Everyone warns you that the first few weeks with a newborn are a whirlwind between feedings, diaper changes, and getting to know your little bundle’s needs and personality. You all know how much I love cooking, but I wanted to be realistic with myself and eliminate any pressure to get a meal together in those first weeks. I’m sure we will be doing plenty of takeout or quick meals to supplement, but I feel a little more prepared knowing we have a slew of fresh, home-cooked meals in the freezer ready to go when we feel drained!
For our meal prep, I wanted to focus on a good mix of lunches/dinners, breakfast and snacks since some days I’m sure we will be more tired in the morning or more in the evening so I wanted a balance. I prepped a mix of healthier meals, along with some hearty meals that I know will be soul-soothing (like mac and cheese or bolognese sauce).
Since the baby really could have arrived any day since I was 37 weeks, I did most of the meal prepping between 34–36 weeks. Here I am at almost 41 weeks pregnant and the baby is still cozy in my belly, but I’m glad I got a head start on this prep when I had a little more energy and mobility!
If you are expecting a new baby or know someone who is, here are a couple of tips for meal prepping before baby, along with the list of items I decided to prep.
Tips for Meal Prepping Before Baby
When I was researching what to prep ahead of having a baby there were some common tips for preparing and storage. I’ve added my own here as well!
- Don’t forget to prep some for breakfast and lunch in addition to dinner.
- Foods you can eat with one hand are almighty (e.g. the breakfast burritos on this list).
- Clean out and/or use up the goods in your freezer before you start so you have plenty of room.
- Freeze in smaller portions: Instead of putting all of the soup in one giant container, I froze the meals in smaller portions so we can just grab enough for a meal and keep alternating so we don’t get bored of something.
- Label every meal with:
- Name of the dish
- Date you prepared it
- How you should reheat. (Don’t assume you will remember when the time comes to eat.)
- For example, “Mac and Cheese, 9/30/20, Defrost overnight in the fridge and bake 350°F for 40–50 mins.”
- Storage containers: Some freezers, like ours, don’t have the best seal, making things prone to freezer burn, so storage is key. Use what works best for you but the more you can seal the meals from air the better. I used our vacuum sealer, some quart containers, and some parchment dishes, as well as plastic wrap and zip top bags.
What We Meal-Prepped Before Baby
Lunches or Dinners
Bolognese Sauce: I love to make and freeze a hearty bolognese sauce any time of year, but especially during the winter. It freezes super well and makes for a hot gourmet meal on a cool day. All we will have to do is boil some pasta and toss with the sauce and we are in business for an easy post-baby meal. I’ll plan to thaw the frozen sauce overnight in the fridge when we want to use it. My favorite bolognese sauce is filled with slowly sauteed vegetables and a combination of ground pork and beef. I loosely go by this recipe by Marcella Hazan via Leites Culinaria.
Cauliflower Soup: Soups are a great freezer option especially when they are vegetable-based. They are healthy and warm and couldn’t be easier to heat up. I imagine we will love this cauliflower soup when we are tired and want something with nutritional value but without the effort. I used this Roasted Cauliflower Soup recipe from Cookie and Kate.
Tomato Basil Soup: I used Ina Garten’s recipe which I’ve made a number of times. This will be a nutritious option on its own for a cool day, or we may make grilled cheese sandwiches to dunk into it as well (depending on our exhaustion levels).
White Chicken Chili: I used this White Chicken Chili recipe from Cooking Classy because it seemed easy to put together and sounded like it would have a great flavor combination between the shredded chicken, green chilis, white beans and spices like cumin, paprika, and coriander.
Beef and Butternut Squash Stew: Having the baby in the fall season, I wanted to have something on hand that would feel very seasonal. I made this Beef and Butternut Squash Stew Recipe via Giada De Laurentiis and it was so good and unctuous. I decided to freeze the leftovers so we can enjoy it when baby is here (And light a fall candle to set the mood!).
Mac and Cheese: The ultimate comfort food. I loosely used this recipe because I love the combination of sharp cheddar and gruyere in mac and cheese. I feel like the panko breadcrumbs on top will help protect it a little from freezer burn. And who doesn’t love a good crispy topping?
Veggie Burgers: I wanted to try to keep some of the freezer meals packed with vegetables so when making these veggie burgers for dinner one night, I made some extra to freeze. They are filled with so many goodies: broccoli, carrot, mushroom, spinach, onion, black beans, a little brown rice and spices. We may eat them with or without a bun for an easy lunch or dinner. Heads up: there are a lot of steps for these veggie burgers from Inspired Taste so this isn’t a super quick one but they came out tasty with a nice texture!
Other items we have ready in the freezer:
- Chicken Breasts and Thighs: if we order some fresh vegetables, we can create a really easy meal by searing up some chicken breasts or making shredded chicken thighs.
- Chicken Sausage: Super fast to make for a lunch or dinner and serve with some fresh vegetables or salad.
- Nuts: A great snack.
- Edamame: Love to boil a pot of edamame pods to snack on with a little sea salt
Breakfast and Snacks
Lactation Cookies: This Lactation Cookie recipe from How Sweet Eats seemed like a popular choice among new Moms and seems like it would taste like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.
Pumpkin Muffins: Knowing that we will be up and down throughout the night, I imagine that we will have little energy to prepare breakfast. Muffins freeze well and defrost quickly for a one-hand treat. I used my recipe for pumpkin muffins and added some leftover crumble I had in the freezer for a crunch element.
Blueberry Buttermilk Scones: I love scones and surprisingly they freeze really well; I freeze them uncooked and bake straight from frozen, adding a minute or two to the baking time. It tends to work well since the layers of butter and dough need to be cold to create a flakey scone. I usually just use fresh blueberries but this time I also swirled in a little blueberry preserves for added flavor.
Breakfast Burritos: Greg made about a dozen breakfast burritos that we can grab and reheat in the convection oven. We didn’t use a recipe for these but just grab some flour tortillas and make whatever filling you want. We did bacon, shredded cheddar, and scrambled eggs with spinach. Just like at a take out burrito spot, we wrap them in foil to help protect from freezer burn and also so the burritos can steam in the packet when reheated.
Smoothie Packs: We didn’t use a formal recipe for these but each has some combination of bananas, strawberries, pineapples, blueberries, kale, and ginger. We freezed them in packs that will make two smoothies. We’ll just take the pack out of the freezer, pop it in the blender, top with almond milk, and blend!
Mom’s Famous Spiced Pecans: Okay, technically we didn’t prep these for at home post-baby, but to bring with us to the hospital instead. These are such a good snack and the perfect combination of sweet, salty, spicy, and crunchy. They do freeze really well if you make a big batch.
Desserts
Apple Pie: This seems to be a trend but leading up to the baby, whenever I baked something, I made a little extra to freeze. That was the case with this apple pie. I figured we won’t be mad at a fresh pie baking in the oven while we rest and enjoy baby snuggles on the couch!
Assorted Cookies: I didn’t necessarily prep these for post-baby, but my freezer is always stocked with various types of cookie dough. I freeze them in scoops and vacuum seal them so they stay fresh for months. Currently in there I have confetti cookies, molasses cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, white chocolate macadamia cookies, nutella toffee cookies, and chocolate chip cookies ready for baking. These will come in handy for a last minute dessert craving. I’ll just preheat the oven before I (hopefully) put baby to sleep and then bake straight from frozen.
Pie Crust: I always keep some homemade pie crust in the freezer (often the NY Times base dough) so I made sure to re-stock pre-baby. Since this recipe doesn’t use any sugar, you can use the crust for both savory and sweet things. For example, you can use it for a veggie quiche, savory galette or a sweet pie.
Parents or expecting moms, I would love to hear what you meal prepped and found most helpful in the early days!
