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Katie's Cucina » Katie Original

Preparing for Baby – Freezer Meal Prep 101

Published: Mar 20, 2017 · Modified: Apr 17, 2022 by Katie · This post may contain affiliate links

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I’m sharing how I prepared a wide-variety of meals before my second baby was born! Here are all my secrets:  Preparing for Baby – Freezer Meal Prep 101

assorted frozen foods in zip lock bags in freezer drawer with title text for pinterest.

Over the past few month’s, I’ve been sharing on my Facebook page how I was preparing for the arrival of baby. I prepared a wide variety of freezer meals. Some were just marinades for meats, others were full slow cooker meals that I just needed to defrost and cook, and others were leftover foods that I froze like pasta sauce, pasta bakes, etc… Today I’m going to share what I prepped for my babies arrival. Most are recipes of my own, some are recipes from others, and I have a few recipes I’ve never even blogged about before. I did all this in batches over a month span and was even making pans of baked ziti just a few days before delivery. Having some prepared meals in the freezer also helped toward the last week or two of my pregnancy when I was beyond and exhausted, battling elevated blood pressure and also got a cold! I mean seriously, could I not catch a break?

assorted frozen foods in zip lock bags in freezer drawer with title text for pinterest.

I’m almost six weeks post partum and still have a few meals left that I’m tapping into this week and next week! It’s always nice to know I have an easy dinner or two during the week already prepped and ready to go! I’ll probably prep a few more freezer meals in the next few weeks that way I have some more easy meals ready to be made on those days when I don’t have the energy or time to cook dinner.

Slow Cooker

Here are a few great ideas for either putting together raw and cooking in the slow cooker for a later date.

  • Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Tacos
  • Chicken and Black Beans
  • Beef Stew
  • Jambalaya
  • BBQ Pulled Chicken
  • Chicken Tikka Masala

Marinades for Meats

I like to make marinades ahead of time while I’m packaging out meat and freeze them in the marinade that way when they defrost they are marinating away!

  • Asian London Broil
  • Pacific Rim London Broil
  • Balsamic Glazed London Broil
  • Lemon Garlic Chicken

Make A Head & Freeze

The list below is all items I’ve made ahead, and made double or triple and froze the rest to eat for a later meal!

  • Meatballs
  • Salisbury Steak
  • Pirogi’s
  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
  • Taco Ground Beef
  • Pulled Pork
  • Baked Macaroni & Cheese
  • Twice Baked Potatoes
  • Ranchero Beans
  • Black Eyed Peas
  • Collard greens
  • Puerto Rican Red Beans
  • Chili
  • Bolognese Sauce
  • Lasagna
  • Baked Ziti
  • Stuffed Peppers
  • Sour Cream Garden Herb Cornbread
  • Buttermilk Waffles
  • Buttermilk Pancakes
  • Baked French Toast Casserole
  • Southern Biscuit Breakfast Sandwiches

Mixes to Make Ahead

I find that sometimes it makes life a little easier to cook from scratch when the mix is already prepared; you just have to mix the dry ingredients with the wet. I’ve put together a few dry mixes in my pantry, so I can just dump and bake/cook!

  • Sour Cream Garden Herb Cornbread Mix
  • Buttermilk Waffles Mix
  • Buttermilk Pancakes Mix
  • Buttermilk Biscuit Mix

This is just about everything I prepared before my second baby was born, and it was beyond a life saver! I had quite a few people shocked I was cooking during my first few weeks, but once I explained to them I had freezer meals made ahead they totally understood how I was able to cook! Hope this helps if your preparing for a new baby and/or just busy and want some new freezer meal ideas!

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About Katie

Katie is a busy mom of 2 children who loves to feed her family delicious meals that don't take hours to cook! She started her blog 10 years ago as a way to help others get cooking in the kitchen.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angie | Big Bear's Wife

    March 20, 2017 at 5:27 pm

    Thank you so much for all of these idea! I’m going to need them come October!

    Reply
    • Katie

      March 26, 2017 at 8:48 pm

      Angie–seriously the best thing you can do is prep some meals in advance especially since you guys are use to eating home cooked meals a lot. Once you start feeling better I would start prepping a few meals here and there and use them during your third trimester once your tired and don’t feel like cooking. It was also the time I experimented with a few extra freezer meal recipes I wanted to try. Hope that all these ideas will help get you as best prepared as one can be!

  2. grace

    March 20, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    this is ever so helpful! i’m due in june and beginning to think about everything i want to have in the freezer before she comes. 🙂

    Reply

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I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. A busy mom of two children who loves to feed her family delicious meals that don’t take hours to cook! My mission is to create easy-to-make modern comfort food for the busy family. (more)

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