Nesting - Feeding my Freezer

Though I've been all about baking this pregnancy (as my posts clearly show!), with Andrea's wedding AND my 30th birthday coming up just a few months after the birth of the baby, I'm trying to pre-plan my post-pregnancy "diet" with lots of protein, veggies and fruits, no white flours or sugars and very limited whole wheat flour-based carbs, limited whole grains (brown rice is my favorite), legumes and potato carbs here and there.

Obviously, my main focus is to eat sufficiently to build a good milk supply with quality milk for my little guy, while not going overboard and eating too much. It's not a "diet" per se, but I will be watching what I eat; it'll be a modified low-carb, "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" based diet plan.

One of those "nesting" tendencies that I've been feeling lately has been getting food prepared for my family for those first few weeks after the baby arrives. It's been on my mind, a lot, and I've been busy thinking about recipes, writing out grocery lists and planning strategies for how best to merge my post-pregnancy diet plans with my pre-pregnancy nesting desire to make nourishing food. This post is my attempt at putting down in writing everything going through my mind!

Luckily, Lindsey posted a Nutritious Freezer Meal carnival back in January that I've been enjoying perusing for ideas, and, after a few minutes of googling, found that Southern Living has some great advice and recipes as does this article from The Organized Home and this forum on Mothering.com about freezer cooking.

My Step-by-Step Plan

In the next few weeks, I plan on stocking up on chicken as it goes on sale (mostly bone-in, skin on pieces for roasting and shredding for several recipes, below, but also some boneless skinless varieties for pre-marinading and freezing raw), pork and beef roasts and ground beef and ground turkey. With the bones and skin from the roasted chicken, I'll be making up a few batches of chicken stock. And I'll be batch-cooking a few extra meals a week to put in the freezer. My inspiration and ideas . . .

• Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole (using whole wheat tortillas or sprouted grain tortillas, depending on what I find at the store) - I mix together cooked, shredded chicken, frozen corn and cooked black beans with green chile enchilada sauce and layer, with cheese and tortillas, ending with a layer of tortillas, then cheese on top. Freeze and you're good to go!
• Chicken with Sausage and Dirty Rice Casserole (using this recipe as inspiration)
  
• Chicken Nuggets (anyone know of any healthy, nourishing pre-made frozen chicken nuggets out there? I'm willing to buy a few things pre-made! :)
• Meatballs (thanks Michele for the inspiration! Mine won't be gluten-free, but yours were the inspiration!) - thinking of making some chicken or turkey Asian seasoned meatballs, I like this Vietnamese meatball recipe too, as well as some beef Italian or meatloaf-seasoned meatballs
• Shepherd's Pie (thanks Lindsey for the inspiration!) - though I'll be freezing the mashed potatoes separately and topping once both are defrosted
• Taco Casserole
• Lasagna - one of the few pasta recipes I'm allowing! Adding lots of veggies to it!
  
• Pre-marinating and freezing chicken pieces for grilling (since we'll be getting close to summer time!) or baking. (I am so trying the sesame chicken marinade at that link on bite-size pieces of chicken, as that is my favorite Chinese food choice! With some sauteed veggies and brown rice, how good would that be?)
• Roasting some large pork or beef roasts and shredding and freezing it in 3 cup or so quantities - good for fajitas, stir fries, entree salads, etc.
• Meatloaf
• Chicken Parmesan Casserole (probably will use pre-shredded, cooked chicken to layer this one and just freeze it with shredded cheese on top)
• Frozen pot stickers (pre-made, bought at the store . . . because I have to have Chinese food once in a while!)
  
• Spicy Beef Sloppy Joe's (for low-carb, will be serving this on top of spaghetti squash, or brown rice or steamed veggies)
• Meat-free Spaghetti Sauce - frozen in 2-4 cup portions for easy dinners
  
• Filling for stuffed peppers (using brown rice and ground beef, etc.)

Supplies Needed:
Waxed Paper
Freezer-Safe Aluminum Foil
Gallon-Sized Freezer Bags
Quart-Sized Freezer Bags
Casserole Dishes

I avoid aluminum in most things (cookware, anti-perspirant, etc.) but recognize that it is one of the best things to wrap and protect things in the freezer with. Since I don't want to cook or re-heat my food in it, I will be layering any casserole dishes used with freezer-safe aluminum foil first, followed by a layer of waxed paper before building the casserole or putting any other food in it. The food will be wrapped first in the waxed paper, and then the waxed paper will be wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in the freezer. Once the items in the casserole dish are frozen, I will be removing the aluminum foil wrapped food from the dish (so that I can re-use it!) and store it in the freezer as is. Each item will be labeled on top with contents and cooking instructions. When we decide to eat it, I will remove it from the freezer, unwrap it from the foil and wax paper and place it, frozen, back into the original casserole dish to defrost and then cook as directed...

My Freezer-Feeding "Meal Plan"/ Schedule

Day One

• Roast Chicken in large batches, allowing to cool completely before shredding, saving bones and skin for stock and refrigerating overnight
• Place chicken bones and skin in a stockpot with a little vinegar on top overnight
• Make a big batch of mashed potatoes. Freeze in freezer bags in 3-4 cup portions.
  
• Begin overnight soak of beans (black beans and kidney beans)
• In a food processor, chop onions, peppers, celery and carrots and store in ziploc bags in refrigerator overnight
• Day One Dinner: Roast chicken with mashed potatoes, green beans and green salad
  

Day Two

• Make chicken stock, cool and freeze in 2 and 4 cup batches
  
• Cook beans, cool, drain and store in the refrigerator overnight
• Cook a large batch of brown rice with water and chicken stock, cool and store in the refrigerator overnight
  

The above don't need much watching, just slow simmering for several hours, in the meantime . . . assemble ground meat mixtures.

• Assemble meat loaf mixture and freeze (uncooked) in gallon freezer bags based on this recommendation.
• Assemble and Bake meatballs, cool and freeze in gallon freezer bags.
• In the afternoon (after the rice is cooked), make a batch (for two meals) of stuffed pepper mixture, by browning meat with some of the pre-diced veggies and mixing with the cooked brown rice. Cool and freeze in freezer bags
• In the afternoon (after the beans and rice are cooked) assemble taco casserole and freeze as noted above in wax paper lined aluminum foil.
• Day Two Dinner: Vietnamese Meatballs, stir-fry veggies and brown rice
  

Day Three

• Make spaghetti sauce and allow to simmer for several hours. Cool and freeze in quart-sized freezer bags
• Assemble chicken based casseroles, using pre-diced vegetables, beans, rice, frozen vegetables, etc. I plan on making two casseroles worth of each recipe, three of my favorite.
  
• Day Three Dinner: Your favorite chicken casserole - mine is green chile chicken enchilada casserole with green salad on the side
  

Day Four

• Finish up anything that didn't get finished
• Look at that lovely batch of pre-cooked, well-labeled meals in your freezer and feel proud of myself
• Relax!
• Day Four Dinner: Leftovers - put your feet up and relax!

As a lover of good food, my nesting will primarily take place in the kitchen this pregnancy! I hope these links, tips and prep schedule helps anyone else trying to feed their freezer! Do you have any other tips or suggestions or recipes?