Prepping for Baby's Arrival: Easy Meals

I've been known to cook a lot, and I always freeze the extra that I make. That has been in overdrive in the last month or so prepping for the arrival of baby. So that, combined with some shelf stable meals has us covered for multiple nights after baby arrives. Some of the frozen meals took a while too cook, but I just set aside I day I knew I'd be home and had it sit on the stove all day while I went about my cleaning or lounging.

My homemade frozen, ready to cook meals include:

• Chili
• Turkey Bolognese (admittedly, this one takes the longest, about 4 hours, but it's soooooo good)
• Tomato Sauce
• Ham & Bean Soup
• Turkey Pot Pie (just the filling, the topping can be added when you cook)
• Turkey Soup
• Chicken Soup
• Chicken Fajitas (I left the chicken raw and didn't put any veggies in the bag, just chicken & marinade)
• Lasagna
• Portuguese Kale Soup

My freezer trick is that I cool everything, and then load it into gallon size freezer bags. Label them before you fill them! I also stand them up in a big bowl and turn the top over so it doesn't get messy. I try to judge how much 2 people will eat and only pack that much in the bag. I then freeze it flat. That way they stack really easily in the freezer and don't waste much space. To reheat, let them thaw a bit first, then you can break it up and put it in a pan to heat.

I've borrowed a picture from Jamie Cooks It Up to show the freezer bag technique below. Note this is a smaller bag in a cup, and I use gallon bags in a big bowl.

I also have some easy shelf stable (or mostly shelf stable) meals:

• Chili Mac - 1 can of Trader Joe's low-fat beef chili + 1/2 lb pasta (for 2 people), top with cheese and sour cream
• Mac & Cheese - 1 box of Trader Joe's or Annie's mac & cheese + 1/2-1 pk of frozen chopped broccoli + 1 pk frozen butternut squash (I add extra shredded cheddar)
• Amy's Soups - I particularly like the lentil and the thai soups
• Campbell's slow cooker sauce for beef pot roast (I've never tried it but it came with my new slow cooker!)
• Amy's Frozen Pizza

That should be at least 20 dinners (some of them are doubled) and I plan to make some turkey cutlets tomorrow to freeze. I'll bread them, fry them, and then freeze them individually. They can be eaten splashed with lemon, or covered in sauce and mozzarella cheese. They're also great as a sandwich! That'll put me over 3 full weeks of dinners!

I've linked to Jamie Cooks It Up, Meal Survivor, Annie's, Amy's and Campbell's.

What's your favorite go-to meal?