My FULL Freezer – Exposed!
23 Jul
My parents, Scott, and I tackled the freezer meal situation last week. As in – organized it, cleaned it out, and filled it to the brim with meals ready-to-go.
Success!!!
This is what we did…
First Mom and Dad made some meals of their own to freeze for themselves (they have A LOT of company headed their way in the next few months!) and then shared the wealth with us. Thanks to them our freezer now has lasagna rolls, chicken madeira, bolognese sauce, and a gazillion meatballs (Mom made 100 or so…she’s incapable of just doubling a recipe – ha!). That was an AWESOME start!
I had specific ideas of what else I wanted at my fingertips. The garbage bread was already taken care of, but I wanted to tackle macaroni and cheese, turkey burgers, some crock pot recipes, cooked bacon & chicken for salads (or whatever), and blueberry muffins. Mom and Dad came over for the day and we banged it all out (other than the muffins, I did those the next day). I found the crock pot recipes on Pinterest (thanks for the tip, Heidi!) – terikyaki chicken, chicken enchiladas, and sausage & peppers. Strawberries were also on sale, so we got some of those to freeze as well.
I am not at all saying that my freezer is full of the most nutritious and fat-free meals; instead I went for easy, filling, and yummy. We organized everything by container/freezer bag, shelf, and bins – all labeled and ready to go. I wrote the cooking directions on everything so it’s fool proof while I’m cooking through my eyelids. We’re also ready for company (hello turkey burgers, thanks Christina!).
Look at the list that now lives on the side of the fridge…I am my parents’ daughter!
42ish meals later – I am ready for some easy meals on some maybe not so easy evenings. Who else is excited?!
I’m embarrassed to say how excited I am that we now have bins in the freezer. WHAT…a dork.
In lieu of making this blog post ridiculously long, I am going to refrain from posting recipes. However – if you want ‘em, I’ll share ‘em. Ya just gotta ask!
This week, I’m going to make spicy Chex Mix, sweet Chex Mix (monkey munch or whatever people call it), and homemade chocolate chip cookies.
I absolutely suggest doing this pre-baby, if you can. I am so glad that this task is completed!
How was everyone’s weekend?! Week 38 post coming atcha tomorrow!
xoxo
p.s. I’m a die hard Bachelorette fan and was THRILLED with last night’s finale! (I won’t spoil it, just in case you haven’t seen it yet!). How about Emily saying that she wants to get married in CHARLESTON?! LOVE IT!!!
Beach Count: 77
Pool Count: 32
High Temperature: 92°
You guys worked hard! All set!
Yes, ma’am!!!
You.Are.Awesome. Enough said! Love you!
PS- You make the best chocolate chip cookies ever- so saddened I won’t get to taste test your batch today
Haha – you still remember my chocolate chip cookies?! They usually are a hit.
Love you!
When I saw that Emily wanted her wedding in Charleston, I totally thought of you! Ps….. the freezer organizing / storage fetish is an SLP thing too
Yeah – I def agree that it’s part of the SLP disease!
Wow, I’m beyond impressed! I never thought of doing that before I had my kiddos!
(Was thinking of you as we passed the Charleston exits of I-95 yesterday). Can’t wait for the arrival of your lil’ one!
Haha – thanks! Having the summer off has really allowed me to get stuff like this done. I’m thankful! =)
Hi Sarah! I had my baby girl 9 months ago here in Charleston…and I’m not sure if you are planning on breastfeeding or not, but my diet had to be severely altered for the first few weeks. I was like you and had frozen all these great meals, but then couldn’t eat any of them, as they all made my daughter gassy to the point she wouldn’t sleep. I couldn’t have any dairy products (I cried over cheese), nothing with onions or garlic, no eggs, nothing with tomatoes, no “gassy veggies”, nothing with spices, etc. It was HORRIBLE…I had chicken (no marinade) and rice every day. Thankfully, after 2 months I could slowly start introducing some of the foods back into my diet (eggs are still not happening however). Hopefully, you won’t have the same problem I did, but just wanted to make sure you have some very “bland food” on hand in case. Best of luck!
Thanks for the heads-up! I know that some of my friends have had this issue, but most haven’t had to worry about their diets at all. We will see what this little one decides. But either way, at least my husband and company will be fed without fuss. I’m glad that you’re able to eat whatever you want now! (Saying goodbye to cheese would make me cry, too!)
Hi Sarah. New addict to your site here! This is such a great idea. I wish I would have done more of this when we had our daughter. I did a little, but not nearly enough. Thank heavens for my mom! I wouldn’t worry about gassiness with breastfeeding. I was able to BF my daughter for 12 months and never had a problem. I just avoided caffeine at first. Once she was older, I could have a little bit, but since I was already avoiding it, it really wasn’t a big deal. Hope you’re feeling well!