In my third trimester, I decided to stock up our freezer. Keep in mind, we live very far away from family, so I knew we wouldn’t have people popping by dropping off generous meals, and my husband works away a lot, so I knew I’d be solo parenting quite often, and needing food for myself to nurse that sweet, little newborn. But, no matter what your circumstances, I think your future self, especially the new parent future self, would appreciate easy-to-grab snacks and easy-to reheat-meals prepared for you!
Reasons to start this early, Parents-to-be:
- Start way ahead of time, so it doesn’t seem overwhelming…you can make bigger batches of meals you’re already eating, so you can freeze the extra, or you can make an extra meal or two each week in your third trimester to top off your freezer.
- Start early, in case you go into labour early. As I was sharing my freezer prep on Instagram, I had so many people message me saying they were going to do this, but then had their baby at 35 or 36 weeks, and never got the chance. So, start early…I mean, it’s going in the freezer anyway, so it’s not going to go bad!
Note to visitors of the new baby and new parents:
If you are bringing a gift to a new parent, the best thing you can do for them is to bring them food. And although they will absolutely love a lasagna, or casserole, or cookies, (believe me, no one is going to complain) those foods are so rich, and so often given, that you may want to consider these alternatives…fresh chopped vegetables, a cooked main meat (such as meatballs or chicken breast or kabobs), or a gift card for Skip the Dishes (Canadian) or UberEats (America), just to name a few!
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Alright, now to the food. Feel free to make whatever your heart desires. Any prepared food is better than no prepared food. I’ll share what I made for my freezer – this was my list assuming that I’d still be able to go out and get fresh fruits and veggies, to make salads, sides dishes, snacks, and smoothies. What’s in my freezer is more main courses, hardier meals, and snacks!
A lot of what is in my freezer comes from my cookbooks, because square is what I cook in my house, but if you don’t want to get on the Brownie Pan train [and I always like to remind people, if they are going to buy the Brownie Pan, please please please, buy the Mini Nylon Serving Spatula with it for removing the food easily and without scraping the pan], hopefully my ideas still head you down the right path for food prep!
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Breakfast Prep
Oatmeal Squares – This recipe will be coming in my future cookbook, but I prep the oatmeal, the way I like it, and then freeze it in the brownie pan first, to have portions I can reheat later!
Egg Burritos – I cooked up potatoes, onions, red bell peppers, spices, eggs, egg whites, and wrapped it all up in coconut wraps, to make nice full burritos. Once I reheat them, I’ll top with salsa and guacamole or avocado!
Egg Scrambles – The leftovers from the burrito filling will make for nice egg scramble bowls.
Loaf of Bread – You can easily pop out a piece of bread here or there to toast with almond butter & honey, or an egg, or smashed avocado, etc.
Primal Pancakes – My sister-in-law told me to save room in my freezer for her, and as I was reaching capacity, I halted my food prep, but these would normally go in there. They can also be whipped up super fast while baby is sleeping! They are in my first cookbook, or you can get access here!
Lunch/Dinner Prep
Perogies – My sister, niece and I made huge batches of perogies at Christmas time, so I had my freezer stocked. You can find the recipe here.
Chili – Future Me will definitely love a nice, warm, comforting bowl of chili. Find my recipe here.
Ham & Potato Soup – In a crockpot, I tossed chopped up ham, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Then I added black pepper, almond flour, almond milk, and chicken stock. When serving, I’ll for sure top with some hot sauce!
Meatballs – Usually I make these into sliders from my first cookbook – this time, however, I still cooked them up in the Brownie Pan, but switched up my square obsession, and made them into traditional balls! Who am I?!
Snacks
Healthy Cookies & Power Bars – These cookies and bars are found in my 2.0 and 1.0 cookbooks, respectively, and they will be perfect one-hand-eating, grab-anytime snacks to keep me going!
Cinnamon Loafs – This is a 2.0 cookbook recipe, that isn’t quite a dessert, but will be such a treat to have available!
Fruit & Veggies – It’s nice to have frozen fruits and veggies to easily toss in the blender with almond milk or water at any time and whip up into a quick smoothie!
Good luck food and freezer prepping!