I'm definitely not Julia Child

but I have started on some freezer meals for once Miss Kaelyn arrives. So far it's just been random things to have on hand, but tomorrow is my first big freezer meals day. I'm actually really excited about it. It'll make me feel a lot better having a bunch of meals on hand so we don't have to worry about cooking and we're not getting takeout and pizza all the time. I'm hoping this leads to a trend of freezer meal/once a month cooking (OAMC) in the future. The concept seems pretty smart and can be a great money and time saver.

Here's what I've made so far:

Cheesy ham and potatoes casserole (2 meals)

Mashed potatoes (4-6 servings)

Twice-baked potatoes (14 potatoes)

French toast sticks (approx. 32 sticks)

Spinach artichoke dip (1-2 appetizers worth)

Little Rascals Frosty Treats for the pups (8 treats after they each had 2...14 total for the batch)

Now, this seems like a lot to make tomorrow, but the basics of the recipes are similar so it's a matter of chopping the same veggies and so forth so it makes sense to do it all at once:

Chicken broccoli pesto pasta

Chicken gyros

White chicken chili

Cream cheese chicken

Chicken tacos (the filling)

Cheesy chicken spaghetti

Stuffed peppers (the filling part)

Mexican rice

Cheesy beef and rice

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagiolo soup

I'll be posting more detailed blogs, complete with recipes and photos as I figure out my favorites. The frosty treats for the dogs were a huge hit and the Spinach Artichoke Dip rivals a lot of restaurant varieties we've had so those will likely be the first ones I post.

So I'm not exactly Julia Child--for one thing I would burst into tears at even the thought of boiling a live lobster--I actually ponder liberating the lobsters in the tank at Red Lobster every time we go there--but I'm a pretty good cook and hopefully having freezer meals on hand will make life with a newborn a little easier. One less thing to worry about anyway!