Freezer meals

[mrsed]

I have a week off from tomorrow and had planned to cook meals to go in the freezer for when baby is born. Everything I've read says to do this - has anyone else done it? Do you really have no time to cook anything once baby is here?!
Any recipe suggestions?

 

[K8te]

I didn't do it with my first but I wished that I had. It's not that you don't have time really it's that you could be recovering for longer than you think and in the first few weeks a newborn takes up a lot of your time.

My OH is useless at cooking so I've made a few meals already for both him and my LO, just simple things with pasta really so it's easy to defrost and reheat. Mainly so my OH doesn't live off takeaways.

X

 

[iiTTCii]

I didn't with my first and once she was here, I didn't feel that I would have needed to. Newborns just tend to eat and sleep so DH was able to cook every night without it being a chore.

I have this time but this is for DD's evening meals as I imagine it will be different this time and neither of us will fancy cooking for DD and then again when we have our tea when she's in bed.

 

[katieebugg]

Hubby and I started the process a couple of days ago! it's baby number one for us so I relied a lot on YouTube and Pinterest for ideas and how to properly do it. I cooked chicken and dumplings in the crock pot and froze it (made 4 servings) and did the same with 4 servings of salmon, rice and veggies! then we did 10 sausage and egg/bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches and today I'm going to make and freeze some banana oatmeal muffins. I'm thinking maybe a casserole in the future, mac and cheese or maybe lasagna. We should swap ideas

 

[jlw617]

It just depends on you/your circumstances...I didn't with my first but I was happy to live off of cereal haha and dh was in the military and wasn't there so I didnt have to worry about feeding him, I didn't do it with my second but I wish I would have...however I definitely did it with this on and I'm so glad I did, I have enough freezer meals to last for over a week plus I'll have ladies at church bringing meals for a good week or more as well so I will be free from cooking (for the most part) for quite a while! Some meals I made was chili, spaghetti meat so all I'll have to do is boil the noodles, chicken stir fry, chicken fried rice minus the rice and egg, pulled pork for pulled pork sandwiches...all require little to no extra work which after a week home of meals being brought to us should be totally doable

 

[jlw617]

Hubby and I started the process a couple of days ago! it's baby number one for us so I relied a lot on YouTube and Pinterest for ideas and how to properly do it. I cooked chicken and dumplings in the crock pot and froze it (made 4 servings) and did the same with 4 servings of salmon, rice and veggies! then we did 10 sausage and egg/bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches and today I'm going to make and freeze some banana oatmeal muffins. I'm thinking maybe a casserole in the future, mac and cheese or maybe lasagna. We should swap ideas

Good for you! One tip I learned from a good friend of mine is anytime you have any sort of bread product (your muffins) always individually wrap them really well and then you can throw them all together in a gallon bag. I want to make some muffins too and maybe even some lactation cookies and freeze them!

 

[wildflower79]

I would say it's worth doing if you've got some spare time now. Once baby is here, spend your spare time on more important things, like catching up on sleep!

If you've got a slow cooker, that's a great way to batch cook meals with minimum effort.

 

[CertainTurton]

I've got chicken curry, fish pie, beef casserole and lasagne frozen in metal dishes so they can go straight in the oven. I didn't do it with my dd but now I have to think about giving healthy food to her so don't want to rely on pasta/pizza etc like I did in the early weeks with dd. It can't hurt to have them there. I love the idea of freezing some cakes or muffins too will try and do that this weekend.

 

[Calitwins]

It is so much fun (and so practical) to do freezer meals. I have lots of recipe suggestions for freezer meals. I love making and freezing zucchini quinoa lasagna, lentil carrot soup, jalapeno lime chicken soup and so many others. This is my recipe collection. Many of the soups and main dishes can be frozen. Happy cooking! https://www.theydontfeedthemselves.com/recipes/

 

[WW1]

Yes we have been doing this. We've been doubling the size of the meals we've made and freezing half. We've got spag Bol, chilli, curry, shepherds pie that sort of thing! With a 5 year old as well as a newborn, I wanted to ensure there are healthy meals available with minimal fuss. We'll also use the slow cooker lots id imagine.

 

[Spudtastic]

I am going to do this before dd2 arrives. I didn't the first time and wished I had. My dh works long hours so couldn't easily cook. I also had my parents to stay so whilst they cooked yum meals half the week they expected to be fed by me the other half week. Dd1 was also a terrible sleeper. She was needed a feed every hour at night and always liked to be held. I got quite stressed with the cooking and burnt a lot of things because I'd start something and then my baby would need me. They are visiting again after dd2 arrives so it will make it easier for me.

So I figure if I do a core meal it will be easy to add to it.

Eg lasagne (then add a fresh salad)
Slow cooked apricot chicken with rice or quinoa (add veges )
Beef stroganoff (add rice).
Potato gratin
Slow cooked sweet and sour pork.

I'm loving cauliflower rice (usually when I don't have any morning sickness) so I may prepare some and put in little freezer bags.

I also thought I'd see if I can get some takeaway boxes just for the freezing part too.

I love reading ideas as I need more

 

[Qmama79]

Totally doing it this time! Last one was month early and was pumping every 2/3 hours day AND night. I literally had no time in combination with preterm newborn care. This time around I'm already making a list of what I'll have in freezer. 2 x shepherds pie, 4 x spaghetti bolognese, 2 x cheese and onion pie, 2x chicken pie, beef stew, salmon quiche, soups x 10. Enough food fr 2 weeks solid. It's a bit early for me to start stocking up now, but once February hits, I'll be cooking a lot to fill up freezer with healthy and nutritious meals. I don't have any family around and an dealing with a 3 yr old as well. If things do t go smoothly, I'd like the knowledge I can just pull out something and put it in the oven.