Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Post-natal meal planning

My first baby is due in just a few weeks, and one thing I've heard over and over from people who've done this before is to make sure to have plenty of meals and food on hand, and to get people to bring you food whenever they come visit. Since eating has always been one of my top priorities, and I know that energy and time for cooking will be in short supply once the baby is here, I've made a point to make up several batches of nutritious and hearty meals and have completely filled my freezer to the brim with them. I've also stocked up on staples, which I'll be posting about in a couple of days.

I have a small freezer, and I've had to make some choices about what to keep in there. I pared down my ice pack collection, and have been using up the ends of bags of lima beans and blueberries, which is good to do once in a while anyway.


Then I made beef stew, minestrone soup and whole wheat spinach lasagne (and put them in labeled, meal-portion containers). Which just about taps me out space-wise. But that's still at least 9 solid meals worth, and it gives me a little peace of mind knowing that my family and I won't be entirely dependent on the kindness of visitors or the prepared foods section of Whole Foods!

3 comments:

  1. It really helped me to have a stash of quick crock pot recipes. You can make those at a point in the day when the baby isn't fussy or in need if something (which they are inevitably right at dinner time). Or you can have your spouse do it before he leaves for work in the morning. And you can enjoy the yummy smell all day!

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  2. That's a great idea! I don't have a crock pot, but I've been thinking about getting one.

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  3. My childbirth educator told us about this site called Meal Train. http://www.mealtrain.com/ You send it out (or ask a friend or relative to) and people sign up to bring you meals. People in the class recommended asking for someone to come every other day, as people tend to bring large quantities. Another helpful tip was to have a friend or relative put a sign on your door with guidelines for visiting new parents, including not staying for very long!

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