Preparing For Baby - Freezer Meals

An Urban Tale

A woman gives birth and her church community or friends started a dinner train to deliver homemade meals to the new family providing them with food for the first few weeks after baby's arrival. 

I know this must happen somewhere to someone but it has certainly never happened to me! When the twins came home from a three month NICU stay we found ourselves ordering take out and doing fast trips to Trader Joe's for ready made meals. No one brought us food. Now to be fair, B's family and my close circle of friends all live 400 miles away but our local church community did nothing. When we lost baby River my dear friend Jeana brought us a homemade pasta salad, I was so relieved to have something to eat at a time when it seemed inappropriate to do anything "normal" like cook a meal. I do not mention this to be a "pity party" for myself but rather to inspire you to take care of those you love. If you know someone who is recovering from surgery, lost a loved one or just had a baby, please consider bringing them some homemade food. It will be consumed with joy and gratitude!

When I was preparing for the arrival of this baby I knew that take out and ready made meals would not be ideal so I began to prepare freezer meals ahead of time. With this baby due any day I can rest easy knowing my freezer is packed with yummy homemade food that will be healthy for everyone. To keep it simple I would buy double the ingredients for a meal I knew would freeze well, we would eat one half that night and freeze the other half. Over the last few months I have learned some tricks of the trade that I would like to share with you. 

1. Soups are almost always a good idea, they freeze well and they are easy to reheat. I suggest placing all the ingredients uncooked in a freezer zip bag (unless the soup has meat, you will want to cook the meat first). 

2. Many recipes can be adapted to work in a Crock Pot saving you tons of time from babysitting the stove top. The recipe I am going to post below was a stove top meal until I adapted it to work in the Crock Pot. The trick is to look for the point in the steps where it could cook slowly for a few hours verses on a high temperature over an hour.

3. Each meal needs to be analyzed to find out at what point you put it in the freezer. For a meal like chili I par cook the meat, bell peppers and onions together then place all the ingredients together in a casserole dish and freeze them then pop them into the Crock Pot to cook for five hours. For pasta based meals that are baked you will want to freeze them right before the baking step. For meat dishes like meat loaf you can cook them to the point where you need to remove the cover to let it brown. Don't remove the cover, instead freeze it at that point so your meat does not get tough. Freezer specific meals will tell you when to put it in the freezer but the biggest tip I can share is this, make sure your food is completely cooled before placing in the freezer!

4. Choose your freezer wear wisely. Make sure you pick glass over plastic so you do not end up with that weird plastic taste to your food when it thaws. Lids will need to fit nice and snug. I like to get short, shallow glass dishes with silicone lids because they are easy to stack and oven friendly. To prepare something to eat all I have to do is let it thaw for a couple hours then place in the oven or Crock Pot. 

5. Do not be afraid to freeze baked goods. The trick to freezing things like banana bread or muffins is to par bake them then freeze, from there place them in the oven. For things like cookies or scones I freeze the dough in rolls then put them in freezer bags. 

Here is my family's favorite freezer meal, it is really good for you and tastes amazing both fresh and from frozen! This makes enough for two meals for three adults and two very hungry children.

Spicy Lentil Soup with Turkey Meat Balls

2 pounds of spicy Italian turkey sausage meat not in the casing (I have Whole Foods make it for me fresh on the spot since sausage casing is pork and I do not eat pork. You can certainly substitute meat balls for sausage and this will still taste great)


4 cups chopped green cabbage


1 cup chopped onions


1 green pepper, chopped


3 cloves garlic, minced


4 cups of vegetable broth with some to spare (chicken broth works too, I prefer veggie broth)

2 cups dried green lentils


1 cup of dried red lentils (you can use three cups of green if you do not have any red)

1 cup of brown rice


2 tablespoons of turmeric

1 tablespoon of Cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of cumin 

3-5 tablespoons of olive oil

salt to taste

To Cook: In a large pot add some olive oil and salt then place over medium-high heat until hot. Add the meat balls or sausage. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until browned. Add the cabbage, onions, green peppers, garlic, and 1 cup of the stock. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft but not browned.

Add the lentils, rice, spices, and the remaining 3 cups stock. Bring to a boil. 

For the Half you eat that night: Transfer half to a Crock Pot and place on low heat for five hours or high heat for three hours. Sometime toward the end of the cooking you might need to add a little water or extra stock as the lentils soak up the broth, just add liquid until you get the consistency you desire then let it heat back up and serve. I usually do this about 30 minutes before we eat and I always use water, this does not "water down" the flavor, I promise!

For the Freezer: Place the second half in a freezer friendly dish and let it cool completely before placing it in the freezer.

To reheat: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or for a couple hours on a counter top. Transfer to a Crock Pot and place on low heat for five hours or high heat for three hours. 

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as my family!