Recipes and Tips for Post Pregnancy Nutrition

Yay, your beautiful bundle of joy has finally arrived, congratulations and well done to you! There’s so much to do and learn with a newborn that often feeding and yourself effectively postpartum is often the last thing on your mind.

It’s so important though, to nourish and nurture yourself as well as your baby. To help you along ,Vicki from Boiled Eggs and Soldiers has put together a suggested meal plan for a day. All the recipes are quick and easy and most can be done one handed if necessary too!

Breakfast – the most important meal of the day

A bowl of full fat Greek yoghurt topped with your favourite topping is a quick, easy and filling start to the day. I really like cinnamon on yoghurt, it is said that cinnamon can help relieve bloating and it may well have antibacterial and antimicrobial properties too, plus it tastes good! On top of the cinnamon I add pomegranate seeds (to save time you can now buy the seeds or arils, on their own from most supermarkets). Pomegranates area good source of fibre, Vitamin C and potassium.

Another option is to put a sprinkle of your favourite berries and muesli / granola on top either way by just adding a few extra bits to your yoghurt you are really increasing the nutritional value and creating a delicious meal that takes no time to make. Check out Dahlas’ lovely healthy home-made granola recipe here.

Smoothies and Juice

To keep you going through the morning you can’t go past a fresh juice or smoothie of some sort. With the warmer weather coming I like this refreshing combination, I call it morning juice ! It makes at least 2 big glasses of juice so it can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours if you want to keep one for the next day.

 

Morning Juice Recipe

Ingredients :

1 orange – flesh only

1 kiwi roughly chopped skin removed

1 C watermelon – flesh only roughly chopped

3 stems silver beet, leaves only

2 stems kale, leaves only

handful parsley

200 ml coconut water (or just water)

handful ice

Method:

Put oranges, kiwi & watermelon in the Thermomix bowl or blender and give a quick blitz to make room for the rest of the ingredients (5 seconds / speed 5).

Add silver beet, kale, parsley, coconut water and ice

Blend 1 minute/ speed 10 or on high speed in your blender

Postpartum Lunch Ideas

Eggs are a great source of protein, in fact they are a “complete protein” food, they also have Vitamins A, B, and D and zinc and iron so an omelette or baked frittata is a great meal to have for lunch. Read more about eggs  (especially the yolks) being a pregnancy and postpartum “superfood” here.

Sometimes you may think that you don’t have time to cook something up but even poaching an egg (remember no runny yolks if pregnant, here is why) to go on top sourdough and avocado is nourishing and will get you through.

My Favourite Superfood Salads

When salad season is here a bowl of leafy greens, avocado, cucumber, capsicum, carrot, cherry tomatoes with some form of protein like, tuna, salmon, cheese, eggs, nuts and/or seeds with some olive oil and lemon juice is a healthy, light lunch.

Post Pregnancy afternoon snacks

Looking after a newborn 24/7 and breastfeeding is hard work – so you need fuel ! This is especially essential before the “witching hour” normally hits (normally around 5pm all babies get ravenous and cluster feed). Because of this I lived on hummus when I was feeding my babies, for some reason I couldn’t get enough of it. With veggie sticks or crackers it’s a wonderful nutritious to snack on when hunger strikes.

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When sweet cravings strike

If you have a bit more of a sweet craving how about these Raw Cacao, Date & Nut Balls. They can be kept in the fridge or freezer and I always like to have some on the go. Best of all they are gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free.

Raw Cacao, Date & Nut Ball Recipe

Ingredients

1 C pitted mejdool dates, soaked in water for 10 minutes

1/2 C walnuts

1/2 C almonds

1/3 C raw cacao powder

1/2 C desiccated coconut (try to use organic so it doesn’t have the sulphates)

pinch sea salt

1/4 C Rice Malt Syrup

1 Tbsp chia seeds

2 tsp vanilla extract

Extra desiccated coconut for rolling the balls in

Instructions

1. Put nuts into a blender or Thermomix (TM) and chop on a high speed until they become a course meal like consistency. (TM – mill for 5 seconds / speed 6)
2. Add all other dry ingredients and blend to mix together (TM 6 seconds / speed 6)
3. Add rice malt syrup, vanilla and dates and mix until all is combined (TM 10 seconds / speed 8)
4. Using a teaspoon, scoop out mixture and roll into bite sized balls
5. Roll into desiccated coconut
6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before eating

Post Pregnancy Dinner Ideas

So that brings us to dinner….which is often a big challenge in early newborn days. If anyone asks what they can do to help out, making dinner is high on the list !

Nutritious dinner ideas for BEFORE the baby is born –  it’s great to stock the freezer full of ready meals like soups, shepherds pie, bolognaise sauces so that if/when witching hour hits you don’ t have to think about ‘what’s for dinner tonight”. I’m a big advocate of menu planning (I publish one every week on my website with suggestions) but with newborns sometimes the best laid plans go out the window !

 

Grilled Salmon with Quinoa Vegetables Recipe

This recipe is an easy, healthy and nutritious meal that is relatively simple to make.

Ingredients

1 C quinoa

2 C water

2 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 red capsicum, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tsp Moroccan spice mix you can buy it premade or make it yourself (salt, pepper, dried rosemary, ground turmeric, paprika, ground coriander, ground ginger, cumin, lemon zest)

Handful of baby spinach

2 Tbs lemon juice

4 salmon fillets

Instructions

Place quinoa & water in saucepan and bring to boil. Once boiling reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and sit covered for 10 mins.

While quinoa is cooking heat oil in saucepan add vegetables, garlic and Moroccan spice and cook, stirring until carrot is soft, (about 5 mins). Turn off heat.

Add quinoa, baby spinach and lemon juice to the vegetables and toss to combine.

Heat another pan (preferably a char grill pan), drizzle salmon with a little bit of oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 – 4 mins on each side or until cooked through. Alternatively place salmon on a lined baking tray under grill in oven for the same cooking time or until cooked through.

Serve with quinoa mix and enjoy! Any leftovers also make for a yummy salad for lunch the next day.

This is also a wonderful recipe for during pregnancy as healthy fats are essential for both you and your baby’s nutrition requirements.

If you are interested in taking a look at any more recipes or weekly meal plans please please pop over to www.boiledeggsandsoldiers.com or if you’d like to sign up to receive my weekly newsletter (it’s free!) with the meal plan attached you can do that by putting in your email address on the home page and it will be sent to you each Friday.

Take or yourself as well as your precious baby and I hope this helps on those crazy days!

x Vicki

Big thanks for the Guest post by the lovely Vicki from Boiled Eggs and Soldiers

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