Make ahead meals to prep for baby

A month from today our little Lucy will be born meaning our lives will be turned upside down. I kind of doubt I'll have the time (at least for a few months) to leisurely make dinner every night while Ford plays quietly with puzzles or magnets. Knowing how much work having a newborn was before, I am prepping myself for total chaos when we have a newborn and a toddler. One thing that Jon and I love to do is eat.. duh. You'll find a gaggle of delicious and easy recipes posted on my blog along with carefully organized Pinterest boards of meals I plan on making. Meal planning is my MO. I get a rush from sitting down and making my grocery list, looking through what we have stocked in our pantry and thumbing through the grocery store flyer to see what meat is on sale. I love trying new recipes too. We have a few staple meals that I'll make more than once but trying new ones is thrilling for me. A few times a week my sister and I text each other new recipes to try... yep we are old ladies. So where is this post going? We are a month out from baby day and meal prep has begun. I stocked my freezer with about 10 homemade frozen meals before Ford was born and between those and friends bringing meas, I remember not having to make dinner until he was 2 months old! What a relief. As much as I love cooking, it is kind of the last thing on your mind as a new mom. You grab a protein bar for breakfast and maybe manage to eat a sandwich standing up in the kitchen while bouncing your fussy baby in the Ergo so one solid meal a day is vital for sanity and survival. I went to the grocery store yesterday and carefully planned my menu for the next week and will be doubling a few recipes to store in our freezer. Last week was operation "clean out the freezer" so Jon was so sweet to not make a complaint about the random sausage, salmon burger, frozen veggie, pasta meals I threw together with what we had.

How did I come up with the meals I plan on making and freezing? I carefully combed through Pinterest and the recipes I've already made to find things that would stay good in the freezer. Soups and pasta freeze and thaw really well and so do Mexican dishes (tortillas, meat, cheese, etc). I also wanted to make sure that the meals were hearty and full of protein, knowing that nursing gives me the appetite of a college linebacker. Here are a few of the meals on my "to make to freeze" list:

1. Slow cooker chili
2. One pan cheesy chicken, broccoli, and rice
3. Parmesan meatloaf
4. Green chili, sweet corn and chicken enchiladas
5. Sweet potato and black bean chili
6. Crock pot shredded beef enchiladas
7. Crock pot quinoa, sweet potato, and chicken fajitas
8. Turkey and veggie meatloaf
9. Crock pot beef and broccoli
10. BBQ meatloaf

I may not get around to all of them but this is the plan over the next few weeks! My sister gave me the wise advice to have breads and muffins on hand for a quick breakfast or pick me up so I will probably make some pumpkin and banana bread and pop in the freezer. I love knowing that a little extra preparation now will allow me to relax and focus on my family and healing when Lucy comes. Do you have any recipe recommendations that freeze well?