I recently potty trained Will. I noticed that he seemed somewhat ready to train but he was also super young at only 24 months. Fortunately, he got the hang of it mostly in just a few days and after another week, he improved his rate of getting number #2 actually in the potty. Now we've been going strong for 2 1/2 weeks and haven't had an accident in 4 days and he actually has been waking up dry the past few days! It is so nice to have it over and done with before baby #3 is born.
Speaking of baby #3, did I mention that I'm due next month? Today my sweet friends hosting a little shower which helped me to get some of the random things I need. There are a few more things I want to pick up such as a nose frida but I currently have 3 packs of newborn diapers so I should be good for the first week, right? Another thing that I've been doing to prepare is making freezer dinners. With baby #1, I don't think I made any freezer meals. I knew people from church would bring me dinner every other day for 2 weeks and I love to cook so I was happy to get back into it as soon as possible. With baby #2, I think I made a couple of freezer meals but not much. It was much harder to get back into cooking as 5 pm seemed to be the magic hour when the toddler and the baby meltdown at the same time. But it was still possible to cook especially if I planned ahead. This time around, I'm not taking any chances. Since 28 weeks or so, I've been trying to make 1 freezer meal a week. I just try to double whatever I'm cooking and stick in the freezer so it doesn't overwhelm me or our budget. I thought I'd share with you a few things that I've frozen.
Here is what I have so far:
Lemon Garlic Chicken - this cooks in the crockpot!
Philly chicken Cheesesteak - another crockpot meal! Notice a theme?
Korean Beef - there are so many recipes for this online. Super simple and super yummy!
Chicken and veggie parmesan - I'll just cook up some spaghetti and heat this in the oven
Healthy Indian Butter Chicken - I cooked up a double portion and stuck half the freezer to be reheated
Chicken pot pie filling - All I have to do is muster the strength to make a pie crust and we'll be good to go.
This week I also plan throwing a bunch of chicken drumsticks in a marinade and then freezing so Aaron can throw them on the grill as well as some of these addictive sweet potato and black bean burritos.
I would love to do some soups as well but it has been sweltering here so we haven't been wanting to eat any for dinner. There is a good chance that enchiladas or a lasagna will also end up in my freezer in the next few weeks. What are your favorite meals to freeze? I'd love to hear your suggestions?
There are so many freezer meal tips and tricks online but here are my top three tips.
1. If possible, place the meal in a freezer bag, press it as flat as possible and freeze on a baking sheet. Flat bags of food stack so well in the freezer.
2. If you plan on freezing several different things, start an excel spreadsheet listing every meal, what "extra" ingredients are needed, and basic directions.
3. Don't be afraid of freezing meals that are marketed as a "freezer meal." Seriously, I have frozen several delicious meals with success that were not labeled as a freezer meal. Most freezer meals tend to be casseroles so I'm looking forward to pulling out a super comforting curry. Just be sure and read a few tips about what types of food don't work well in the freezer before you get too carried away.
