Preparing Meals for when new arrivals here

[Biggem]

So, I thought I would start making some meals and freeze them so that when the baby arrives and I can't be fooked to cook, I can just pull something out of the freezer and hey presto, dinner!
But, so far I've got Chilli, Lasagne and some pie fillings so that I can just put a ready rolled pastry tops on them...and thats as far as i've got!
I'm not really a fan of shepherds/cottage pies so they are outta the question, so I thought I would ask for ideas and see if anyone else is as ridiculous as me and doing the same?!

I'm doing the same... I did it before DD was born and really appreciated it. I'm also making soups and pasta sauces.

I did,

Casseroles, fish pie, ragu. Have you ever tried doing sheperds pie with sweet potato mash on instead and adding harrissa to the mince, it's a sweeter, spicier version

Slow cookers are amazing too, I would just bung in a load of veg/meat/stock during babies morning nap, and then eat later, great thing is that once its cooked it just stays at temperature.

How about a fish pie? My mum came down recently and made a massive pie and my sister made me a huge veggie lasasgne. I stuck them in the freezer in anticipation for the birth of my little one in about 6 weeks.

Oh yes and I made some cauliflower soup and froze that. It defrosts really easily and reheats no problem!

I'm planning to do the same....if I ever get around it. What about something with chicken, curry, a stew? I'm also going to get a few bags of fresh pasta, that only takes two minutes to cook, but you can freeze it too.

super super sensible thing to do. Was a life saver for us. We made curries as well (try the Nigella Yellow Pumpkin curry or a mild indian curry]. I froze portions of boiled rice as well. Sausage and lentil casserole was also good. Tried freezing tray of roasted veg to serve with pasta and feta but that wasn't v nice.
Also, I was v grateful for frozen fruit crumble- stewed the fruit up and then made crumble and put it on raw, baked from frozen without lid in oven and eaten with yogurt. Bfing gave me a super sweet tooth (could eat brownies straight from freezer without even defrosting them)
My other top tip is to do an online shop before the baby arrives if you haven't already. That way you will have a template shop which you can repeat and just throw in e.g. maternity pads, nappies etc. etc. as extras.
Congratulations and good luck

Thanks for all the tips guys!
I am loving the shepherds pie variation, def gonna try that bad boy!
I'm hoping to bf too and hadn't thought of making up some soups to get me through, I can just stick it in a thermos or insulated cup and sip away whilst baba is chowing down to!! (she says hopefully)
Have started the online shopping as Tescos was starting to drive me insane, well that and the fact that I could not stop farting my way around, i figured I was some kind of health hazard..!

I've started this now & will be making mch of what's suggested. But one extra idea is to make a massive pot of tomato sauce (I sauteed fresh fennel, garlic & seasoning, then chucked in a few tins of good chopped tomatoes & simmered with bay leaves) & freeze in 2 portion sizes. Thenstock up on those Swedish meatballs & freeze. Using dried pasta, this = very quick pasta/sauce/meatballs meal.

Oh, I've also made a big batch of red lentil & butternut squash soup with red chilli & fennel seeds. Very hearty & yummy.

Whenever I cook anything (soup/stew/risotto/spag Bol/chilli/pie) I make double & put half in the freezer!

Baked potatoes are really easy to do so perhaps think of some interesting fillings for them?

I was just gonna ask if anyone has had any experience with freezing rissotos as they are my go to fave...and how to reheat them?

Unfortunately risotto doesn't freeze well, it goes to mush. Best you can do is half cook it, cool it down & keep chilled in the fridge up to 3 days, then finish with stock when you want to eat it.

You might want to check out this page about storing cooked rice.

IME reheated frozen risotto isn't as nice as when fresh, but is ok (I make mine quite dry so perhaps that's why it doesn't go so mushy?)

Lamb and Veg Tagine - serve with couscous
Various curries
Beef stew
Spanish chicken cass with tomatoes, olives, peppers, chorizo etc
Veg soups

I found all these lifesavers. And they are all good for eating one handed. Which is VITAL when you have a new baby. Put a muslin over baby while you eat so as not to splat them too badly

Chicken pies.

i made chicken and carrot in a white tarragon sauce, and topped with mash, and put them into disposable foil pot things. Straight from freezer to oven, straight from oven to bin ()the pot, not the food)

Lifesave in the first two weeks.

Biggem there is a risotto in a box you can get in most supermarkets (yellow box, chicken trade mark company name beginning with G - I can't remember the name!). the come in about 4 flavours and are a really good standby. 12 min from cold to cooled and if you are feeling energetic you can add bits to them. Not as good as the reel thing, but okay when knackered!

I have frozen risotto and think it's fine reheated. So far for my freezer I have quorn bolognese, cottage pie, sausage & tomato risotto. Still planned are a 5-bean chilli and a chickpea halloumi and butternut squash tagine. And possibly a fish pie and some soups if I get round to them.

Second the tip about IKEA meatballs - they cook in 15 minutes, which is about the exact amount of time it takes to make some skins-on mash (wherein I'm too lazy to peel and figure the fibre will do me good!).

Also, big bags of frozen peas and vegetables are a good use of space to get some vitamins into you when you have no time to go shopping for fresh veg.

And bags of frozen fruit that you can blitz up into homemade smoothies to get fruit into you (with fruit juice and/or yohurt)