Baby #2 should be here any day and I am really trying to get prepared for him and my life changing from that of a semi-organized mama of one to what I am sure will be complete and utter chaos as a mama of two. There were a lot of things I didn't do when I was pregnant with Baby Thor that I regretted and am trying to make sure I get done before baby comes. Meal freezing was a big one on my to-do list. With only two days left of Christmas vacation before I have to head back to work I put on my big girl (maternity) panties, scoured the internet and Pinterest for freezer meal recipes, and headed to the store. When it came to the recipes I tried to stick with familiar foods we have had in the past that I knew everyone would eat but I did find a couple of new ones to try. They smelled super yummy making them so I am hoping that they taste just as good when it comes time to eat them!
First things first I cleaned out our little deep freezer in the garage. We rarely use it and honestly has had my old roommate's food in it since she moved out and hubby moved in. I made the executive decision to throw the food out since she moved out three years ago. I guess she didn't want the 7 or so boxes of Boca burgers in there. I also cleaned out my fridge to make room for what was bound to be a big grocery shopping trip. Then I cleaned out the cupboards to take an inventory of what I already had so I could plan my menu around things I wouldn't have to buy.
Next was the fun part of menu planning! After getting sucked into cute toddler crafts and baby onesies on Pinterest I finally found some good recipes to make! I chose to make a simple tuna casserole, meatloaf, baked peen with chicken and sun dried tomatoes, chicken cordon bleu casserole, cheesy chicken and black bean enchiladas, baked potato casserole, butterscotch-pumpkin spice lactation cookies, and some pumpkin muffins.
This is what my ingredient list looked like:
| Ingredient List | ||||
| Food | Amount | Need | Have | Cost |
| Flaxseed | 2 TBSP | 4.59 | ||
| All Purpose Flour | 2 cups 2 TBSP | X | ||
| Baking Soda | 1 tsp | X | ||
| Baking Powder | 1 tsp | 0.99 | ||
| Brewers Yeat | 4 TBSP | 15.99 | ||
| Rolled Oats | 3 cups | X | ||
| Butter | 1 cup, 6 TBSP | 1.99 | ||
| Coconut Sugar | 1 cup | Couldn't find. Substituted with white sugar. | ||
| Brown Sugar | 1 cup | X | ||
| Eggs | 6 | 1.69 | ||
| Vanilla | 1 tsp | X | ||
| Pumpkin Puree | 1 cup | X | ||
| Pumpkin Pie Spice | 1 TBSP | Mixed cinnamon and nutmeg together. | ||
| Butterscotch Chips | 2 cups | 1.59 | ||
| Chicken Breasts | 4 lbs | 6.49/bag I bought two bags | ||
| Breadcrumbs | X | |||
| Milk | 7 1/2 cup | 3.39 | ||
| Swiss Cheese | 8 ounces | 1.79 | ||
| Ham | 8 ounces | X | Leftovers from New Year's Dinner | |
| Cream of Chicken Soup | 1 can | 0.59 | ||
| Olive Oil | 3 tsp | I thought I had some in the cupboard but didn't. Substituted vegetable oil. | ||
| Garlic | 6 cloves | 1.99 | ||
| Black Beans | 1 can | X | ||
| Enchilada Sauce | 2 cans | 0.65/can I bought two | ||
| Tortillas 8" | one pack | 1.99 | ||
| Cheddar Cheese | 1 1/3 cups | 1.79 | ||
| Salt | X | |||
| Ground Pepper | X | |||
| White Mushrooms | 10 ounces | 0.59/can I bought two | ||
| Sun dried tomatoes | 1/2 cup | Couldn't find. Substituted with a can of diced tomatoes from my cupboard | ||
| Provolone | 1 1/2 cup | 3.49 | ||
| Parmesan | 1 cup | X | ||
| Penne Rigatta | 1 pound | 0.89 | ||
| Tuna fish | 4 cans | 0.68/can I bought four | ||
| Egg Noodles | 1 pound | 1.29 | ||
| Peas | 1 bag | 0.95 | ||
| Cream of Mushroom Soup | 2 cans | 0.59/can I bought two | ||
| Ground Turkey | 3 lbs | 1.69/pound I bought 3 | ||
| Onion Soup Mix | 1 1/2 packs | X | ||
| Potatoes | 5 pounds | 3.19 | ||
| Cream Cheese | 1/2 cup | 1.29 | ||
| Sour Cream | 1/2 cup | 1.29 | ||
| Bacon | 1 lbs | 3.49 | ||
| Ketchup | 1 cup | X | ||
| Total Cost: $78.69 |
I figured I would end up spending a pretty penny so I went to the discount grocery store in town (ours is Aldi's which I love!) and spent about $80 to get all the things I needed. The most expensive purchase was the Brewer's Yeast for the lactation cookies which was $15 but I figured I could use it in lots of things including smoothies and baked goods so it won't go to waste. I did a lot of money saving things like buying block cheese and sticking with generics instead of name brand. Also like I mentioned before I tried to keep in mind what I already had in my cupboards when it came to making the recipes so that I could save even more. I also went to Dollar Tree to get the containers for the food so that was an additional $6.
After shopping for what seemed like forever but really only took a couple of hours I was ready to head home and start cooking. :)
The first item I made was the tuna casserole since all I needed to cook was the noodles. I used my mom's recipe which is pretty basic. I found this recipe which is similar http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipes/tuna-noodle-casserole-24254 although I don't add the pimentos. I put all of the ingredients into a bowl (except the breadcrumbs) and mixed them together and just divided it into three. I only made a double batch since my dinners only have to feed two adults and a toddler. Don't forget to date and put cooking instructions on your lids. The tuna casserole is something I make often enough I didn't need to remind myself but I put instructions on everything else. :)
Next up was the baked penne. I haven't tried this before but it did smell amazing while cooking! I only made a single batch of the recipe but it made enough to make four diners! I had some trouble finding sun dried tomatoes so I substituted with the plain old diced tomatoes I had in my cupboard. http://www.delish.com/print-this/baked-penne-chicken-sun-dried-tomatoes-recipe-mslo1010?page=all
Then I turned my attention to another family favorite: baked potato casserole! I had enough ingredients I could have made two more dinners at least but this one is really starch heavy so I only made the two. Baby Thor and I are both allergic to onions so they are omitted from every recipe. http://americanfood.about.com/od/potatosidedishrecipes/r/Loaded_Mashed_Potato_Bake2.htm
Since I know we would get sick of casserole's day in and day out I tried to find at least one dish that wasn't a casserole. Yummy enchiladas! I had a can of refried beans in the cupboard that I added to this recipe since the whole onion allergy means no salsa for us. http://thrivinghomeblog.com/2009/11/cheesy-chicken-and-black-bean-enchiladas/
By this point hubby and Baby Thor were starting to get really hungry and I had been cooking for about five hours. I decided we would try one of the new recipes I found online for dinner. I am glad we did because the chicken cordon bleu was so good! It makes me sad that we only get one freezer meal out of it but I am sure I will make it again! I think next time I am going to add some broccoli and tomatoes to it but it was great just the way the recipe had it!
While the chicken cordon bleu cooked I made the last of my dinners- good old fashion souperior meatloaf from the Lipton Onion soup mix. (This is where I say that Baby Thor and I can tolerate dehydrated onions but not the fresh. Weird- I know. ) I use turkey instead of beef in these babies and I also make only a half loaf because really three people don't need to consume two pounds of meat in one meal. :) Also because I was tired of dishes I just mixed these and made the loaves in the same containers I froze them in. I'm sure I probably shouldn't have but since I am freezing them raw I figured it wasn't a big deal. Hopefully I didn't just give my family salmonella. http://www.makinglifebetter.com/recipes/detail/9252/1/souperior-meatloaf.
It took me from 8 in the morning until 8 at night but I made 15 frozen meals. Technically 16 but since we ate one of them I won't count it. All my hard work looked like this!
My kitchen looked like this...
It helped that I washed and reused a lot of the same dishes through out so I wouldn't have a ton of clean up. It did take me about an hour of cleaning up to make my kitchen look normal again.
The next morning I woke up and made some yummy treats! I had a box of pumpkin bread in the cupboard I added brewer's yeast and flax seed to to make lactation muffins. Since it will be just Baby Thor, baby #2, and I at home during the week I packaged them two to a bag for the freezer.
Baby Thor was very excited to help me make the lactation cookies. Especially since he got to eat the little bit of left over butterscotch chips in the bag. They are super yummy and if I didn't have gestational diabetes I would have to make these again before baby came since I would eat them all. Luckily they went to the freezer to be safe until I can have cookies again!http://wheybeyondthenakedtruth.com/2013/09/03/lactation-cookies/
I know this was a very long blog but hopefully it helps any mama to be or anyone wanting to do freezer meals to have a good idea of some recipes and ingredient lists. I was able to do all of this while watching my Baby Thor who was very patient with his mama while doing boring adult stuff like shopping. Hopefully my life as a mama to two boys will still be somewhat productive. :)
