Oh how I love a stocked freezer!
I originally wrote this post about two years ago, but now that we have another baby coming in a couple months I thought it was time to revise this a bit and re-post it!
One of my biggest priorities before having a baby is to make sure the freezer is stocked. After both Caleb and Sofia were born we were very blessed to receive awesome meals from friends which was super nice. But even though I knew that we would be gifted with some meals, I still worked to stock our freezer ahead of time. I knew that anything I could do ahead of time to make life easier in the weeks/months after the baby would be really helpful.
Currently our only freezer is the one above our fridge, so I am somewhat limited with how much I can stock up. If you have a separate freezer then you can really go gung-ho on stocking your freezer before baby! I think if I had more freezer space I would probably try to stock up on meats when they’re on sale, and I’d probably buy a few more bulk items as well.
But anyway . . . here are my suggestions for stocking your freezer before baby comes (or any other time for that matter)!
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Ingredients for Easy Meals
– Shredded Chicken
This is one of the most basic things I like to have on hand. You can easily cook up a bunch of chicken breasts in the crock-pot – I just like to add in about a cup of chicken broth to make sure they stay moist. Once the chicken breasts are done cooking, shred them with two forks and you have a bunch of shredded chicken ready for the freezer!
I’m also a huge fan of Costco’s rotisserie chickens so I like to pick up one of those whenever I go. We will usually eat off of it for one meal and then I shred and freeze the leftovers.
– Cooked rice
It’s SUPER convenient to have small portions of cooked rice bagged and ready in the freezer. Pretty much every time I cook rice I make extra to freeze. Check out my blog post here for the best way to cook brown rice!
– Cooked Beans
Like with the rice, I always cook more beans than I need so that I can freeze some for later. I usually make black beans but obviously you have lots of options to choose from. Beans are both healthy and super cheap so they’re an amazing option to keep on hand!
– Marinated Chicken
It’s so nice to have pre-marinated chicken all ready to pull out of the freezer for a quick meal! I like to freeze some with a fajita marinade for grilling and some with a soy sauce marinade for making a quick and yummy chicken stir-fry.
– Taco Meat
Cooked and seasoned taco meat is super convenient to have on hand for quick meals like tacos (obviously!), taco salad, or other meals that call for taco-flavored meat like this family favorite, Taco Quiche.
-Lunch Meat and Cheese
Lunch meat and cheese both freeze really well. They’re nice to have on hand for sandwiches, quesadillas, or a simple charcuterie board.
– Frozen Veggies
It’s always nice to have bagged, frozen veggies in the freezer for a quick side. I’m a big fan of the steamable bags – eating healthy doesn’t get much easier than that!
I also like to always have chopped onions in the freezer because I LOVE using onions in my cooking. I try to always chop up more than I need for a recipe so that I can stick some in the freezer for later. I use little sandwich bags and stick about a fourth cup of chopped onion in each bag; then I stick all the little baggies in one bigger zip-lock bag.
Frozen Meals
I also like to stock my freezer with a combination of store-bought meals as well as some favorite recipes that I’ve prepared ahead of time!
Store-bought options:
– Pizza
Ok, so this is admittedly not the healthiest option, but having a frozen pizza or two in the freezer is SUPER convenient and let’s admit it, so satisfying sometimes. But if you prefer to make your own, pizza dough is super easy to make and freeze for later!
– Lasagna
Costco has great frozen lasagnas for a decent price. My whole family loves them and I love how much time they save me!
– Chicken nuggets
I know, super basic, but I do love having these on hand for the kids, especially during crazy times when I’m not able to cook.
Homemade meals:
– Enchiladas
Enchiladas generally freeze really well. Just assemble and freeze, then cook when you’re ready to eat them!
– Meat Loaf
I’m not a huge meat loaf fan EXCEPT for my mom’s which is the best. Here’s her recipe! Meat loaf freezes really well so it works great to double the recipe when you’re having it for dinner and freeze one.
– Soup
Soup freezes well and is such an easy meal to prep ahead of time. Whenever we’re having soup for dinner I pretty much always make extra in order to have some to freeze. Our favorites are taco soup, white chili, and simple chicken broth soup.
– Spaghetti Bake
I love this recipe for Million Dollar Spaghetti. It freezes so well and is super yummy AND the kids love it!
Other Helpful Stuff
When stocking your freezer before baby comes, it’s nice to include not only dinner-type ingredients/meals but also breakfast and snack options. Here are some things that I like to have on hand:
– Breakfast sandwiches/burritos
It’s so nice to have an easy, protein-filled option for breakfast just waiting in the freezer!
– Fruit for smoothies
I like to keep some spinach in the freezer for our smoothies as well (because it always goes bad in my fridge, ha!)
– Breads/muffins
We LOVE these banana chocolate chip muffins that I found on Pinterest so they’re definitely going in the freezer before this baby comes!
– Cookies/icecream
. . . because sometimes you need to treat yourself. 😉
I hope some of these ideas for stocking your freezer before baby comes are helpful! Whether you’re preparing for a new baby or just trying to be pro-active and plan ahead, it’s great to have a freezer full of quick-prep or ready-to-eat meal options.
Now I want to hear from you!! Are you into freezer meals? What do you like to stock your freezer with? Let me know in the comments! And don’t forget to pin or share this post! Thanks so much! 🙂