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Once-a-Week Cooking

Having baby, need to fill freezer.

23 years ago

Hi there, I'm new to this, but since I'm giving birth in a few weeks I thought it might be a good idea to stock up the freezer with meals for me, my husband and toddler.

Here's my list so far. Any suggestions of what to add would really be appreciated.

We are Jewish, so some meat is forbidden (ie shellfish, pork) and we don't mix milk and meat together (for tacos I use that Harvest burger ground tofu stuff).

I have an extra freezer in the basement and would love to fill it before this new baby comes. Thanks in advance.

Meatloaf

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Stuffed Cabbage

Chicken pot pie

Vegetable Lasagne

Stuffed shells

Tomato Basil Soup (I have the most tremendous recipe for this if anyone would like it)

Chicken Soup

Chili

Mac and Cheese

Chicken and rice casserole

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

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Comments (9)

notmyemail_askme_com
23 years ago
Ilisa, I'm in a similar boat, giving birth in June.....love your list, been looking for just this kind of thing!!

Three other things I'm adding to mine:

Veggie Gumbo (chicken or beef would work too!)
Veggie packed Spaghetti Sauce (you could add whatever meat to it too!) all I have to do is cook noodles!
Jambalaya

Would love your Tomato Basil soup recipe!!

take care.
Grumpy!
marie01_altatvista_com
23 years ago
You might check out the Vegetarian Forum. Also your library should have some Vegetarian magazines. I know the book stores do. If you know someone in the Adventist Church, or are near a ABC bookstore there are a lot of excellent receipes avaiable. My books are back in ND, but I could get you some names etc. Also any Christian bookstore has cookbooks.
marie
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That's a great compromise. They don't feel pushed. You get to make sure they're fed properly. They'll get to assess their further needs when they come, assuming they're both rested enough at some point to notice. :) Re freezing, I learned a new trick this year. Instead of flat packs of soup, I made pucks. I don't think they take more room in the freezer. The advantage is you can just plunk a puck into a bowl and zap it. I did soup, chili, and something else I can't remember. The molds I have are 7 oz. Silicone so it's easy to peel out the frozen pucks and bag them. The molds fit on quarter sheet pans, which makes them easy to manage, carrying and setting in the freezer, topped with plastic wrap. The same thing would work great for baby food with appropriate sized pucks, which could be plonked into babyfood containers in the fridge to thaw, or zapped in a dish. Have fun cooking!
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ilisa_n_hotmail_com
23 years ago
Thanks, Grumpy! Great things to add to my list.

Here's the soup recipe, it's from a chain of soup take-out restaurants in Manhattan called the Daily Soup.

Tomato Soup

2 T unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 T sugar
2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
6 C vegetable stock
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, diced
2 C heavy cream
1 T brandy
4 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 C chopped fresh chives

Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, leeks, celery and sugar and saute until carmelized and golden brown.

Add thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper and cayenne and stir to coat the vegetables

Add the stock and canned tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat, partial cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the garlic and simmer another 5 minutes.

Blend with immersion blender.

I freeze it at this point and when I re-heat add the cream (I usually use either just milk or soymilk, but it is better with cream) and some chopped tomatoes and chives for garnish.

It freezes really nicely.
notmyemail_askme_com
23 years ago
Ilisa, thanks for the Tomato Basil Soup Recipe!

Marie, I spend lotsa time over at the vegetarian site, they've got some yummy looking dishes over there too, the trick is how many of them can I freeze!

Take care
Grumpy!
meow4x_hotmail_com
22 years ago
Thanks for the soup recipe, Ilisa. If it's got tomato/basil combo, it's a hit in my house!

Can't wait to try it!
jakeandjane_accesswave_ca
22 years ago
Ilisa:

Call me unimaginative, but where's the basil in your Tomato Basil Soup recipe?

Jane
RuthieG_mediaone_net
22 years ago
Too Funny Jane....

Ilisa...How is the cooking going?
ilisa_n_hotmail_com
22 years ago
Yes, isn't that funny - there is no actual basil in the recipe for "Tomato Basil Soup"!! I suppose I should have changed the name when I re-typed it from the cookbook, but wanted to maintain the integrity of the recipe! ;)

That's the problem with this specific cook book "The Daily Soup". Everything I've made has been terrific, but there were definitly some editing problems. Some of the recipes list ingredients that they never tell you how to use.

Anyway, it's still great soup and freezes beautifully.

Cooking is going ok Ruthie, thanks for asking. I'm due very soon and having trouble standing for long periods of time. Yesterday I made a big batch of ziti with portobello mushrooms in a goat cheese sauce. I'm not sure how the sauce will freeze, but I'm going to give it a shot.
RuthieG_mediaone_net
22 years ago
Well take care and pop in after baby arrives and give us the news.

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