Postpartum Freezer Meals to Make Ahead
I did not make meals ahead of Elani’s birth, but she was also the only little one that I had. I do not regret not having meals ahead of time, but I knew that I definitely wanted to be a little more prepared this time around. I just want to make things a little bit easier while we transition to life with a toddler and a newborn. And as much as I love my husband (and his support) I know that I cannot rely on him to make a bunch of delicious meals for us to all enjoy. Haha! Maybe with a few more years of practice. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a few different meals that I was excited to make. I still have some breakfast foods that I plan to make ahead of baby girl’s arrival as well. Check out my Pinterest Board to see all of the fun recipes that I’ve saved. Obviously, you do not have to be pregnant to enjoy these meals!
The first recipe that I made was a delicious turkey chili. It was easy enough for Elani to even help me with. I look forward to making some fresh cornbread to go with this chili when we decide to dig in! I separated it into two gallon-sized freezer bags so that we do not have to thaw all of it at once.
While the chili was cooking in my Crock-Pot, I made macaroni and cheese and honey sesame chicken. The honey sesame chicken was super simple and I basically completed it while I boiled the water for the macaroni and cooked the macaroni noodles. It did not require any cooking because all I had to do was combine the ingredients in freezer bags. When I’m ready to cook it, I will just add everything into a pan. I like that this isn’t a reheated meal, but it is still easy enough for my husband to make. When it comes time to make these, we’ll enjoy them in lettuce cups.
Once I got the honey sesame chicken into the freezer, I continued with the macaroni and cheese. I had done my grocery shopping at my local Target so I did not have access to most of the cheeses that the recipe called for, but it was easy enough to make substitutions. Instead of using sharp cheddar cheese, parmigiano reggiano, fontina cheese, pecorino romano cheese, and muenster cheese (which all sounded amazing), I used colby jack cheese, pepper jack cheese, extra sharp white cheddar cheese, and sharp cheddar cheese. It still worked just fine. Honestly, it turned out perfectly. I let Evan have a taste and he was begging for me not to freeze it so he could have more. Haha! Once it cooled, I sliced it and then covered it in foil to freeze it.
I completed all of those recipes in one day. I was going to make the chicken alfredo lasagna the same day, but I wanted Evan’s help cutting the rotisserie chicken (I do not like to cut anything shaped like an animal) and he had to work late. When I finally made the lasagna, it did not turn out exactly as planned, but it is still tasty. For some reason, my chicken alfredo mixture never thickened the way the recipe suggests it should. I found a comment on the recipe by someone else who had the same issue, but it did not seem to be a common problem. If you make this recipe, hopefully, yours will thicken well. That was the only recipe that gave me even the littlest bit of trouble.
I ended up making three more recipes because I wanted to use the adorable Magnolia 3qt Crock-Pot that I had recently purchased. I did not take pictures of videos of the recipes at all, but you can find them all on my 3qt Crock-Pot Recipe Board. I made sloppy joe, southwest chicken, and bean stew. My only feedback from those recipes is that the sloppy joe could have been thicker.
Again, I did not do all of this food prep with my first child, but I am thrilled to have done it this time around. I know that it is going to make life just a little bit easier, especially since we’ll be trapped inside with very few guests allowed due to the pandemic and flu season. I cannot believe that we are only a few days away from meeting the newest little addition to our family and I look forward to sharing all of our life updates with you all.
