With the upcoming arrival of our firstborn (referred to locally as "bebe"), I understand that we are going to be homebound for a while and will need to have some prepared food at the house. We live in the sticks, so delivery isn't an option out here. The internet and my experienced mom friends all suggest making meals in advance and freezing them, which seems easy enough until I realized that most recipes I can find for freezer friendly meals seem to be meat-based.
Here is a round up of some meals that would freeze nicely, are vegetarian, and would make a great meal rounded out with a simple salad (or eaten on their own at 3 am):
1. Smitten Kitchen's take on Thousand Layer Lasagne (with spinach) - I've made fresh pasta from scratch before (here's Jaisa's tutorial btw) and have a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid. Time to spend an afternoon rolling some lasagna sheets. This would freeze beautifully and reheat easily.
2. Delightful Repast's Vegetarian Quiche - With quiche, you want to cook it ahead of time, let cool, and then freeze it. I will be making this veggie-packed quiche and then cutting into individual servings before freezing in foil.
3. Most Mac & Cheese will freeze nicely. I'm including the picture above (Toasty Mac and Cheese from Real Simple) because I thought it was hilarious that Real Simple suggests those smoothies as "similar recipes". Kale Apple Smoothie... Mac and Cheese that calls for 5 cups of whole milk... totally the same thing. (I will probably make our Gouda Mac & Cheese and freeze in single servings for quick comfort food).
4. Homemade Calzones from The Kitchn - making small calzones in advance makes perfect sense for me & Jesse because he can make up his own meat lover's ones while I fill mine with eggplant, spinach, & ricotta. Totally beats Hot Pockets!
5. Squash, Kale, & White Bean Soup from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen - for sure the healthiest of the bunch, but looks delicious and nourishing.
As you can see, I have my work cut out for me for the next 49 (!!!) days. Please feel free to share any freezer friendly veggie meals YOU like. Stay hungry!
