Meals to prepare before the baby arrives

[beansbananas]

I'm aware that lots of mum's to be fill the freezer with meals you can heat up once the baby arrives. I'm starting to think about what to make and was hoping for some advice and meal recommendations. This is my first baby, so not sure what my appetite will be like and what will make the easiest, healthiest meals for me when breast feeding, which my husband will also enjoy! Also I'm not one to freeze food very often... But i usually defrost before I heat up when I do. Are there any meals you can make and cook from frozen? Just anticipating I might not always remember to think ahead and defrost, when I'm exhausted! All tips welcome! Thanks.

[JohnLapsleyParlabane]

Ones you can eat one handed. We made shepherds pie etc

[Checkthisout]

There's so many options & as long as you hear thoroughly, you can reheat anything from frozen.

Il find the link I have for a list of 15 meals

[TheLegendOfBeans]

I don't know where you live but COOK do loads of nice, tasty, healthy ready meals - they are £££ but they were the best gift I got from a family member.

A meal for two was more like a meal for four z

[savagehk]

I cook all my frozen stuff direct from frozen, but it takes longer. The one handed eating tip is a good one (or you take turns with OH to eat!). Shepherd's pie, lasagne, macaroni cheese, soups, stews/curries.
If you bf in my experience you will be ravenous. Cake is FANTASTIC but not really for filling a freezer with :)

[summerson]

I am currently in process of batch cooking as well as "freezer prep" by chopping up chicken breast and marinating in herbs/sauces and repacking in portion amounts to make simple cooking easier too.

So far for full freezer meals i have made chicken curry, fish pie, sweet n sour chicken, cottage pie, chicken and leek pie (filling, wait for frozen pastry and cook)

[beansbananas]

Really helpful everyone - thanks for your advice! My DH is useless in the kitchen, so hopefully we can still eat reasonably well if I make these meals. I'm in London, so obviously lots of delivery options. But trying to save money where I can, as want my maternity pay to stretch as far as possible.

[Waggamamma]

Lasagne
Shepard's Pie
Curry
Pasta Sauces

Other good things to have in for a quick meal are jacket potatoes, beans & toast, eggs, filled pasta, cous cous, tuna, cartons of soup, cereal, naked bars.

Pita breads and bagels work well straight out the freezer and into the toaster, so no need to worry about having fresh bread in.

Keep £20 in the house for your first night at home to order takeaway.

You could organise an online supermarket shop of 'easy foods' to arrive a couple of weeks after your due date. You can login and change the order up to the night before but have the basket ready filled with the essentials. Include lots of cake and chocolate.

[TheLegendOfBeans]

From one beans to another - if you're in London, then get stuff from COOK.

The expense is worth it xx

[lozzylizzy]

I did this and then found myself not wanting to eat it. Do some meals but don't go overboard. You might find yourself wanting to leave the house and stretch your legs at the shops!

[Catherinebee85]

My brother made loads of sandwiches, ham and cheese, cheese and pepperoni, chicken and pesto, peppers etc with cheap loaves of bread all individually foiled in the freezer. A couple of mins on a george forman grill (or a panini press if you're not on like me) and you've a lovely hot toasted sandwich. Have with a cuppa and pretend you're at costa

[Snowflakes1122]

I did this with my dc3. It was really helpful to have good meals to go to for all the family.

Definitely will do it again.

I would deliberately make meals bigger so I could add a few to the freezer when pregnant. All added up.

Curry, pasta, lasagne, pies, chilli, cheesy potato bake etc in foil tubs with lids.

[isthishouseamidden]

Always worth freezing a few individual portions. I stayed in for several days with both of mine and the hospital food was dire. DH was able to bring me in some 'freezer surprise' daily and it made a big difference.

Another tip might be to make sure you label everything carefully- for someone else DH/MiL etc to navigate your freezer. My DH had no idea what he was bringing in and one day I ended up with a pot of gravy....

Stocking up on microwave rice is also a good one to go with freezer stews and cassseroles. If you look ar👀 undo they are normally on offer somewhere.

[isthishouseamidden]

A good friend got me a cook voucher rather than a pressie for the baby which was fantastic!

[Greta84]

My mum made me portions of curry bases. So all I had to do is throw is defrost the base and put in half a tin of tomato and diced chicken/veg/paneer etc for a lovely curry. Otherwise sandwiches, jacket potato etc also nuts really helped like almonds and cashew etc kept up my strength. Nothing beats buttered toast either!

[TheNewMrsGerardButler]

I'm due in 3 weeks time with our first baby. So far, I've made 2 lots of soup, beef chili, mixed bean chilli, cottage pie, and chicken and leek pie for the freezer. I've also started filling the cupboards with tins of tuna, beans, fajita kits, enchilada kits, curry pastes, lots of pasta and rice, cereal, snacks etc. I also want to make a batch of tomato pasta sauce for the freezer, and I'm very lucky in that I have very eager and willing parents that live 5 minutes away to cook for us if need be. I've read that having crumpets, cakes, brownies, nuts, etc in the house are good for snacks.

[Pinkapple47]

Wow, I wish I'd have known about COOK when I was pregnant, when ds was born we ended up eating takeaway for about a month. The price is not unreasonable at all, £14.95 for a steak pie that serves 4, when you factor in ingredients, petrol to get the ingredients, time shopping, cooking, washing up after prep ect, it would probably cost that much to make yourself. Id also stock up on snacks, biscuits, cake ect. Going off topic here but get a nice water bottle which you don't have to faff with the drink. I was SO thirsty after feeding for the first few weeks.

[MinnieNoush]

My favourite meal for batch cooking and Freezing is Chilie, it is really delicious and versatile, you can eat it with rice and a little grated cheese, on a baked potato or my personal favourite is in a tortilla wrap like a burrito with a little grated cheese and avocado and sour cream, yum!!

Here is my recipe and it's so easy, I do a massive pot and then freeze it in individual portions in sandwich bags (I find two ladels per bag a good portion for 1 person). Plus they lay flat in the freezer which is good for not taking up too much space.

Shopping List:
1 xOnion
1xRed pepper
garlic
lean mince beef (either 500g or 1000g)
Chile con carne spice mix
2 x tins of kidney beans in chilie sauce
2 x tins chopped tomatoes
beef stock (I like the Knor jelly ones)
jar of Chipotle paste

Instructions:
dice up 1 onion and few cloves of garlic and saute in some olive oil
Add chopped peppers (about 2-3cm pieces)
Gently fry mince
When meat is pink add…
spice mix
kidney beans
chopped tomatoes
Lastly add beef stock and Chipotle paste and if you have one a square of dark chocolate.

Simmer on a low heat for as long as possible, minimum 1 hour but I like to cook it all afternoon for 3 or 4 hours.

[SouthernNorthernGirl]

Catherine That's a fab idea - I am going to spend an hour tomorrow making up the sandwiches. Thank's very much for posting that!

[SunnyDayDreaming101]

Following this with interest as I am starting to think about the exact same thing. So far I have made some lentil soup, chilli and a pasta sauce. Would love to make a stew/curry/Shepard pie but my cooking skills are VERY sketchy, any recipes that are nice and easy/tasty would be very welcome

Struggling to think of lunches though, any thoughts?

[Orangedaisy]

Can I suggest that, as you're trying to save money, use the cook website for inspiration? Their stuff does freeze/reheat really well so by nicking their ideas you can't go wrong.

[Spindelina]

We did loads of stuff, but the things that worked really well were

• chilli (easy to eat with tortilla crisps whatever carby thing you fancy)
  
• individual pies with salmon and watercress-purée-sauce-stuff in them. That's a complete, balanced, nutritious meal (protein, carbs, veg) if you can't be bothered to do anything else.

[Spindelina]

Oh, and pack efficiently. We froze the chilli and similar things flat in small freezer bags, and basically filed them in the freezer.

[mumonashoestring]

I bought a lot of muesli - its a good breakfast or lunch, the oats are great for energy and milk supply, and you can eat it one handed I also used to knock up a big dish of pasta or rice salad every few days that DH or I could dip into (him for packed lunches) and chuck in a bit of cooked chicken, salami or ham.

Another slightly (but not entirely) off topic too that I found really useful was to buy a smallish basket that you can stock up with a couple of bottles of water, book/ebook, cereal bars, crisps, and you can also chuck in the TV remote, your phone etc. If you end up with a baby that takes it's time over feeds then it's great to be able to just plonk everything you need down next to you at feeding time and get on with it.

[Catherinebee85]

You're welcome southern

Think he also did pizza ones with a spread of pizza topping, pepperoni and slices of mozzarella. Also impressive if you've someone that's invited themselves round at lunchtime!