Things to Freeze for newborn time!

[Becbabe]

Hi guys,

Just looking for a few good "stock the freezer" recipes for when we have a newborn and are probably going to be a bit tired/freaked out/overwhelmed with love etc. to want to cook. I'm on maternity leave after next Friday :smiliedance: and I love to cook so I'll be wanting to use that time well...

I'm pretty good with casseroles etc (though I could always do with more recipes) but there are a few things in particular I'd love like pies, sausage rolls, precooked vegies and also - is it possible to make oven fries like you can buy in the supermarket?

I hate buying freezer section stuff so I was hoping to save a few bucks and cm on the waistline buy making my own! :yes:

[Baby Girl]

If you cut up potatoes and intend to freeze them you need to blanche them in hot, hot oil first.

Other than that, when I was close to crazy baby time we put away spaghetti bolognaise, casseroles, stews. I would cook fresh vegies to go with things that we had frozen (pretty quick and easy in a wok!!). DP also learnt to cook and did most of it (and still does now).

[~Emmylou~]

Good idea to plan ahead, you will be so glad you did this was my one big mistake last time and I'm not making it again ;)

I just started on my big bulk shopping list and deciding what we're going to make for the freezer yesterday.

We're doing:

Beef lasagne
Chicken lasagne
Marinated chicken breasts (I just put them in a ziplock bag in their marinade, ready to defrost and DH can throw them on the barbie as it will be warmer then)
Marinated steaks
Chicken curry
Lamb curry
Beef Stroganoff
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Mexican Mince (to use in tacos and enchiladas)
Pumpkin soup
Apricot chicken (for DD when we have curry)

You can also cut up uncooked pumpkin and carrots to freeze without blanching them first. Sweet potato would probably be ok too.

[~Emma~]

Ummmm

What about stirfrys? When I usually make a stirfry I freeze the left overs in individual portions with some cooked rice in a chinese takeaway container (just have to heat up in Microwave).

Shepherd's Pie? Lasagnes and Spaghetti Bolognaise are good... Fried Rice? Rissoles? (Either frozen cooked or uncooked)

Hmmmmm you can freeze just about anything lol

[newmum2one]

Shepherd's pie, spaghetti, stir fry, homemade pie/sausage rolls etc...

Our DS was very early and hence unexpected - the night before I went into hospital I cooked a family sized lasagne so I could send some with DH for his lunch the next day and reheat for dinner for the two of us the next night... DH ended up eating lasagne the entire week I was in hospital!!!! He still can't look at it six months on!!! :laughing:

[Becbabe]

Hey if anyone else is looking for the same kind of thing, I have been using the "recipezaar" website http://www.recipezaar.com/ which was recommended to me from someone on Bubhub. They have a whole chat thread called OAMC - Once a Month Cooking - and it's all cheap stuff that you can make in bulk and freeze. I love it and have been planning like mad!

They even have home made versions of freezer food like oven fries, chicken nuggets etc which DP loves.

If you have any trouble converting from imperial to metric, most women's weekly cookbooks have a conversion table in the back.