Freezer ideas with newborn...

[pugh]

due in 3 weeks and have a toddler. No help close by & trying to remember what dishes are good for the freezer. Slow cooker lover but aware this might be even harder going from 1-2 than 0-1. Didn't cope terribly well last time and was rubbish at establishing br-feeding.

Help/suggestions appreciated!

My sis has just had her second dc and I made in disposable tin foil containers, lasagne, stew, curry's [chicken, lamb], shepherds pie, bolognaise sauce and I also cooked roast dinners and just popped sliced meat and veg into the container with gravy, she also has just made extra when cooking dinners the last few weeks and putting it in the freezer, also if you can and like it make some fruit cakes I made old fashioned boiled cake that is tasty with a cup of tea when even putting something in the freezer is to much.

Also disposable table ware is your friend as is chocolate. And stock up on choc buttons etc to bribe your older dc, it might not be the best parenting but it works

Thanks all...toddler somehow doesn't really eat chocolate...yet!however will consume own body weight in crisps/crackers if allowed. She'll still be going to nursery some of the time but will need to have some 'proper ' meals. We try to eat together in evenings...fruit cake a good idea!

Scones! Cheese , fruit or choc chip are really easy to make and freeze really well. I found making batches of these really good in the last weeks before DS was born. They refresh with a 10 mins in the oven / microwave and are great with a cup of tea or when unexpected guests come to see baby and you've nothing in... although I ate nearly all of them myself... yes, still trying to shift that baby weight...

Another good thing I made was a vat of bolognese and one of chilli then froze it all in family sized freezer bags, curry would work, too, if the family eats it.

One last thing, loaves of sliced bread and pints of milk were handy to freeze because I stopped finding the time to get to the shops and it was good to have emergency supplies a few times!

fish pie - jamie oliver
lamb mince - sheppards pie - gary rhodes (dont have to put the mash on top but saves time.
All ragu - you can use in bolognaise/lasagne etc
Beef & ale pies/chicken pies
Lamb casseroles such as north african dishes served with coucous - its a change from spuds and rice.
Chicken in wine (chicken thighs are brilliant and cheap)
Pork shoulder dishes freeze well too.

Try BBC good food/BBC food/UKTV/ channel 4 websites all excellent. I love the good food one as the comments left are really helpful.

Agree with bread and milk tip too. What about cakes and the odd pudding?

I didnt do much prep with DS2 arrival I just had to get on with it. We eat properly every night. Do as much as possible in the morning.

Thanks all. Not enough freezer space for milk etc but scones&pies a good idea.reassuring to hear you are still managing to get food on the table. Or maybe morning prepping the slow cooker...

as well as others already mentioned I also made and froze mashed potato, easy to do something like sausage and mash if you can just pop the potato into the microwave to defrost/heat through. same with gravy, and chopped some peppers/onions to freeze. i also tried carrots but for some reason they did not freeze/then cook well but peppers and onions were great.

I use freezer bags to freeze individual portions, meant I could freeze more.

Fab idea re freezing chopped onions/peppers! Especially when combining with slowcooker.will get freezer bags to save space.