Looking for some tips on preparing freezer meals for that post-baby period? These postpartum freezer meal prep tips provides some guidelines as to how you can go about successfully planning and prepping freezer-friendly meals before giving birth.
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Postpartum Freezer Meal Prep
“After the baby is born, you are going to be exhausted. Definitely too exhausted to cook.”
These are the words that echoed through my head throughout my whole entire pregnancy. One year ago this week marks the time when I was approximately 7 months pregnant.
Although a year has gone by (already!), I vividly remember trying to prepare myself both mentally and physically for the birth of our baby boy who would arrive in only two short, yet seemingly long months.
I really had no idea what to expect with a newborn, but based on what friends, family, and complete strangers told me — one thing was clear.
I was going to be exhausted.
Now, I received a lot of advice during my pregnancy. Some of it — well — most of it, completely unsolicited.
That being said, there were a few recommendations that I received that stuck with me, which I actually took to heart.
One suggestion I was given was to prepare freezer-meals before the baby was born.
And as it turns out, it was a really good suggestion.
I was fortunate that our baby was due in December, so coming up with cozy soup, stew and casserole recipe ideas that were also freezer-friendly was a relatively easy task. After all, who doesn’t want to eat all of that delicious comfort food in the cooler months?
Although the time of year did make the prepping process easier, the ultimate key to success was a little planning, preparation, time management skills and handy kitchen tools.
The following are some of the lessons that I learned from my experience prepping freezer-meals before giving birth.
Postpartum Freezer Meal Prep Tips
1. Make a List
The thought of preparing a whole bunch of freezer meals can seem really daunting at first. Especially when you already feel like you’ve been hit by a truck and your hormones are going berserk.
So ladies, listen to me.
Before embarking on this task, I recommend that you sit down and make a list of all of the recipes that you’d like to prepare. You can either write it down on paper or save all of your favourite freezer-friendly recipes in a file on your computer or on Pinterest (my favourite tool).
Generally, the best recipes to freeze are meals like soups, stews, meatloafs and casseroles. For a healthy balance, try to find recipes that contain a mixture of protein, vegetables and higher fibre grains or starches so that they will leave you feeling full and satisfied.
You will need that extra energy once baby arrives! If you need some recipe inspiration, check out my top healthy freezer crockpot meals here!
2. Create a Timeline
The next step is to plan out when you’re going to make each recipe.
Do you plan to make a few recipes all in one day, or would you prefer to pace yourself over the course of several weeks or months?
If you have a really busy lifestyle, then it might be best to aim to make a couple of freezer meals every week until you’ve met your target meal prepping goal.
At the end of the day, it’s a lot less overwhelming if you pace yourself.
3. Start Sooner Rather than Later
If I learned one lesson throughout the freezer meal prepping process, it would be to start doing your meal prepping sooner rather than later.
As a first time mother, I had no idea how uncomfortable those final few weeks of pregnancy would be. As you progress further along in your pregnancy, you will probably notice that you’ll have less tolerance for being on your feet for long periods of time, which means that the last thing you’ll feel like doing is cooking up a storm in a panic-driven state the day before the baby is supposed to arrive.
PLUS, you never know if the baby might arrive early, so it’s always best to be prepared. Our baby ended up coming nine days early, so I was super grateful that I had done the majority of my meal prepping back when I was seven months pregnant.
4. Take Inventory
Once you’ve established your list of recipes and a general timeline, you’ll want to look at each recipe and take inventory of what you already have in stock in your fridge and cupboards and what you will need to buy.
It’s a lot easier to create this list in one sitting rather than repeatedly having to run out to the grocery store to pick up that one item that you don’t have.
Such a pain.
Believe me, when you’re carrying around that extra load, you’ll want to minimize the additional tasks and errands wherever possible.
5. Make Friends with your Crock Pot
If you’ve been thinking about getting more use out of your crock pot, THIS would be the time.
What’s great about a slow cooker is that you can throw all of the ingredients in it in advance and it does the rest of the work for you. All you have to do is smell that wonderful aroma floating through the house all day.
Additionally, most crock pots can hold quite a few ingredients so it’s the perfect tool to use if you plan on doubling or tripling a recipe. Soups, chilis or stews generally turn out really well when prepared in a slow cooker!
6. Kill Two Birds with One Stone
One huge time saving strategy that I used when prepping freezer meals is to double or triple batch cook recipes that you’re ALREADY preparing for your family meal times and store the leftovers in containers in the freezer for that post-baby period.
By following this method, you won’t have use that precious time and energy to prepare a whole bunch of extra meals. Instead, choose some of your family’s favourite meals that you’re already preparing and double up.
Chances are they won’t mind eating it again in the future.
7. Take Advantage of Time-Saving Hacks
I’m sure you can tell by now that I’m all about saving time in the kitchen. My end goal is always to get delicious and healthy meals in as little time as possible. That’s where some of my time-saving hacks come into play:
- Save time washing, peeling and chopping fresh produce by using store bought frozen vegetables and fruit. Some of my favourite frozen fruits and vegetables to use are frozen butternut squash cubes, spinach nuggets, blueberries and pomegranate arils!
- Once you’ve purchased your meat, if not using right away, transfer the meat from larger packages to freezer bags. Lay pieces apart so they freeze separately. That makes it easier to remove the number of pieces you need when prepping your freezer meals.
- For flavour-packed meals and tender meats, freeze meats in a marinade. The meat will marinate while thawing.
- To defrost food quickly (once it’s been prepared) and get meals on the table faster, freeze recipes in batches of 4-6 portions or fewer.
8. Stock up on Tupperware
Oh the beloved Tupperware. I think we all have a *love-hate* relationship with those pesky containers. They’re something that you pretty much can’t live without, but trying to store the stuff in an organized fashion? Next to impossible.
When prepping freezer meals, however, you will soon realize that Tupperware is your friend. I recommend freezing meals in containers in realistic quantities that you and your family will be able to eat in one or two sittings. There’s no point of freezing a double batch of stew in a container if you can only get through a quarter of it. Instead, use smaller containers to freeze more realistic quantities.
For food safety purposes, it’s recommended that you avoid thawing out foods and subsequently refreezing them, so once the meals have been defrosted and stored in the refrigerator, it’s best consume them within a 3-4 day time frame.
9. Don’t Forget the Labels
One thing that you might notice after you start your post-baby meal prepping is that your freezer will fill up.
Quickly.
When you have all of those containers flooding your freezer, it can be easy to lose track of when you made each recipe or what is in each container. If you’ve ever tried freezing a stew, you know that it can often be difficult to tell what’s actually in each container.
Is it beef or chicken…or maybe it’s beans??
Yeah, you get my gist.
So as soon as you’re done packing up the meals in the appropriate bags or containers, I suggest getting a pen or marker and writing down the name of the recipe and date it was prepared on some freezer labels or type it out and print the labels to stay ultra organized!
You can even write down how many portions are in each container and the date by which the freezer meals should be consumed.
10. Practice Safe Food Handling
It can be easy to get caught up trying to get your meal prepping done ASAP. After all, who wants to spend months and months slaving away in the kitchen?
Despite trying to speed through the process, it’s still important to pay attention to some key food safety guidelines. After all, freezer meals will do you absolutely no good if you they make you sick.
See some food safety tips below:
- Before freezing your meals, cool very hot items at room temperature. Refrigerate the items once the steaming stops. Within two hours, the cooked foods should be refrigerated or frozen.
- Cool foods quickly in uncovered shallow dishes or in small amounts in the fridge.
- Use a thermometer to check the freezer temperature. It should register at -18ºC (0ºF).
- Leave some space between packages and containers to allow for cool air to move.
- When freezing liquids, make sure to leave some space at the top of the container. It allows the liquids to expand as they freeze.
- For foods to be frozen so they keep well, you want to stop air from coming in contact with the frozen food. Use heavy foil, freezer bags or containers designed for freezing food. If you’re using freezer bags, ensure that you squeeze all the air out before sealing.
Freezer Meals Can Be a Life Saver
At the end of the day, preparing freezer meals before baby arrives can be a huge stress reliever, and will allow you to spend that precious time with your baby rather than worrying about getting supper on the table every night.
Hot dogs anyone? No. Thank you.
Not to mention, by preparing balanced meals well in advance, it can help you reach your post-pregnancy health and fitness goals a lot faster since you’ll be eating healthier home-cooked meals rather than relying on processed convenience foods.
By implementing a plan of action and having the right tools available, you’ll be well on your way maximizing that time with your baby and also feeling more energized, fit and organized.
And that’s an amazing way to start your journey into motherhood.
Looking for other pregnancy tips? Check out these articles:
- 7 Secrets to Prevent Excess Weight Gain During Pregnancy
- 7 Tips for Staying Fit During Pregnancy + First Trimester Workout
- Pregnancy Fitness | 5 Tips for Staying Fit During the Second & Third Trimester
- 4 Exercises for a Fit & Strong Core {Before, During & After Pregnancy}
- 17 Not-So-Obvious Hospital Bag Items that You’ll Need Before & After Delivery
- 7 Strategies for Managing Pregnancy Acne
- 10 Fit & Healthy Freezer Meals
- 10 Strategies to Help Lose the Weight After Pregnancy
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