Preparing for Baby :: Food Edition

I am not sure how soon I will get back in to the kitchen after the baby arrives in early February so I wanted to have some things on hand that Phil or I could simply pull out and make in to a meal. I am not a fan of pre-made frozen meals that you buy at the grocery store. I think they are overpriced and don't really taste that great, with the exception of California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken Frozen Pizzas. So I set out with my friend Amy to create our own freezer creations.

The Tuesday before Christmas we spent almost 9 hours in the kitchen cooking and baking and the results were fantastic. For $40 a person we made the following meals:

• 2 meals worth of Cranberry Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
• 2 meals worth of Swiss Chard and Sweet Pea Manicotti
• 2 meals worth of Chicken Enchiladas
• 2 meals worth of Beef Bourguinon
• 1 large chili cornbread bake
• 24 raspberry breakfast bars that I wrapped in packages of 4 for easy breakfasts with visitors :)
  
• Turkey Pot Pie Filling

I have also been inventorying everything that is in my freezer and will be putting together a list of quick meals that can be made with the contents of our freezer and pantry. This will help keep us organized and limit last minute trips to the grocery store with a newborn.

This afternoon I prepared the chicken I scored on sale last week at Meijer for $1.77 a pound. This price is almost unheard of down here so I bought 2 family packs leaving me with 12 breasts. I cut up 1.5 breasts for chicken Alfredo, left 1.5 breast for grilling, and will use 3 breasts to make Chicken Chili tomorrow night for dinner! The other 6 breasts are currently cooking in the crockpot with some stock so that I can shred them and bag them in 2 cup quantities for chicken pot pie, chicken tortilla soup and chicken tacos down the road!

Food wise I think we are prepared. We just need to stock up on some coffee and Dr. Pepper for the long nights and days :)