The 4 Fs of Weekday Meals: Family-Friendly Freezer Food

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A freezer full of meals.I will be the first to admit that I am not the biggest fan of cooking. I love to bake, not cook.

When I was pregnant with my oldest and shortly after she was born, no subject fascinated me more than baby and toddler food and, more specifically, the making of said baby and toddler food. Thus, I became determined to make a lot of what my girls eat. Let’s be real and clarify in case you are wondering, do my girls eat frozen vegetables?  Yes.  Are some of their favorite things Dr. Praeger’s Spinach Littles?  Yes, because they are delicious.  Do we order take-out/pizza? Absolutely.

The only catch to my grand plan is that once I return to work, I typically walk in the door about five minutes before an empty stomach or low blood sugar meltdown occurs. Enter my lifesaver…the freezer. Luckily, there are a number of great resources for freezer-friendly meals. Typically one weekend morning I cook up one or two recipes to freeze for meals throughout the week.

Here are a few of my favorite websites and links to some favorite recipes in our house that can be stored in the freezer. 

Despite its name, Homemade Baby Food Recipes also has a number of recipes catering to toddlers (and even adults). You can search by age, but one reason that I really like this site is that you can search under “Baby Food Recipes and Tips” by specific food item (e.g., quinoa, carrots, etc.), which is a bonus if you are starting at a refrigerator full of a particular food item and are not sure what to do with it.

A favorite recipe from this site is the nutritious quinoa meatballs. I have made this recipe using ground beef as well as ground turkey. Both of my girls eat these up. And, if anyone is as big of a quinoa fan as I am (I’m not sure that is possible), as an added bonus, cooked quinoa freezes well. So, when I make this recipe, I usually make a big batch of quinoa (I like to cook it using half water/half vegetable stock to add a little flavor), use some of the quinoa for this recipe, and either use the rest for other recipes or freeze individual portions to have as a side dish for other meals.

Weelicious contains family-friendly recipes that often can be made using minimal ingredients. The site has a search feature, but you can also peruse recipes according to various categories, including by age range and a number of dietary preferences (e.g. nut-free, dairy-free, vegetarian).

Some of my family’s favorite recipes from Weelicious include Baked Zucchini Coins. The first time that I made these my husband and I were literally eating them off of the pan as they came out of the oven. I’ve also used this recipe to make baked tofu bites, which were equally delicious.  The freezing directions suggest freezing before baking, and when you are ready to eat them, take them out of the freezer and pop them in the oven according to the baking instructions.

My favorite site right now, however, has to be Once A Month Meals, which is specifically geared towards freezer cooking. It has a variety of searching capabilities – menu type, cooking type, ingredient type, and meal type.

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OAMM’s Cereal Bar Cookies with Strawberry Jam

My favorite recipe has been the Homemade Cereal Bar Cookies. The first time that I made these, my husband proclaimed they were the best thing that I have ever made. So, either everything else that I have made has not been very good, or these are really, really good. I’m going with the latter because they are so tasty that I think my husband and I end up eating them more often than the girls.

Do you have a favorite recipe site? What are some of your favorite freezer-friendly recipes?

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Kara
Kara, her husband, and two little girls M and Z live in the idyllic town of Rowayton. She was born and raised in West Virginia and, although she has lived in the New York metro area for over fifteen years, is a mountaineer forever (Go ‘Eers!). In addition to being a mom to M (born in 2011) and Z (born in 2013), Kara is a full time attorney working in Manhattan and a hobbyist photographer. When not battling Metro North, she enjoys practicing her photography skills, reading the latest best-sellers, trying new recipes for the girls, getting outdoors whether running, hiking or snowshoeing, and competing with her husband for the self-proclaimed title of “Efficiency Expert.” If you can’t find her doing any of these things, she most likely has fallen asleep on the sofa while attempting to watch the latest “must see” movie.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I frequently visit OAMM but never actually cook any of their stuff. My hubby doesn’t eat 85% of veggies/rice/quinoa and multifood allergy son makes it hard for me. We do live on frozen veggies for little guy and luckily big guy is happy with simple fast meals.

    • I’m a vegetarian (the only one in the house), so I can relate to having multiple meal options going on. And, that is also why my post tended towards the veggies. I seriously love OAMM meals though, and they have some good meat recipes too that are pretty simple (some slow-cooker options).

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