Easy-Peezy, Lemon Squeezy

Week 32
Obviously, by reading the title, this post is not on my views of how labor will be... haha
I honestly have no idea what to expect, nor is there any real answer that anyone can give me in what life with a newborn is like (or labor). This post is about the things I hope to do ahead of time in order to make life a little easier in the beginning for us after we bring baby home. 

1.Stock-Up

Items that I intend to stock up (at least 3 months supply on)

My goal is for Andrew to only have to stop at the store for Milk, OJ, Cheese, Yogurt, Fruit (Apples and Bananas) and Sour Cream...as needed

• Toiletries (toilet/face tissue, soaps, shampoo, deodorants, lotions, toothpaste, etc)
• Meats (pork, beef, chicken, turkey) to portion freeze
• Canned goods to create crock-pot meals
• Household items (paper towels, dish/laundry soap, tin foil, freezer bags)
• Baby Wipes
• Coffee/K-cups
• Cleaning Products (Lysol Wipes/ Spray)

2. Deep Clean house

Household chores I want done at 36 weeks (this will help in bringing baby home to an extra-clean home and reduce my house-work as we will have parents staying with us the first few weeks) My GG has volunteered to come down and help me with all these chores...

• Steam Clean all Tile or Wood Floors
• Laundry and change all linens
• Clean Upholstery on Couches
• Wash and Iron all curtains
• Wipe Down all wall trim
• Clean/dust all ceiling fans and lighting fixtures
• Polish wood furniture pieces
• Both bathrooms fully sanitized
• Kitchen appliances sanitized
• Washing Machine sanitized
• Wash Windows inside and out
• Clean window blinds

3. Crock-Pot/ Freezer Meals

I teeter tottered back and forth on the options I could do with freezer and/or crock-pot meals and have decided that I will mostly stock up on canned goods for crock-pot meals, a few freezer meals, and portioned freezer meats.

I already try and make the effort to stay stocked up on meats, fries/hash browns, breads, and garlic bread in the freezer. Some things that I have been doing in portion/preparations for future meals...

GARLIC BREAD

Portioned Garlic Bread (Stacked 2-high)

We go through a lot of garlic bread. I came up with my own recipe that we think is better than any store bought kind...I premix the butter/seasonings/cheeses (total about $4) and buy a loaf of french bread ($1.99). I spread the mixture on each cut (1" thick) portion of french bread. I then portion for a two person meal, put foil or wax paper in between the two pieces (mixture face toward one another) and freeze in quart size freezer bags. I typically get about 18 (2-person) meals out of this.

MEATS 

Seasoned Taco Meat

Portioned Salmon

I will buy large packages and separate them out into appropriate portions for a typical 2-person meal. For example, I will take a package of 16 chicken legs and cut it in half to make for 2 future meal portions. Or with fish I will separate so I only have to thaw one meal portion at a time. With ground burger, I like to separate into thirds--one third gets pre-seasoned for chili meat with chili powder, and garlic powder; the second portion gets seasoned for taco meat with a little chili powder, fajita seasoning, garlic, and cumin; then whatever is leftover, I pre-form hamburger patties with (seasoned with S&P)-then package them into one meal (2-person) portions with foil or wax paper separating the two patties.  So Out of one big container of ground beef (aprox. $8-10) I potentially get anywhere from 3-6+ meals (depending on how many patties I get from the leftovers). I put the (uncooked) taco meat and chili meat into a gallon freezer bag and roll it out flat, then seal it with as little air as possible (rolling it out flat helps reduce the amount of air trapped and saves a TON of room in the freezer since you can stack them! AND they thaw out 10x faster than a big package!)  * Don't forget to label and date.

Here are some of the 'easy meal' recipes I plan to do....

Crock Pot Meals In Planning

• Chili (Consisting mostly of canned goods and a freezer portion of pre-seasoned beef or sausage)
• 2-Dark Red Kidney Beans
• 2-Light Red Kidney Beans
• 2-Chili Beans
• Canned tomatoes (I use rotell because we like a little heat)
• 1-Black Beans
• 1-Corn
• Pre-Seasoned Beef or Sausage that I will portion, cook, and freeze ahead of time.
• Pre-made corn bread that I will freeze and have to reheat in oven.
• Toppings that Andrew will have to pick-up: Sour Cream and Possibly Cheese
• Beef Roast (with frozen vegetables, potatoes, and garlic bread), (Beef Dip Sandwiches)
• 1- Beef Roast
• 1-Bag of Frozen Veggies
• Several Cut up Potatoes (red)
• Pre-Made Garlic Bread that will be portioned and frozen
• Onion Buns
• Horseradish 
• Beef Broth for Au Jus dipping.
• Fries
• Andrew will have to stop and get Swiss cheese from the store
• Spare Ribs (I recently did this one and we both loved it!)
• St Louis Style Spare Rack of Ribs
• Applesauce
• 1 bottle of BBQ sauce
• Water
• I medium Onion
• Pre-Made Garlic Bread
• Canned Vegetable
• Pork Chops (havent exactly decided what recipe yet...)
• Package of Pork Chops
• Vegetable
• Bread

Frozen Meals in Planning

• Chicken Pot Pie
• Pre made Pie Crusts
• Package of Frozen Veggies
• 1-2 cans cream of chicken or mushroom
• 1 large can of chicken
• Shredded Pork (1/2 plain, 1/2 BBQ) *Expecting to get several meals from this....
• Pork Roast
• BBQ pulled pork sandwiches
• Pulled pork and vegetables
• Plain Pork Sandwiches (lunches)
• BBQ sauce
• Vegetable
• Sandwich Buns
• Meatballs (I love to make meatballs, but have never pre-made and froze them)
• 1/2 Ground Turkey and 1/2 Ground Beef
• Meatball Marinara Sandwiches
• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Marinara Sauce
• Sub Buns
• Pasta Sauce
• Spaghetti Noodles
• Andrew will have to stop and get mozzarella cheese.
• Sloppy Joes
• Ground Beef
• Burger Buns
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Vinegar
• Brown Sugar
• Fries or Vegetable

Easy On-Hand Meals In Planning

• Breakfast Burritos
• Tortillas ( we always have in stock at home)
• Eggs (we buy fresh farm from our neighbors)
• Potatos (fresh or frozen)
• Sausage (frozen)
• Salsa (homemade canned)
• Andrew will possibly have to grab sour cream and cheese from store
• Fetticine Alfredo (homemade)
• Cream Cheese
• Parmesean Powder Cheese
• Butter
• Milk
• Fetticine Noodles
• Broccoli (frozen)
• Frozen chicken or fish
• Garlic Bread
• Lasagna
• Lasagna Noodles
• Pasta Sauce (homemade frozen or canned)
• Ground Beef (frozen)
• Andrew will need to pick up Cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream
• Garlic Bread
• Enchiladas
• Tortillas
• Chicken (Frozen, pre-seasoned for fajitas)
• Corn
• Rotell tomatoes (canned)
• Cream Cheese (seasoned)
• Enchilada Sauce (canned)
• Refriend Beans (canned)
• Andrew will need to get sour cream, cheese, and possibly red/orange peppers

I will let you know how these all turn out. I plan to stock up on all canned goods and portioned meats/breads for the freezer at 36 weeks. Andrew will have to make a weekly trip to the store, but I will try to plan our meals for what I need from the store that week (example plan meals that require sour cream together so it reduced waste # of items we need from the store in future weeks).

Message me if you would like specific recipes (portions) etc...