Meals prepped for BD, final list...

So I figured you would all want to know what I finished and how much it made, so here is each list.
Here is the first one from the beginning of the month - "So here's my planned list:
4 Turkey, err Chicken Pot Pies (filling and crust separate)
4 Meatloafs (orig recipe thanks Mommie)
4 batches of meatballs(orig recipe thanks Mommie)
4 Batches of Chili (Regular Beef Chili)
4 Enchilada Casseroles (orig, recipe thanks Katie Reinke)
4 batches of Beef Veggie Soup
2 batches of Pasta e fagioli soup
4 "Tacaroni" Bakes
4 Cheeseburger Macaroni Bakes
4 Taco Stuffed Shells (orig recipe on a food site posted by Laura Foor)
4 regular Lasagnas
4 Chicken Vegetable Lasagnas
3 batches of Chipotle Chicken Chili
4 meals from 2 Roasts with veggies, each doubles as Beef Stew a day or 2 later
3 Slow cooker Chicken Divan (orig recipe from Sandra Lee)
4 Beef Stroganoff
and some helpful starts:
3 Marinated Chipotle Chicken - for burritos
4 Marinated Teriyaki Chicken and peanuts - for Asian Wraps
4 Marinated Salsa Chicken - for Baked Chicken and Rice
= 71 original (I only made 45) planned meals/batches"

Final List: (or how much each planned recipe made)
4 Chicken pot Pie fillings
6 bags of meatballs
2 Enchilada Casseroles
8 Beef Veg Soup *Plus dinner one night
8 “Minestrone” soup (lunch portion or add sandwiches to make dinner) *Plus dinner one night
5 Tacaroni mix *Plus dinner one night
4 Cheeseburger macaroni sauce *Plus a lunch and a dinner
2 dinner & 2 lunch Taco stuffed shells *Plus 2 dinners and 2 lunches
4 regular Lasagna *Plus dinner one night
5 Chicken vegetable lasagna *Plus dinner one night
3 Divan cream sauce & 4 lemon-herb marinated chicken
4 Mushroom Alfredo for Beef stroganoff
2 Chicken Gnocchi Soup *Plus dinner one night
1 Chicken & Dumplings *Plus dinner one night
= 60 meals into the freezer, 73 meals made

Somehow I made more meals in half the time, so overall it works out a little better :)
If I had to do it over (or if I know before something comes up, no more babies here), I think I would have started a month earlier, giving me 2 months to prepare while still relaxing the last few weeks and having plenty for about 2 months afterwards. *JIC any of you are doing this for yourself :)
Overall this has taught me that with a little extra planning I can have more control over my family's food and money, and in the end that will help us out for our coming son's entire life!!

Food Prep for BD - Day 8... Chicken Vegetable Lasagna and I'm done!!

It took me a few days to get this written, after it took me 5 days to finish this meal... but I guess I didn't originally factor into my time plans the fact that cooking 4x the amount of food will take longer... or the fact that everything takes longer when you can't stand on your feet for more than 10 mins. :)

So I cooked the chicken and made the cream sauce, then spent a couple days chopping the veggies, and then a day sauteeing the veggies individually.
Finally over the weekend, Hubby watched the girls for a while when they weren't playing in the toy room and I started mixing batches of the cheese sauce mix, and the veggies in another bowl, and put the lasagnas together!!
So here's the recipe for 1 9x13, I made 4x this and it was exactly enough for 6 8x8s!!

Chicken Vegetable Lasagna
I made the "Chicken pot pie savory sauce" (recipe in Day 1) and added 1 cup of parmesan cheese to make a "Cheesy Alfredo sauce" or you could use 2 cups of your favorite.
1 lb of Chicken (I threw this in the slow cooker for a few hours with 1 1/2 tsps garlic, S&P, and 1/2 a onion minced so that it would shred. Or you could cook these together in a saute pan and chop it).
1/2 cup each: diced carrot, sliced mushrooms, chopped green pepper (I forgot the pepper in ours)
1 cup each: chopped broccoli, julienned zucchini, julienned yellow squash, chopped tomatoes (I used a bit more, a large can of diced tomatoes drained)
1 TBLS each: basil, oregano, thyme, S&P
2 cups cottage cheese
2 eggs
1 pkg lasagna noodles
1 cup grated parm cheese
2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese
saute squashes, carrots and mushrooms until soft (with butter or olive oil as needed)
then mix into a bowl with the rest of the veggies, tomatoes, and seasonings
in a separate bowl, mix ricotta, eggs, 1/2 the mozzerella, and "alfredo" together

start layering, a small amount of the cheese sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish
noodles  -  1/2 veggies  -  1/3 cheese sauce  -  parmesan  -  noodles  -  1/2 veggies  -  1/3 cheese sauce  -  parmesan  -  noodles  -  1/3 cheese sauce  -  mozzerella  -  parmesan

Cover with foil and bake 30 mins @ 375, uncover and bake 20 mins or until golden brown. Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.

If freezing, wrap in foil. Thaw 6-8 hours in the fridge and bake 50 mins covered, then 20 minutes uncovered or until golden & bubbly. Let rest before cutting.
OR bake frozen 1 hour 15 mins covered, 20-30 mins uncovered.

We had 1 for dinner, so only 5 more meals in the freezer, but BD has tried to make his appearance early so I have quit cooking and we are now living off freezer meals!!

Hope you enjoy!!
I may not be updating until after we welcome our little bundle, but I hope to start doubling meals after I get back in the swing of things once a week so that we will always have a quick meal on hand for a busy day. With kids, you can plan to have atleast the occasional busy day ;)

Food Prep for BD - Day 7... or I'm not getting as much done as I planned :P

Today gives us exactly 3 weeks before our scheduled induction and our day to finally greet "BD"!!

I finally cooked the chicken... and used some to make Chicken Gnocchi Soup!!
With plenty left over to make 4x Chicken Vegetable Lasagna. I have started slowly prepping everything else and now all I need is to make the cream sauce, mix things together and assemble them.
So that is the plan for today, and then we will have one for dinner tonight!
After we bought the name brand veggie lasagna a year ago, I found it a few months ago and we had it for dinner.
Butterfly said she didn't like the store's recipe, she "only wants mommy's recipe lasagna". I beamed and so this is one meal I could not cross off my list.
I have now removed a lot of meals that if we really need them, I think Hubby can make them.
Meatloaf is just measure, dump, mix and bake.
Chili is measure and dump into a crockpot, roasts are chop and dump, and the marinated chicken meal starts I had planned just mean that we have to throw them together in a bag the night before.
So 7 things have been removed (26 planned meals) but somehow, I have more meals in my freezer than originally planned. Or will as soon as I finish these last 3 things.
Crossing those things off, means I only planned to make 45 batches of the meals that are still on the list. I have almost 60 meals in the freezer with 12 more batches planned with these last 3 meals, at this rate I think they will make a few more than just 12 meals...
I will post my recipe for my lasagna, and the enchilada bakes if I finish them.
I'm making meatballs sunday and then calling it quits!!
I thought I would have all this done by now, but a lot has come up this month that wasn't planned so I'm on day 7 instead of day 15 like I thought (thought I could finish in 15 days, with prep days, or bean soaking & cooking, or stock days inbetween).

Food & BD update, 3 1/2 weeks to go...

Had a Dr appt and while he would like to put me on bedrest, he has learned that I take care of my pregnancy and I'm pretty stubborn :) (Did I really just admit that? hmmm, guess that's where the kids get it, LOL).
I'm only 1 cm dialated at 35weeks 3days, so I will continue to do what it takes to take care of my kids, and hubby is being amazing about helping with housework and anything else that I can't do right now <3

Having escaped bedrest for a little longer, with the well meaning advice to "rest as much as possible, drink plenty of water and make sure you sit down when anything hurts" haha... I went for some more blood tests, and I was on my way home!!

I came home to my mom doing "science" with the girls, homemade ice cream!! So much fun, but I think I need coffee cans for them for next time. They made vanilla and loved it, but next time we need to be more adventurous, add fruit or chocolate chips! I love when they have fun learning new things, and my mom is great at coming up with fun ways to learn new things!!
After we ate the, umm, ice milk (they are 4 & 1, so we were impressed and enjoyed what they did!), my mom hung out with them a while longer so I could finally finish the Beef Vegetable Soup.

So added to my tally is 4 bags of Cheeseburger macaroni sauce (after eating it for dinner one night too!) and 8 bags of Beef Vegetable soup (again, after eating it for dinner last night!).
We have already eaten a few of the freezer meals, and still have 51 meals made this month in the freezer!!

We decided to modify the plan since I can only stand for 10-20 minutes, and so many things have come up this month that were not planned but kept me from cooking :(... so some meals have been scrapped from the original list. I want to spend the last 2 weeks just enjoying our littles and preparing for BD, in hopes of keeping him in until eviction day!
This morning I'm thawing 4 1/2 lbs of chicken so that hopefully in the next 2 days I can make Chicken Vegetable lasagna which is the plan for dinner tomorrow.
Then, I will make the Enchilada Casseroles this weekend.
I think I am going to make the meatballs at the beginning of next week, and I'm debating about the Chipotle Chicken Chili next week.
Hubby can go shopping and cook simple meals if we do run out, but with our huge chest freezer about 2/3 full and our side-by-side indoor freezer filled, I think we will have more than enough to last us until I feel like cooking again, or it's warm enough for him to start grilling!!

Off I go to cook chicken... hope the girls let me and I hope the boy quits head butting my, uhh, hips so I can get something done today.  Just glad that he has stayed head down for a week, so while it hurts it also makes me happy :D

Food Prep for BD - Day 6... or time to hurry!!

So, we didn't get Doodle this weekend :(
After labor pains on friday, we sent the girls with my parents for another weekend. I got some folding done so I'm almost done with regular and new baby laundry, and food prep was only what I could do sitting down.
Tried to rest and relax all weekend, Hubby had lots of work to keep him busy and I feel a sudden sense of urgency to be ready for BD. So hopefully my next post is about more food, not his birth, but we shall see. God won't give us more than we can handle and only he knows if we or I can handle any more right now.

So I sat and chopped veggies and cheeses when I didn't want to just sit... Hubby finished my homemade beef stock and so I was easily able to take over this morning with adding onions and meat to pots.

Cheeseburger Macaroni x4 in one: Browned 4lbs of ground beef w/2 onions, drained and added flour, milk, cheddar & velveeta, dijon mustard, and spices (S&P, thyme, sage).

Into the other is 4+lbs of beef stew cubes with onion, aminos, and beef stock until they are tender. I will add carrots and potatoes that I chopped already. Then diced tomatoes, shredded cabbage, frozen lima & green beans and peas. Spices and such to make it taste right, then they will both cool.

Each should make 4 meals or more, putting us at over 50 meals :D So we should easily have more than the original 70+ planned meals at this rate, even if I don't finish everything!!

The Veg-beef soup is just thaw, heat and serve.
The Cheeseburger Mac is thaw then heat with a 3/4 to a full box of fresh cooked pasta.

Hope this is helping someone :) If not, atleast I know the internet will never lose my recipes!! So if I ever need to cook for a month or more again, I won't have to re-create these ones :D

Food Prep for BD - Day 5... or what do I call my soup??

Soo, I made homemade kidney beans (from dry... nothing fancy, just takes a while and then I have to use them!) so that I could make a pasta/bean soup.
Minestrone? Pasta e fagioli?
IDK, but I wanted soup with pasta and beans, in a little bit of broth with tomatoes that I could add ground beef to. Ohh, and it had to be yummy...
I have made this a million times, but it was not until after Lady bug was months old that it occurred to me that I should write down and save my creations/recipes, so that I could re-make them.
This is the first time since then that I have wanted to make this, so in search of a recipe that fit :D
Friends sent me their favorites, and I googled... but no, no recipes gave me what I wanted. Sadly, pregnancy takes away my ability to substitute something "similar but easier" when I have a craving. So I had to create my soup from scratch.
Here is what I made, we all loved it here! Just no idea what to call it :D HAHA!

Pasta/Bean "Stoup"
(note: I made 4x this amount and it gave us one meal last night and 8 in the freezer)
1/2 lb ground beef cooked to crumbles then drained, with
1 crushed clove of garlic, 1/2 an onion diced, 1 diced carrot, and 1 diced celery stalk
- meanwhile cook 1 dry cup of your fav small pasta (I used shells)
then mix the meat mixture with the cooked pasta, and 1 can (or 2 cups cooked) beans, 1 small can diced tomatoes, 1 cup sliced zucchini, and 1 cup cut green beans and 4 cups of stock (I used homemade turkey!)
to the meat and then to the "stoup" I added about 1/2 tsp each of: S&P, basil, oregano, and parsley

Hubby doesn't like cooked spinach or I would have added that, and if theres more veggies that I could think of, I would have added them to, but for my first atttempt in almost 2 years, the family & I were happy with the results! .... and when pregnant, I think thats all that matters :)

Cleaning & a visit, Baby shower and no food prep...

So hubby was on a mission last week to help me clean house. Thinking he was on board with my baby countdown, I dropped the food and focused on cleaning and we got a lot done! Just in time as a friend needed me to take her kids a few times for some minor emergencies.
Hubby's reason, I found out friday, was much better!! We had company :D
Being a non-Doodle weekend, my parents take the girls sat & sun to get Ladybug used to being away from mommy & daddy (prep for baby) and they also reward a week of good behavior with a friday trip.

So friday we were kidless and I was craving chinese. Hubby went to get it and came home with 4 dinners, and my best friend! She moved out of state months ago and with both of us adding a 4th child this year, we had no idea when either of us could visit the other.
Or so I thought.... She planned with my hubby to stay with us for the weekend so she could be here for my baby shower. My other best friend gave me a shower even though this is my 3rd pregnancy & our 4th child... but this will be my first boy, and every child should be celebrated!! So we had a wonderful brunch with lots of chatting, (no games, lol) and hanging out being kidless moms!
We all had fun and I love and thank each wonderful friend there that cares about my family, our coming son, and I. Thank you all!!

We spent a great weekend and even had our first double date as married couples (or ever!) and got to sort through lots of baby clothes. Things that had been passed down to me for my boy and things my 1 yr old has outgrown for her coming girl!! Now we both are a lot closer to being ready to clothe our coming babes, and I got a weekend to refresh and feel like me. It ended with a dinner/play visit from another friend and I felt ready to face this week.

The week started by saying good bye to my friend, my tire going flat, and having to run all over downtown :P Then a morning of taking on extra kids for an unexpected hospital trip for their baby brother.
Finally, an ultrasound of our BD. He is finally head down, and measuring a bit small, but hopefully thats fine when we see the Dr again next week.
So now we look to finish this week on a high note, after amusing the meat market again with buying 25 lbs of meat, again, and promising to see them next week :D
They like me, or they like my money!!