If you have taken either my breastfeeding preparation or back to work class we would have talked about “controlling the controllables”. Practical suggestions for how to ease the transition with a new baby or the return to work.

We built an extension onto the house this year. There was no plan to move out and I knew that for a good chunk of the build I would have a make shift kitchen. I channelled my Fourth Trimester survival tactics and decided to cook like I was prepping for a newborn. When I was due my second baby I had a better idea of what was ahead of me. I bought a full height freezer and with the help of my dad we did a day's cooking and filled it. It really made those early weeks much more manageable.

This time around I didn't do one big day of cooking. I simply doubled or tripled the dinners I was cooking day to day over the course of a couple of weeks. Simple meals that require one or two pots. Spaghetti bolognese, meatballs, pasta sauce, curries, casseroles. I also made some dishes for the oven that could be cooked from frozen, cottage pie, lasagne, macaroni and cheese.

I enjoy cooking and love nothing more than those lovely social media videos of people. The chopping, sizzling and hey presto, a delicious meal. They make it seem so easy! One of my favourites is The Batch Lady. She has some great recipes for family meals and a free online course on batch cooking. Lots of practical hints and tips. One of her suggestions and one of the best christmas presents I got this year from a friend were these clever clips for freezer bags, I love them!

Another great website for recipes is Taming Twins. Sarah Rossi has twin boys and her site is full of great family recipes and time saving hacks. Her “Dump Bags” were a real hit here, prep the ingredients, pop them in the fridge or freezer and simply dump them into the slow cook for a stress feel meal . Now that I’m in my new kitchen I'm still using it. It's really handy for busy days and evenings where between music and sports things can be hectic.

If getting a freezer stash together that's not breastmilk sounds like something you might like to try, here are my top tips!

Make a list of the meals that go down well in your house and highlight the ones that are freezer friendly.

Think about storage. To maximise your freezer space lay your bags flat and stack them on top of each other. Label your bags clearly with what's in the bag, the date and any heating or cooking instructions. I fell foul of this one and defrosted what I thought was spaghetti bolognese only to have to hack savory mince for a cottage pie to go with pasta. Not the greatest dinner of all time.

One great discovery I made was that lots of supermarkets have frozen pre chopped onions, garlic, chilli and herbs. Great for stews, casseroles and curries. If you do decide to do a day of cooking these can really cut down on your workload.

Yes you can do a big cook off and fill a freezer over a day or a weekend but this can feel very daunting. Adopt the “Cook Once, Eat Twice” method. Simply double your recipe and put one meal on the table and one in the freezer. This also ensures more variety. Lots of different dinners rather than a freezer packed to the brim with lasagne and spaghetti bolognese.

Everything in the freezer doesn't need to be a full meal. I’ve found mashed potato freezes really well and is a good side to chicken or fish with some vegetables or salad. Soup is another one that freezes well for a simple lunch.

My go to cookbook is Jamie's Ministry of Food. He has some great suggestions for changing up a casserole or stew by topping it with mash, pastry, sliced potatoes or dumplings. This helps add variety to your table. You could cook a batch, freeze in one meal portions and mix it up with different toppings.

The build is done and we are back to normal. We invited the whole family for Christmas day. So what did that mean? You guessed it, control the controlables! The prepped roast potatoes, veggie sides and of course Jamie Oliver's get ahead gravy all went into the freezer!

My Freezer Stash and Not One Ounce of Breastmilk!