Suggestions for food to freeze and have when baby arrives?

[Ninni]

Anyone got some good suggestions on food to prepare and freeze to have at hand for the first few hectic weeks with the new baby??

I can only think of spag bol and stew.

Recipes or tips welcome!

[Jayfer]

I'm attempting cottage pie, spag bol, stews - chicken, lamb and beef, lasagne, chicken and leek pie. Although I need a bigger freezer!

Hope this helps.

[Pingpong]

anything that can be easily reheated. I found that often we would start to eat and then that's when DD would get demanding, she seemed to like to cluster feed as soon as I tried to eat my tea! I thought stir fry and noodles would be nice and quick to cook but it's not a good one to reheat in the microwave if you have to stop half way through!
So things like curry, chilli, fish pie, and like you say spag bol or stew/casserole.
Some soup maybe? I've only got a wee freezer so I can't get too organised in advance as I've not got much room.

[Pingpong]

sorry x posts with jayfer I was dithering!

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Soup, definitely! Good tip is to put the freezer bag in a bowl when you fill it with soup to freeze, then remove the bowl once it's nicely frozen - makes it easier to stuff in the freezer.

Lasagna is another one that freezes well, also moussaka. You could cut them into portions and freeze them individually to make life easier (and quicker) when re-heating.

[GuernseyFrench]

I've frozen prepared mince for cottage and shepherd pies, pork curry, beef and kidney casserole ( recipe here , fish pie. Also preboil some potatoes, freeze them and like this you can have mash to top the pies.

[wasabipeanut]

God I've done loads. Chilli's, casseroles, fish pies, cottage pies, lasagnes, bolognese sauce, goulash, and turkey and ham pies from Xmas leftovers.

Any "one pot" type dish tends to freeze well and is most often edible with just a fork thus leaving one arm free for baby holding - this is a piece of knowledge that would have come in very handy last time round!

[ohloverguts]

Im beginning to wish i didnt have such a tiny freezer, ive only got two little draws at the bottom of a huge fridge and my DP really isnt the greatest when it comes to cooking foods we both like (im veggie). Didnt even think about how im gonna manage all the cooking after having the baby!!

[AnAngelWithin]

i really need to do this but i always wreck everything reheating it for some reason!!!

[MrsTriangle]

Also don't forget that fresh pasta (stuffed or not) can have quite a long shelf life and sit in your fridge with a jar of sauce (lloyd grossman's are ok) with grated cheese. V quick and easy as only takes 4 minutes to cook!

Also - packs of cold meat in the fridge are handy as they have quite a long shelf life and you could just shovel a few slices in for lunch with some cherry tomatoes and gobble on a lump of cucumber . Oh and baked potatoes (with butter and cheese etc)

[Ponymum]

We bought a new freezer for exactly this job! I did lots of the stuff mentioned above. Best were lasagne and tuna pasta bake. With each I made a huge dish (or a couple) then after cooking let it cool and overnight in the fridge so that it is easier to cut into portions. I bought a whole lot of large zip lock freezer bags and put pre cut portions into each labelled with date etc. Defintiely go for one dish meals that you can eat with just a fork. And penne is better than spaghetti due to mess potential. I found soup not so good as you need two hands and it would be a disaster to spill near your baby (though tbh I was generally too scared to eat a proper hot meal while holding a baby - you need to cultivate a liking for cheese sandwiches).

[hophophippidtyhop]

As well as the above, it might be good to make and pre slice cakes to freeze, especially if you plan to breast feed. I used to get really hungry, and I'm planning on doing this time to have relief from endless bits of toast! Figure I can zap in the microwave for a couple of minutes and have cake!

[Southwestwhippet]

I've never been much of a fan of baked potatoes but I have just discovered the wonders of sweet potates which are cooked in exactly the same way and taste uber-delicious.

Just another idea for adding some variety

[Saladdays]

I've just cooked batches for a mate (they don't eat meat):

Lasagne (tuna)
Cod Creole (curry and pineapple)
Fish Pie
Tuna and bean bake
Thai Prawn Curry
Indian style Fish Curry

They don't have a microwave so I used the tinfoil trays (with card lids - easy to write on) so they can put straight into the oven. As much as poss I have made them a complete meal (with protein, veg and carbs) so they can be eaten as it or, if time allows, served with rice / baked pots / salad / steamed veg.
I did some large so the couple can eat when the new dad gets home from work and some small ones for the new mum's lunch.

Hope that helps.

[Ponymum]

Saladdays - will you be my friend? How nice of you to do that.

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Hmm... hadn't considered the soup-eating dilemma...

I suppose you could always drink it out of a mug, if it isn't too chunky!

[Pingpong]

I didn't have to hold my baby all the time, infact she did sleep a lot which would allow me to eat soup my problem was with evening meals when all of a sudden she seemed to need to feed all the time and invariably my meal would get cold and need reheated or DH would walk around with her, his meal would get cold.
Soup at least is easy to reheat should it have to be abandoned!
saladdays you sound like an ace friend to have!

[BabyGiraffes]

I didn't bother pre-cooking anything before dd1 arrived (partly too lazy, partly freezer too small, partly she was two weeks early and arrived the day after I stopped work...). I find that I am useless to remember taking things out of the freezer to defrost in time, so it's always been much quicker to just put some pasta on, chuck frozen veg in with it, and add lots of pesto and grated cheese... fine. (I had so much pesto during pregnancy and while bf that dd will eat anything as long as it is covered in pesto!! Is that called conditioning?)

[callmeovercautious]

The frozen ideas are great - I love chicken and broccoli with a creamy white wine sauce - it freezes really well and you can just chuck a few new potatoes or some microwave rice at it.

Don't forget that you might end up eating very late - could you eat your main meal at Lunch when LO is napping (send DH to work with a frozen meal for the microwave at work?). Then you or DH can just whip up beans on toast/scrambled egg etc in the evening.

I remember being in tears one night - I left DH to re-heat a curry and cook some rice - he murdered it then it went cold. I was in baby blues stage but I am still at how OTT I was about a Chicken Tikka Marsala

[jimjamgem]

Pretty much the same as most people on here - I freezed whole Lasagnas (veggie and meat), chili, soup and corned beef pies (large and in individual ramekins). Seem to remember that for the first month or two at least DH and I lived on soup, toast, etc!