Stocking up on food for when baby arrives

Hi Everyone :hello:

Mods - Please feel free to move this if I have posted in the wrong spot.

I have probably left it a little late to get super organised, but thought I would ask the question anyway. Is there anything that can help me be more organised food-wise for when bubs arrives?

It's due next week and I have put off cooking and freezing the usual recommended soups/casseroles because I haven't really done that before except for a pumpkin soup once which seperated and I ended up throwing out so was a waste of time. :wall: Being summer I didn't really think that I would want to be thawing out heavy meals and they are really the only ones that you can freeze I think.

I have made a massive batch of vege burgers (and frozen) which I love to eat so we can have them with a side salad or on a bun but was wondering if anyone has any other ideas?

I was going to go to the butcher tomorrow and stock up on meat and throw that in the freezer and have pastes/rice/pasta/canned tomatoes etc in the pantry so will only need fresh veges and I thought I would do my grocery shopping online for a while.

Am I silly for thinking that I can wing-it? I don't want to end up being so exhausted I order home delivery or we just have toast.

So if anyone has ideas, on what worked for them and how they coped, that would be great!

Thanks in advance :D

no not silly at all hun...and btw toast is perfectly acceptable when you have a small bub.

I think you've thought about it wonderfully. As long as you have a well stocked pantry you'll be fine. I have a list of things we have for dinner on the PC so if I can't manage I can direct DH to that and he can make whatever he wants....

I didn't have a whole lot frozen when I had DS and we managed.

Not silly at all. I didnt freeze anything either.

I winged it on weetbix a few nights. Did the job. :)

I agree with Kim though on the well-stocked pantry. I found it really difficult getting to the shops in the first few weeks.

what about a tray of lasagna, cut into pieces and frozen in pieces, so you can just thaw out a piece at a time and have with a salad...

there is always beans on toast, frozen vegies, a pie with sauce, sausages in bread etc etc... you just do the best you can...

i haven't done anything and am also due next week, i think i will make my mum send food parcels over, hehe.

ild buy mince and make a whole lot up of spagetti bog mix and use some for lasagna base, also if you dont mind tuna bout jarred pasta sauce and add to tuna and pasta thats good too. I think buying online is great it stops ya spending more and saves ya legs.

thats what we been doing since getting around is hard for me actually i have and do make double batches normally so when i feel blah i can say hubbie can you cook some rice and add my frozen curry to it plz... it seriously helps.

Could you make some curries and freeze them into portions?
Also, lasagne, spag bol, macaroni cheese etc could be made then frozen.

Getting some tins of baked beans and soup could be an idea too, then all you have to do is get some bread?

Hugs
Sue x

I agree with squidipa, bolognese is great to keep in the freezer. That way all I need to do is cook pasta. Even DH can manage it.

One thing I always had in the freezer was pizza. I would make really nice ones myself and wrap in glad wrap. They don't take long to cook, even straight from the freezer. They were tastier, cheaper and healthier than take away pizzas.

Another thing I always have in the freezer is fish, chips and those steamer bags of veggies. It isn't a gourmet meal, but again it is better than take away or toast.

I also found that evenings got a bit hectic. Lots of bubs seem to need more attention at that time of day. I would make the most of the calmer mornings. Cut up veggies and prepare things in advance.

I used my slow cooker a lot as I could put it on in the morning and it would be ready at the end of the day. Lots of people don't use these in summer, but they are a good option because they don't get very hot and don't heat up the house.

I would also try not to cook things that required my attention at the stove. Meals that can just be popped in the oven or microwave are less stressful. Again, frozen fish and chips are good for that.

Another easy meal is a quiche and ready made salad from the supermarket.

I hope some of this has been helpful. Now I need to get to the shops to get food for my family!

soup! you can make veggie soup fairly easy. cut up spuds,carrot, celery and add some dried split peas (or alike) and leave to slowly cook on the stove for a few hours. allow to cool down and put into containers and freeze. if you want to add some meat to it lamb shanks or some cheap cuts of meat go a long way! plus also geting alot of mince and making spag bowl/lasagne/ i even made some hambugers and rice. uncooked but its something DH could manage along with cooking the pasta lol. its never too late! i did 90% of my cooking while i was overdue - anything to make the time go faster LOL! ;)

I agree with the others on the lasagne .... just make sure you do cut it up into portions rather than one whole lasagne as you can just defrost however much you want.

Other than that, I love my woolies home shop - they even bring the groceries inside and put them on the kitchen bench plus you can place your order at anytime of they day/night!

I did alot of frozen meals for my mum and dad when my mum was having radium. I found frozen quiche was good, just cook it and freeze individual pieces. Also I found freezing a stirfry a great option to, sounds bizar I know but it works, just make sure you have a little excess liquid ie, sauce so when you microwave it, it does not dry out. It is also light in summer. I also did up some light chicken dishes and froze them like honey soy chicken pieces and just heat very well and serve with steamed veges. I hope this helps you out darl, good luck with bubby.

HI Everyone

Thanks so much for your advice, it's all really helpful! I now have some great inpiration and will be hitting the shops!

Beef stroganoff is another good one that freezes well - if you have a slow cooker easy to make up a huge batch and the freeze portion sizes. I just add the sour cream when I reheat and make the rice.

Also not so much a bulk up & store meal but in summer we love our BBQ and do most things on it - standard sausages / rissoles / chops / chicken / shashlicks / veggies etc so if you end up at butcher and do bulk meat buy. Easy to defrost & whack on BBQ , a quick salad - YUM.......plus something you can con DH into doing/cooking :D

how about something like zucchini slice - its full of veggies and goes great with salad. otherwise, quiche and maybe even some sort of pie.

I found that I didn't cook much in the first 3-4 months anyway - DD feed hourly in the evening from 5-9 so I didn't get too far from the couch, but DH would cook and clean up.

Just another thought - what about buying packs of ravioli when they are on offer - I think you can get them with long expiry dates, or just freeze them, and heat up a jar of sauce when cooking (i find buying the fresh sauces expensice so just buy the home brand pasta sauce in a jar - tastes just as good).

Another thing have packs of those savoury rice and pasta sauces in - the ones that you just add milk or water too and pop in microwave - I'll do these instead of bothering with potatos - along with some frozen veg and something that you can pull out of the freezer and pop in the oven, like frozen fish or chicken kievs or something.