One of the most frequent requests I’ve had over the past several months is to share my plan and tips for making freezer meals before the baby arrives. Here you were thinking I had a plan all along…hahah…I wish I was that organized! But I can thank you for lighting a fire under me to put this idea into action. With just less than 7 weeks to go, I thought I better get my butt in gear and come up with a game plan! I’ll be making double batches of many of our fave entrées below, and a bunch of smoothie freezer packs. I’m so pumped. Nothing is more exciting than having a freezer stocked with delish, healthy recipes! (Side note: This post addresses new parents, but these freezer-friendly meals are convenient for everyone—students, busy nine-to-fivers, etc.!)
The recipes I’ve selected are below. If time allows over the next few weeks, I hope to post “part 2” with photos, tips, storage methods, and more. Baby, you stay put in there until your due date, mmmkay?! My plan is to start making the freezer recipes at the end of August (right near my book launch, what could go wrong!? heh).
Note for nursing mamas: Many of the main dish recipes below contain a fair amount of spice and legumes, which can be challenging for baby to digest through breast milk. You might need to adjust the recipes. This time around I’m giving baby some infant probiotic drops as I hear they can aid digestion.
- Glowing Spiced Lentil Soup
- Golden Red Lentil Dal
- Enchilada filling
- Enchilada sauce
- Freezer smoothie packs (Mighty Matcha Wheatgrass Protein Smoothie [in the app], Pink Power Detox Smoothie—newest version)
- Overnight Chia Oatmeal (I discovered this freezes well without the mashed banana!)
- Chana Masala (The Oh She Glows Cookbook, p. 163)
- Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars (Oh She Glows Every Day, p. 45)
News + Updates:
1) Have you heard that the 2016 VegNews Awards are going on? We’re thrilled to learn that we’ve been nominated in two categories this year—Favourite App and Favourite Blog! Be sure to vote for your faves here. There are a ton of exciting prizes up for grabs like a Vitamix, vegan ice cream party, shopping spree, and more.
2) Curious about my fave plant-based eats in downtown Oakville? Check out my recent interview with Food Network Canada.
3) Just a quick reminder that Chapters/Indigo is giving away a big basket of my favourite kitchen things (valued at over $500!). Pre-ordering Oh She Glows Every Day through Indigo will automatically enter you in this contest. There’s also a written entry option, too. For more details, see the contest rules here.
4) Don’t forget to snag your copy of my pre-order bonus bundle, available until September 13th, 2016!
Thank you for this post. I’ve got two little kids and meal planning has been an intense struggle. Your blog, books and recipes have been central to my focus on health and wellness. My freezer is already stocked with your Bean Balls and Spiced Red Lentil, Tomato, and Kale Soup. Keep up the amazing work. It is truly inspiring.
P.S. Having two kids is intense. Take some time off. lol
Haha, thanks for the advice, Matt! ;) And thanks for the awesome comment, too. It brought a smile to my face!
This post is awesome! Im 22 weeks pregnant with my first, and will definitely be doing all of this when it gets closer. I also need to google about breastfeeding more i guess because i had no idea about legumes and spice!
Thanks lady!
Congrats on your pregnancy, Carolyn! I hope this post helps with stocking up that freezer. :)
Can you share the probiotics you’ll use on baby #2? I want to give this a try as well!
Great post! I’m a long-time reader and I’m currently 34 weeks pregnant with my first and want to get on freezing some good meals for after the baby arrives. Your Glowing Spiced Lentil soup has been a MAJOR pregnancy craving for me and everyone I’ve served it to loves it- including my meat-loving Dad. Thanks so much for sharing this and all your other recipes, you bring a lot of joy to others from the work that you do. :)
Congrats on your growing family, Vanessa! Thank you so much for the kind words. Wishing you all the best with the remaining weeks of your pregnancy! :)
This is so exciting. 16 weeks pregnant with baby #3, and horribly in need of fast, healthy food! Thank you so much!
I’m pretty sure that there aren’t good studies behind limiting foods like spices or legumes for breastfed babies-am I wrong? My understanding is that breastmilk doesn’t work like that.
Awesome post! Thanks Angela! I just had our first baby and love having so many of your recipes stocked in the freezer including My Favorite Vegan Chili, Taco Chili with Nacho Cheeze Sauce, and Italian Bean Balls. :)
Congrats on your little bundle of joy, Stacy! :)
Hi Angela, What type of tortillas do you use for Next Level Vegan Enchiladas? Corn or flour? Whenever I use corn tortillas in enchiladas, they always crack no matter what I do (warm in oven with damp towel, soak in sauce, etc…). You don’t give special instructions, so I’m wondering if maybe you just use the flour ones. Do you have any special tips if using corn tortillas?
When I use corn, I make them lasagna style – so stack the layers instead of rolling them like enchiladas. I put sauce on the bottom, layer of tortillas, filling, tortillas, filling.
That’s a good idea!
Hi Anne, I typically use Rudi’s Organic Bakery Spelt Tortillas. I’ve definitely heard that corn tortillas can be a bit tricky to work with, though! I’d scroll through some of the comments on this recipe and see if anyone has any helpful suggestions. Maybe there’ll be something you haven’t tried!
Just curious – have you discovered the Instant Pot yet? I just got mine today and haven’t tried it, but if it is as amazing as I have heard, I would think it would be a life saver for a new mom.
Plus, selfishly, I would love if you had one and gave us some good recipes :)
I actually made both the chana masala and the enchiladas when I was stocking my freezer before my now 16-month-old daughter’s birth. They were delicious and it was so nice to be able to have a warm hearty meal ready to go when I was exhausted and my body was working overtime to feed my baby!
You’re recipies have never failed me. I can’t wait for the new book.
Hi Angela, I’ve got a burning question for your Friday FAQ-series: How do you manage to prepare and cook all of your meals with a toddler by your side? I hope your answer will be something like “It gets easier when they’re walking”, haha. I have a one year old daughter and most of the time, she’s not very content sitting on the floor, while I try to work in the kitchen. Even giving her pots and pans to bang on only entertains her for about 5 minutes. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve? Or do you only work in the kitchen when Adriana is napping? I love cooking and it’s some sort of meditation for me, therefore I find it so frustrating at times when I can’t get a single thing done in the kitchen. I’d be more than interested to gain a little insight on this one…Thanks a lot, love, Julia
I am starting my Masters this September and want to prepare by freezing meals now, so I will have healthy plant-powered food ready for lunch and dinner. I also was excited to see that its possible to freeze the Sweet Potato, Chickpea, and Spinach Coconut curry from the recipe bundle! Thank-you for all that you do Angela!
This could also be named plant based make ahead freezer meals for busy women because I sure need these too…you’re awesome!
Great post! Can’t wait to see part two of this post. Thanks for all the work you put into this site. The recipes you put here and in your cookbooks have become some of our family’s favorites. They have become part of our family’s culture and I know I will be sending them along with my kids when they get older and are on their own. Wishing you all the best!
Thanks so much for your heartfelt words, Kristi. They brought such a big smile to my face!
Hi! I’m a vegan athlete :)
Can follow me on instagram: @_alex_marques_
Hi Angela. It’s so hot here and I like the idea of grabbing something off the freezer to cool off. I love smoothies myself but have a hard time getting the kids to like them and more so when they learn there’s avocado and beets in it.
The other day I tried the same recipe for the pink smoothie but made popsicles instead. Now they love it! They can’t get enough of it! It’s amazing what a little popsicle stick can do…
Thanks for the recipes!
Haha, I love that the popsicle stick helped!
I’m so excited for your new book to arrive and just downloaded the recipe bundle! Your first book was such a hit when I made recipes for my family. My dad (Mr. Meat & Potatoes) didn’t even notice that the food was vegan! :) I’m not a new parent but my work sometimes takes me away from the house 18+ hours a day so freezer meals like these will be really helpful for me.
I was thinking today about how Sketchie is doing! I don’t think he’s made an appearance on the blog recently and I always loved how beautiful he is. My 9-year old cat is undergoing treatment for a progressive disease and “lymphoma” has been mentioned as a possibility as well for the past month or so. We haven’t done exploratory surgery because of his other health issues but we are still searching for ways to make him comfortable and increase his quality of life for as long as we can. I hope he’s doing well.
I am new to vegan recipes. I am not vegan, but wanted to build more plant-based recipes into my family’s weekly meals. I made the Black Bean and Sweet potato Enchiladas from the Oh She Glows cookbook last night, along with the homemade Enchilada Sauce and it was AMAZING! I can’t wait to try more of the recipes in the book!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the enchiladas, Carla. Do you know what you’ll try next? Whatever it is, hope you love it, too! Happy cooking :)
Yes! I’ve made the Glowing Mojo-ito Green Monster and the Banana Soft Serve in the past couple of days. I’ve never been a big smoothie fan, but the Mojo-ito green monster was great! I plan to make the Classic Green monster next. As for the soft serve; first of all, I have been lactose intolerant my whole life and this is an awesome alternative to regular ice cream or frozen yogurt. I’ve already told many people I work with about the recipe because it was so simple and amazing! I’m now looking at your yolo’s and glo-bars for snack items! I’ve already pre-ordered your next book and really look forward to trying out more and more plant-based recipes both from the books and the blog. Thank you!
Hi Angela, I’ve got a BURNING question for your Friday FAQs: How do you cook and prep meals in the kitchen with a toddler by your side? Does it get easier when they’re walking? My daughter is one year old now and she’s not very content sitting on the floor while I try to get things done in the kitchen. Giving her kitchen supplies to bang on only entertains her for about five minutes. Do you have any tricks? Or do you only cook when Adriana is taking a nap? I’d love your advice on this…Love, Julia
Great meals for the freezer, Ange. I also made your 10-Spice Soup while I was packing my freezer for my baby which was fabulous. Also, pro tip, assuming you are thinking of BioGaia for your little one is that it is found at Costco (the cheapest place I found it). Good luck with your book launch and beginning your family of 4.
Also there is no need to decrease spices as a BFing mama, it adds flavour instead! http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/28/how-breast-feeding-can-broaden-a-childs-diet/