Here we are in August, and my mind has gone straight to easy dinners for crazy weeknights. Bring on all the quick meal ideas and lunchbox snacks! (Don’t worry — I’m still going to have a few dessert recipes for you throw in there 🙂 ) When I was pregnant with our first daughter, I made a whole whack of freezer meals. I mean, I had time (with no other children wrapped around my legs), so I just went positively nuts. I made frozen pizzas, I made casseroles (chicken spaghetti and chili cheese biscuit casserole), I made breakfast burritos and I frozen precooked ground beef, and chicken and rice. I did it all. The thing is, our first daughter was a dream baby. She was so easy! She slept all the time, particularly for the first 6 or so months of her life. She’d be awake for maybe 45 minutes and then go back down for another 3 hour nap (basically, until I decided it was time for her to wake up and eat something). So it turns out I had all these freezer meals ready to go, meanwhile I was going crazy with boredom because I had nothing to do. I wasn’t even blogging yet, so I had an actual maternity leave (and although my employer offered to let me take 14 months I chose to go back at 12). Please no hate mail — I assure you that #2 was the complete opposite, and since I was blogging and did have a 2 year old, it was pure chaos. So I’ve had my share of “what am I possibly going to make for dinner with this baby on my hip?!?” days. Lasagna roll ups have always been one of my favorite freezer meals. It’s a little different than lasagna, but when you bake them up they are just as good as they would be fresh. You can flash freeze them and then place them in large freezer bags and just pull out a few at a time, and you can really mix them up any which way you want! For us, it’s win-win. And since baby #3 is on its way (coming November!), I would love to hear what your favorite freezer meals are. This time I’m pretty sure I’m going to need them! Tips and Tricks for Making these Easy Pepperoni Pizza Lasagna Roll Ups:
These can easily be made ahead, up to 24 hours. Simply assemble, cover with plastic wrap and bake when needed! See recipe for freezer instructions. These can also easily be made a little healthier, here are a few tips: Choose turkey pepperoni Use low fat cheese Bump up the veggies: add mushrooms, peppers, spinach, anything your heart desires! These can easily be made gluten-free by using gluten-free pasta and double checking all of your ingredient packages (look carefully for gluten-free pepperoni!).
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