Ready made dinners (gift for pregnant friend)

[HollyWoods8224]

Hi there, I a friend who is pregnant and I am thinking of making her some ready made meals for the freezer, easy meals for the later months of her pregnancy/early months of new born.
Single serving size so they’re good for if she’s up late at night, easy for lunches/dinners if they’re both feeling a bit overwhelmed etc.

Any recommendations?

So far I’m considering a mixture of:
Chicken & pumpkin lasagne
Moroccan lamb pie
Mac n cheese bake
Potato & oregano pizza
Pork meatball bake

Oh you are the perfect friend! Maybe a curry? Casserole? Needs to be easy to eat with one hand. Also consider how she’ll heat it up so it can be frozen in aluminium tray/plastic as appropriate!

Pasta bakes! PS you're a lovely friend!

Best gift ever! Keep it simple I think - I remember having very little appetite but was so grateful for my sister bringing round a chilli (get her some microwave rice to go with) and a cottage pie.

I think stuff she can bung in the microwave for when she's hungry and doesn't want to wait for the oven would be really appreciated - so maybe soups, curries, stews, chilli....do you know what she considers to be "comfort food"? I'm sure that would be gratefully received …

Also how about some bits like baked beans, Heinz tomato soup, no drain tuna, tinned sweetcorn, those microwave rice pouches, oatcakes, peanut butter....

You sound like a very good friend

I'd consider things that can be eaten with one hand and are relatively non-drippy. Soups are lovely but very difficult to eat while holding a baby!

Thanks guys - curry and microwave rice pouches are a great idea, as are some ready to go snacks that don't need time in the oven.

Her ideal comfort food is probably a glass of wine haha - poor chicky!

Chicken enchiladas (freezing instructions are at the bottom of the recipe) www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11259/chicken-and-bean-enchiladas
Sausage and bean casserole realfood.tesco.com/recipes/sausage-and-cannellini-bean-casserole.html
Fish pie www.kitchentales.co.uk/recipe/fabulous-freezer-fish-pie/
Quiche www.bbc.com/food/recipes/quichelorraine_71987

I did some "bases" for friends with newborns - things they can add to to make quick fresh food.

I made parcels to be frozen, with enough for two people so their partners could also do quick suppers - just add pasta/rice/pastry, with some salad or frozen veg on the side.

Soup ingredients and stock
Various pasta sauces
Marinades for baked chicken
Stir fry sauces
Pie fillings

It's a lovely idea but I would suggest checking with her first that this is something she definitely wants.
People always suggest making meals for pregnant/new parents and it's not always practical.
I had my LG four weeks ago and loads of people kindly brought meals but we had zero space in the freezer to store them and my DH has food intolerances so have to be careful what things are cooked with. Also ended up being readmitted twice so anything not frozen went off. We also found that taking a break to cook our meals gave us something to do to feel a bit grounded and normal. Ended up feeling awful for having to waste half the things people brought round.

I'd agree with checking with her first, both that she'd like this and what she and her partner eat. It might be that they have very little freezer space, she might be planning to prepare frozen meals herself or they might have particular likes/dislikes. I would really rather have had things for the baby than someone doing this, but if they insisted I would have preferred portions of ragu that I could use for spag bol, lasagne etc or bags of frozen pre-prepared veg rather than finished meals.