I have a friend who is due in April and she's asking on Facebook what kind of meals to make and freeze before the baby comes. I've seen a few other friends do this to.
WHY?
I know having a baby takes up some time in the day, but why is it that dinner can't be cooked? I know the mom might be exhausted and not feeling well after giving birth, but why can't the husband cook dinner? I apologize if I'm being totally naive here.
After a full day of taking care of a newborn, I doubt either of us will want to cook dinner. Mr. Smock will be on paternity leave for the first 2-2.5 weeks, so we're planning to fill the freezer with some quick and yummy meals to make our lives easier.
With one baby I didn't have any issues getting dinner straight. Once we were on #3 it's a whole new story. Our evenings are so busy that have a dinner prepped is a lifesaver and allows one parent to take care of baths, cleaning, etc while the other tends the baby or other obligations. It's just a convenience thing!
Anyway, I'm guessing for a lot of FTMs it feels like there's only so much you can do to prepare for having a tiny baby suddenly show up in your house. I can't exactly practice changing poopy diapers, breastfeeding, or sleep deprivation. It's a pretty steep learning curve. Freezing meals is one thing you CAN do ahead of time to make yourself feel more prepared.
We've really enjoyed ours these first two weeks. We still cook some but eat a freezer meal about once every other day. My H has been home the whole time but its just so busy with feeding (breast, bottles, and pumping), then cleaning the bottles, diaper changes, crying etc. Also sleep deprivation is no joke. Any spare time we switch taking turns napping.
I love having freezer meals without a baby. There are days I don't want to cook, so it's nice to grab a freezer meal. My DH can cook but some of the stuff he puts together is awful. I would rather have stuff together I know I will like.
Freezer meals have saved us. It takes an hour to feed the baby, then we have to wash pump parts and try to sleep before doing it again two hours later. We probably wouldn't eat without them.
it's just one less thing to worry about? i'm mean i'm not totally sure as i haven't been through a newborn phase before but as a FTM i plan to get some things stocked up in the freezer. we will double up some batches of pasta sauces, casseroles, pizza dough, muffins, etc just to have ready to go. pulling something out of the freezer, defrosting, and baking sounds way easier to me than making a meal plan/grocery list, actually getting to the store to do the shopping, getting everything home and unloaded/put away and then prepping, etc each day.
Post by browneyedgirl9 on Feb 17, 2014 16:37:49 GMT -5
My little guy is 5 weeks old, i didn't make any freezer meals before giving birth. I have been able to make dinner every night without a problem. I just prep stuff while he is sleeping, and planned some easy meals for the first 2 weeks.
DH took no time off with DD and was rarely home before 6. When he got home, he wanted to spend time with DD and I was often too exhausted to cook or dealing with cluster feeding. Being able to pull something out the freezer was so much easier and less stressful.
Post by Stingyshark on Feb 17, 2014 16:52:12 GMT -5
I felt similarly before I had DD. We had a few things in the freezer; purely coincidence that we had a lot of leftovers that could be frozen. They came in very handy the first week or two. I had a complication that left me unable to walk or stand very long; and DH was exhausted because he was pretty much doing everything except feeding the baby. He also was able to bring some of the left overs to the hospital for us to eat since we ended up being there an extra day. The hospital food was absolutely terrible.
We both said that we'd wished we had made more freezer meals.
I thought about doing this for all the reasons mentioned above, but there wasn't any time for us to prep all of that. Were it not for Pinterest and this place I would have never thought of it. I'm letting it go - we'll do easy stuff or get takeout.
Post by changedname on Feb 17, 2014 17:32:30 GMT -5
I have a freezer full of meals ready to go. Some are just ziplocs with ingredients to put in the crockpot (all the chopping etc is done), others are meals that I cooked and froze in portions.
I'm sure I could cook once the baby is here but it's nice to know I won't have to, one less thing to worry about.
Post by andthentherewere10 on Feb 17, 2014 17:47:36 GMT -5
I understand the appeal, esp if you are recovering from a csection or rough vaginal birth where standing might be super uncomfortable. I'm a big cook but probably won't be doing any myself because 1) we have limited freezer space 2) my husband is taking the entire month of May off and 3) he will be traveling the entire month of June so I'll be eating for one anyway then.
Post by Cricket0619 on Feb 17, 2014 18:36:46 GMT -5
It's super nice not to have to worry about what you are going to have or make for dinner. H usually cooks anyways, but he has been busy helping out with the baby and other things too. It's tiring having a newborn for both the mom and dad.
I didn't do freezer meals last time, but I will be doing it this time. Mostly out of convenience, especially with two kids now, but also because we all prefer my cooking over H's. And it's less expensive than last minute take-out on a regular basis.
You never know how the birth and recovery are going to go. You never know if you will have a sleeping newborn or a wide awake newborn. 4 days after I had a surprise c-section my husband went back to work. I was home with a 2 year old, a newborn who didn't sleep unless I held him and a c-section to recover from. Dh works unpredictable hours. Those freezer meals int he first few weeks were absolutely necessary. after my third birth and planned c-section I had a serious plan for meals. Because I knew I needed them. I had help from my mom and sister for a week, DH cooked on the weekends, and for 3 weeks I had m oms from my moms group bring me dinners on the weekdays. I am already planning the meals for this time around.
In addition to meals, I made a bunch of muffins and froze them. 30 seconds in the microwave and they were good to go and they're perfect for one handed eating. There were days where all I had to eat before H got home was a couple of muffins from my stash.
This sounds like a great task to give my MIL. They will be here for most of the summer (they live in Asia) and she will drive me crazy if she's idle. She is a good cook and hopefully she will find it a fun idea to make some "freezer meals" in advance.
DH made a couple freezer meals and also bought pre-made freezer meals from TJs. Between those meals, take-out, and meals family brought us he didn't have to cook dinner for over a month. Taking care of a newborn is hard work and the evenings are usually the worst time (baby is fussy, everyone is tired from a long day) the last thing you want to do is cook dinner. You certainly don't have to do freezer meals ahead of time, but it will make your life easier after the baby arrives.
I'm due tomorrow and have spent the last three months stocking my freezer with meals and stuff to make quick easy meals. My freezer went out last night. We caught it in time but we have all of our food stashed at 4 different houses around town. So, chances are we will be eating a lot of takeout now!
No real point to this and it doesn't even really contribute to the original post. I just saw the topic and it made me want to vent. And cry. And scream!
Post by statlerwaldorf on Feb 17, 2014 20:43:16 GMT -5
DH wasn't able to take much time off work since he had just started a new job. He would come home from work and I'd hand the baby over, so I could take a shower. I also had a c-section, so he had to do most of the cleaning, laundry, etc.
Post by runblondie26 on Feb 17, 2014 20:45:41 GMT -5
Forget freezer meals.
I just cleaned and froze a bunch of chicken breasts in individual portions a few days before the baby was born. Like 20lbs worth. I'd grab a bag from the freezer in the morning, pour some marinade in, and let in thaw in the fridge.
Throw the chicken on a baking sheet and cook for 20 mins, microwave a bag of frozen veggies, add some rice or baked potato on the side, and call it dinner.
Obviously I'm a creature of habit, and had no problem eating similar meals basically the entire newborn phase,lol.
I just cleaned and froze a bunch of chicken breasts in individual portions a few days before the baby was born. Like 20lbs worth. I'd grab a bag from the freezer in the morning, pour some marinade in, and let in thaw in the fridge.
Throw the chicken on a baking sheet and cook for 20 mins, microwave a bag of frozen veggies, add some rice or baked potato on the side, and call it dinner.
Obviously I'm a creature of habit, and had no problem eating similar meals basically the entire newborn phase,lol.
Yeah, see, my freezer is already like this. I buy meats in bulk and freeze recipe portion size. We also get our veggies over the summer from a farm share so I am freezing and canning all summer. I've got recipe-portion sized frozen veggies in there as well. If I do buy any veggies that I need I usually portion off a bit for the fridge and then freeze the rest to use later. Part of unpacking the groceries from each trip is to even chop up some things and put in containers to use later for recipes.
When we cook now it's just grab a few chicken breasts, a packet of veggies, throw it in a pot and go. Pretty similar to what you described. I'm not sure we would even have enough room in the freezer to keep whole meals for a few weeks.
I'm due tomorrow and have spent the last three months stocking my freezer with meals and stuff to make quick easy meals. My freezer went out last night. We caught it in time but we have all of our food stashed at 4 different houses around town. So, chances are we will be eating a lot of takeout now!
No real point to this and it doesn't even really contribute to the original post. I just saw the topic and it made me want to vent. And cry. And scream!
Oh man! That sucks!
I will be due right in time for hurricane season, and while in NJ it's usually not a problem, Irene and Sandy both had us out of power for over a week, which would mean a loss of all that food if it were to happen again. (and with my luck, it will)
I'm due tomorrow and have spent the last three months stocking my freezer with meals and stuff to make quick easy meals. My freezer went out last night. We caught it in time but we have all of our food stashed at 4 different houses around town. So, chances are we will be eating a lot of takeout now!
No real point to this and it doesn't even really contribute to the original post. I just saw the topic and it made me want to vent. And cry. And scream!