Cooking for the Future

As I mentioned, I am going to be making some meals that I can freeze this week, so that when I'm on bed rest and in the hospital and we have a baby in the NICU, we can still have healthy, home-cooked meals. I love the idea of spending a day cooking up a month's worth of meals, or places like Super Suppers, but honestly - who has a whole day to just cook?! I don't. And on days that I do make up a lot of things ahead of time (usually like prep for a party), the clean up is killer! Too many pans, too many ingredients, too small of a kitchen!

So my solution is that I make freezer-friendly recipes for dinner during the week. I cook dinner just like I normally would, except double the recipe. Then I cook half for that night and stick the other half in the freezer for the future.

Here is my menu for this week:

Monday - Sloppy Joe's (half the mix went in the freezer in a zip loc bag) and corn on the cob

Tuesday - Zucchini Baked Ziti (half went in an aluminum foil casserole dish in the freezer - actually this made enough for TWO freezer pans and one for tonight)

Wednesday - Beef and Barley Soup (half goes in a giant zip loc bag in the freezer) with Salad and Rolls

Thursday - Pizza (half the dough goes in the freezer)

Friday - Taco Soup (half goes in a zip loc bag in the freezer)

Saturday - Veggie Pasta Shells (half go in an aluminum casserole dish in the freezer)

Sunday - Steak, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies (nothing for the freezer today)

So in one week, I'll have six meals in the freezer (actually 7 with the double ziti pans). Our wonderful friends have already offered to bring meals too. And when I was on bed rest before, we usually ordered pizza once a week, and Davis (who is the breakfast cook in the family) also did things like make breakfast for dinner. So if I make freezer dinners for another week or so, we should be set for a while. Since I do all the grocery shopping and cooking normally, and Davis will have so much extra on his plate already, I will feel better knowing food is taken care of.

Because I know I could get stuck in bed any day, I am trying to take care of as many things as I can. Today I finished all the registration forms for the girls' school and dropped them along with their updated immunization records at the school office. I've bought their clothes for the fall. Their class supply lists should be posted any day (they said today, but they didn't make it) so I'll be able to get those in order too.