Freezer meals for maternity leave!

[Bookworm83]

My baby is due in 4 weeks and I'd like to use that time to get some meals ready & frozen for later, when I don't have as much time to cook.

Tried Pinterest for ideas but most of them are too American if you know what I mean.

What can I make that's easy to cook in larger batches, freezes well and won't break the bank?

Hi OP, congratulations!!! :)
I loved having frozen meals while on maternity, it makes things so much easier!!

I froze:

• Curry
• Lasagne
• Pasta bake
• Burritos
• Chili
• Soups
• Sandwiches (yes, sometimes even making a sandwich is a chore when you're sleep deprived)

A tip I heard from another mum: freeze meals you can eat with one hand... this is SO true when feeding a baby :)
Also, if you have enough freezer space - freeze things in portions so you don't have to defrost a whole tray of lasagne for example.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your time with your bundle of joy :)

@blablabla1984

Thank you! These are great. I've never tried freezing pasta before, won't it go mushy when defrosted? I love the idea of freezing pasta bakes!

I've frozen Lasagne before it was fine! I think you can even cook from frozen. But what I do is make it up but don't bake it, then freeze, thaw the day before and bake as normal. It's fine. Also done this with mac n cheese. And Shepherds pie!

I did this, filled up a massive chest freezer and it kept us going for months! We are veggies and I made:

-loads of curries (we did chickpea curry which freezes well and is quick to cook and easy to make a massive batch in a huge pan)

-bean chilli

-lentil Dahl

-soup

-veggie sausage casserole

-precooked fajita fillings

I also stocked up on loads of things that you can just whack in the oven and are not too unhealthy. Bean burgers, sweet potato chips, Linda McCartney sausages etc. Also made sure we had plenty of bread and milk in the freezer and things like baked beans to have on toast. Good luck, and congratulations!

Also made several nut roasts but that might not be everyone's cup of tea...

Lasagna
Chilli
Beef stew
Chicken stew
Fish Pie
Pizza
Shepherd’s Pie
Bolognaisse sauce
Macaroni cheese
Apple crumble

Soup in many gkavours

Thanks everyone, these are great! I'll be doing a big grocery shop this week and will keep these ideas in mind!

Chicken, ham and leek pie. Roast a chicken and boil or roast a gammon joint. Cut into pieces and mix together with cheese sauce and some fried leeks. Line foil trays or dishes with pastry, put in the filling and add a top. One of our favourites from my maternity batch cooking and another easy one when served with mash to scoop up with a spoon with one hand whilst holding baby :)

I also did chicken thighs/drumsticks in all the seasoning/onions/peppers etc and then you can just tip into an oven tray and stick it in the oven.

I also did fish fillets wrapped in tin foil (mostly salmon with capers/lemon juice etc so again, just pop in the oven.

I really tried to go for things that I could just stick on and leave for 15-45 mins depending on what it was - lots of meatballs in sauce which just needed defrosting on the stove and some rice/pasta.

For during the day my fave things were frozen burritos done in the microwave, soup in a mug, cheese on toast, frittata/Spanish tortilla from the freezer and microwaved.

And quiche! Love a quiche!

This is a fab recipe. I load it with extra veg and usually double up the ingredients to make enough for the freezer.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chickendhansakkcurry98040/amp

Do you have a slow cooker? I tend to prep the food, freeze then defrost in the slowcooker overnight, turn on in the morning.

Id also recommend making individual portions to microwave when youre at home during the day.

Chili
Cottage pie
Chicken fahitas
Veg lasagne
Bolognese/ragu
Curry

@strictlyafemalefemale yes I have a slow cooker, never thought of cooking things from frozen in it but I love the idea!

I did this and it really helped to have a freezer full of easy quick meals.
Things I made included

• pizza dough and pizza sauce (then bought and froze grated mozzarella too)
• lasagne
• spag bol
• turkey chilli
• chicken and bean casserole
• Chicken curry
• spinach and ricotta canelloni
• Greek lamb macaroni bake (from good food website)

Pleased to report that after an afternoon in the kitchen I have the following in the freezer:

9 servings of cottage pie
11 servings of Bolognese sauce
16 servings of chili con carne

I also have 5kg of chicken breast in the fridge which I'll tackle tomorrow!

Today's afternoon of cooking yielded:

8 servings of chicken curry
6 servings of sweet and sour chicken
6 servings of chicken & veg in white sauce.

Still got some chicken left (which will probably turn into a paella-type dish) but giving myself the evening off.

I follow a blogger called Jamerrill Stewart who does mega batch cook sessions, if you're willing to look past a lot of 'praise the lord' type rhetoric. Her meals aren't the healthiest (and you could deffo cut back on the amount of sour cream and cheese) but they are tasty and handy to have on the freezer. Our fave meal from her channel is tater tot casserole, except we substitute the tater tots with potato wedges or croquettes. Her chicken Alfredo is also good.

You can buy large foil trays in Poundland that you can freeze whole family meals in 👍

Bloody well done!

@fairyjuice ah, I've seen some of her videos on YouTube, I'll check out the blog for recipes, thanks for the suggestion 🙂

You have made a fantastic stash
I usually cook a beef stew for the freezer and the meals you mentioned.
We had pasta and pesto a lot I remember (15 mins from packet to dinner table).