9-months pregnant and desperately need to stock the freezer. Ideas for nutritious meals that will freeze and reheat well?
My partner and I are planning to cook up a storm before the baby arrives. We're looking for some meal ideas that we can make ahead, freeze, and reheat once baby boy arrives. The catch: I maintain a gluten-free, largely vegetarian diet. I do eat dairy, eggs, cheese, fish and seafood, though. I'm open to using par-cooked g/f brown rice pastas. We also anticipate that we'll be able to manage making some rice and other grains to accompany our made ahead main and veggie dishes, as necessary. We just want to make sure that we are don't have to be both sleep-deprived and malnourished! Bonus points for anything that can be easily consumed one-handed while breast-feeding ;) Thanks!
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http://beyondriceandtofu.com/2011/10/30/pinto-poblano-stew/
Check out Stephanie O'Dea's website for GF (and some veg) things to make in the crockpot that you can then freeze. Her Sloppy Lentils in her new cookbook is easy and freezes well. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2005/12/vegetarian.html
Enchilada casseroles are also easy and filling, using corn tortillas instead of GF noodles, which don't always reheat very well. This freezes well in single portions too.
http://beyondriceandtofu.com/2011/02/23/new-mexican-green-chile-and-pinto-bean-enchiladas/
And make sure you have a rice cooker. Turn on the rice and forget about it. Throw some tofu and frozen vegetables into a stir-fry and top with one of the San-J GF marinades/sauces. Super easy.
Quinoa also cooks well in a rice cooker. Cook, then chill and make one of these high protein salads. We can happily eat on these for days.
http://beyondriceandtofu.com/2011/01/22/quinoa-salad-with-artichoke-hearts/
This taco filling is also great. Freezes well too. We eat it as taco filling but also as taco salad topping or with cheese melted on top with tortilla chips.
http://beyondriceandtofu.com/2010/04/23/three-beans-tacos/
Hope this helps!
Renee, GF and Veg also, @ www.beyondriceandtofu.com
I also premixed muffin and cornbread dry ingredients and stored them in a stapled-shut paper bag. I wrote the remaining instructions for what to do on the outside of the bag (or just the page # of the cookbook) so that my husband could make cornbread later without my assistance. Also just saving that 5 minutes on mixing the dry ingredients really does help!
One of my friends has freezed entire cooked quiches.
I've also learned since starting to make my own baby food that I can freeze steamed butternut squash, sweet potatoes and cooked beans and grains. This is helpful for preparing dinner for the adults as well I find.
Also, I am really enjoying the cookbook Feeding the Whole Family. It has tips on what to feed a 6+ month old with every recipe plus the recipes are quite good and healthy. I recommend it to other moms and moms-to-be.
http://food52.com/blog/2836_freezing_your_way_to_more_home_cooked_meals
hope being parents is turning out awesome! happy cooking!
Also, I'm trying to cut down on plastic and have started freezing things in large cardboard to-go cups. Bonus #1 shop Costco or smart & final and it's cheaper then brand name zip bags, bonus #2 no worries about plastic contaminating our food, and bonus #3 were I live these cups can go in the compost.
Happy, happy baby!
My Sanyo has a 'flip top' lid---so no steaming a bit of fish and veggies while making making rice, so look for ones without a 'flip top' lid if you want to steam and cook rice at the same time.
Go a bit smaller than your eyes on rice cookers---they don't scale very well for two people if you get an over-sized one. Look for ability to steam while making rice---and by all means avoid the big oval ones, you want a happy little tub model with a small counter top footprint.
The one button models are cheaper and have a stack able steamer insert. I think some form factors of the fuzzy logic ones include those now. But pricey. The steamer insert is also great for steaming dimsum or stuffed veggies while making rice. Both of which can be frozen and steamed while cooking the rice.
Wonderful suggestions above! I'm especially impressed with the rice cooker techniques -- rice, steamed veggies, hot protein, sauce to keep it changing and interesting sounds good to me.
No brainers: eggs, toast, salad; peanut butter on whole grain bread; and the lifesaver at my house, fried tofu sandwiches with Russian dressing and coleslaw.
Keep in mind too that you will need more fluids for lactation. That makes soup a very good option, either from your freezer or put together by winging it. For now, whatever you are cooking can be made with lots of leftovers designated for the freezer. I've even heard of baby showers where the 'gift' is food for the freezer. Hope you have a big freezer!
Macaroni and Cheese
http://www.food52.com/recipes/14671_martha_stewarts_macaroni_and_cheese
Mini frittatas
http://www.food52.com/recipes/4686_mini_southwestern_frittatas
Spinach Quiche
Can be eaten cold or if you have time heat it up. Cheese and eggs provide protein and spinach helps with iron-cravings.
Black Bean Chili http://www.food52.com/recipes/2431_black_bean_chili
Tuna noodle casserole
Eggplant Parmesan
Oatcakes Syronai says “If you fill them with flax and amaranth, they'll even promote lactation (to an extent). My basic recipe is here: http://www.food52.com/recipes/12467_scottish_oat_cakes ??You can use any type of ground nut for the nut meal. Pecans and almonds
Voted the Best Reply!
a really cool idea i heard for freezing casseroles (lasagna and such) is that you can line your casserole dishes with foil as you assemble it. then, once it freezes, you can lift the casserole out of the foil and store it in a giant freezer bag so you don't have to have your dish held hostage in the freezer for weeks at a time in case you need to use it again. This way, you could have multiple casseroles in the freezer at once that use the same sized dish...and just drop them in to the dish as you need them.
i hope this helps....best of luck with the little one!
It would work very well with vegi lasagna cut in portions. Or for stuffed cabage leaves with rice and greek seasoning. Or Stuffed grape leaves, or vegie burritos, or vegie tamales.
You probably do need a fresh veggie element, may I suggest a cheap 'one button' rice cooker---such as the Rival model...which cuts down cooking time and has a steamer basket on top steam fresh vegies.
Don't go wild on rice cookers---a one button 20 buck one can be much better for 2 people. (Avoid the Salton brand---they really don't do well).
http://www.zojirushi.com/products/nhs
Thanks for that link. I've always associated Zojirushi with the 'flip top' fuzzy logic high end one.
I so miss my little one button happy pot rice cooker. The bells and whistles on the high end ones don't make up lack of simplicity and steaming.