re: Having a baby, need prepare ahead meal ideas

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My husband doesn't cook.

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Shame on him.

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I couldn't figure out what I wanted. Typical of women

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You can survive any trauma if you have homemade gumbo in the freezer.

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I agree with this and I've never been without as far back as I can remember.

I think its smart to have some freezer meals other than just gumbo and a list of some easy fresh meals. I don't necessarily think all the frozen meals or suggested meals will be eaten the first week or so, but they will come in handy eventually.

My mom made a bunch of casseroles in the small foil disposable pans so that we didn't have to worry about clean up. we also used paper plates for a while so our dishes mainly consisted of cup and utensils.

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What's the go to method for freezing gumbo? Honestly never tried because it doesn't last that long.

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I make gumbo in very large quantities. Chicken or turkey and andouille/sausage freezes beautifully. I usually freeze in quart containers and I put a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the gumbo pushing out all of the air so there's no air between the gumbo and the top of the container. Liquids expand when they freeze so you can't fill those containers all the way up to the top. I suppose some folks might freeze it in plastic bags, but I prefer plastic containers. Size really depends on how many folks you think you'll be feeding at once. I sometimes freeze in smaller containers for myself for a quick lunch.

For a seafood or shrimp gumbo, I make the gumbo base which is the roux, stock and seasonings. I defrost and add whatever fresh seafood I want when I'm ready to eat it. I usually use just shrimp when defrosting unless I happen to have some crab or oysters on hand at the time, but shrimp are easy to freeze in packets with the gumbo. If I have 8 quarts of seafood gumbo in the freezer, I might freeze 8 packets of fresh peeled and deveined shrimp to go with it. I pull out a container and a packet, defrost all and pop the shrimp in just before serving, chop up some fresh green onions to top it and I'm good to go. Cooked seafood doesn't freeze all that great because it's overcooked when you reheat. Crawfish do okay, but shrimp do not and I don't care for frozen crabmeat.

Those are my methods. Other folks might have suggestions you like better.

I've also frozen beef bourguignon and coq au vin.

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we have 19 month old twins and both work

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That puts Doogie Howser to shame.

This is our first, and no breast feeding.

Get someone to set you up something on the website takethemameal.com

Family and friends can sign up on certain days to bring you a meal so everyone doesn't bring you one on the same day. You can also login to see if someone is bringing you something for that day or if you have to fend for yourself..they also put what they are bringing and what time they are planning to deliver it..

I didn't hear about it until we moved down here and the church were attend used it for their members...

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Looks legit, you eat this over rice?

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You can eat it over anything you like or nothing at all. I think some folks do the mashed potato thing, new potatoes and some do pasta. Pick a starch.