Thankful Thursdays

Today, I am thankful for:
1) my patient husband,
2) my helpful and wonderful grandmother,
3) and my freezer.

Last night, J-bird and I went to the grocery and stocked up to do some freezer cooking in preparation for Baby Boy's arrival. A lot of food. The cashier and bagger, both teenagers, asked what we were going to do with all the food and checked to make sure we had a big refrigerator.

Today, my grandmother helped me assemble and freeze 6 meatloaves (3 beef, 3 turkey) and 6 lasagnas. Yay! We might not starve after all. J-bird and I plan on cooking and freezing more on Saturday.

Preparing for Baby: Freezer Meals

I'm in a panic trying to get everything in order before Baby Boy arrives in a little over 3 months. That's not a lot of time, especially since my belly is already the size of a small house and will only get much much bigger.

One of my preparation items is freezer meals. You know, so we don't starve while taking care of a screaming newborn. On no sleep. With a 2 year old. Scary.

Here is a recipe that we recently tested and approved for the freezer meal list for Baby Boy's arrival. It is delicious, easy, and goes from freezer to oven without the inconvenience of thawing (not hard, just easy to forget!). It would also be good for a single person as you freeze each portion individually.

Rosemary Chicken with Zucchini, from Real Simple

Serves 4 | Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 1hr 15m

Ingredients:

• 1 pound new potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 2 small zucchini
• olive oil
• whole-grain mustard
• 1 bunch rosemary
• kosher salt and pepper
• 4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 1-quart resealable plastic freezer bags

 Directions:

1. Freeze it: Quarter the potatoes. Peel the carrots. Cut the carrots and zucchini into 2-inch sticks. Mix them in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons mustard, 1 tablespoon rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Divide everything among 4 bags. Freeze, until ready to cook, for up to 3 months.
2. Cook it: Heat oven to 400° F. Remove the bags from the freezer (you'll need 1 bag for each serving). Empty the contents of the bags into a baking dish. Roast for 25 minutes. Toss the vegetables, turn the chicken, and continue roasting until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes more. Divide among individual plates. 

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Do you have any good and easy freezer recipes to share?