Filling the freezer prior to giving birth

[AuroraB]

Morning everyone,

I am due to have my first baby in two weeks.

what i need is some ideas of things i can make in bulk to stick in the freezer so we don't have to do any cooking for the first few weeks.

Sorry if this has been asked 1000 times, i did do a search but didn't turn up anything

thanks x

I ate loads of curries and dal (mainly of the takeaway variety as DH is a crap cook) in the early days with DD and she wasn't particularly windy.

I found anything I could eat with one hand to be the best for quite a while - curries, stews, soups (soup in a mug with a sandwich or some bread or crackers is a great easy meal or snack), risotto (make wettish if freezing so it doesn't dry out when you microwave it), pasta (bolognese or similar sauce freezes brilliantly).

Things to make sure you have from the supermarket - hoummous and other dips to have with veg or crackers or tortilla chips, biscuits, bread, cheese (I was addicted to mini Babybels), cold meats etc.

The BBC food site has really good recipes.

this is a brilliant idea. we did it when I was expecting dd1 (and dd2 to an extent) and it worked really well - we didn't have to cook anything from scratch until dd1 was about 10 weeks old!

I cooked:

spag bol
curry
shepherd's pie
stews
fish pie

just need to cook rice/pasta/potatoes to go with the above

other easy meals are: salmon fillets and boiled potatoes/veg (takes 5 mins prep, and 20 mins cooking.

sausages and mash

omelettes/scrambled egg

beans on taost (for when you have forgotten to take anyting out of the freezer!)

hope all goes well

Message withdrawn

Anyone got any more summery recipes that freeze well?

I filled the freezer with stews, casseroles, etc for ds1 and when he arrived in August although I was glad I'd done it I wished I had made less warming wintry stuff.

Ds2 is due in July so am having a go again.

Really nice salmon pasta bake recipe here:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1398/italian-broccoli-and-salmon-bake

it freezes very well (I cook the whole thing then freeze portions) and is good with salad.

This is a good fish cake recipe that freezes well:www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3491/salmon-and-dill-fish-cakes-in-4-easy-steps

Also made Spanish chickenas a post baby freezer meal last time and now make it about once a fortnight, is fab but the recipe is no longer online - essentially, fry sliced onion with cut up chicken (breast or thigh) and cut up chorizo, then chuck in tinned tomatoes, pitted black olives and red wine if you want, leave to cook for about 40 minutes then add sliced courgette and cook for about another 15. This is actually even better defrosted from frozen than fresh.

Also found these here (haven't tried these ones but it's where I got the spanish chicken recipe from last time): www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/youafterthebirth/nutrition/nutritiousrecipesfornewmums/

Sorry these are links done right (I hope)

salmon pasta bake

fish cakes

freezable recipes for new mums

Spanish omelette freezes well. Great with a salad or just wedges to pick up with one hand and eat while feeding the baby.

I amde loads of chilli last time, which was a waste of time as it made my bf DS really windy.

I would stick to fairly plain stuff like lasagne, pasta sauces like bolognese etc that can be easily defrosted and shepherd's pie, fish pie etc.

trixy, I did exactly the same thing.

8 portions of lentil and vegetable chilli were not idea!!