freezer meals So I'm definitely thinking ahead and wanting to predo meals for after baby.

We don't have a huge freezer so what I did was cut up squash and asparagus and zuchinni and froze them in individual bags. Packaged single meal portions of frozen proteins like fish and chicken. I Prepped pantry portions of dry sides like rice and such. So all we have to do is preheat the oven throw things in glass dish and go about our lives while its cooking. And make the rice or side. So I didn't get to do full prep but most of the hard part is done.

I've been looking in to dump bags for the slow cooker. I'm hoping to spend a few days making up stews, casseroles, mince etc then freezing in to portions, and making sure I'm stocked up on things like pasta, eggs, cheese so I can always make a quick meal.

Ok so I have a question about those of you who do those. And I see this is very popular idea

Beside the time you take to prep all those meals - which varies from couple hours for weeks worth to few days - depending on the type of meal.

How much time do you spend on "defrosting" and heating the meal? Some things can be thrown directly into oven, but some can't.

And it kinda seems pointless to me - because most of my dinners take less than 30 min to make. And I have fresh meal. Unless I'm missing here something.

I'm genuinely curious what the advantage is? I mean you still have to make salad ?- as this can't be prepped.

I think I will freeze fruit portions to make frozen smoothies - so I don't have to weight my ingredients each morning. That's about the only advantage of freezing anything I see.

My freezer seriously has only ice, ice cream, freezer packs for traveling, puff pastry, box of eggo waffles (now that I discovered them), one bag of Chinese buns and one pack of chicken quarters (leftover from baby shower). There is nothing else in there. I think I will feel weird with actual food in there lol.

pp I do almost all the cooking. Freezing meals will allow DH to take care of reheating dinner & doing the parts he already knows like making pasta, rice, salad, etc.

I refuse to be stuck with take out again. Adjusting with DD was incredibly difficult as we had a lot of bf'ing issues & she cried all. the. time.

Having enough meals for atleast 1 week will also reduce the need for someone to grocery shop that week. I'm shooting for 2 weeks since DH will be taking his vacation which means his checks will be less than usual (he gets 5-7 OT every week).

Right now I have things like

Spaghetti sauce

Chili

Salsa Chicken

Chicken pot pie

Chicken salad (something that can be made and in the fridge for multiple days for lunches)

Breakfast tacos

There are a number of other breakfast things I saw, but we can't eat them. I'll probably do some overnight oats & things like that when I'm in early labor... and stock up on granola. Lol

@ patry I don't usually keep prepped food in my freezer but since I'm a FTM and will most likely have a c section I will prep some food for the freezer. I would like to take the first bit of time to not stand at a stove/counter after just getting home. This being said bc my SO can ruin eggs and burn toast. I'd like to actually eat real food as much as I love him. ??? also. It only takes about an additional 5-10 minutes to prep a meal for the freezer. If I'm making something for dinner now, I just make extras as I go and freeze it.

Also, my freezer is pretty full anyway of frozen meat as we buy in bulk from a farm owner who does not use hormones for his animals and we know what they are being fed. For example, just last week we bought half a pig from him and packaged it for the freezer. So much cheaper than hormone free meat in the store and we know for sure it is hormone free as we trust our source. ☺️☺️

@ newly. :: in addition to the meat already in there (bc making a marinade for him to grill will be easy enough), .. (Thankfully he can grill) .. I will have raw mixed meatloaf in the freezer. Will also be having uncooked lasagna and stuffed shells. All of which can be taken out to thaw the night before and the cooked as normal for dinner. Ohh and I will freeze the leftover meatballs to be plopped into a crockpot when ready to be eaten.

@babie That's basically what I'm doing... just making extra & freezing. Lol

I have actually been making double of things and freezing the rest. Chicken pot pie, Shepards pie, baked ziti , and meatballs. I think I'll keep doing that for now until I get a burst of energy to make a bunch in one day

We have the luxury of having a chest freezer and I've been prepping for a while. I have pot roast (4 meals), chicken mole poblano (6 meals) lasagne (6 meals), gnocchi (6 meals) and my super healthy loaded banana bread (24 portions) and hummus to help keep me satisfied while breastfeeding. Hubby is supposed to make chili this weekend. I would like to prep more but I've run out of gas. I also made whole wheat kaiser buns and froze them for buns for sandwiches or burgers on nights we want to just put together something easy.

A lot of what I have seems random, but I prepped based on a few things. We had the chicken mole poblano for my shower and I purposely made extra, and I made extra mashed potatoes on Easter to use in the gnocchi.

Hubby is staying home with me for 2 weeks and I'm on my own that. I know I won't have the energy to cook dinner ?

To the person who asked why ..... My only reason for doing this was so that my hubby can grab a bag from each section and make dinner if I'm down for the count. I cook 100% of our meals and not that he isn't capable, but more for ease. His idea of cooking is frozen food from a box. So I figure if I make healthy foods that would be easy for him and not intimidating then he won't take ten years to make a meal. Also if he's gone I won't be stuck in the kitchen prepping any food.

Thanks ladies for answering.

Hubby actually cooks more than I do - and he actually enjoys it and makes really good food.

I think that is the reason why this just isn't the best option for us. He is working from home too so another reason to just make fresh meal every day.

I applaud you for the effort put into the planning this out. Cooking is just not my thing. I could literally have chips and hummus for dinner and I would be happy.

I'm slowly starting to do this too, I've been making extra and portioning then labelling them. I've bought and put them into the foil Chinese style containers, adult portions and portions for my 18 month old. So we can all have a decent meal if after labour I'm not feeling up to it ☺️ my DH cannot cook at all, after my first labour he made me toast for a dinner as he can't do anything else, I had to get up and cook an actual dinner for us both each night pp whilst trying to Bf on demand ?

So far I have a few extra portions of meals we've had lately, like shepherds pie, lasagne, chilli, bolognaise, steak and ale (to either have with mash or put in pastry for pie), chicken etc..

I want to do freezer meals as well but the fact that I know my so's mom will be here the first two weeks and my mom will come for 2,5 weeks right after makes me so lazy. Cuz I know they will have no problem cooking or looking after the baby while I'm cooking. Plus my so likes to cook as well. ? but I also want to be prepared and make freezer meals because nesting.

I'm not meal prepping but I will be doing crockpot meals. I'll have recipes all ready, everything out the night before. Just wake up toss it all in and let it cook all day.

What I'm making;

Lasange

Cannelloni

Tuna pasta bake

Bolognese sauce

Chicken crunch (crumbed chicken in a creamy sauce, baked)

Beef stroganoff

Pea and Ham soup

I do it over a few days and use disposable baking trays, so all I have to do is defrost overnight and then reheat in the oven.

Everything I cook from scratch with heaps of added veg

I'll probably also prep some slow cooker meal bags- so raw meat/veg/sauce to just put in my slow cooker during the day

The Bible:

http://newleafwellness.biz/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Pre-Baby-Freezer-Meals-grocery-list.pdf

Oh yes. I will be the CrOCKPOT QUEEN june to july lol