9 Freezer Meals to Prep for Newborn Life!

Stocking my freezer with meals for when Jack arrives!

I really can’t believe that I’m already 38 weeks pregnant. Don’t get me wrong, I feel like I’ve been pregnant FOREVER, but I just felt like I’d never get to the end lol But here we are, down to the final weeks! The timing of this pregnancy worked out really well with my work schedule because my company gives us 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Years. So I’ve been planning on using that time to stock our freezer with lots of frozen meals we can quickly make once Jack arrives in January!

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Preparing for Whole30

I’ve always been the kind of person that gets super excited about something and then reads up on it like crazy! As a kid, any time I got a new pet I’d learn everything about them.  To this day, I can still tell you more than you probably care to know about Beta fish and Hermit Crabs lol

So in preparation for this experiment, I read through the Whole30 book and reviewed other various articles on the internet.  I just wanted to make sure I had a good idea of what I’d be eliminating, good alternatives, and any tips and tricks that might be helpful. Plus, I like knowing all the science and reasons behind something like this–that’s what helps me feel motivated and driven.

Quite honestly, I started feeling pretty good about it.  I realized you can still have potatoes, which is a HUGE deal for me haha I think just that alone will help me feel like I’m not starving myself of carbs.  For the most part, I already eat this way for breakfast and lunch during the week.  I don’t really eat any dairy or carbs during the day, so the only real struggle is going to be at night.  A meal doesn’t feel complete for me without 3 parts–meat, carbs, and  veggies.  So finding satisfying replacements for my pasta and rice will be a big deal.  I do really enjoy spaghetti squash so I’m hoping between that, cauliflower rice, and potatoes I’ll be good to go! Plus, you’re allowed to keep eating until you feel full, so it’ll be nice not having to carefully measure my portions.  I can just allow myself to enjoy the food until I feel like I’ve naturally come to the end of my meal.

In preparation for today (my first day!), I went to the grocery store on Sunday and got lots of goodies to get me started:

Spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, zucchini, squash, avocados, apples, strawberries, bananas, oranges, watermelon, coconut milk, coconut aminos, kombucha, chicken, ground turkey, and beef.  My new neighbors already loaded me up with their chicken’s and duck’s eggs, so I’m good to go there.

I knew in order to be successful with this, I needed to do a little bit of meal prep.  I know some people go crazy with it, but I like to do a little at a time.  So yesterday I cooked several potatoes (red and sweet potatoes) in the crockpot along with 3 chicken breasts.  I also hard-boiled some eggs and made 2 chia puddings (just 4 tbs of chia seeds and 1 cup of flax milk, mixed together and put in the fridge).  Later in the week, I’ll be roasting my spaghetti squash but for now I’ll just be making zoodles for dinner with my zucchini.  In the morning, I finish putting together my breakfast and lunch.  Today I diced up some strawberries and chopped up some pecans and threw them on top of the chia pudding I prepped.  For lunch, I made a salad with the lettuce, red pepper, cucumber, and avocado and then threw some of my slow-cooked chicken on top! I also always make my dressing the day of–I just get a small container and pour in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a splash of whatever vinegar I’m in the mood for (today I did red wine vinegar), salt, pepper, and some herbs (today it was parsley).

I don’t anticipate the work-day to be much of a struggle because it’s no different other than adding in meat…which I’m pretty excited about.  The real test will be how crazy I feel not having real pasta with dinner tonight…and not snacking all night long on carbs…

Stay tuned!

 

Veggie Frittata

I’m a creature of habit.  I always sat in the same seat in class, whether they were assigned or not.  I park in the same area every time I go to a place.  And I default to salad for lunch almost every day of the week.  In the summer, that’s perfectly fine and I pretty much never get sick of it.  I’m able to get so much gorgeous produce from the local farmer’s market or farm stand so I’m always excited to try that week’s haul.  But in the winter, I pretty much get the same produce from the grocery store every week and it’s easy for salads to get boring.  Plus, I don’t always want a cold lunch when it’s so cold outside.  I’ve always loved warm meals and frequently when asked what I feel like eating, I’ll say “Idk..something hot.” lol

So the other weekend, we went to visit my husband’s sister who lives on a farm in New Hampshire.  Her chickens have finally started laying eggs, so she sent me home with a ton of them.  As I was in my kitchen that Sunday trying to figure out what to make for lunch that week, I figured a frittata would be a great way to 1) mix up my usual salads with something warm and 2) use up all those eggs I now had in my fridge.  I’d never made a frittata but I figured it couldn’t be too hard!

I had lots of leftover veggies in my fridge so I figured I’d just throw them all in.  You can use whatever veggies you want! Anything you think would taste good with eggs.  I’d say throw in whatever veggies you normally like in an omelet.  I happened to have cherry tomatoes, spinach, onions, mushrooms, and yellow peppers.

I heated 2 tablespoons of olive oil in my cast iron skillet over medium heat and then began sauteing all the veggies, which I had chopped into bite-sized pieces.  

As the veggies cooked, I cracked 10 eggs into a bowl, added in 1/3 cup of almond milk, 1 tsp salt, a few dashes of pepper, 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, 1 tsp of basil, and  whisked it all up until it was mixed.  Then I added in a handful of shredded cheddar cheese.  It was probably about 1/2 a cup, but it’s up to you! I honestly don’t think you could use too much or too little cheese haha Just add it based on your preference.

As I said, I used 10 eggs, but that was because they were on the smaller side.  If I had large eggs, I probably would have only used about 8. But just like the cheese, it honestly doesn’t matter that much! As long as you have enough egg mixture to fill your skillet, you’re good.

Once the veggies were pretty tender, I poured in the egg mixture and let it cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Just until the edges started to pull away from the sides of the skillet.

Then I popped it into the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.  You just need to cook it until the egg looks fully set in the middle.  Once it was done, I let it cool on the counter.  Then I cut it into slices and popped them into tupper ware containers for the week.  Super simple and it made for such a yummy lunch! I looked forward to eating it every day! I’ll be doing this more often for sure. Especially since there are so many different combinations of add ins!

Ingredients:

  • 10 medium eggs or 8 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup milk of your choice (you could also use heavy cream for a richer frittata)
  • 2 cups chopped veggies of your choice (I used cherry tomatoes, spinach, onions, mushrooms, and yellow bell pepper)
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • pepper to taste
  • cast iron skillet

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat.
  3. Chop your veggies into bite-sized pieces and add to skillet. Cook until tender.
  4. In a large bowl, crack your eggs then add in milk, Italian seasoning, basil, salt, and pepper.  Whisk together until mixed and add in cheese. Give it one final mix.
  5. Pour mixture into skillet and allow to cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until you can see the sides begin to pull away from the skillet or begin to cook.  No need to stir the mixture! Just let it cook.
  6. Pop skillet into the oven and let cook for 10 minutes or until the center is fully set.
  7. Let cool and enjoy! If meal prepping, you can slice and place in separate containers.