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At the end of a long day where you sat in too many meetings that should have been emails or peeled your toddler (and yourself) off the floor more times than you’d like to count and you just want to order the saltiest thing off the takeout menu…. what exactly are you going to feed your kid(s)?
If you are anything like me or any other parent I have ever met, this is absolutely not the day you’re thrilled to waltz into the kitchen and whip up a nutritious and delicious meal. Okay, maybe you’re better than me and this is exactly what you’re doing…. in that case, please stop reading here to spare me the embarrassment.
I am a proud diehard batch freezer and I could never go back.
Before I was partnered and long before I was parenting, my “meal” of choice on these overly long days that left me energy depleted and refusing to cook? Hummus. Yes, just hummus. I know, I know, absolutely not a meal…. or is it? I decidedly got on board with the “this is not a meal” committee when my now wife and I moved in together and I realized I absolutely could not serve another human just hummus for dinner. Now, I am married, have a 1-year-old and spoiler alert: I still have days where I absolutely cannot will myself to cook.
Enter the Freezer Stash aka my savior, the love of my life, my new just hummus that is oh so much more elevated.
Before I continue, let me just apologize in advance for the state of your freezer. My sincerest apologies especially go out to any spouses or other adults cohabitating with whoever may be about to take my advice. The adults in my house are hard pressed to find space in my freezer… it is constantly filled with soon-to-be-consumed meals and snacks exclusively for my one-year-old (although my wife has eaten and enjoyed some adult approved toddler snacks here and there).
Okay, I promise, I am getting to the point.
Shortly after my daughter started solids, I started making large batches of baby- and toddler-friendly food and freezing it. Nearly a year later, we are going strong and our repertoire of freezer foods keeps growing. I’m going to tell you about our favorites and how I make this little piece of magic happen.
What am I Freezing?
Breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, anything that can be made in batches ahead and frozen is your (my) friend. Bonus points if you can freeze everything as individual portions for quick and easy defrosting for a single meal (i.e., use Souper Cubes or an equivalent for soups, stews, mac & cheese, use mini muffin tins for muffins and frittatas, etc.).
I knew that if my energy level was hovering around just hummus as a meal there was no way I was going to will myself into the time and energy it would take to make my toddler the kind of healthy, well-rounded meal I wanted to be serving her and, while I hate to admit it, just hummus days are not as few and far between as one might hope.
Queue the Freezer Stash. Imagine: a freezer full of boundless options of pre-prepared, homemade, nutritious foods.
Our favorites come from several online food blogs, including Yummy Toddler Food, which is especially fantastic for parents of kiddos with allergies as each recipe offers alternatives and substitutions, recipe books, and my own adaptations.
Breakfasts
Note: The recipe calls for cheddar cheese, but I sub with mozzarella for lower sodium content.
Mini Muffins (see details under “Snacks”)
Pumpkin Pancakes (egg free, dairy free)
Breakfast Burritos
Snacks
Mini Muffins
ABC (Apple, Banana, Carrot) Muffins are my absolute favorite
Note: I omitted salt entirely before 18mo and they still came out great!
Note (PPS?): I have used both all purpose and wheat flour for these, both good (according to my 1-year-old…)
Note: I made these with blueberries, which I immediately regretted. I’d advise against using blueberries unless you have a stain remover you are quite fond of)
Note: This recipe calls for water and lists several recommended substitutes. Our favorites have been: Mashed banana, applesauce, and pumpkin puree.
Lunch/Dinner
Meatballs
Note: We love meatballs as a low-mess on the go snack. Which, at some point, I’ll write a longer post on.
Note: I add additional seasonings, usually onion powder, garlic powder, cracked black pepper, and a mix of Italian seasonings.
Baked Chicken Meatballs with Carrots
Note: I add additional seasonings, usually onion powder, garlic powder, cracked black pepper, and a mix of Italian seasonings.
Note: I add paprika and sometimes a little cayenne to taste.
Black Bean Cakes with Lime Yogurt Dipping Sauce, from The Big Book of Organic Baby Food
Rice/bean/veggie bites
No recipe here, but I generally did the following:
Cook: Prepare rice. Rinse and strain a can of black beans. Finely chop onions and garlic. Finely chop any other vegetables you’d like to add (I usually use finely chopped broccoli. Alternatively, you can use onion and garlic powder and skip chopping vegetables). Sauté garlic and onions with olive oil until browned, then add veggies. Once your veggies are almost done, add beans. Add a few tablespoons of water and cook. If you have it on hand, I always like to add nutritional yeast. Cook until most of the water evaporates.
Assemble: In a bowl, mix together rice with bean and veggie mixture.
Optional Bake: Add a shredded cheese of your choice to your rice, bean, and veggie mixture and mix until combined. Spoon mixture into mini muffin tins. Bake on 300 for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
Alternative assembly: Spoon mixture into souper cubes or equivalent meal-sized portions.
Freeze!
Note: I skip the salt and add cracked black pepper.
Quesadillas (with various fillings)
No recipe here, but I use mini taco size flour tortillas (usually from Trader Joe’s) and mozzarella or swiss cheese as my base. I’ve made these with:
finely chopped and sautéed onions with or without ground meat,
pesto and finely chopped kale or spinach,
pumpkin puree
Note: I make my own pesto for these, but you can certainly use store bought.
Note (PPS?): My spouse may or may not have requested these for herself.
Lemon Cod with Pea Puree, from The Big Book of Organic Baby Food
Note: This sounds high maintenance, but I promise it’s not. Plus, we ended up successfully freezing these portioned out to roughly the size of one meal, which by now you know is my favorite life hack!
As I write this I probably have at least eight of these in my freezer, which is to say: variety is your friend. Multiple just hummus days in a row? No problem. At least the kids are eating well.
How (in the world) am I Making These Things?
When I shared this with some fellow parents, the number one question was how and when I am finding the time to make all of these things. Three answers to this: 1. I am not even going to pretend it is easy, 2. BULK BATCHING, 3. Ask for help (have a nanny who you can ask to cook? grandparents coming to town for the weekend? add a recipe and freezing instructions to your hand off… I certainly do).
On a day where I can at least pretend to pretend I have a little bit of energy, I whip out my mini muffin molds or my Souper Cubes and get to work. Sometimes this happens during my daughter’s nap, usually it happens after bedtime, and I am getting braver by the day with incorporating my little one in the kitchen and smiling through the consequences of mess.
Batch Freezing Techniques
I usually pick 2-3 recipes and get several done at once. If I haven’t planned out what I am making in advance and am missing an ingredient or two, I typically substitute to guard against losing steam — I mean, no one is going to the grocery store for those last 2 ingredients, coming home and still cooking…. are they??
When making recipes in bulk for batch freezing, I find that using tools like the Silpat Mini Muffin Molds (for both muffins and frittatas) and Souper Cubes or similar products allow me to freeze in a way that minimizes defrost time on the other end.
Once everything is cooked, I allow it to cool, put a few of each in the fridge for the coming days, and the rest goes into a Stasher or a labeled freezer ziplock and into the freezer. One day, when I’ve truly perfected this craft, I’ll have a list of everything available in the freezer at any given moment and quick defrost instructions, but I am a mom to a one-year-old so who could possibly have time for that.
Involving Kids in the Process
You could take this literally, which I do sometimes, and it looks roughly like my little one climbing into her toddler tower and doing one of three activities: mixing with me, cracking eggs, or using our salad spinner. Or, you could take this less literally, and interpret as “what to do if you need to batch cook for freezing while your toddler is around”, which I have only two recommendations for: a toddler bookshelf right next to the kitchen, or some dry pasta you never plan to eat. Pro tip: my biggest success of late is not literal. It’s having my little one “help” me by mixing dry pasta in a bowl I don’t need while I “make the rest of our meal.”
The Long and The Short of It
I rarely have a moment where I regret completely surrendering my freezer over to toddler-friendly food. Only very occasionally do I wish I could more easily fit a second quart of ice cream in there to have more than one flavor option at a time… but alas, the sacrifice is thoroughly worth it. (Note: My spouse’s regrets are not captured here.)
On any given day, my freezer stash could allow me to feed my toddler three different full meals and a snack with minimal supplementing and sometimes that is the thing that keeps me sane. So whatever you start with, give it a shot. Clear a little space in your freezer and gather the energy for your future self, who will thank you a million and one times over. And, if you’re struggling to gather the energy, can you think about how many meals you won’t have to cook for if you make a few big batches now? Or, just a reminder, maybe you can ask your partner, a friend who enjoys cooking, a nanny, or a grandparent to pitch in. Don’t sleep on this as a gift request…
If you give it a try, or if you’re already in love with your freezer stash too, drop a comment below with your favorite go-to recipe(s).
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