Geeky Talks
You shouldn’t have to think this early on a Monday, but…
This weekend we did some of the “to do” items from the “before our lives change and never really go back” list. We finally did some small things like put up the ties for the blind-pulls so the toddler doesn’t end up strangled while we ignore her to feed the baby. We re-arranged their closet to fit all of CB’s new baby things. We got the stuff to stain the diaper changing station and a few other home projects that we’ve neglected. Just having marked off several list items made me feel like this little man actually might fit in our tiny house.
Maybe.
But there’s an item on my list that I really am not good at. It’s something I’ve confessed here before. I have “make dinners and place in freezer” on my list. But Internet? I don’t know what dinners to make. Or what would freeze well. Or what will fit in the freezer with the two-farking- turkeys that are STILL there from Thanksgiving. (That’s right, Internet. Anyone up for Turkey dinner in about four days? Gawd.) So, if you have some ideas on what *I* might be able to cook and freeze that might come out decent, I’d be happy to hear them.
And you remember those neighbors I told you about? I’ll test out one of those recipes on them, too. Because there’s nothing like “hey! I make shitty food!” to really get you on the right foot when you’ve been spying on the people with the new baby.
Right?
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How about cooking a turkey and making turkey noodle soup, turkey pot pie and a turkey noodle casserole?
Go check out my “other” blog. It’s all recipes. I don’t post as often as I should but what I do post on there are hearty, tasty and, most of the time, freezable.
Not necessarily on the healthy side though. I’m not a big veggie eater and I refuse to eat something that doesn’t taste good just cuz it’s healthy. Have fun and good luck
Hmmm….all I can think of that I’ve ever frozen is meatballs. Then you just boil the noodles and heat up the sauce. I know….very creative. I’m brilliant. You don’t have to tell me.
Okay, this is not creative or practical, necessarily, but it worked for me. Prior to the birth of my fourth child, my friends had a supper baby shower for me. We met a dinner preparation place (Super Suppers, Dinner Station, Dream Dinners—just to name a few around here). My friends bought meals for me, but I have done it on my own since then too. You prepare the meals there and then take them home and freeze them. They have all of the ingredients prepared, and you just follow the recipe to put it together. There is no guesswork involved. Some of the meals did not taste as good as my own versions, but they were still fine for the baby haze days post-partum.
Good luck with whatever you decide!
Here’s one I’ve made a few times—black bean burgers. I double it and freeze a bunch. Having a food processor (or a husband who will do all the chopping) is helpful here… Yummy & healthy! Protein & veges all in one!
http://practigal.typepad.com/practigal/2006/05/black_bean_burg.html
I wish I had lots of good ideas, but I’ve never done this myself. It’s a great idea, but one that I was always to lazy to carry out. Sigh.
Funny you are looking into that freeze and bake food. A few weeks ago I got with two other girls and we cranked out lasagnas, burritos, pork chops, and a large number of pork tenderloins that will ive in the freezer until summoned. I’ve got a really nice chicken enchilada with verde sauce if you want it too!
I just got the Cook’s Illustrated Best Make-Ahead Recipes. It has things to freeze, slow cooker items, things to do with left-overs. I am really liking it, of course my husband and I are total Cook’s Illustrated Converts. If they have a cookbook, we own it.
OH! Y’all are just so resourceful! I’m so glad I asked. Christa, your book sounds like exactly what I need. And Anne, of course I’d eat anything YOU made. It’s whether or not MINE will be edible.
How long can Turkey sit in the freezer and still be edible? Six months? ‘Cause we’re going on seven.. oh dear lord I so rock.
Going to make black bean burgers tonight to try ‘em out!
a few people made frozen meals for me and put them in the freezer for my 3rd kiddo.
Any casserole works well. lasagnas. Cook the turkey and make casseroles & soup with it (turkey tetrazinni! turkey pot pie!)
Other than lasagna, noodles don’t do well.
I’m a dork, so I have a recipe site. It’s allergy-safe, but most casseroles aren’t “special”
http://www.ourgaggleofgirls.com/recipes
Thaw out those turkeys. Roast both of those suckers. Cut off all the meat, and freeze what you won’t eat within a few days. Then when you want *real* turkey sandwiches, thaw and the yumminess is ready for you. If you can handle it (I’m a wuss when it comes to this) you could break up the carcass and use it to make soup (and freeze the soup in meal-sized portions) or just freeze the bone(s) to make soup later. Since you’re going to pop in a few months, I’d make the soup and freeze the end product.
You can freeze soups like Split Pea, Chicken Noodle (add the noodles when you defrost unless you make your own noodles like my grandma did, but I kinda doubt that’s in your repetoire right now - it’s not in mine), Navy Bean Soup.
Any kind of loaf or meatballs. Mix up all the ingredients, portion out meal sizes, and freeze. Don’t cook them before you freeze them, otherwise they dry out when you reheat them (at least they do for me). We have Italian Turkey Meatloaf, Parsley Turkey Meatballs, Awesome Meatloaf, etc. I also have a Garlic Mashed Potato recipe that freezes really well (I just throw the bricks in a non-stick saucepan on my “keep warm” feature on my stovetop, forget about it for 30-45 minutes, and yum, mashed potatoes!).
Freeze homemade spaghetti sauce.
Freeze homemade macaroni and cheese - my version has ricotta and cheddar and such. Yum.
Freeze homemade Pizza Dough. Or not, since you’ve got to have a TJ’s or three nearby.
Lasagnas do well, but they take time for me to assemble.
Freeze taco meat. Or chili. Or Turkey Burger patties. Or sloppy joe meat. That’s just a sampling, I know I’ve got other stuff hiding in my freezer.
And the turkey? Unless you punctured the package, it’s fine. A few years ago I didn’t cook a turkey until the next November. Seriously. I did the Alton Brown recipe (email me if you want me to find it for you - it’s hard to screw up) in a half-assed manner, and it turned out so fabulous that I have not had any qualms about a turkey since. In fact I think I still have a turkey in the deep freeze downstairs from this year…
You could also just buy frozen meals. I went to costco and bought up a ton of stuff there. I am obsessed with their spinach pies. And you’ll probably need to make a trip to a place like that anyway for diapers. It’s so much easier than actually cooking! But I also burn everything I put in the oven, so maybe I’m not one to talk.
I’d make a bunch of casseroles and freeze them. Then you can make the noodles or rice or whatever is supposed to go with them as you heat the casserole. You could probably use your turkeys in place of chicken in any chicken casserole. I just posted a dead easy recipe on chicken and corn soup that you could use cooked turkey in instead which freezes fine. it’s here:
http://uncaringbear.blogspot.com/2007/04/im-not-food-obsessed.html
Another easy one I do is a chicken casserole based on a tin of cream of chicken soup and it is yuummm:
http://uncaringbear.blogspot.com/2006/11/my-favourite-dinner.html
I sure hope your turkey is fine after freezing or the top layer of my wedding cake is not looking good. My mum made me save it to eat when we have our first child. We are coming up to our 8th anniversary and kids haven’t come along yet. It’s sure to be great. Good luck
How ‘bout let somebody else make dinners and put them in your freezer? Hee hee, I think that’s what I’m going to do (or not do.)
Nesting, here we come!
First, I’m so up for a turkey dinner!
Second, I posted a few recipes last week and the lasagna is really good to freeze. You can bake and freeze, or just freeze and bake when you remove. I prefer the latter. I also have a potato casserole recipe on my blog (you can search) that freezes really well. You can precook some bbq chicken and freeze to eat it with. Hmmm, spaghetti sauces freeze well as do most soups. How about a stir fry?
My husband made a ton of his recipes before the birth of Eeyore so we had plenty to eat in the weeks after. We had chili, lasagna, meatballs and spaghetti sauce (easy to boil spaghetti and add), chicken enchiladas, etc. Really, you can make up any dinner you like, and freeze individual portions in those disposable containers.
Stouffer’s frozen family meals rock too! So do the crockpot frozen meals and Bertolli’s.
So y’all reminded me that Trader Joe’s has yummy frozen turkey meatballs that we at about once a week (how I forget the simple things) and with all those recipe ideas, I think I’m going to try to make a few a week to either try or try/freeze. Look at me, all domestic and crap!
The May issue of Cooking Light has a section on make-ahead frozen meals. You may want to check it out. They also have advice on what can and cannot be frozen, as well as how to freeze things so they don’t suck later.