Need Freezable Meal Ideas

Starting in Feb and March, each time you make a meal, make double the amount. Freeze the leftovers in one meal bags. Be sure to label and date the bags. HEB had a "Meal Deal" that included one of those "Reynolds Handi Vac's" for free. You will need to purchase the bags in the different sizes to store the food. I keep a sharpie in the drawer with the vac, the box of bags.It works great. The food stays so fresh in the freezer.

Here are some things I used to try to keep in the freezer when my husband and I were working with a child at home.

Spaghetti sauces, your can purchase frozen cheese Ravioli.
I would saute some zucchini with it.

If you roast a chicken, Roast 2 of them, eat one for a few meals and freeze the other. Microwave a potato to go with it.
Raw Veggie sticks.

Meat balls freeze great. I make them with ground turkey.Use the Spaghetti sauce, your husband will just have to boil up pasta.

BBQ chicken legs without sauce. Hubby can heat it up a few of the legs and put sauce on them and serve it with frozen corn on the cob.

Pre grill sausages, can be served on a tortilla as a sausage wrap.

Mild Chili (again the turkey meat). Good over rice.

HEB has fajita meat already seasoned for $2.49 lb. You can grill it all up. Freeze it in meal sized baggies. Freeze flour or corn tortillas you can have fajitas.

Crock pot roast with carrots and onions. Eat a meal of it and freeze the leftovers for another meal.

Pre cook taco meat. This freezes great. Hubby can make crunchy tacos.

Have you ever tried the freeze dried beans? They are on the shelves with the canned pinto beans.They are in foil bags. They are excellent and your husband can very easily make them in the microwave. We make nachos with them and the taco meat.
Congratulations on your growing family. TRY to get some rest before those babies come. You will need it.

Hey T.... There are tons of cookbooks designed for making casseroles and freezing... In fact I think I was given one right after my daughter was born. If I find it, I'll message you for your address and send it over because I hardly use it.

However, the problem I found with a lot of those recipes is that they use a lot of Campbell soups. Very fattening, high sodium, lots of preservatives. I seem to recall that you've previously posted having lost weight before getting pregnant. Keep in mind that it might be harder for you to lose the pregnancy weight if you eat a lot of pre-made foods or foods made with pre-made ingredients. Recipes for more healthy freezable casseroles may be harder to find. I'll see what I have at home and let you know...

Also, assuming you plan to breastfeed, keep some room available in your freezer for breastmilk.

EDIT MESSAGE: FYI, the book is called The Freezer Cooking Manual by Nanci Slagle; here's a link for it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Freezer-Cooking-Manual-Day-Gourmet/...

You do have your plate full, don't you?! I have made lasagna and soups and frozen them for later. Rice freezes well and can go with anything, including the soups. Barbecue brisket keeps well. Casseroles are good, but there's not enough variety there for us. I like to prepare lots of sides that can be mixed and matched. They can be apportioned in freezer bags. It's less work in the long run, and they're more likely to finish it before they get tired of it.

I am due any day now and have been prepping meals. Mine are mostly soups and stews for the colder months coming up but I heard a great way to freeze raw chicken. Find a marinade that you like or make it yourself and freeze the chicken in a bag with the marinade. As it defrosts, the chicken soaks up the marinade and you can toss that on salad from a bag, etc.
I've also stocked up on spaghetti sauce, pasta, rice, and cereal as well as other household goods like toilet paper, shampoo, etc.
Congratulations and good luck!

Hi! I definitely feel where you are!
We cook on suday - grill chicken, steaks, sausage, pork tenderloin - then we put them in the vacuum sealed bags in single meal sizes. When I get home from work, I grab one out of the freezer and throw it into hot water.
We make a veg, some pasta and dinner is awesome, fast, easy and ballanced.
Quiche is another one - I make 2 or 3 at a time, one for dinner that night, the others vacuumed for another.
Have fun!!
T.

I just recently found a free meal planning website called www.mealsmatter.org It is funded by the state of california. Awsome plase for all kinds of recipes. It will even make your grocery list for you. I would check it out. I make a lot of casseroles, like any shape of pasta you like (cooked), pre-made meatballs cut into quarters and mozzarella sticks cut up with spaghetti sauce. you can freeze in meal size containers and just nuke because everything is fully cooked. good luck