Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Has anyone frozen the VWAV Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy? I absolutely love it (on mashed potatoes, on pitas, by itself...), but I've never tried freezing it.

I'm kinda late to the party on this one (hi all!), but I froze like a million things when I was expecting. The baby was 11 days 'late' so I spent the final week cooking like a mad woman (and quietly sobbing). In the first few weeks after her arrival I found myself FAMISHED in the mornings after long nights of nursing, and really craving breakfasty comforting foods. Fortunately, I had a big stash of homemade waffles (I remember especially loving the walnut-fig waffles from Isa's blog), which I could just throw in the toaster oven and eat with a big glob of nut butter with my fingers, in bed. Also the everything banana breakfast cookies from VCIYCJ were awesome.

Do you have a puff pastry recipe you'd recommend for hot pockets? Could I do a regular pizza crust recipe, say, and just roll it thin and cut it into small rectangles?

I love this thread. I'm not due until August, but I like to Plan Ahead.

I know it sounds simple, but when in this situation, I made a bunch of pizzas on Trader Joe's one dollar multigrain pizza dough balls...with lots of veggies and things on top. I then cut them into individual pieces and froze the various pieces in tupperware containers. Then when I wanted a meal, I popped a couple in the toaster oven for ten minutes and I had something I could hold in my hand or eat on the run.

Anyone have favorite recipes to make for new moms? I am new to being veg, and I will be bringing meals to new moms soon. Here are my requirements for new mom dishes:
easy to reheat (preferably in the oven without having to turn, stir, etc.)
can be made the day before and stored in the fridge overnight
transports easily
not too spicy (for breastfeeding)
filling and super healthy
no soy
Nothing that decreases milk supply: sage, peppermint, spearmint, parsley, oregano, etc.
bonus points if you include foods that increase milk supply (almonds, oats, whole grains, fenugreek, etc.)

Thanks in advance!

I usually do some of these:

black bean and sweet potato flautas
butternut squash soup
lentil soup
kale salad (holds up better than lettuce for traveling)
cut up veggies with hummus or other dip
roasted root veggies with quinoa
barley pilaf with walnuts and lemon zest
mung bean kitcheree (for super hippies)
homemade power bars or muffins
jam thumbprint cookies (there's a good recipe out there that uses oats, ground almonds, and maple syrup)
the traditional yogi tea

And bless you for bringing food! This was the greatest thing that people could have done for us after our babies were born.

I always give soups. You can make them at home, and give them to the new parent(s) in containers with enough space in the top to freeze, then the parent(s) can freeze them and eat them later or eat them right away. I like these containers http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/Tw ... Name=Small because they aren't too expensive so it isn't a problem to not get them back.

there are also lots of ideas in this sticky: http://forum.theppk.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1852

thanks for helping all those new moms!

I've never had a problem with any of those herbs decreasing supply from normal culinary amounts.

For what I'd make it would depend a bit on whether the audience was vegan, if they wanted stuff that could be reheated from frozen or fridge, or whether a room temperature 1-handed snack would be most convenient. We made a lot of casseroles and such, but things that are in an easy-to-consume-with-one-or-no-hands format are by far the simplest. Pocket sandwiches and muffins were the BEST in those first few weeks. Really any breakfast foods are amazing because it's not something people typically think to bring but I woke up totally famished.

I'm going to merge this with the sticky thread.

I'm starting a series on my blog about my adventures in prepping freezer food, if anyone is interested. I've never done a lot of freezer food so I'll just write about what I learn along the way as well as most of the recipes I'm using. The first post just went up and I'll be posting about it every other week until I run out of things to say. :-)

http://toocheapforpinenuts.wordpress.co ... -a-series/

Thanks to this thread for some of the ideas that made it to my list! (Like PIZZA POCKETS. I'm going to have SUCH a hard time staying out of those... maybe I should make those last? Hehe)

Butterbobbin - don't make the pizza pockets last! If you really want to have them, make sure you make them early enough that baby's arrival doesn't happen first! :)

I've just started working on my stash. So far, I have about three or four batches of pesto (for when we're up to cooking some rice, beans, and veggies, or doing up a pot of pasta and peas) and 6 generous servings of chili. Then yesterday I made a quadruple-batch of the peanut-ginger-sesame cookies from VCON, which made about 12 dozen cookies (we baked a few, froze the rest) - I know I'll be so delighted with myself in about 2 months. I was prepping to do all savoury, but I realized I'd be super happy to have cookies ready to pop in the oven and bake.

My to do list for the rest of this week and next week: (hoping about one or two a day, not including the weekend, as we're going camping)
-VCON French Lentil Soup
-cornbread
-pizza pockets
-burritos
-mooshu wraps
-chickpea cutlets
-cheezy sauce

Then I will add in more extras as time permits... I expect baby to come early, but honestly, I'd be grateful if s/he comes on time or late so I have more time to prep food! I also want to make more soup, Vegan Dad's Lunchmeat, Curry Sauce (from VCON), muffins, and if I reeeeally feel like I've got time, I'll do some pizzas as well. I'd be happy to find myself baking pie during early labour so I could freeze it, and have it after we get home from the hospital, but seeing as my first was 2 weeks early, and a total of 8 hours of labour, including early labour... well, I'm not sure that will happen! Haha!

I'm totally freaking out that baby will come early! MUST HAVE TIME TO MAKE FOOD! :-p I think you're right... I shouldn't wait tool long to make the pizza pockets.

I cooked up my garbanzos today to make the chickpea cutlets and a gravy and I'm making Isa's chickpea cabbage rice soup from the blog today... we'll eat some of it and freeze the rest!

I've contemplated the Making of Cookie Dough, but I think I'll hold off on that until I get more of the savoury stuff done first. Or I might do brownies, because those freeze so well.

I was really hoping to make a bunch of stuff, but my baby came early. I am still kind of dissapointed that I didn't get to prepare stuff ahead of time. I ended up eating a lot of quesadillas with daiya and tofurky slices. Also a lot of ice cream. I was starving! Much more than when I was pregnant. I put on some weight at first too. Now my appetite is a little less crazy. Once though, I ate one of those giant cookies, peanut butter cups, and a chocolate covered icecream sandwich thing all in one sitting. I think I was still hungry after that too! I would have totally eaten a donut right then. Now it is nice to be back to lentil soups, chickpea stews, and salads and other healthy things that my husband is making. I was able to eat better once I felt ready to start exercising.

I've like made NO progress the past few weeks with this project. SIGH. I have been sick (again) and zapped of energy and now even more so because of allergy meds. I think we're going to my in-laws' this weekend though so maybe I can make some more stuff there when my MIL can watch my daughter for me.

I feel you! I have been so tired that between keeping up with making regular meals and dishes and laundry, etc, that I haven't been able to put a lot of meals in my freezer. I've done a few, and I'm calling it good, should the baby come before we get more in. There's probably about 10-12 servings in there for meals, but I've miraculously been able to get a few batches of muffins in the freezer too.

It's really hard when you've already got a child, right? I want to spend time with LittleBodhi, but he would like me to play with him, not cook with him, haha. He does enjoy helping, but only for so long. Hoping today to get some dough prepped to make breakfast pockets. That's been my goal for like... weeks. Somehow it just seems so much more labour-intensive that I don't get to it.

Hope you get a chance to add a bit to your stash too, butterbobbin. And I hope your allergies clear up soon. Mine were absolutely horrible for about a month, but they've gone, so I'm feeling better, though still exhausted. I know how hard it is! Good luck!

Just thought I'd say the freezer burritos were a life saver. But also: Rice cooker, rice and veggies. And slow cooker meals. I still rely on slow cooker meals. So easy with a baby, toss a bunch of stuff in a slow cooker, get it later, it lasts several days.

Oh this is a great idea. I need to get on the freezer meal cooking then...

http://vegoam.wordpress.com/menu-a
Found this, and it looks pretty awesome!

So far I have:

Soy Curl Chicken & Rice Soup
Roasted Garlic, Tomato, Rice, and Bean Soup - Vcon
Curried Butternut & Lentil Soup
Curried Lentil and Collard Soup adapted from Fat Free Vegan
Double batch of Chickpea Cutlets - Vcon
Double batch of Lentils, Rice, and Caramelized Onions (I added kale and raisins) - Vcon
Double batch of Breakfast Sausage Patties - Vegan Diner
Several batches of cooked beans

This week I plan on making a huge batch of chili and another double batch of cutlets, but with white beans, and some spanakopita. I'm also going to try and get some mac n' chews and burritos in the freezer. Also some longer cooking grains like brown rice and wheat berries.

Then, I should probably move on to breakfast. We generally just do toast or oatmeal, but it would be nice to have sandwiches, muffins, bars or something ready to go.

Wow, your stash sounds awesome! I wish mine had been so impressive!

(I think I read that you're having twins? Either way, one or two babies, you should definitely consider packing away some one-handed snacks and meals. We had made pizza pockets and breakfast pockets and muffins, along with soups, chilis, etc, and our one-handed items were gone long before we even made a dent in the soups. It's hard to eat soup near babies, but bars and muffins and such, are way easier!)

I was meaning to break out this thread. I've got 2 dozen muffins and a batch of squash soup in the freezer. I am making two big trays of tamale pie as we speak, and will probably make another batch of soup tonight. If baby stays in any longer, I'll roast some trays of potatoes, beets, and maybe make a grain salad or two. I'll keep them in the fridge though... I have a feeling we'll be needing them in a week at most!

I am having twins--I might need one of these in order to eat the soup!


I'm lucky because I did have some help from my mom this weekend with chopping and making a few batches of soup. I've also just been doing a little at a time, and we bought a smallish upright freezer.

I'm definitely making the hand-held shapes for spanakopita, and the cutlets and things can go into sandwiches. I should probably make those burritos and breakfast/snack things a priority, too.

Any ideas for food for someone with not a lot of freezer space and no microwave? I am good at reheating stuff in the oven, but my British freezer is so tiny it's kind of sad. ;p

I have no plans to procreate (ever) but this is a great thread for anyone who likes pre-cooking. I love making double batches of casseroles when I make dinner and freezing one for the occasional long days. Thanks for all the great ideas!

i've been doing a lot of "in advance" cooking. like, generally keeping the fridge stocked with roasted veggies, a batch or two of curry, lots of spreads and so on, stuff that keeps for a few days, but that i'm not freezing. so we've been eating through the food, but i've been replacing it as we go. i'll probably ramp it up this week as well (my freezer is really pretty small, and already full), since i'm pretty sure i'll have a baby before it gets a chance to go bad. i'm mostly trying not to buy a lot of produce unless i have plans to turn it into food the next day, as i'm the only one in the house who's likely to go through the trouble of peeling root vegetables or prepping eggplants, you know?

you could make some granola or crackers or some other dry stuff too, if you're antsy to get something prepped.