292724 Mon May 05 09:36:07 -0700 2003 15 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1598664 What should I cook and freeze so that we have something to eat during the first couple weeks? In general I do most of the cooking anyways but I want to have some time to do more new fatherly type stuff instead of preparing one of my regular meals. What are your favorite meals to freeze? Mon May 05 09:36:07 -0700 2003 0 John Scar 1 1598666 Congratulations! (almost) I find that italian-american standbys are great for freezing: lasagna, meat sauce for pasta, meatballs, etc. Also, soups (like a hearty vegetable or chili), stews, braised meats. For fresh variety, you can grill chicken or small steaks in the time it takes to nuke leftovers. Mon May 05 09:44:37 -0700 2003 1598664 0 dude 1 1598669 congratulations daddy if you want something really good and simple try browning sliced hotdogs or knochwurst and then add to macaroni and cheese. use lots of fresh grated cheese (any kind you like), also add a little mustard and nutmeg, then top the whole thing off with buttered breadcrumbs and bake till hot and browned. these freeze great too by the way. ali b Mon May 05 09:57:26 -0700 2003 1598664 0 ali b 1 1598671 I make large quantities of bean dishes (dals, moroccan chickpea dishes, chili, etc.) for feezing in individual or "couple" sized portions in freezer bags. It works great, and if I plan ahead and pull them out of the freezer and into the fridge the night before, only require minimal time nuking. Smokey Mon May 05 09:58:32 -0700 2003 1598664 0 Smokey 1 1598672 Congrats, dad! Lots of good advice on the threads below: http://www.chowhound.com/boards/general13/messages/37886.html http://www.chowhound.com/boards/general14/messages/44914.html And the link below is not at all chow related but should be required reading for new dads. Link: http://www.ironycentral.com/babymain.html Mon May 05 10:04:37 -0700 2003 1598664 0 Chris VR 1 1598693 I'm thinking Lasagna, roasted pork enchiladas verdes, french toast, meat balls (I made the ones from tyler's ultimate the other day with polenta and they were fantastic), Runza's ( a midwest restauarant's recipe for a meat pie basically), and Mac and Cheese. Maybe a tortilla soup with the stock I have in the freeze. If I make this next weekend will all this freeze well? Got a due date around the 20th of may. Or should try and wait one more weekend? Also any additional thoughts are welcome. thanks for the responces. Mon May 05 12:20:38 -0700 2003 1598664 0 John Scar 2 1598703 Sounds like you are really nesting! It's interesting, my husband did all the nesting for both of us--cooking and cleaning like a madman the last few weeks or so--and even doing some minor plumbing repair while I was in labor! All of what you are making sounds great. I also enjoyed couscous, you can just heat it up and then take a bit of the liquid and add it to the dried couscous. Very quick. Matzo ball soup also freezes well. You could also buy some dumplings to keep on hand. You can just add them and any veggies, noodles or greens you have on hand to the stock to make a soup (You just add the dumplings to boiling stock, cook until they float and then cook them 3-5 minutes more). Just make sure to let everything cool before you put it in the freezer. Don't want to raise the temperature too much. For soups, it's good to freeze them in small portions so you don't have to keep defrosting and refrosting. Oh and congratulations--I've never been happier than those first few weeks with my son. It's really a special time--impossible to describe! Mon May 05 12:40:54 -0700 2003 1598693 0 butterfly 2 1598706 The weeks following my baby I was too tired to eat like that. I wanted fresh fruit, sorbet, salad, (smoked salmon, caviar, champagne!). Nothing hot and heavy. That was August in NY, though. You might want to think about nutrition a little more. If your wife is feeding the baby, she'll want a lot of vegetables for vitamins. Soup is a pretty good delivery method :) Best of luck with everything. Mon May 05 12:45:17 -0700 2003 1598693 0 lucia 3 1598723 Following up on the nutrition point, it's important to replace the calcium that your wife will be passing along to the baby, and that's best done through dairy products, or if dairy results in a gassy baby, through certain green leafy vegetables. The dairy route, especially drinking milk, also helps in breast milk production. Mon May 05 14:43:04 -0700 2003 1598706 0 Abrocadabro 4 1598743 Never heard of dairy increasing breast milk production but I'll swear by oatmeal. Check out the thread below for some ideas. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/292659#1598014 Mon May 05 17:36:07 -0700 2003 1598723 0 Chris VR 2 1598708 oh you made me think of something when you mentioned ultimate meatballs: i've always wanted to try the 'manly meatballs' that arthur schwartz talks about on his radio show here in new york all the time. check it out... peace ali Link: http://www.thefoodmaven.com/radiorecipes/meatballs.html Mon May 05 12:51:18 -0700 2003 1598693 0 ali b 1 1598716 Is your wife breastfeeding? You might not want anything too gassy or spicy that won't agree with the baby and your work will be for naught. I pretty much anything I wanted, but eggplant never sat well with any of my kids. Mon May 05 13:55:14 -0700 2003 1598664 0 soula 1 1598721 This is a tangent, but should be infinitely helpful to new parents. A few months ago I was doing some herbal research for something else and came across this bit of wisdom: a tea made from fennel seeds and sipped by a breastfeeding Mom will soothe a colicky (sp?) baby. I passed this information on to a straight-up what's this-herbal-crap friend who had just had a baby that was not yet keeping her up all night. But baby *did* get colicky and Mom *did* try the fennel tea and guess what? Cleared it right up. BTW, fennel tea works wonders for flatulent grow-ups, too. Mon May 05 14:21:08 -0700 2003 1598664 0 GG Mora 2 1598722 Fair warning -- the fennel tea trick doesn't work for all babies. We tried it (and many other remedies) with varying degrees of success. It was only when we switched our baby to cow's milk, and the colic seemed to get worse, that we realized that it might be the lactose in the milk that was causing part of the problem. So we started adding Lactaid drops (no longer available), which helped greatly, as did the passage of time. Mon May 05 14:37:32 -0700 2003 1598721 0 Abrocadabro 1 1598724 What a great husband you are!! My reccomendation would be to not only have "meals" prepared but have lots of fast, tasty, healthy snacks too, especially if you will be heading back to work soon after an mom will be alone. When I was a new, breastfeeding mom it was key to have on hand healthy, easy snacks that could be prepared quickly and with one hand! ;) A few suggestions: Hummus and crackers/Cheese and crackers Nut Butters (for more excting PB&J's) however some people warn about nuts in breastfeeing mom's Veggie burgers Veggie Pizza's. We would make small ones for individual servings We also roasted a large chicken every Sunday for me to pick on during the week. Good luck to you and your family Mon May 05 14:58:31 -0700 2003 1598664 0 foodiex2 2 1598735 Major big plus and easy too: Make plenty of rich meat broths. They are easy to reheat, and you can add in veggies, starches, or proteins galore. Not only will breastfeeding mom be hungry and need lots of nourishment, but she will really need to keep hydrated too (I'm sure you've heard all this!) One of the best ways to get in nutrition, protein, and fluids all at once is homemade broths. Chicken and beef are favorites, of course, and will probably most lend themselves to additions. Don't skim too much of the fat -- breastfeeding mom and overworked Dad will need the energy, too. This will help mom when she's sick and tired of drinking milk and water all the time. Also, soup is quick and fills you up rapidly. Can also be put in a mug and sipped while mom is feeding/holding/rocking. Make up two huge pots and freeze in pint or quart container -- you'll use them even more than you think you will. Many blessings on your new little one -- and best of luck! Mon May 05 16:22:27 -0700 2003 1598724 0 Mrs. Smith