Hey everyone!
Prepare yourselves for a long, photo-heavy blog post. 😉 So many of you have been asking what I made in advance for after the baby is born. It’s true — I love a good freezer meal and prepping my freezer is my FAVORITE part of nesting for sure! If I am being honest, I must prefer making freezer meals than setting up a nursery and folding all those little clothes. When I was pregnant with Grayson, we got a deep freezer because our normal freezer just wasn’t going to cut it. Turns out, that was literally the best purchase ever and I’ve had that puppy stocked ever since.
Since this isn’t my first rodeo, I know afternoons are probably going to be our hardest time of day. Adam usually gets home from work around 6:30-6:45pm so I am on my own until then with the kids (I’m not complaining at all here – it’s just the way it is and the way it’s always been for us). And as much as I love to cook, popping a homemade frozen meal into either the oven, crock pot or Instant Pot is going to save me many evenings as we get used to our new routine as a family of five.
Anyway – here go you! Here’s everything I made minus two things that I totally blanked and forgot to photograph, which are these enchiladas verdes (I froze them “naked” without the sauce and froze the sauce separate so it wouldn’t break) and a creamy kabocha squash and red lentil soup. Many of the soups I made are from the book The First 40 Days, which I HIGHLY recommend if you’re pregnant. I pretty much made myself a week of very nutrient dense soups and stews to cover that first postpartum bit (my mom will be here to cook for the rest of the family). The chicken, red date and ginger soup, kabocha squash and red lentil soup, hearty sausage stew and vegetable recovery stew are all from that book and are optimal for the initial week postpartum while you’re recovering from birth. I’ll let you guys know how it all goes! 🙂
GRAINS / SNACKS
Multigrain waffles from The Sprouted Kitchen
Carrot and date muffins from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook
*Really want to bake lactation cookies but still searching for hemp seeds
SOUPS/ STEWS
Chicken tortilla soup from Now and Again Cookbook. I also have a great freezable recipe for chicken tortilla soup on my site here – I just wanted to try something new.
CROCK POT / INSTANT POT DUMP MEALS
Chicken and dumplings! This is a tried and true favorite. Recipe can be found here but I have tweaked this over the years. I use organic condensed soup (Pacific brand), organic chicken and add potatoes. Just make sure the potatoes are covered with the soup when you go to freeze or else they will turn a funky color. I also add a cornstarch slurry at the end of cooking to thicken everything up a bit…the refrigerated biscuits from Trader Joe’s are great here!
This white chicken chili was one of my favorite “dump meals” last time. It’s really good and nice and thick. Don’t try to freeze my white chicken chili because freezing sour cream in a recipe usually isn’t the best idea and will cause the soup to break.
I really loved Pinch of Yum’s freezer post and got inspired by it! I made her Instant Pot wild rice soup, sweet potato peanut stew and beef stew. You can literally just toss these right out of the bag and into the Instant Pot!
Also by Pinch of Yum – her cauliflower walnut taco mix! This is SO GOOD.
CASSEROLES / SAUCE
Italian Flag Baked Pasta from the Now and Again Cookbook.
Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Tetrazinni. This is such a delicious, rich splurge meal!!! OMG it is so delightful. I used a rotisserie chicken here to make it super easy.
And last but definitely not least, my spaghetti sauce. I made two large freezer meals of this because it’s amazing and always our favorite dinner.
So there you go, friends! Like I said, my mom will be here for a bit after the birth so she’ll be cooking for us for awhile…and I’ll never (ever!) turn down a meal brought over by a friend or neighbor. 😉 I’m really hoping to make these freezer meals last so I don’t have to feel stressed out about dinner those first six weeks or so.
Enjoy!
Laura
October 2, 2018 at 2:29 pmThis makes me want to stock my freezer and I’m not even pregnant! I love all that you chose—every recipe sounds delicious!
Laura
October 2, 2018 at 2:34 pmAlso, reading “family of five” made me smile; very excited for you all!
Stocking the Freezer for Baby Number Three – Gym Buddies
October 2, 2018 at 7:42 pm[…] post Stocking the Freezer for Baby Number Three appeared first on Eat, Live, […]
Lynn
October 3, 2018 at 8:50 amCannot wait!
Kath
October 3, 2018 at 9:10 amYou are all set!! These look awesome. I would rather scrub my freezer with a toothbrush than make freezer meals, but hey, that’s how I nest 🙂 I do think I will make a few of these “dump” style meals because those are easy enough to assemble now.
Meghann
October 3, 2018 at 8:15 pmThank you for posting this! I can’t wait to try so many of these recipes. Also, do you need to do anything special before freezing the soups in the glass jars? Do you cool and cover with plastic wrap first or just with lid alone?
jenna
October 4, 2018 at 1:59 pmJust fill up the jar 3/4th of the way full, let cool and then gently screw lid on and place in the freezer. After the item is frozen, go back and tighten up the lid.
Heather
October 4, 2018 at 6:30 amWe have baby #2 due in February so this post is perfect timing! I plan to make a ton of freezer meals in January both for my family and myself during recovery. Did you find the ingredients in the First 40 Days cookbook were hard to find? We have a few Asian groceries around us and I am guessing the rest could be found at Whole Foods or Amazon?
jenna
October 4, 2018 at 1:58 pmI didn’t think any of the items were that hard to find, but then again – we live in Berkeley and I’m able to find most ingredients really easily here. 😉 I would say go to an Asian market!
Sarah
October 5, 2018 at 12:05 pmI’m not pregnant but I’m hosting family for the whole month of December so I’m going to use a lot of these ideas to stock my freezer so that I don’t have to cook when I walk in the door from work every night.
All the best with your last weeks of pregnancy and with baby #3. 🙂
Kristin
October 6, 2018 at 11:38 amIf you haven’t found hemp seeds yet, Trader Joe’s carries them now. I also bet you could find them at Berkeley Bowl no problem. Best wishes for baby number three!
Amanda
October 12, 2018 at 12:01 pmThis is amazing! The link to the chicken and dumplings resulted a 404. Can you repost? Thanks so much!!!
Laura Swanson
October 18, 2018 at 12:10 pmWhat exactly do you mean when you say a soup can break when freezing?
Kimberly
October 18, 2018 at 3:45 pmAll great freezer options. Thanks for the ideas and good luck on the birth.
Alyssa
October 21, 2018 at 4:35 pmI froze PW turkey tetrazzini and loved it after my first two kids were born. I had to have my husband stop at home and put away the halfway cooked ingredients on his way to meet me at labor and delivery bc my third arrived a little earlier than her brothers! I still haven’t had it yet and she’s almost 5 months old, now I’m craving it!
Nicole
November 20, 2018 at 4:11 pmWhat a great read!! thanks for sharing this. I thought I might also share a very inspiring story I found with you https://bit.ly/2PGIQKE
Loraine
December 11, 2018 at 9:26 pmI’m just wondering what you do with all that ziploc plastic? I have this problem too and I hate using it, so I do sparingly
Stocking the Freezer for Baby Number Three – Buzz Paradise
April 12, 2019 at 6:57 am[…] post Stocking the Freezer for Baby Number Three appeared first on Eat, Live, […]
Zahidah saleema
June 2, 2019 at 11:53 pmThanks for sharing. I also found Chicken soup which is best for natural cold and flu remedies
Chicken soup may not cure you but a little spice could help that congested nose and sore throat better. Studies show that a bowl of warm chicken soup with veggies can balance the development of neutrophils in your body.
friv unblocked
October 20, 2019 at 2:11 pmYour child will play with the friv games, then eat. Let your child touch the food, help him to play with the food. Allow him to take his fingers to his mouth. So eating, eating, eating should be as enjoyable as playing a game. Small colored plates, heart-shaped breakfast plates, prepared lunches such as picnicking, dinner prepared like playing house, can be transformed into a pleasurable event made with family.
It seems difficult for mothers and fathers to give their children food in front of television. Instead they need to turn off the television. Friv needs to find solutions that will increase interest and desire. For example, funny facial shapes, simple games such as airplane flying, eating games for toddlers, interesting and entertaining to eat contribute to your child’s movement and cognitive development. When your child is hungry, he can feel grumpy and cry without any reason. Most of the time, these reactions are outdoors. It is necessary to evaluate this reaction well and encourage the child to eat.
Can children who do not eat food add a habit of eating with the game?
Of course, the game at friv 2 is very important for the development of a child. However, the game should be applied up to 2 years of age. The game can be cooked until 2 years of age, after which the game is not suitable for eating and eating habits. Because we can apply certain rules, we have to give this habit to the child from their early ages. It is an important role model for the child to eat together with the family, to sit in the table together. Even if you have not eaten your food, sitting in the family cafeteria is important for the development of the child.
It is best not to make your meal times boring. This is also very important in terms of communication with children. A child who does not eat will want to have a loud tone and different and abrasive expressions will be used. I think it is also important in terms of food.
You can make your child’s dinner sessions more engaging at some point. But do not take it to the point of a child who opens your mouth like a robot in every advertising cycle, sitting in front of friv unblocked video-recorded ads.Link http://friv.party/
Ascentxbv
December 27, 2020 at 1:04 ambook about the chess of love “, created by
Artisanjon
January 4, 2021 at 3:51 pmelements (case, binding).