Cook, freeze, repeat!

We’re counting down to baby at our house and to me that means cooking and freezing but I got sidelined about a week ago when we went to the hospital with regular contractions. Now I’m supposed to spend most of my day “taking it easy,” as the doctor says.

Among my many stressed out thoughts when I was first told to keep near my bed for the next four weeks was that we were going to burn right through all the dinners I froze for post-baby’s arrival. And then, what am I going to do with the mountain of fresh food I was planning to cook this weekend? Two solutions presented themselves. The first, my good friend Cat stopped by with pasta enough for dinner and lunch the next day and another whole container to freeze (plus the can of cannellini beans to add to the sauce when we defrost it!), thank you Cat! The second was my husband, who went to work on the food in the fridge with a little guidance. He cranked out 4 beautiful quiches–1 for dinner and 3 to freeze–in no time at all!

Here is the basic quiche recipe which can be doctored up with any ingredients you want. Ours turned out to be filled with: 1. cheddar, zucchini, and bacon; 2. breakfast sausage, cheddar and shredded potatoes; 3. spinach and feta; and 4. spinach and bacon. You can make your own pie crust but I buy it frozen most of the time purely as a time saver. The basic proportions for this quiche come from Paula Deen’s Bacon and Spinach Quiche.

Bacon, Cheddar, Zucchini Quiche

Pre-heat oven to 375° F.

9 inch pie crust

1 cup shredded zucchini

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

6 pieces of bacon, cooked well and crumbled

5 whole eggs

3 egg whites

1.5 cups milk

salt/pepper

Completely defrost pie crust if using frozen. Cook bacon until crispy, drain on paper towels and chop or crumble. Shred cheddar cheese and zucchini. The Cuisinart makes quick work of it. Put all three filling items into the crust.

Beat eggs and combine with milk. Paula Deen uses heavy cream, I find 1% and 2% milk both work just fine. Add a little salt depending on how salty your cheese and bacon tends to be–taste it if you’re not sure–and a sprinkle of pepper. Add the egg mixture to the pie crust and bake at 375°  F for 55 minutes. Don’t delay on putting it in the oven once the liquid is in the pie shell or you’re in for soggy crust.

Notes and tips:

The prep time on this is very quick, especially if you don’t use bacon. If you’re just throwing in spinach and feta cheese it takes no time at all. I never make just one of these if you have a big measuring cup you can double up on the eggs and split them between two pie crusts and an immersion blender makes quick work of beating the eggs. If you have the Cuisinart out you might as well make use of it and shred up enough filling for two and have extra cheese, veg or what-have-you for quick quesadillas or whatever.

Especially nice served with a salad for lunch or dinner, and equally good for breakfast or brunch. Belly loves bacon and sausage and cheddar…if I get the combo right she’ll devour these. If I don’t the slightly mushy texture can blow a perfectly good toddler dinner to bits.