Meal Planning for the Baby Fog
Some call it nesting, I think for me it’s preparing for the worse case scenario. Worse case scenario being my husband and I are zombies after we come down from the first initial high of becoming parents to an amazing, new, little boy. I can foresee that the lack of sleep and heighten sensitivity to every twitch, moan and breath of our little guy, will put us in a state where we’ll function off basic needs only. Of course I’m hoping for the best case scenario, where our son will be a breeze, allowing us to sleep in little increments but at evenly spaced intervals, not have any difficulties with latching and will take a bottle on occasion after about a month. A first time mom can dream right? But since I’ve seen the chaos (happy and filled with love chaos) that little ones can bring with them into the world, I’ll plan for the zombie like state.
Aside from getting his room all set up, his clothes and blankets washed, newborn diapers ready (even though I plan to switch to cloth after a few weeks) and all the main baby necessities accounted for, car seat, monitor, co-sleeper, I need to prepare myself to be an absent minded and tired mom. One of the biggest things to take off my plate is the meals. Don’t get me wrong, my husband will do some cooking but he’s more of a BBQ meat kind of guy. No side dishes or such, just meat. So for semi-decent, well-rounded meals I need to prepare and freeze meals ahead of time.
There are a lot of resources on freezing meals, preserving food, post-partum meal planning and of course Pinterest that I’ve used and will provide links for to help you plan for your baby fog. But as another resource, here’s how I’ve prepped myself, the meals I’ve prepared and how I’ll keep track of when to defrost the items so I don’t forget we have food.
Prepping
First look at the space you’re able to work with. Do you have a lot of freezer space or will you just be able to freeze a few dishes? If you’re limited to a couple of dishes look at making the ones that can last a few meals, like lasagna, enchiladas, casseroles.
Next, if you’re like me and on a tight budget you probably can’t afford buying your food all at once. Look for ads and bargains. Sign up for online announcements when your local grocery store is having a sale. Meat is expensive so tell friends and family you’re on the look out for sales and buy when it’s at a good price!
Supplies
7×7 square foil pans: I’ve picked up a few 7×7 foil pans that will work great for casseroles, lasagna and enchiladas. You can use larger if you have the room.
Glass canning jars: some moms love using glass over the plastic containers, especially for soups and chili’s. Just be careful, glass can easily break when frozen so find a box that you can organize and secure your jars in, something small enough for your freezer.
Plastic containers: if you don’t feel comfortable with glass, plastic containers work great too.
Good Ziplock freezer bags: great for marinated meats, pastry dishes and snacks.
Freezer wrap and waxed paper: there’s a nifty trick I learned with freezer and waxed paper, probably through Pinterest, that I’ll share later.
Food
| Soups & Sauces | Recipe Link | |
| Cheesy Vegetable Chowder | LulutheBaker | |
| Minestrone Soup with Ground Beef | ||
| Tomateo Sauce | SouleMama | |
| Meat Sauce for Pastas | ||
| Casseroles | ||
| Creamy Chicken Casserole | TriedAndTasty | |
| Tuna Casserole | ||
| Cowboy Chicken Casserole | Food Network | |
| Roast Chicken Enchilada Suizas Casserole | Food Network | |
| Meats | ||
| Healthy Sweet and Sour Quinoa Meatballs | FoodFigure | |
| Greek Marinade Chicken | FoodFigure | |
| Sweet and Smoky Chipotle Marinade | FoodFigure | |
| Fajita Marinade | FoodFigure | |
| Teriyaki Marinade | FoodFigure | |
| Boneless Ribs | FoodFigure | |
| Mini Meatloafs | Hunts | |
| Quinoa Burger | EatingWell | |
| Breakfast/Deserts | ||
| Fruit and Yogurt Smoothies | OneHundred | |
| Banana Almond Garnola Clusters | DeliciousLyella | |
| Breakfast Enchiladas | TastyKitchen | |
| Idaho Sunrise Breakfast Muffins | VillageCook | |
| Smoothie Packets | BudgetBytes | |
| Raspberry Turnovers | MarthaStewart | |
| Lactation Cookies | ExpressedMilk | |
Tips and Suggestions
Freeze a variety of foods: you may love creamy casseroles and cheesy lasagna but milk is one of the biggest allergies to babies. Tomatoes and acidic foods could really make your baby fussy and uncomfortable too. If your breastfeeding and your baby is being fussy, you may need to eliminate these foods for a little bit. So prepare a variety of items.
Mark the meals on a calendar or set reminders in your phone: we have a family calendar of when our bills are due and events. When I freeze something I determine how long I want it to sit in the freezer and then find a day 2-3 months out to put it on the calendar. We may not have it on that exact day but at least when I look ahead I know what we have for dinners and what’s still in the freezer.
Label cooking directions: sounds pretty, ‘duh’ but if family/friends or your husband/partner wants to cook something you’ve frozen, they may not know what to do and you may be too zombie’d out to look up the recipe. Write down the cooking directions on an index card or outside wrapping paper so its there with the recipe. Don’t write the directions on the foil you have directly over your meal in case you need to cook the item with the foil on.
For recipes using muffin tins: after you freeze your food in the muffin tin, pop out the food and store in a zip lock freezer bag. As long as you use cooking spray the item should pop out of the frozen tin easily enough. When you’re ready to bake put the frozen food back into the muffin tin to bake
Take up offers of help: when family and friends ask what they can do to help, don’t be afraid to see if they’ll bring over some fresh food/meals. Freezer foods are great but nothing can beat fresh so try to supplement with meals brought over from friends and family.
For you ultra organized moms! Create a list of meals you’ve frozen with expiration dates (some meals won’t last as long as others) and cross off the meals once they’ve been cooked. Also, label any big canister or jars you store your oats, grains, quinoa or pastas in to help your husband/partner, family and friends know what it is and how to cook it, in case they want to cook a meal to help (I just cut the cooking directions off the packaging and tape it to the lid).
Great sites and resources
Here are links to two great blog sites that I used to help put together my post-partum meal planning.
Here are some resources on freezing and storing foods.
National Center for Home Food Preservation
And lastly my personal Pinterest Board in case you want to check out more fabulous recipes!