One Week Cooking Schedule: Freezer Foods

As I've been getting closer to my due date, I've been trying to come up with a few meals I can make that can go into the freezer for the first few weeks after the baby is born... to make things easier on us. I decided to do a one month meal plan, starting a month before my due date, and in the process hope to make meals that I can do "double" of, and freeze the second portion. It means a lot less cooking in the long run. Plus, since it's just the two of us, it makes things easier since most recipes are for 4-8 people.

This was the schedule for this last week, including links to the recipes which are already posted on the site.

Monday: Using the versatile biscuit dough, I made pigs in a blanket and cinnamon rolls. I froze only a few to see how it would take to the freezer. It worked out just fine, as we had the remaining bits for lunch a few days later. Much better than keeping biscuits on the counter anyway.

Tuesday: I made a quick supper here, just mac n cheese. What I did freeze for later was the banana blueberry muffins.

Wednesday: I made whole wheat buns, and we had a few of them for a faspa-like supper. For those who don't know, faspa is a mennonite name for a meal that consists of buns, preserves, pickles, cheese, and now we usually include peanutbutter, cookies and such. I made 1 1/2 batch of buns and turned some of them into pigs in a blanket as well for freezing. I know already that those will work just fine.

Thursday: Here I made the hamburger potato casserole from the mix n match potato casserole recipe. As always, I cooked the one and froze the other, making sure to mark the temperature and time for cooking right on the container to make things easier when we pull it out of the deep freeze.

Friday: Here I made a batch of tangy tuna patties, freezing 2/3 of it and making only two of the patties, which I made a larger size to work well on buns as a burger of sorts. These are easy to cook, and without needing a recipe, it'll make a quick easy fish meal later.

Saturday: Today I made meatless lasagna, seperating it into thirds and freezing 2 of them while baking the one. I bought reusable aluminum pans with lids for the job, and they work really well. I will use the remaining 3 for the lasagnas I plan on making in another week or two. Again, on the lids I marked the date made plus the cooking time and temperature.

Sunday I leave free, and lunches as well.

Another freezing tip: It's always nice to seperate meals into each of their own bags or containers. I like making sauces, make double, and freeze half in it's own bag (it freezes better this way as you can make it flat, and thaw it in a bowl in the bag in lukewarm water). I always mark the date made, what is in the bag/container, and if needed, the cooking time and temperature.