A friend of mine recently had her second baby, another girl, naw I love babies they are so cute, I easily get clucky!! My friend had everything she needed for the new bub as she already had a little girl, so I didn’t want to buy her another baby gift to add to everything she already had. Instead, I gave her a gift of food. I spent a few hours recently cooking up a storm to fill her freezer. This will give her nights off having to make dinner and have snacks ready for her and her toddler. I have shared some helpful meal ideas for new mums below.
Please share in the comments: What meals do you think are great for a new mum?
This is also a fabulous idea for pregnant mums, when in their nesting stage, to do a cook up and fill your freezer for those days after bub is born, the last thing you want to do is cook.
Freezer Meal ideas for new mums
I put all the food I was giving to my friend into zip lock bags. They don’t take up much room in the freezer and she doesn’t have to worry about returning any containers back to me.
Vegetable Packed bolognese
I made a double batch of bolognese which included some hidden vegetables, onion, carrot, zucchini and mushrooms. I do have another vege packed bolognese recipe which I use frequently here, but as it has red wine in it I didn’t think the flavour would be suitable for a toddler. View toddler friendly bolognese recipe here.
There are many different options on how to use the bolognese, on toast, with spaghetti, top with mashed potato for a cottage/shepherds pie, meat pie filling etc.
How to store: allow the mixture to cool then spoon small servings into zip lock bags. I used regular sized bags which holds enough for 2 servings. Write name of recipe, ingredients and date cooked onto bag.
I place the zip lock bag into something with height (below I am using my sifter) to help it stand up which makes it easier to spoon mixture into. Fill till 2/3 full, get out as much air as you can before sealing.
Sausage Strogonoff
Knowing that I wanted to make her a few meals I used cuts of meat that were inexpensive. Sausage strogonoff is another great meal that can be served on toast, with mashed potato or vegetables. Click here to view sausage stroganoff recipe.
Quick Shepherds Pie
Comfort food at it’s finest. I purchased some foil trays from the local dollar store (they are also sold at most supermarkets) I divided the mixture into two trays and topped with potato and a sprinkle of cheese, then placed in the freezer. All she needs to do is pop it in the oven (from frozen) until the cheese has melted, approximately 1 hour, or if thawed 30 minutes is enough. See quick shepherds pie recipe here.
Mini Quiche
A chose to make her some mini quichese for the moment where she is hungry for lunch and doesn’t have time to prepare herself anything. Pop them frozen in the microwave on high for 1 minute and they are ready to eat. View quiche recipe here.
Bliss balls
A great snack to have in the fridge, these can be kept in the fridge for up to a week. They can be frozen, take some out at the beginning of the day, they don’t take long to defrost. I have many bliss ball recipes here, I made my friend these Chocolate Coconut Bliss Balls.
Loads of biscuits
I made her a big batch of my go-to cookies, 100+ cookies from 1 mix. I could have separated the mixture and made her a variety of different flavours, but I was cooking so much it was easier to make the whole batch the same. I added 100 & 1000s to the mix as I knew her daughter would love the sprinkles! View 100+ cookies from 1 mix recipe here.
Pineapple and Coconut Muffins
These muffins are a deliciously fruity flavour one both Mum and toddler will enjoy. I made them as mini muffins, easier for a toddler to eat. They freeze really well, when defrosted they taste as fresh as the day they were made (if the were frozen the same day as being baked). View Pineapple and Coconut Muffins here.
Vanilla Custard
A little something for her toddler to have for dessert. I gave this to her to put in her fridge serve with some tinned fruit. View vanilla custard recipe here.
Crustless sandwiches
There are times when mum may need to quickly run out the door or simply know at the beginning of the day it’s going to be a tiring one. I wanted to make some little sandwiches up for Miss Toddler, which can be placed in the freezer. My youngest helped me make these.
I asked my friend before making these what her daughters favourite spread was… it was peanut butter. I used the clever gadget to take the crusts off, apparently Miss prefers crustless sandwiches!!
They usually defrost within 15 minutes.
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ancy and Baby Planner
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More Meal Ideas for a New Mum
With the help from our facebook community here is a lists of more fabulous meal ideas you can make a new mum.
Dinner ideas:
- pizza bases
- chow mein mince
- lasagne
- risotto
- chicken curry
- pasta bakes
- spaghetti bolognese
- chicken and vegie soup
- shepherds pie
- meat balls
- zucchini slice
- sausage rolls
- savoury mince
- vegetable lasagne
- pea and ham soup
- baked potatoes with ham and cheese
- quiche
- beef casserole
- roast lamb and veg
- curried sausages
- prepared vegies – cut up and peeled
- rissoles
- cheese and rice patties
- bacon and egg pie
- sausage hotpot
- tuna mornay
- lamb and rosemary pie
- marinated chicken wings
- beef stroganoff
- chicken schnitzel
- fried rice
- potato bake
- macaroni cheese casserole
- chicken and corn fritters
- minestrone soup
- chicken kebabs
- ratatouille soup
Lunch ideas:
- a few loaves of ham and cheese sandwiches in the freezer
- savoury scrolls
- mini quiches
- mason jar salads
Baking ideas:
Dessert ideas:
Other snack ideas:
- a fruit basket
- bliss balls
- nuts and dried fruit
- hamper with tea, coffee, sugar, long life milk, toilet paper and a glossy magazine
- homemade granola
- vegie snack bags
What meals do you think are great for a new mum?
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19 comments
I recently sent some Gourmet meals to a mother of a very young baby. They do free delivery over a certain price.
that is such a lovely gift idea Annette, I am sure she would have really appreciated it
Such a great selection of ideas here Kat. I love the sandwich idea. I hope you don’t mind me sharing, but I have a post on this with links to all the freezer meals I love to make http://erinmadethis.com/freezer-friendly-recipes-for-new-mamas/ x
thanks for sharing Erin, the soups look delcious and a great meal for a busy mum!
I have a 4yr old, a 2yr old and a 5week old. This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I am going to give some of these a go (or ask my husband to) so that we have some backups for when we don’t have the energy or forward planning to cook ???? thank you!!
Frances I feel exhausted just reading the ages of your kids, I know how you feel, I had 3 under 2! There are two ways to fill your freezer, take a few hours out to do a huge cook up, or when you are preparing dinner make a double batch so you can eat half for dinner and freeze the rest. This may be the best option if you are time poor.
Oh Wow Kat, I love this idea. My mum is actually whipping up a storm right now for my “little” brother and his partner as her Christmas present to them was a homemade voucher for a bunch of her own made TV dinners for their freezer. As they live in Melbourne and she is in Brisbane, she’s not had a chance to fill out the voucher order until now. She gave me a voucher that she’d done up on the pc (massive effort considering my mum and her pc skills…) and I had 4 days of cleaning and decluttering as my Christmas present. Best pressies ever! Gotta love mums! x
Ooh my goodness what an awesome gift, you mum giving a voucher and offering help. Taht would be a wonderful help to your brother, what does she make in her TV dinners, I’m curious!!! And wow the cleaning and decluttering must have been an awesome gift to receive… gotta love our mum’s!!
Such a thoughtful gift idea that will no doubt be very much appreciated by your friend.
She loved it and I was just pleased I can help her at those struggling late afternoon times when bub is getting really tired.
As a mum of two under two, now 2.4 & 8mths I can’t imagine a better gift! A few of our friends made meals the first week we were home & it was the best! & Nicola my mum is awesome but wow your mum is super too!!! What a great present wish someone would come clean & declutter my house for me!!!
What a great list! I had bread and butter pudding, lasagne, and green curry sent to me. So nice!
Ooh yum! Love the sound of bread and butter pudding! It has been way to long since i have had that.:)
What a great collection of meals.
Ooh thanks Kaz.:) x
Thank YOU Kat. You are so lovely and every post you publish is loaded with value. You are an inspiration! Have a great weekend. xxx
Ooh that you Bianca! You are too lovely x
Thanks – this is great. I know when i had my 2 children (now 2 & 7) with emergency Caesar it was a HUGE help to have meals provided for the first couple of weeks. A few of my friends gave me extra dishes to put in the freezer – chicken casseroles, shepherds pies, as well as muffins for those moments that you NEED a bite!! Some of them I didn’t use straight away & they came in handy on those days when you were out & about with baby apts! Slightly different topic but check out the meal train website https://www.mealtrain.com/ .This website is fantastic for organising meals for a friend (or yourself) – all her/your other friends can just choose what night they are doing – it sends automatic reminders to everyone & you can see who is giving you a meal & what! I have used it to iorganise a friend in the last few years & it is so much easier than having to ring around etc….
I will so be using this soon as I am due to have my first baby in March. I recently made a friend some fajita mixes for when she had her baby. I vaccumm packed raw chicken and beef with chopped onion and capsicum in a fajita marinade. I gave her a couple of tortilla packs with it and she said she used the other packs in hard tacos and even over rice. She said it was a great change for the dozens of lasagnes they received lol