This week, I had an early surge of nesting momentum and decided to start stocking my freezer for post-partum life.
I always try to prepare some meals to make the weeks with a newborn simpler, and since this time around, there will be three insatiable children expecting to eat three meals a day (how rude, right?), I wanted to make sure we were well-stocked.
I completed this first part of my freezer prep over a few days, though the bulk of the meals came together in one morning. The clean-up, of course, took a fair chunk of time too though!
What I Made:
- 4 loaves sourdough sandwich bread
- 2 batches banana bars
- A triple batch of oatmeal breakfast cookies
- 1 loaf whole wheat banana bread
- 2 batches of cornbread
- 2 trays vegan lentil 3-bean chili
- 2 trays lentil soup
- 3 lasagnas
- 1 vegan seitan “pastrami”
- 1 vegan seitan “beef”
- A triple batch of granola (half coconut almond, half chocolate coconut almond)
- Vegetable stock (6 quarts)
- A double batch sourdough mini bagels
- English muffin breakfast sandwiches (half egg, cheddar and sausage; half egg, cheddar, and bacon)
- Farro (3 cups precooked)
- Brown rice (precooked)
My kids also requested pancakes and waffles during this particular week, so I made larger batches and froze half of each recipe too.
It sounds like so much food when I list it all out, but realistically, this would be less than 2 weeks of food if we relied solely upon it.
I have also been stocking up on some store-bought convenience items like frozen pizzas, mixed vegetables, and vegetarian wontons and spring rolls. On my pantry shelves, I stocked a few jarred Indian sauces like tikka masala that can be easily tossed with canned beans and served with the thawed brown rice and some veggies.
I was careful to label things so there was no confusion in the coming months when we tried to pull items from the freezer! Tip: make note of any additions or reheating instructions.
