Freezer Meals

With the baby due in only three weeks, I have started (perhaps a bit late) seriously thinking about freezing some meals for after the birth. I have never been a person who cooks and freezes meals, though, maybe this is something that should change in the future, so I have needed to come up with some recipes. I know that there are cookbooks with lots of recipes for this, but I do not have one, and I don't really have time to go and get one. So, I have been searching a lot online. What I did find was that Martha Stewart has some freezer recipes. Her recipes are ones where you make a meal, serve one portion for dinner that night and then freeze the other portion. My plan is to make some of those throughout the next few weeks, thereby killing two birds with one stone, and also have a day or two where I just cook some meals to freeze. While neither of these prospects sounds very appealing to me at this point, I know that, later on, I will be glad I took the time. Here is my favorite (at least from how it sounds, I haven't tasted any of them yet) Martha Stewart freezer recipe, it is:

Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

• 

Each baking dish serves four; bake one tonight, and freeze the other for a ready-made dinner later on. When ready to cook, bake it straight from the freezer.

• Prep Time 35 minutes
• Total Time 1 hour
• Yield Serves 8

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound penne rigate
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (8 ounces each), halved horizontally
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups whole milk
• 10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (6 ounces)
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan (4 ounces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise.

3. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Off heat, gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.

4. Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes; sprinkle each with cup Parmesan.

5. Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. (The recipe is from marthastewart.com)