Back in December, I had my fourth child via c-section with my older three children being under 5 and 1/2 years old. I knew my church family was planning to try and help with meals during this time of recovery and transition in our home, but with it being directly between two major holidays, I didn’t want to rely solely on them for feeding my family.

I decided to spend about two days cooking, cooking, and cooking some more. After friends brought us some meals, and the freezer was empty, it was March. That’s right, other than weekly milk runs, we didn’t have to grocery shop or do major meal prep for two and a half months!

Preparing Food for Maternity Leave

{or any other cooking hiatus like Summer Time!}

Make Lists

Some of these you may want to make up ahead of time but this will also just help you think through what you need to have available in the house.

Compile a list of meals your family enjoys and maybe throw in a test meal for fun. Sort this list into type; I do beef, chicken, and pasta {for the most part}. You are going to want to have easy-to-make meals on hand as well just in case a planned meal falls through.

Along with the meals, I thought through side dishes that could be made ahead of time.

We know kids love their snacks, so if you want them snacking healthy, go ahead and get these ready as well. I made a list of all the snacks my kids {as well as the hubs and I} enjoy right next to our meal list.

Cook and Bake

Set aside at least 2 days for cooking and baking. I think this makes it less overwhelming, helps you prepare your day according while still giving room for real life.

Day 1: cooking according to meat. Cooking all your beef or chicken at the same time, dividing it into portions {1lb per meal for us}, and then cutting according to your recipes seems to work best for me.

Also, laying out the disposable casserole dishes with the recipe and basic ingredients helped me get my mind round the large task.

Day 2: baking, to me, is the more fun of the two. Go ahead and get all your baking ingredients out along with all your favorite recipes. If you’re brave, let your kids in on the fun during this day.

Store Well

Make sure you store your cooked food and snacks well or it will have been a waste of your time and money. Items I suggest are

• disposable casserole dishes
• plastic bags
• pourable containers

My challenge to you is to try and track what time of the month you feel the most like cooking {if ever}. A natural cycle might arise and this could be a regular routine for making freezer meals and lightening the load of daily meal prep.