Freezer Meals

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sauté ground turkey in a pan until browned throughout.

Grease a large casserole dish with non-stick spray or oil.

Layer (ripped up pieces of) tortilla, salsa, cheeses, and turkey (and then repeat once more – or until ingredients run out).  Make sure top layer is not plain tortilla.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Notes: I made this in two 8×8 pans but one 9×12 dish should work just as well.  Cooking time may vary.  I meant to add corn too but didn’t realize it until after they were in the oven – oops!  Pregnancy brain?

Lentils or black beans could be subbed for ground turkey to make vegetarian.

Wrapped up and off to the freezer they went.

Crock-pot Beef Ragu [gluten free, dairy free, nut free, soy free, seed free]

I used this recipe for the meat ragu and cooked it in the crock pot for 15 hours on low (more than in the recipe because I used chuck roast instead of rump roast).  Then I shredded it and froze it in (four) portions in ziplock bags.  I figured I could make noodles or polenta or something to serve it over quickly when the time came.  This is a good one for the whole family.

I’m super excited to eat this one because it smelled AMAZING while it simmered away in the slow cooker.  I’m also thrilled with how much it yielded.  Seriously, it will be at least four meals for the family.

I also made allergy free cornbread (using Bob’s Red Mill GF mix with coconut milk) and froze that because it’s a simple side dish.  It may or may not be what accompanies this ragu, but it’s good to have on hand either way.  I love cornbread and so do both boys.

Quickbreads are definitely a staple in our breakfast rotation, so I have been stock piling them in the freezer as well.  Mostly I’ve been making banana bread (I have about 10 in there at this point) because I have a go-to allergy friendly recipe that P and I both like with no added sweeteners (aside from banana), but I decided to mix things up a bit and make a quick bread just for me.

Pineapple Yogurt Quick Bread [gluten free, oil free]

Ingredients:

• 16 oz pineapple greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 tbsp stevia more fiber baking blend
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients then add in wet ingredients.  Stir until combined then pour into a greased baking pan (I used a large loaf pan but I think a small one would work because it was a really flat loaf – alternately you could make it into muffins but reduce baking time).

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 – 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I’m sure any flavor greek yogurt would work here, I just happened to have this one on hand and thought it sounded different and yummy.  I’ve also been stevia free throughout pregnancy (due to the potential (but not proven) impact of stevia on hormones) so I figured having a stevia recipe waiting for me would be a nice postpartum treat.  The yogurt is sweetened so not much was needed.

Definitely a flat loaf thanks to the dense nature of the ingredients, but appearances aren’t everything.  🙂

Is quinoa casserole a thing?  Can we make it one?

I’m not sure what to call this dish to be honest.  It’s based off my quinoa quiche but I made it in a way larger quantity and added sausage for even more calories (quinoa quiche never holds me over very long).

Quinoa and Sausage Bake [gluten free]

Ingredients:

• 5 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup frozen chopped kale
• 4 andouille sausages, halved and sliced
• 5 eggs
• 6 oz. crumbled goat feta (or sheep cheese if you tolerate it)
• 1/2 cup vegetable puree (ie squash, pumpkin, cauliflower, tomato paste)
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Pour into greased baking dish (either 8×11 or 9×13 will work but baking times may vary due to thickness).

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.  You may want to put tin foil on top towards the end to prevent top from over browning.

Notes:  If you sub 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes (with liquid) for the chopped cherry tomatoes you can omit the vegetable puree portion.

Voila!

Chocolate Almond Banana Bread [gluten free, dairy free]

Ingredients:

• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp NuNaturals liquid stevia cocoa syrup

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl.  Add in eggs and coconut oil and mix together.  Add in the dry ingredients and stir til combined.  Stir in liquid stevia (it’s basically NuNaturals version of chocolate syrup).  Depending on the size and ripeness of your bananas you may need more/less almond flour.  The texture should be a thick but still semi-pour-able batter.  Pour into greased large loaf baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for ~40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Chocolate and bananas, what’s not to love??

I made this because I was already making a crab dip for a Superbowl party and thought it would be an easy thing to double and toss into pasta and freeze for later.  The dip was great, so I’m sure the pasta verso will be too.

Crab and Artichoke Dip Pasta [gluten free, lactose free, nut free, soy free]  very loosely adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

• 8 oz crab meat
• 1 can artichoke hearts, chopped (plus 1 tbsp reserved liquid)
• 1/2 cup lactose free sour cream (I used Green Valley organics)
• 1/2 cup mayonaise (read labels to get one without soybean oil)
• 1/2 cup frozen chopped kale
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• pinch salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 pound gluten free pasta

Directions:

Cook pasta.  Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine the rest of the ingredients (for the crab artichoke dip).

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, fold in the crab dip until it is well mixed.  Then add it to a large baking dish and either freeze or bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Until golden on top.  [I frozen mine, so I’ll bake it once it’s ready to be eaten.]

Along the same lines, I also made a tuna casserole dish.

Here’s the final product topped with nooch…

I didn’t measure things, but I cooked a huge pot of gluten free pasta and then tossed it with an entire jar of vegan mayo, a few cans of tuna, peas, garlic infused olive oil, and nutritional yeast.  I’ll bake it once I’m ready to dig in, but for now it’s int he freezer as is.

And since you can’t have too many easy to grab snacks while breastfeeding I made a batch of raw vegan date/walnut/pecan/coconut/cocoa bars.  Again, no measurements – just threw things in the food processor until the consistency was right.

Man are walnuts and pecans ever oily!  I used my hand to press them into the parchment paper lined baking sheet before chilling them and slicing them…and just look at my hand!

Wowzers.

I also made a dozen raw vegan oatmeal bites for quick snacking – they had whole rolled oats, chia seeds, almond butter, sun butter, raisins, stevia, and shredded coconut.  I didn’t measure anything, just went with the “stir til the consistency is right” method.  I left them raw and froze them in little balls.  I suppose when the time comes I could either eat them raw or bake them into cookies.

I also made a massive batch of allergy free waffles and after P and I had our fill one morning I froze the rest for easy breakfasts later.

Other things I made (or bought) to freeze ahead of time:

-15+ banana quick breads (I have made two a week consistently since October and frozen one each time) so we have a large stash.  Most are allergen friendly, but a few use almond flour and are for me.

-TJ’s chicken sausage (they are a favorite of P’s and they are so easy)

-cashew squash “cheese” sauce (I had a bunch of unused squash that I roasted in October and needed to do something with it).  It’s in a large mason jar.

–savory quick breads (2 mini loaves and 6 muffins)

–almond flour pumpkin bread

–simple mills chocolate almond muffins

-GF rice crisp/chex treats with chocolate chunks

–allergy free sugar cookies

-date/nut energy bites (balls, cookies, whatever you want to call them)

-bulk meat (bought when various stores had good sales – organic grass fed ground beef, organic chicken breasts, bacon)

-walnut pesto (dairy free, divided into smaller portions and then frozen in baggies)

-frozen salmon, veggie burgers, beef burgers, chicken breasts

–lactation cookies

-raw sunbutter/almond butter oatmeal raisin bites

-vegetarian soups/stews (from TJs and Costco)

-bulk frozen fruit (bananas, kiwi, berries), and jams/preserves

-ice cubes of fresh squeezed lemon, orange, and coconut milk

Most of this food I wrapped in tin foil or kept stored in disposable bakeware, but I also was re-gifted (an unused/unopened) vacuum sealer by my mom, which was awesome for things like bulk purchased meat, cookies/treats, etc.

Check out the fridge now!

I know it may seem excessive, but I’d rather be over prepared than under.  Kyle doesn’t get any official paternity leave so while he will be as flexible and supportive as possible, I know getting to the grocery store in those early weeks will be a serious mission.  It doesn’t hurt to have supplies stocked to help with the transition from a family of three to a family of four.