Cooking!

So, in preparation of us trying to have a second child I have been stocking my freezer. Since I had morning sickness for a coon's age last time and was felled by extreme fatigue (probably why getting 2/3rds of your caloric intake from gingerale isn't actually recommended) I thought that I would try to be prepared this time. Of course, this will likely result in one of 3 things. A- the power will go out for several days B- it will take us months and months to conceive the baby (I'm toying with "thing 2" or "who" as in "Horton Hears A...") rendering all cooking moot although likely eaten in a 1 day depression spurred binge or C- I will be completely puke free this time around but will get to experience all of the other pregnancy ailments I got to side-step last time- most notably varicose veins and stretch marks In support of "c" occurring is also that I have taste tested a variety of locally available ginger candies and teas to pick the ones most likely to be helpful at settling my stomach and am contemplating laying in a back stock to have on hand. Of course, then fate will do a double fake-out and I will not only have morning sickness for the next 12 months (why not throw in a couple of pre and post-conception months as well) AND get varicose veins.

Anyway... We now have 12 packets of frozen tillapia ready to go both with asparagus and with mixed veggies (I used this recipe as a jumping off point and then added frozen cubes of white wine and pre-chopped and frozen veggies from the market), 4 chicken curry casseroles (need a no-fail, yank out of the freezer for company meal or to take to the people who just had a baby? BEST CASSEROLE EVEH! I always have several on hand. It's an all-day project with the veggie roasting and everything so you might as well make a bunch at a time anyway...), chicken soup , potato soup, and beef stew, as well as turkey kielbasa sausage and frozen pre-chopped packs of bell peppers and onions (available in your freezer section because short cuts are ok sometimes) ready to add to the skillet with some potatoes for a 10 minute meal. I love this meal but have yet to figure out how to freeze it since potato doesn't freeze well. It's super yummy though. And, this was a summer favorite- coconut milk, shrimp and a little spice- yummy! But, it really requires a solid 45 minutes or so to cook and that just doesn't happen all that often anymore- sigh... I would also like to get some chicken packets ready to go similar to the fish packets but I need to wait for chicken to go on "buy one get one" sale again. Reynold's Wrap has a bunch of packet recipes that they don't list as specifically freezable but I fooled around with some a couple of weeks ago and they are definitely adaptable.