"After The Baby" Freezer Stash

Many of you know that I am expecting our second child at the end of July. As we prepare for this new member of the family, I decided that one of the steps of preparation that I could not miss was baking and freezing enough food for a month's worth of meals for my family after the baby's birth.

The question might come up why I am doing this and will cost my family a lot of extra money by doing this. Well, for my family, we do have some support for when the baby is born and our church family will provide some meals for the first week after the baby comes. This is a huge blessing to us but I also know that my energy level after having a baby does not completely come back until about a month afterwards. Rather than buy convenience foods that are unhealthy and expensive, why not freeze my own "convenience foods"? These are healthy, made from scratch meals that are easy for me to prepare and easy on my husband if he has to help.

This actually will save us money because I am only adding an extra $10 to our grocery bill each week in order to do this. My goal is to have 30 dinners and then extra baked goods for lunch and breakfast.

This can be good for any family not just those expecting a baby. Sometimes if you are extra busy or work outside the home during the week, freezing extra of the meals that you make can save you time and money. We all get tired sometimes and need a break or are just rushed for time. Rather than throw into the oven or microwave just any meal, why not prepare extra of your healthy meals and save them for those times? I do still plan to have fresh veggies and salads added to these meals.



Here are meals that I have planned to make and freeze. These are all homemade:

Broccoli Chicken Casserole (double batch)
Spaghetti Sauce (double batch)
Chili (double batch)
Broccoli and Cheese Chicken
Mashed Potatoes (double batch)
Shepherd's Pie
Mexican Corn Chowder (double batch)
Cream of Tomato Soup
Vegetable Bean Soup (double batch)
Honey Mustard Chicken
Brown Bag Burritos
Breakfast Burritos

Breads:
Whole Wheat Banana Waffles (this can be put into the toaster)
Banana Muffins (pictured above) (4 dozen in the picture above)
Banana Bread
Whole Wheat Bread dough
Pizza Dough

When I can, if the baby has not come yet, I will also be freezing cut up zucchini, squash, and other fresh veggies to be added to our meals. I will also be freezing cut up chicken to be added to salads so that we can have some meals that are just salads.

Do you have any food ideas for me? Are there things that you know that freeze well that you often prepare ahead of time? I would love to hear from you all.