Lentil Dal

I really can't take credit for making this meal. My friend basically did it, and I chopped a few things. She has made this one quite a bit, so just kind of did her thing. I like this recipe, although its a little harder to make since I don't have all the spices at home right now (like Tumeric, etc). But its nice because we froze 2 serving portions and you can just microwave them once you want to eat. We put the rice and the mixture in microwave save containers. 

http://ohsheglows.com/2015/10/12/golden-red-lentil-dal-with-cilantro-speckled-basmati/

Update: I made this meal and it was very tasty. I even cooked it from frozen once and it was very good. I added a little water before microwaving which helped.

Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Shells

This recipe looks great, was very simple and I can't wait to try it.

It just involves boiling the pasta shells (al dente, since they will be baked again later) and stuffing them with a mixture of ricotta cheese, parmesan, mozzarella, salt, pepper, cooked spinach, fresh basil, and egg). Then you lay some sauce in a pan, put the shells in and put sauce and mozzarella over it. Done!

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/stuffed-peppers/63e29e18-903e-467c-aec5-fba4ce3a138f

Update: This meal was delicious. It said heat at 350 for 20-30 minutes but I ended up needing to do 30-40 to get it fully heated through.

Stuffed Peppers

We also made stuffed peppers yesterday. Super pumped about these.

This involved browning lean ground beef (we used beef from my friend's family's farm... awesome) and sauteeing that with garlic and onion, then adding pasta sauce. We put the mozzarella cheese in the mixture instead of one top to avoid having it burn later. Rice was mixed in. My friend used several spices, although I'm not 100% sure what all she used. You could definitely mix this up, or use turkey, chicken, etc instead.

The raw peppers are used to hold the filling, and everything was covered in saran wrap and tin foil before freezing. We put labels on that remind you of the following directions to bake:
 - Put in fridge overnight to defrost
 - Remove plastic and re-cover with foil
 - Bake at 350-375 for 40-50 minutes, until peppers are cooked

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/stuffed-peppers/63e29e18-903e-467c-aec5-fba4ce3a138f

Lactation Cookies

Yesterday I went over to a friend's house and made 4 different freezer recipes! I'm feeling much more prepared now. I will give an overview of what we did in the next several posts.

First up, lactation cookies! These have brewer's yeast which can help with milk supply, apparently. And they are delicious. We made a double batch of this recipe, but didn't include the fenugreek capsules because apparently there is some indication according to my friend that they aren't safe for pregnancy, so we just avoided.

We baked the cookies, and then froze them. We also added dried cherries, YUM. The only other substitution we made was using butter in place of coconut oil. 

http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater.com/lactation-cookies-recipe/

Update: These cookies were awesome and I ate them way quicker than I'd like to admit. I often just ate them right out of the freezer. 

Taco Bake

What I like about this taco bake, is that the recipe I based it off of had specific baking instructions from frozen. I imagine you could change it up, and do different meat or veggie combinations, as well as different rice and cheeses. I'll let you guys know what I did.

Ingredients: 
 - 1 package lean ground turkey
 - taco seasoning (1 packet), although I used the rest of the taco seasoning we had, and then added some cumin
 - 1/2 red onion
 - can corn
 - can black beans
 - large can of diced tomatoes
 - mozzarella cheese
 - cooked rice (I just microwaved a bag of 90 second Spanish style rice since its what we had), but ideally you would make at least 2 cups of cooked rice so it covers the bottom of the pan. Next time I'll probably do 2 cups of brown rice.

Directions:
 - spray 9 x 13 pan
 - put cooked rice into the bottom of the pan
 - brown the meat, then add in onions (could also add other veggies, or do another type of meat)
 - add corn, beans and tomatoes, until mixture is warmed, then turn off heat
 - once mixture is cooled, pour mixture over rice, then top with shredded cheese
 - cover in tinfoil and label

When ready to make:
1) take out and put into fridge overnight
2) Bake at 350 covered with tinfoil for 45 minutes
3) Uncover and bake until the top is "nice and brown" (according to recipe)

Again, I'll update this post once I make this and confirm its good, but I'm hopeful!

Enchilada Casserole

This enchilada casserole looked super good to me. The recipe isn't technically a freezer meal based on the Pinterest post, and I edited some things, so we shall see. But it looks pretty good so I'm hopeful it will taste just as good.

Ingredients:
 - 24 corn tortillas
 - two cans of enchilada sauce
 - a 9 x 13 baking pan
 - can of black beans
 - can of corn (could also use frozen, I'd imagine and just de-thaw with running water) 
 - chopped red and green bell pepper
 - shredded cheese (I used Mexican cheese, and mozzarella on top, mostly to use up the rest of the Mexican cheese I had)

I sprayed the pan with Pam cooking spray, then layered the corn tortillas on the bottom (can be overlapping), then I put a layer of enchilada sauce, peppers, corn, and beans, and covered with shredded cheese. 

You then repeat that same thing again (tortillas, sauce, veggies, cheese), then put a final tortilla layer on top with the sauce and shredded cheese.

This means that each time you layer cheese and sauce, do about 1/3 of what you have. And when you layer the veggies split it in half.

I didn't really measure any of this, but the breakdown seemed to work. 

I then covered with tinfoil and labeled it with the name, date made, and my best guess for instructions. I wrote on the tinfoil the instructions that are similar to the other Taco Bake I made today (see post to following), which said:

1) put in fridge overnight to partially de-thaw
2) Bake covered at 375 for 45-55 mins

I plan to check in with this bad boy often to make sure it doesn't burn. I will let update this post once I actually make it to see if it turns out!!

Egg and Veggie Muffins!

My first freezer meal attempt was a simple one, veggie and egg muffins! I like this idea because I love eggs and I love the idea of being able to add whatever veggies in that I happen to have on hand.

Today, I made it with the following:
 - 8 eggs
 - fresh spinach leaves
 - red bell pepper
 - red onion
 - topped with shredded mozzarella cheese

I sauteed the onion and bell pepper in olive oil and then added the spinach until it was wilted a bit. Then I turned the heat off and let it cool so it was warm but not at all hot.

I scrambled the eggs and added salt and pepper, and once the veggies were cool I mixed the whole mixture together and poured it into my silicon egg muffin tin. Then I put a little mozzarella cheese on top.

Warning, since the silicon muffin tin is so flimsy, make sure you put it on another pan first. Its really annoying and hard to move it after there is already egg mixture in it without a stabilizing pan. However, I love how easily the muffins pop right out of the pan and don't stick, so this small extra step is worth it to me.

I baked it on 375 for about 15-18 minutes. Eggs in the fridge stay good for about 4 days like this, so I froze 2 as a test to see how good these will be heated from frozen. If they are good, I'm going to do a bulk session because I love these little egg guys. 

Gratitude (34 Weeks)

I am 34 weeks pregnant with our soon to be little daughter. Among the many things I am feeling, including but not limited to random aches and pains, being very quick to tears, and some fatigue, the overwhelming emotion has definitely been gratitude. I am hoping I can hold on to this emotion throughout the process of having her, and through the crazy rollercoaster of parenting.

I haven't loved everything about pregnancy, and in fact I was never really looking forward to being pregnant. I just always knew I wanted the end result. So I'd say I came in with relatively low expectations for the whole shebang. So far, even though the most uncomfortable part is yet to come, the overall experience has been somewhat close to what I expected. I haven't loved it, nor have I hated it. I've missed beer and being able to exercise without restrictions, and feeling the baby move and kick is super cool. Overall, the whole process has gone relatively quickly.

I think the thing that I've enjoyed the most is the ability to observe and admire what my body can do. Its really quite amazing to think that a human life is growing and developing as you live your day to day life. Like, I just hang out and go to work, and my body works to create my baby's toenails (I assume this happens at some point)... holy crap.

One of the ways I think pregnancy went so quickly, is that right away I started setting goals for myself of things to achieve before baby. I haven't met all of them, but doing this helped me focus on what I wanted to do and could control, versus just waiting. Especially in the early stages when you feel sick and are more anxious about miscarriage, this was definitely helpful. But I do sometimes stop and try to evaluate if I'm taking the goal setting thing too far. Meaning that focusing on the next step is making me lose track and appreciate the present. Always just wishing I was to the next phase (i.e., her birth). I know its something most struggle with, but I want to make a conscious commitment to appreciate as much as I can about these final weeks of being pregnant. Because I will never be pregnant with this little girl again. I am also appreciative that I still have energy. Last night and today I put together our new patio furniture set, and I walked for at least 3 miles today to and from the farmer's market with a friend.

Other things I appreciate about this phase:
 * I can still dote on our pup, without worrying about if everyone is getting enough love and attention
 * I can still sleep quite a bit
 * I have an excuse for when I want to nap at any time whatsoever, and no one will judge
 * I have free excuses to eat whenever and however much I want, even if I sometimes regret it later
 * Its fun to prepare and dream about our future, even though I know it might be quite different than I imagine and there is no way to know until it gets here
 * Garrett has to give me a back massage whenever I want