Nesting is absolutely in full force with this mama, and with only a month until baby sister makes her grand entrance into the world, I realized it was time to get everything in gear to make the transition as stress-free as possible. Our move from New England to the South took place within 3 weeks of our first born’s arrival, so we really didn’t even have the chance to prepare for what was coming. There was no nursery and our tiny freezer couldn’t have held more than a single freezer meal. This time around I have been determined to have things prepared in advance as much as possible.
I’ve already been working on freezer meals for a few weeks now and my mom is also planning to bring up a few more frozen dinners and sides from my favorite Texas grocery store when they come up for the birth. Currently, our freezer is stocked with Lasagna Roll-ups, Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli & Rice Casserole, Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas, and Beef Stroganoff along with an assortment of frozen veggies, waffles, and pancakes. I might just go ahead and do a separate post covering my freezer stock-up plan, Thank goodness I love making lists so much!
Aside from the freezer meals, I knew that we would need to make sure that our pantry would need to be stocked with all of our favorite basic cooking staples before baby. And even more important, we’re going to need lots of grab-and-go treats, convenience foods that we don’t buy quite as regularly and a ton of snacks to keep a certain toddler big brother happy. I’m hoping that all of this planning and effort pays off. I have a feeling that I’ll be so thankful to not have to put on real clothes and run to the store because we’re out of mac n cheese or have seemingly nothing to make for dinner because the shopping hasn’t happened in those first few weeks with our newborn.
So without further ado, here’s the list of all of the things I hope to have on hand in the pantry when baby girl arrives:
Snacks & Grab & Go
- a variety of granola bars, breakfast cookies, etc.
- crackers
- peanut butter filled pretzels
- tortilla chips
- popcorn
- nuts
For the Toddler
- juice
- applesauce & Go-Go style pouches
- granola bars
- fruit snacks
- raisins, dried fruit
- crackers
- potato chips
- peanut butter
- jelly
- simply good jell-o (not sponsored, but I’ve felt much better about this new line of products vs. their original counterparts)
- simply good pudding mix
- pop tarts (probably will only have one box on hand for an emergency treat on an extra rough morning)
Cooking Staples
- pasta
- jar sauces (typically, we make our own marinara, etc. but it will be nice to have a faster option in those newborn days)
- bbq sauce (to make our fav crockpot bbq chicken)
- italian dressing (for a quick chicken marinade)
- box mac & cheese
- rice: white, brown, spanish
- canned black beans
- canned diced tomatoes
- canned whole tomatoes (for homemade salsa)
- rotel or diced tomatoes & green chiles (for homemade salsa)
- canned crushed tomatoes (for homemade marinara)
- tomato paste
Baking Supplies
- flour
- sugar: white, brown
- chocolate chips — I never want to live in a house without chocolate chips
- yeast
- bisquick (for pancakes, waffles, drop biscuits, etc.)
- cornbread mixes (great for throwing together quickly to go with soup)
Extras
- s’mores supplies: graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate
