Baby Food

[eunny jang]

Hi!

So, Jeff's brother is having a baby tomorrow to keep his 3 and 6 year olds company. I want to make them something, maybe a couple things, that they can pull out of the freezer and heat in the oven for a couple hours to have a decent no-brainer dinner. I'm thinking an American-style lasagne and a big family chicken pot pie, in disposable foil pans.

Are there other good ideas for things I might make to make their lives a little easier in the next few weeks? The kids are some of the pickiest I've ever seen - suggestions that wouldn't necessitate cooking another dinner for the kids would be most appreciated

Edited February 17, 2005 by eunny jang (log)

[jgm]

It might not hurt to find out what the kids will eat. Picky eaters tend to have their own reasons, none of which make sense to anyone else.

I'm thinking about pot roast; I don't know if the vegetables would survive freezing, but there are a few frozen vegetables out there that would accompany it well. Chicken, if it's not been frozen before, can be cut in half, seasoned with just about anything you like, and frozen. Also, a riff on the lasagna idea might be manicotti. You could double up on the tomato sauce you make for the lasagna, and stuff the cooked manicotti shells with ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella; pour the sauce over and freeze. I also make beef stew (some people would call it a thick vegetable beef soup) without potatoes, and serve it over a baked potato. In fact, lots of stuff can be served over a baked potato, and thinking in that direction might offer more ideas. And then there's chili: without beans for the nursing mother, please!

[suzilightning]

pop's smooch - cooked macaroni, smooshed up tomatoes, cooked ground(beef/turkey/buffalo - your choice), cooked onions. bake about 1/2 hour and freeze. will take about 1 hour at 325 from frozen.

i second the ideas for chili and mannicotti in sauce. how about soups? vegetable, vegetable beef, tomato?

if you are not freezing it how about mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs? the kids might like that.

congrats to jeff's brother and sil. here's to an easy and healthy birth.

[therdogg]

enchiladas

[Lone Star]

King Ranch Casserole

Chicken spaghetti/tetrazzini (freezes very well)

Shredded barbeque beef (made from slow-roasted chuck) for sandwiches

Johnny Marzetti casserole ( never met a kid who didn't like that)

Preparing meals for them to have on hand is probably the nicest thing you could do! Back in the day, I had newborn twins and a two-year-old. The donation of prepared meals in those early days is probably what saved me from the purple kool-aide.

Edited February 17, 2005 by Lone Star (log)

[snowangel]

Assuming that mom is going to be home with all three kids (or even two of the three), one of the most helpful things you can do is provide some food she can feed herself and the kids during the day, when dad is at work. Stuff that requires almost no prep, other than nuking. Mac and cheese. Some stuff that mom can fix one-handed while she is nursing or hold the new little one. Yes, some dinners for the freezer are great, but so is popping in with some deli treats for the mom and a rotisserie chicken and a bagged salad.

I remember well when we brought Peter home from the hospital. I was home with two kids all day, with a third half the day, and feeding us during the day was almost more difficult that feeding us at night, because I'd cook or get something ready for dinner the next night after Paul got home, and after the kids were in bed.

[Sartain]

Pre-assembled pizza?

Every kid I've ever cooked for loves pizza. Nothing fancy, just your everyday cheese or pepperoni pizza.

[Toasted]

A nice fruit salad. The kids can pick out the fruit they like and mom doesn't have to deal with chopping and peeling it all.

[jgm]

Check out this link:

http://www.simplesupperstogo.com/

Simple Suppers to Go is a business in our community started last spring by a local chef. You go to her store, look at the menu, and pick which items you want to make. If you look around on the website, you'll find her menus, which will have some ideas for things you can freeze for later cooking and consumption, and there will also be an explanation of exactly how her business works, if you're interested. She's a pretty generous and open person, and if you had questions about what works well and what doesn't, I'm sure she would talk with you about it. I'm so glad to see her business is doing well, both for her and for the community. I've referred a lot of people to her, who needed fix-ahead meals for kids their families, and for elderly parents.

[lcdm]

I remember when I was pregnant with the first, people used to tell me to cook and freeze meals. Did I listen? Of course not, who knew the baby would take up so much time and that I would not get more than 1-2 hours of sleep a night.

My mom made me chili and stew and froze in several serving size containers. My sister-in-law brought me a meal, a frozen casserole (pork chops onions and seasoned BBQ sauce in a disposable foil container), a box of frozen peas and two cleaned potatoes, with instructions. Throw the potatoes and casserole in the oven at the same time and nuke the peas. Very easy and better than take out.

Second child, I pre-made a bunch of meatballs and froze in bags of six, I also fried up chicken cutlets and froze (made my own chicken fingers). Made a few casseroles (like lasagna, the sister-in-law pork meal, Mexican lasagna).

I think the thing that helped me the most was to have things pre-planned (written down). Most of the time it worked, but other nights we were eating cereal, omelets or take out.

[suzilightning]

i have two meatloaves ready to go into the oven. if you bake one for only half an hour the pull out, cool and freeze it can be finished baking 30-45 minutes in a 350 oven.

what about individual meatloaves for the kids then just par bake 15 minutes or so and follow above instructions?

[Dana]

I'm with snowangel on this one. Make some stuff for lunches - sandwiches already made up and tightly wrapped in Saran, pasta salad, cut up vegtables with a dip - most kids like to dip. Maybe some cookies or brownies for an afternoon snack. For the sandwiches, use some fun breads, not regular square slices. Kids like something different and special. Hard boiled or deviled eggs and cheese sticks are nice for a nursing mother as well as kids.