Healthy Freezable Meals

Hey Guys...

I have always made lasagna, enchiladas and other high fat/calorie items ahead of time and put them in my freezer for later family meals.  I am finding myself low on time lately and would love to have some frozen  meals available to me. BUT, I don't want to cook something that I can't sit and enjoy with my family (and I don't want to feed them junk).

Could you all please list your favorite healthy entre that is freezable... please write it out like I am dumb with all the little details! =) Include how you re-heat it when we're ready to eat it!

Thanks so much for your help and congrats on your successes!

Nicole

You know, lasagna doesn't have to be high in calories or fattening. My all time favorite lasagna is a butternut squash lasagna. Now I know so many families will just die if they don't have a ton of meat or fat in their lasagna... :) But this is so delicious and worth every bit of prep work. It makes two smaller lasagnas and I usually follow the instructions of eating one and then freezing the other.

A couple of notes: I throw in a bunch of Italian seasoning with the cheese mixture and also one time I bought noodles that were too long. So I broke off the ends of the noodles and arranged them so the whole layer was covered.

I got the original recipe from Cooking Light and modified it a bit. I've made my changes below.

Ingredients

Cooking spray
3 cups chopped onion
10 cup fresh spinach
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded sharp provolone cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
1 (15-ounce) carton fat-free ricotta cheese (or another part-skim if you want...)
3 cups diced peeled butternut squash
6 cups jarred marinara sauce
12 oven-ready lasagna noodles (such as Barilla)
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add spinach; sauté 1 1/2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Combine provolone, parsley, salt, pepper, eggs, and ricotta cheeses in a large bowl.

Place squash in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and cook on high 5 minutes or until tender. (THIS STEP TAKES ME LONGER - make sure they are tender or it will ruin the lasagna. I think it takes about 15 mins for me. You could also roast it in the oven if you want.)

Coat the bottom and sides of 2 (8-inch-square) baking dishes with cooking spray. Spread 1/2 cup Marinara in the bottom of one prepared dish. Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups squash over cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over squash.

Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup cheese mixture over the noodles. Arrange 1 1/2 cups onion mixture over cheese mixture; spread 3/4 cup sauce over spinach mixture.

Arrange 2 noodles over sauce; spread 1 cup Marinara evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan. Repeat procedure with remaining ingredients in remaining pan. Cover each pan with foil.

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.

To freeze unbaked lasagna: Prepare through Step 6. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to remove as much air as possible. Wrap with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months.

To prepare frozen unbaked lasagna: Thaw completely in refrigerator (about 24 hours). Preheat oven to 375º. Remove foil; reserve foil. Remove plastic wrap; discard wrap. Cover lasagna with reserved foil; bake at 375º for 1 hour. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield

2 lasagnas, 6 servings per pan

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 254(30% from fat); FAT 8.5g (sat 4.5g,mono 2.2g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 18.6g; CHOLESTEROL 69mg; CALCIUM 414mg; SODIUM 560mg; FIBER 3.3g; IRON 3.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 27.6g

 

Barbara Seelig Brown, Cooking Light, MARCH 2003

This is my comfort food: lentil and butternut pasta

It makes 10 servings, each around 300cals, and is very filling, specially topped with parmesan. If you freeze it in portions, you can just microwave it to reheat.

I just recently got the book Hungry Girl, and it is awesome by the way, and she talks a lot about butternut squash... I think I need to start buying it!  Thanks for your recipes!

I quite often make a lower fat Bolognese sauce for pasta and freeze it in portions.  Also Chilli Con Carne.  And this Ham & Spinach Lasagne is a little different to the usual version. 

To make lower fat versions of your favourite meals all you have to do is cut the fat content.  That can be by using leaner meat and low-fat dairy products or you can  use less meat/dairy products and add more vegetables to the recipe.  I also replace meat in some traditional recipes all together.  This Shepherdess Pie, for example, uses lentils and chopped chick-peas instead of minced lamb. 

To defrost all the above, leave the dish out at room temperature for 10 hours (or 24 hours in a refrigerator) before heating through in an oven or microwave.  Have fun....