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Thursday, March 18, 2010

My children lately

Van is learning colors right now. He really likes taking crayons out of the crayon bucket and naming the colors. "Boo, geen, puhpuh, lellow." Then he pulls out brown. "Poop". And I am not going to change that. It's just too adorable.


It has been snowing off and on over the last few weeks and has broken Jack's heart in the process. He is sick of snow and wants sun. He just want to play outside without the weather interrupting his plans. Yesterday morning, he asked this. "Mom, is it going to snow today after tomorrow? Like snow on tomorrow's today? I mean, is it going to snow on next week's today tomorrow? Grrr, I don't know what I am saying." I replied, "You mean is it going to snow tomorrow? Hopefully not."

I have finally made the grand list of things to do and buy for Baby Sister due in May. I am finally feeling excited instead of melancholy. One of the things on my list of to-do's is making some freezer meals for us to have on hand after Sister comes.

Do you have any recipes/ideas for freezer meals
that you and your family like?

23 comments:

Shanicherie said...

I have never done a freezer meal in my life, but have always been interested in how it works! I'm excited to see what you come up with!

The Andersons said...

Before each of my kids were born I made a double batch of chicken pot pies (from Cook's Illustrated) and then put them in demi-loaf foil pans and froze them that way. They were handy for 1 hungry mama, two children to eat or 1 proud papa to devour! They are great comfort food, have lots of veggies and protein and taste wonderful! (Just don't so overstock your freezer that you block the vents superfreezing your freezer causing your icemaker to freeze up. It took us a year to figure out and defrost it.) Good luck on your new baby!!!

Sarah said...

Lasagna is a great freezer meals. I also make a double batch of rolls then freeze half (I know, it isn't really a meal. Soup is really easy to freeze... sorry those are kind of basic, and you probably already knew about them.

Erin said...

Enchillads freeze great!!
So excited for you!

Celeste said...

I'm assuming that you'll be sharing these as you make them. I also have a wee one due in may & think you are a genius for this idea (plan ahead? What's that?) and will be following your lead. At some point. Maybe April.
I've never used it, but one day I bought a cookbook devoted exclusively to freezer meals. It's called "dinners in the freezer" or some lame thing like that. Perhaps I'll try something & share.

Ann said...

My family is Italian so one thing we eat at least once a week is pasta. We make big batches of our own homemade pasta(raviolis, gnocchi, ect.) a couple times a year and when we want to eat them all we have to do is pull them out of the freezer and boil. Super easy and super delicious!

keely said...

These are delicious and hearty. Perfect for ravenously hungry nursing mamas. http://atimetoeat.blogspot.com/2009/02/lunch-from-freezer.html

Mrs. O said...

I like to make and freeze pasta sauces. Our favorite is called Puck's Chicken it's a mixture of Marinara and Alfredo with Chicken and Mushrooms. It's a cinch to defrost and throw some pasta on the stove to cook.

Unknown said...

isn't that what the relief society is for? Milk it!!

Megan said...

Oh that's hilarious. Yes, take advantage of the casseroles made of Cream of Celery Soup and Cornflakes that the RS would bring you. If it comes to that, I'll order pizza and have it sent your way.

Siggy said...

This is a great recipe that is a make one, freeze one! It is incredibally healthy but even more scrumptious!
http://siggyspice.blogspot.com/2010/02/siggys-skinny-they-wont-know-its-not.html

whitneyingram said...

Thank you so much for all the ideas! I am feeling so inspired. Keep the recipes and ideas coming!

whitneyingram said...

@Sparks - More than the health issue, it would be an issue of my family not eating it. I have really screwed myself in the casserole department. I don't make them so my family doesn't eat them when they come around. I will let you know if I need pizza.

whitneyingram said...

And yes, I will be posting my freezer meal follies.

beck said...

i was just thinking today that i need to bust out some freezer meals next week. i only have 2 weeks left(i hope). so, if you get a few up next week i would be super stoked! and i love the poop color. yeah for van already learning colors. ady calls every color "geen"

sarah22277 said...

I make the meatballs for italian wedding soup and freeze them. Then, I can whip up a batch by adding some stock, pasta, and fresh spinach. A quick, light meal. Ina Garten has a great recipe.

Unknown said...

Soups are really easy to freeze & defrost. My favorite is from Cooking Light. If you like tomato soup, you will like this one.
Link: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1591105

Good luck & congrats on the soon to be new addition!

Jessica said...

In addition to lasagna and enchiladas, Real Simple has some great freezer meal ideas that I've torn out in the past. But I'm guessing you already knew that?

Love your kid stories by the way. Poop.

Anonymous said...

What I always bring/drop off/make ahead is my Pizza Bake. It is layers of penne, marinara, pepperoni, Italian sausage, and LOTS of mozzerella. You bake it for 25 minutes if it is fresh and 45-60 if it's frozen. It's always been a hit everywhere I've taken it :)

whitneyingram said...

@kbkbakery - Great idea. Thank you for giving it. The recipe wheels in my head aren't turning, they are whirling.

Rebecca said...

I'm due in 9 days and my favortie freezer meal is Greek style turkey burgers. I got the recipe off of recipezaar.com. It's healthy, freezes great and tastes really good.
I serve them with sweet potato fries.

Sweet Pea Chef said...

I like all the ideas, but also chicken tetrazini (I have a freezeable recipe on my blog), chili and calzones...these freeze really, really well.

Also, I *sure* your church will serve you well in this regard. My friends/family from church and the neighborhood stepped up in a big way when Graham was born. It was completely humbling. But here's the thing...you can't refuse the help! I am prone to say foolish things like, "I think we're okay." Stupid, er, silly me. Take any and all offers of help!

PS--Made your Thai Veggie Wraps this week. They rocked. SPH's reaction? "this sauce is so good you could put it on horse meat."

Ingrid_3Bs said...

AW, your boys are too sweet. When you tell us stories about them it makes me think back to when my guys were that age. Now they're so big and stinky though sweet (once in a while) in a different way.
~ingrid