A new royal start

QueenJess

Right, it is a new week, so trying to start afresh.  Going to ignore the whole birthing thing for another week and hoping it'll all sink in a bit.  At least on the plus side I can plan and I do like to plan things in advance - it makes me feel less anxious.

In my bit of a mess state last week and stressing about everything, DH seemed ready to agree to anything and I broke him on the whole freezer situation.  We now have a brand new twice as big freezer in the garage, nicely cold and ready to fill full of goodies.  We also kept the old freezer in there (albeit temporarily), so my head is spinning with the things I could put in there!  Planning on spending the next few weeks stocking up on everything and doing lots of cooking/baking to take us through as long as possible.  Today I was thinking of making DS's banana and chocolate flapjacks as they freeze very nicely.  Now wondering if I should have taken advantage of the situation and convinced DH to get other things, but my mind was blank and I couldn't think of anything!

The freezer is a chest freezer and only comes with one basket (madness), so now it is here I will need to measure up the inside and find some cheap storage baskets online.  I am also hoping I have enough storage containers for the freezer... will see how it goes!

I have managed to grab myself an online food shop slot for next week.  I just threw a few random things on it, but need to work through it this week and use it to properly stock up on as much as possible.  Don't want to run out of anything and I would rather have too much stuff as I know I will work through it all eventually (it definitely won't be thrown away!).

It's the last week of work this week and actually I finished everything Friday, so just bits of admin to do in the 2 days I am working this week.  Just need to try and keep up with the housework (it'll all go out the window after the birth) and stock up on food/lots of cooking/baking in the next few weeks and that should be it.  Saying that, it is already 11am and I have done absolutely nothing and have to pick up DS in 4.5 hours... really need to get a move on!  It isn't helped by the fact that I have two children waking me up at night now... DS was muttering in his sleep last night and said "Mummy" quite loudly a few times when sound asleep.  Then he rustles and is noisy when he has his midnight snack.  Of course if I get up to check on him the baby thinks it is party time and makes it pretty much impossible to get back to sleep.

Hospital reckoned that the baby is larger than average.  I find that incredibly hard to believe and they were horribly wrong with DS who was way smaller than they said (and was what I expected).  They are definitely right about it being a long baby though.  She delights in stretching her legs out and restricting various organs, scraping her feet all along my side (you can see the physical lump move across) or worse sticking her feet right in my ribs.  She doesn't really kick, which is odd, but she doesn't half move around for a baby that can't have much space now.

savingholmes

Your baby will be here before you know it. Glad you are getting organised and balancing it with getting some rest too.

Grogged

We use A1di bags in our chest freezer (other supermarkets are available...).
Each bag stores one type of food - meat, veg, desserts, pre-cooked/leftovers, desserts, breads, etc.
Works well for us and is MSE. 😆
We looked at wire baskets, but bags are easier and more versatile for us.

rugbymadfamily

I am soooo jealous of your new freezer space! I'm trying to convince my husband that we need one but it will only fit in the garage so he would have to give up some DIY space for it....which he is not keen for lol or the alcohol fridge would have to go....which neither of us are keen for haha!

Banana and chocolate flapjacks sound delicious, can understand why your son would love them!

QueenJess

Grogged said:

We use A1di bags in our chest freezer (other supermarkets are available...).
Each bag stores one type of food - meat, veg, desserts, pre-cooked/leftovers, desserts, breads, etc.
Works well for us and is MSE. 😆
We looked at wire baskets, but bags are easier and more versatile for us.

Funny you should mention that as I had just come to the conclusion that I am best off using some supermarket bags for now and think about baskets later if I feel I need them.  In any case, I need to stop spending money 

QueenJess

rugbymadfamily said:

I am soooo jealous of your new freezer space! I'm trying to convince my husband that we need one but it will only fit in the garage so he would have to give up some DIY space for it....which he is not keen for lol or the alcohol fridge would have to go....which neither of us are keen for haha!

Banana and chocolate flapjacks sound delicious, can understand why your son would love them!

There are now two boxes of them stacked in the freezer.  Going to slowly work through as many goodies as possible.  I stocked up on a couple of things on the weekly shop, which is way more than I would usually be able to fit into our tiny freezer.  I put them in the new big freezer and they were instantly lost in there... it's so huge compared to what I am used to.  I think it's going to be my personal challenge to see if I can fill it up! 

I don't think I would have ever won the argument for the freezer if I wasn't in such a mess.  Had to take space away from DH's precious garage space which is full of 50 different types of car cleaning cloths and cleaning materials...

Ah alcohol... yes I dimly remember liking a glass of wine.  When I can have some again I think I'm going to be very cheap as I doubt I'll be able to drink more than half a glass 

QueenJess

Slowly working through my to do list for this week.  Unfortunately when I take something off I seem to add something else, so it doesn't seem to be going down.  At least some bits and pieces are very slowly getting done though.

Made some chocolate chip shortbread for DS today as I know he loves it.  Failed to make anything for the freezer, but think I'll make at least two different lots of muffins tomorrow to build out some easy dessert options.  They always freeze nicely.  Also got chocolate brownies planned for some point to freeze and may try doing cookies as well.  If I can't cook for a while I still want to have nice things to eat!  Trying to make all this stuff whilst DS is at nursery, otherwise he'll want to start eating it all now.

Definitely need to also think about non-sweet things to freeze too.  For now I've got enough mince to make 8 portions of cottage pie, so will try and do that Friday after my veg box arrives.  Should make a big fish pie too, then my mind has gone completely blank and can't think of what else to make that will freeze nicely as meals.  I think I'm going to have to flick through the cookbooks and see what else I can think of.

Still need to make the epic stocking up list of all the usual stuff we tend to use.  Need to do it before the end of the week, but it's quite intimidating.  Think I just need to open all the cupboards and get on with it.

rugbymadfamily

What about some other mince based dishes? I tend to make portions that can be made into spag bol / lasagne by doing the mince and sauce etc then can flex it once defrosted? Or some yummy curries? Veggie or meat ones, be some great recipes on BBC good food that are easy slow cooker ones so make it not too much effort for you!

QueenJess

rugbymadfamily said:

What about some other mince based dishes? I tend to make portions that can be made into spag bol / lasagne by doing the mince and sauce etc then can flex it once defrosted? Or some yummy curries? Veggie or meat ones, be some great recipes on BBC good food that are easy slow cooker ones so make it not too much effort for you!

Spag Bol is covered as I make DH cook that these days   Curry I can't get DS to eat, DH likes it hot and I prefer a very mild veggie curry.  It is too much like hard work!  There are some chicken dishes we all might eat, although I think I like them the most.  Too many fusspots around here and I refuse to make 3 different dinners!

Will break out the kiddie friendly cookbooks later and rediscover what I usually cook!

rugbymadfamily

Absolutely not making 3 dinners, well afree with that haha! My husband is not a fan of spice so I tend to make curries pretty mild and then have to add fresh chillies as I like it hot! Enjoy the cookbooks