Ain’t no hungry like breastfeeding hungry. IYKYK! Honestly, as a first time Mom I was completely unaware of that extreme hunger, but luckily I had some veteran Mom’s as neighbors who clued me into it and helped me meal prep to prepare for my first little one.
Now as a Mom of four I know the importance of meal prepping to ensure ease of those early postpartum days. Hopefully, in the first few weeks you will have family and friends help provide meals via a meal train, gift cards, or by visiting. However, after those first few weeks fly by you will likely find yourself on your own again tackling the “witching hour” with a hungry baby, a hungry you, husband, and possibly other kids too.
Here are my go to Freezer Meals to prep ahead of time to make Postpartum life easier:
Stuffed Shells
This is a comfort meal for sure and it’s easy to make in a toss away pan for ease of clean up too.
Shopping List/Ingredients:
- ½ pound ground beef
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce/I prefer Trader Joe’s Trader Giotto’s Three Cheese Sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ box large shells
- Â 2 cups ricotta
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. Rosemary
- 1 tsp. basil
- 1 tsp. Oregano
- 1 tsp. Garlic salt
Cooking Directions
Begin by cooking your noodles following the package directions, or 8-10 minutes, until tender. Rinse the noodles in cool water to make them easier to handle.
While your noodles are cooking, brown ground beef, drain grease, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add a jar of spaghetti sauce (Trader Joe’s/Trader Giotto’s Three Cheese or Rao’s are my favorites) to your beef when it is fully cooked. Spread about a third of this meat sauce on bottom of your pan or baking dish.
In a medium bowl you will combine your ricotta, egg, 1 cup of your mozzarella, parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, rosemary and Garlic salt. Cream all of these ingredients together until smooth.
Next, take your cooked shells and fill each shell with ricotta mixture. Place them into your pan on top of the sauce in rows. When you’ve finished stuffing all your shells, top the shells with the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle the rest of your cheese on top of the dish.
Next allow to cool, cover with aluminum foil, and label for easy reheating.
When you’re ready to serve, thaw in the fridge overnight or cook straight from the freezer. Plan a full extra hour to bake if cooking from frozen and not pre-baked.
Cooking Directions
When you’re ready to cook your meal, after baby arrives or before if you need to, cook at 350° F and bake for 50-55 minutes, until top is golden and bubbly.
I love to serve this with a salad and fresh garlic bread too!
Make it Fun!
Host a girls night and make prepping for postpartum fun! Get each friend to bring a recipe and have them bring enough to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe depending on how many people are attending. Each girl make their meals there and goes home with their meal plus other new ones to try. My neighbors and I did this when we were each expecting our babies and it was truly a blessing!
There are so many other amazing freezer meals to try so let me know your favorites in the comments so I can give them a try!