Freezer Meal Prep
We are in full blown Baby #2 prep mode over here. With less than 6 weeks until baby’s due date (and that is just a wild guess if you know anything about baby’s timing and labor) we are down to the wire. While we are preparing for all things baby, one of the major tasks I am taking very seriously this time around is freezer meal preparation.
When you have a newborn, you are sleep deprived, in full survival mode, caring and nurturing this new little creature more than anything else. Priorities are no longer on ourselves, they are now onto the brand new life brought into the home.
This time around, I have my son to think about as well as myself and my husband. We all need to be fed, we all need to be taken care of and paid attention to on top of caring for the new bundle of joy. While we are excited for this new chapter in our lives, it is equally nerve racking to think about how we will be able to juggle it all.
When I had my first born, my son Calum, my husband had to go back to work after 10 days of being at home with us. Thinking of meals for myself seemed like a much larger chore than breast feeding or rocking our baby to sleep or sleeping myself. I became the queen of snacking. While this kept me going, it wasn’t the healthiest of options and didn’t nourish me nor our baby enough, it wasn’t substantial enough to get through the day. Thankfully I had meal prepped a bit prior to Calum being born, but also had some family and friends drop off actual meals that got us through the first hurdle of living with a newborn.
For Baby #2’s arrival, I am going all out. Dinner preps, snack preps, individual lunches prepped. While some things need to be prepared fresh, there is so much that can be tackled in advance to have as options in your freezer. Not everything freezes well, so here are some suggestions I am either doing or contemplating creating for easier grab and heat spreads.
- Soups
- Casseroles
- Meat Pies
- Meatballs
- Lasagna
- Pasta Dishes
- Burrito Bowls
- Chili
- Stroganoff
- Sheppards Pie
- Pizza Dough
- Sauces or Dips
- Smoothie Bags
There are so many more possibilities, it’s amazing. Think of things that store well within a freezer. Things that reheat well, can be thrown in a crockpot or instant pot. Whatever helps make prep time shorter when your in the thick of it all.
Also highly consider preparing snacks for grab and go options. Trail mixes, muffins, granola bars, cookies, energy or protein balls, snacks that can nourish you yet satisfy you in a quick moment. Breastfeeding can cause major hunger, so be ready for all matters.
This may seem overly ambitious, and to be determined if I can stick this out in the beginning, but I also plan to do snack prep every week to increase my healthy options. Cutting up veggies and fruits, cheeses and deli meats with a plethora of crackers or dips such as hummus available. I may laugh at myself later for this, but one can dream!
Whatever happens, as new moms, we need to take care of ourselves during these hectic times. We aren’t doing our families any good nor our new little ones if we aren’t nourished and well fed. We are low functioning in the beginning due to lack of sleep, lack of nutrition should not be an added factor, wherever possible. We need to love ourselves, thank our bodies for the incredible feat it has just done by creating a life and give ourselves grace whenever possible. As mothers, we are amazing, even when we haven’t showered or slept, the least we can do is eat!
Melanie xoxox