Filling up the freezer before giving birth

[DXBMermaid]

I need some really easy recipes to make and freeze before I give birth in a couple of weeks. Am suffering with SPD so standing for a long time is not an option. I also do not live in the UK so have no access to ready made meals so will have to make all from scratch.

So far I am going to make Mac&Cheese, Hamburger Casserole (another easy pasta-bake dish) cottage pie and Spag Bol sauce.

Can I make fresh soups and freeze them?

Just thinking of having to do this is making me tired but I know I'll be so glad once our baby has arrived as DH is a rubbish cook and I don't feel like living on take-aways and toasties for weeks.

Yes you can make & freeze fresh soups.

How about lasagne, cottage pie, spinach & ricotta cannelloni, slow-cooked stews you can have with rice - this jerk pork recipe freezes well.

There's also another thread on this topic here.

Thanks for your replies. I looked through the other thread as well and there are some good ideas. Glad to have been reminded of needing things that can be eaten with one hand

Going to get DH to help me with a monster shop this weekend. Must remember to make sure we also stock up on toiletpaper, do not want to run out of that.

How about:
beef casserole,
chicken and mushroom pie,
cheese and spinach flaky pastry,
chilli con carne
curry
lentil and bacon soup with tomato and spinach
butternut squash and red lentil soup
minestrone
some really healthy muffins made with almond/soya flour and lots of fruit (eg almond and cherry; banana and blueberry: raspberry and white chocolate.)

You may need quite a lot of energy if you are bf-ing, and if you're not veggie, red meat is a good source of iron to prevent anaemia after giving birth.

If you're too tired to make fresh soup just put the veg into a big pan, washed, and peeled if necessary (but even with butternut squash, carrots and potatoes, no real need to peel if they've been thoroughly washed.) Fill with water, add stock cubes, herbs/spice/seasoning, garlic paste and lentils, let it simmer for a couple of hours, then cool and hand blend. No peeling or chopping at all.

I get anaemic, when I'm too tired to do it properly, frying onions first etc, I make soup like this. Stir in a bit of cream and chopped chives when served and it tastes almost identical to soup made with lots more effort.

Also try here for some ideas of freezable recipes. There's loads more on their website too.

Make sure you do big portions if you plan on breast feeding!

I did lasagne, spag Bol, cottage pie, chicken and chorizo stew, lamb stew,beef bourgingnon, quiche and mum did bread and butter puddings and carrot cake. I stocked up on frozen veg an had a few pizzas in too. Some of the other suggestions, which I never got round to doing were tagine and couscous. What was best for me was things you just chucked in the oven with only pasta rice etc to cook. I also bought foil tins for less washing up.

I would do big stews and Hungarian goulash.
Curry
Chilli
Shepard's Pie
These freeze so well.
Would it be worth stocking up on salmon fillets etc. as these are so easy to cook and you might get sick of your freezer dinners?
Good luck in your last few weeks of pregnancy.

I would do big stews and Hungarian goulash.
Curry
Chilli
Shepard's Pie
These freeze so well.
Would it be worth stocking up on salmon fillets etc. as these are so easy to cook and you might get sick of your freezer dinners?
Good luck in your last few weeks of pregnancy.

Smoked pr peppered mackerel fillets are a good stand by for a quick lunch. I'd also stick a couple of packets of pitta bread in the freezer - sometimes its not so much the cooking as the shopping so on that basis i'll remind you that bread, milk and bacon also freeze well. Get plenty eggs too - as in, buy a box whenever you shop. Scrambled eggs on toast, boiled eggs chopped up and in a pitta bread, omlettes are good, quick lunches.

And get a couple of pots of growing herbs for your windowsill. Yes, you will eventually forget to water them but I think just being able to tear some basil over a frozen pizza makes life feel a bit more bearable.

Get a big lump of good parmasan too - pasta, butter, paramasan is good and quick. I don't know if you can get those frozen stuffed pastas where you are actually? They cook from frozen in 3 mins, bit of butter, paramasan and basil and you're away.