I really can relate to this post from a kid’s point of view. While my mother did not cook with leftovers in mind she did have a very limited menu. For supper all of my growing up years we probably only had the same 8 or 9 simple meals (that usually included potatoes in some form) with a very special one thrown in every couple of months. Nobody knew any different. She wasn’t burded with thinking of something new and creative all the time and we really liked the food. To this day, all of us grown kids LOVE potatoes and each of her plain simple meals!

Nobody is going to die eating only 3 different meals in one week. I bet your family just loves it. We all KNOW anything baked in a delicious crust (like chicken pot pie) is good enough to eat twice in a row : )

Trixie

So now I’m curious to know how you handle food prep in the midst of pregnancy yuckies.

It’s not that I can’t handle the smells of the food; it’s that I’m so sick I don’t even get off the couch. We eat sandwiches, bagged lettuce for salads, and lots of baked potatoes with fixins’. It looks a lot like Stephanie (#11).

Do you have that many cassarole dishes? Do you freeze in the cassaroles?

Sometimes I freeze; mostly we just eat a dish two nights in a row. I will copy and paste a work-in-progress menu ideas at the end here. There are about 2-3 that we didn’t care for, but I can’t remember which ones they were.

Do you freeze before it’s baked or after?

Usually before it’s baked. Like others have mentioned, sometimes I’ll assemble the ingredients in a gallon-size ziploc bag, freeze, thaw, dump in a 9 x 13, cook.

Greg makes great hamburgers though….

Eryn is a former member of Greg’s youth group. Yes, we let Greg near the grill. I don’t grill. I have to draw the line somewhere. Greg likes to grill; it’s a man thing. Kind of like he always drives when we ride together.

***********************
Here is the menu idea document sitting on my desktop:

Loaded Baked Potato Soup (Do not add the salt)
http://recipes.robbiehaf.com/PQ/314.htm

Chicken pot pie (MOMYS cookbook)

*Chicken Divan over rice w/vegetable
http://www.dinnersinthefreezer.com/article1018.shtml

*Bacon Wrapped Chicken with a fresh salad (Atkins!!)
http://www.dinnersinthefreezer.com/article1011.shtml

*Lemon Chicken over rice w/vegetable
http://www.dinnersinthefreezer.com/article1017.shtml

*Beef Noodle Supreme w/salad
http://www.dinnersinthefreezer.com/article1003.shtml

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Baked Potato w/toppings and Salad

*Spaghetti and Meatballs or Italian Sausage w/salad

*Stuffed shells w/salad

Fettuccini Alfredo with chopped fresh tomatoes and basil

*Shepherd’s Pie
Macaroni and Cheese w/ cut up hot dogs

*Shredded lime pork loin (+olive oil), black beans, over rice and sour cream

Open-faced ham and cheese broiled on hamburger buns and veggie sticks w/dip

Homemade Pizza

*Casserole: noodles, tomato soup, sour cream, black beans, corn, hamburger

*Ham & Pineapple Casserole (Where’s that recipe?) and salad greens

*Lasagna
http://www.easyfoodnetwork.com/view.php?ItemID=276

*Beefy Rice Casserole (don’t need to precook rice!!!)
http://www.dinnersinthefreezer.com/article1026.htm

Wraps (flat bread, meat, cheese, mayo, chopped tomato, pickles, bean sprouts) and veggie sticks

Tacos or taco pie
http://www.easyfoodnetwork.com/view.php?ItemID=374

Chili

Combine 2 boxes of Pasta Roni, Kielbasa, and frozen green beans

Bacon, Tomato slice, cheese on wheat Bagel, Broil, Ranch on the side and carrot sticks

Hawaiian stir fry (find recipe) over rice

Chicken curry (Coconut milk, curry powder, chili powder, tomato sauce, garlic, onion, potatoes, carrots)

Pasta with olive oil, garlic, basil, parmesan, salt, pepper, diced tomatoes, maybe a little ricotta

Fried chicken or ham, Donna’s potato salad thing, baked beans

Potato soup (4 hours in the crock pot)

Roast and veggies in the crock pot

* = Double and freeze