turkey or tuna tettrazini with veggies added.
