Meal-prepping towards the end of their pregnancy is something that most pregnant women are doing these days. And trust me, once the baby arrives, you will be the happiest if you have nourishing postpartum freezer meals.
But why should you be making freezer meals? More importantly, are freezer meals healthy? If yes, what are good meals to freeze for postpartum?
In today’s blog, you will discover how freezer meal prep can benefit you after your delivery. You can also learn easy freezer meals for new parents. So, stay tuned till the end if you wish to have a smooth, stress-free postpartum.
Why Focus on Freezer Meal Prep?
If you’re going to be a mommy for the first time, you must be wonder why postpartum freezer meals have become so popular.
Postpartum meals for breastfeeding moms emerged, as it’s great to have something ready to savor when one doesn’t have much time for cooking. Batch meals provide numerous benefits like cost-effectiveness, time optimization, flexibility, and immense convenience.
Catering to the needs of a newborn is a full-time job and so, you will barely have any time. But ordering food daily isn’t right, as you should have balanced meals. So, having freezer meals for your postpartum period will help you keep stress and exhaustion at bay. Not just new mommies, but many working moms and people with demanding jobs rely on freezer meals.
But what frozen meals are good for pregnancy? I have covered them in the next section.
Healthy & Easy Freezer Meals for New Moms
As promised, I offer you a variety of recipes for make-ahead freezer meals.
1. Banana bread
Bananas are good for breastfeeding moms as they help with digestion, lactation, and hydration. They have potassium, vitamins, and fiber. But one may get bored having whole bananas daily. So, here’s one of the postpartum freezer meals vegetarian recipes that has banana as the main ingredient.
Take ripe bananas and mash them. Add powdered sugar and softened butter to the mashed banana. Brown sugar goes really well with this recipe. After that, add 2 eggs and some sour cream. Chopped nuts are optional. Now bake.
Now you can freeze the whole loaf or cut it into slices before freezing. It will be good if you can wrap the bread in foil and then place in a zip-lock bag. Also, remove any air and that way, it will taste as delicious and soft as fresh bread even after 2 months.
2. Lasagna
A list of postpartum meal prep ideas is incomplete without a freezer-friendly lasagna recipe. So, scroll down to take a look at the recipe:
Take lasagna noodles of your choice and boil them for around 10 minutes. Then in a bowl, nicely mix ricotta, shredded cheese, parsley, and egg. After that, assemble your lasagna, and layer with the shredded cheese. The last layer will be of sauce. Just cover the container’s lid and take it out when it’s fancy dinner time in your house.
3. Baked turkey
If you’re a new mom who have birth in the holiday season, you shouldn’t have to skip the baked turkey on Thanksgiving. There is a simple recipe that guarantees you will love making freezer turkey.
First, roast the turkey with pepper and poultry seasoning. Next, in a cup, mix herbs, broth, lemon juice, garlic, and lemon zest. Pour everything over the baked turkey. Carve it, cool it down slightly, and you can freeze this for up to 90 days.
Whenever you wish to relish this family favorite dish, preheat the oven and cook the required portion in a casserole with bone broth.
4. Cheddar chicken
Doctors recommend pregnant and breastfeeding women to have chicken regularly. But it takes time to cook and when you experience sleepless nights, cooking may seem to be the biggest chore.
For cheddar chicken, begin with sauteing sliced onions in melted butter. Sprinkle salt, curry powder, pepper, and flour. Cook in medium heat for a min and add 3 cups of chicken broth. Then goes in the chicken, followed by broccoli.
Since you plan on freezing the dish, cool it. Don’t forget the cheddar cheese (shredded), which is the star ingredient in this recipe.
Later, when you will eat it with your family, bake at 350 degrees for 30 mins. When the casserole starts bubbling and the cheese turns golden, dig in.
5. Chicken meatballs
Chicken meatballs taste heavenly, and they can enliven any dull recipe. From pizza to pasta to fried rice, you can add meatballs to almost anything. But making them can be a hassle and that’s why, as a breastfeeding mom, it’s high time you learn how to freeze them correctly.
For meatballs, you’ll need very few ingredients: ground chicken, breadcrumbs, grated onion, eggs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, olive oil, pepper, and salt. Now mix all the ingredients together and roll nice balls. Freeze them for 2 hours and transfer them into an airtight container.
The best sauces for it are pesto sauce, marina sauce, and BBQ sauce, and these too can be pre-made and frozen separately.
6. Roasted veggies
Very few people know that even roasted veggies can be frozen. In fact, they are among the best postpartum meals to freeze.
Step 1 is to take a variety of colorful veggies like yellow and red bell peppers, beet, carrots, zucchini, potatoes (with skin), red tomatoes, green peas, beans, and broccoli. For the veggies to taste exquisite, add salt, olive oil, garlic powder, mixed herbs, chili powder, chili flakes, and onion powder. Then roast them in your air fryer or microwave them until they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Step 3 is freezing and it’s the simplest process. Roasted veggies will freeze perfectly when you place them on a baking tray or parchment paper and put them into the freezer. After they are frozen, take them out and put them in airtight, freezer-safe containers to preserve them longer (up to 6 months).
7. Creamy veggie soup
Soups are nutritious and filling, especially for new moms who frequently feel hungry and like gluten-free meals. Life becomes easier when you have a make-ahead soup base. Not sure how to do that? Let’s find out!
Take all your favorite winter veggies like carrots, green beans, tomatoes, peas, etc. For the stock, you can use vegetable stock or chicken stock, depending on your taste. Avoid store-bought stocks, as they have preservatives and aren’t as tasty as homemade ones. Also, all the veggies should be finely chopped and boil them in a pot with the stock.
Let the cooked soup cool down and store in small freezer-friendly boxes. And just like that, your instant pot soup is done. When you have to drink it, simmer the frozen soup until it’s heated properly and add salt and pepper.
Isn’t this vegetable soup adaptable and simple?
8. Lactation cookies
Cookies are great snacks to munch with your tea and coffee. But store-bought cookies are certainly not healthy. So, when you are lactating, you can replace those with tempting cookies made in your home.
Since we are talking about healing freezer meals for postpartum and breastfeeding, don’t end up baking the cookies. Just prepare a tasty dough with butter, cocoa, sugar powder, oatmeal, and chopped nuts. Then freeze those dough balls for months. Each time you crave a cookie, just take out the dough balls and bake them quickly.
Do not bake the cookies, instead freeze the dough balls in the freezer for cookie dough to eat or to make some cookies when you want them. I like the dough so much that I just eat it that way! Seriously obsessed with these! (Husband Approved!)
9. Baked ziti
Baked ziti is another mouth-watering freezer meal that you can store in your freezer for as long as 3 months! In a bowl, mix oil, pepper, salt, and ricotta. Now boil the ziti noodles with some salt for 5 minutes. Once they are soft, drain the water and prepare the sauce with garlic, olive oil, chili flakes, salt, pepper, and tomatoes. Store all these in separately in sealed containers in your freezer.
Whenever you crave pasta, toss together Parmesan and mozzarella cheese in a bowl. Then cook the pasta in this pre-made sauce. Finally, in a baking dish, spread the ricotta, followed by pasta, and the cheese.
So, what are your thoughts on stocking your freezer with these pasta casseroles?
The Bottom Line
There, you have it! The easiest freezer meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are so many moms who prepare as many as 40 pre-baby freezer meals before getting admitted. Imagine how convenient it would be for you if you could pre-make at least a few nutrient-rich dishes before the arrival of the baby.
Wondering when should you start freezing meals for postpartum? Experts advise to do it when you are 32-36 weeks pregnant.
