Easy Real Food Meals For Postpartum Mamas

Preparing for postpartum is just as important as preparing for labor. Adding a new member to the family is beautiful and stressful all at the same time! On top of caring for all of the normal things, you have the responsibility of a new life. You also can’t forget your own physical and mental needs! These easy postpartum meals and snacks are ones that I regularly incorporate into my own meal planning schedule because they are easy, healthy, and versatile.

I also didn’t want to list a lot of freezer meals. Some of us simply don’t have the freezer space and there’s also those of use who don’t like the taste or texture of whole frozen meals. If you don’t mind freezer meals, you will find a few ideas sprinkled throughout! Some of these easy postpartum meals can be prepped ahead and stored in the fridge. Others are easy dump-and-go meals that can be cooked quickly. Some are for those of us who love to use our slow cookers or pressure cookers.

How To Plan Ahead For Easy Real Food Postpartum Meals

As I’m writing this I am 33 weeks pregnant with my fourth baby. You’d think I’d be an old pro at planning for postpartum, but it can still be stressful. Thankfully, I have been getting better at meal planning! When thinking about simple meals for my fourth postpartum experience I was able to pull from my “easy meals” list. Simple meals that can be prepped and stored in the fridge and eaten cold, thrown into a skillet or baking dish, or dumped into a slow cooker.

I enjoy cooking for my family and we try to eat as much real food as possible. We’re definitely an “ingredients” family over a “foods” family. All that means is that we cook a lot of food from raw ingredients and not a lot of pre-made or boxed foods. I let that slide a bit more whenever I’ve just had a baby. Your family might be different! Think of your favorite meals for times when you can’t spend more than 10-15 minutes cooking and add those to your own list.

Additionally, think about what time of the year your baby will be born. My last three babies have all been due in mid-late spring. Perfect for easy grilled meals, cold sandwiches, salads, and smoothies. If you have a baby that is due in the colder months, take advantage of easy hot sandwiches, dump and bake casseroles, sheet pan meals, and slow cooker soups.

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Healthy Convenience Foods

A quick word to all of my fellow crunchy mamas: don’t let “perfection” hold you hostage. A frozen organic pizza may not be the most ideal meal, but it’s better than nothing. I would rather have a few on hand to rescue me from a hard day than to be stressing over food. This is not an exhaustive list for my simple postpartum meals! You can bet your sweet bippy that I’m planning on having a few less than perfect convenience meals on hand.

We also live in a wonderful time where convenience and health can coexist in harmony! I’ll list ready made foods that I’m planning on buying to keep things simple and healthy. They’re more expensive compared to DIY versions, but I allow more wiggle room in our grocery budget for times like this.

I know that some of us are working around budget and dietary restraints as well. This list is mostly comprised of basic meal ideas rather than recipes, take them and modify them to your needs! Also consider asking for gift cards to places where you could use them for food and baby supplies. Using some of your gift money for healthier convenience foods is more useful than 30 newborn onesies. I know a lot of veteran mamas who ask for things like paper plates, towels, napkins, and cups instead of the normal gifts.

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Easy Postpartum Meals: Breakfast

• Pancakes/Waffles – You can either make a homemade dry mix or buy one that’s still pretty healthy like this one from Azure Standard. I’m opting to buy a 5 Lb bag that we can use multiple times over the first month. They also offer a mix that is dairy free. I decided to buy a premade mix rather than make my own because the premade one requires less ingredients to get the batter ready. My husband will appreciate that when he’s making it!
• Muffins – again, you can make a homemade mix or buy a pre made mix! I’m planning on using a couple of boxes of muffin mix by Kodiak Cakes.
• Yogurt parfaits- I’m buying some good quality yogurt from Azure Standard and planning to mix in vanilla & honey or some jelly to sweeten and flavor it. We’ll sprinkle granola, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, etc. on top. These can be prepped ahead of time to quickly grab or thrown together in just a couple of minutes.
• Oatmeal- Regular, baked, or overnight. There are so many options and ways to change it up!
• Smoothies- again, the options are endless. You can assemble these as you need or make up the ingredients in smaller freezer zippy bags to dump and blend.
• Savory drop biscuits- find a recipe for drop biscuits you enjoy. Into the batter mix whatever veggies, protein, and cheese you may want. Flash freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet then freeze until ready to bake. Or plan to make some ahead of time and freeze them already cooked, then reheat for an easy breakfast.
• Scrambled eggs and toast with fruit
• Toasted sourdough bread slices topped with your favorite cottage cheese and some type of sliced fruit on top. I like apples with cinnamon and honey in the fall, peaches in the summer, and berries in the spring.

Easy Postpartum Meals: Lunch/Supper

• Tuna Salad Sandwiches – I love mine with boiled eggs, red onion, minced lacto fermented dill pickles, on sourdough bread
• Tuna Salad – tuna on top of your favorite salad greens with whatever veggies sound good!
• Tuna Melts – a classic winter favorite of mine that’s easy to throw together in less than ten minutes.
• Chicken Salad Sandwiches
• Chicken Salad
• Sheet Pan Dinners – pick a protein and your favorite veggies you enjoy roasted. You can have the meat marinating in the fridge days in advance or make up several bags of meat and your favorite seasonings/sauces in freezer bags. When you know you’ll need one, throw it in the fridge to thaw and bake when you need it.
• Big Mac Salad – all the flavors of a Big Mac without the bun, and much healthier too. I make a homemade thousand island dressing and double the amount we normally eat to last us for a couple of meals.
• Grilled Cheese sandwiches and soup or salad
• If weather permits, plan on grilling out a few meals! Take my suggestion for having meat pre marinated in the freezer so you can simply thaw and cook. The options are endless and all you need for sides is some fruit and maybe a salad. I like to have some pre-made bagged salads.
• Chili -Have some precooked ground meat in the freezer, then add whatever seasonings and canned items (fire roasted tomatos, rotel, various beans, etc.) and allow to warm in a slow cooker.
• Soups -For soups, make some before baby is born and double the recipe, freeze whatever you don’t eat and reheat in a slow cooker for a no prep dinner. For sides, I like to serve a crusty bread or biscuits depending on the type of soup. I’m planning to make extra batches of biscuits and freeze for easy breakfasts and sides.
• Tacos – make the meat a few weeks before baby is due and freeze in whatever portion sizes you need, then reheat and fill your shells for an easy meal. Buy pre sliced toppings from the grocery store for further convenience.
• Quesadillas
• Tostadas
• BLT Sandwiches- this is one of my favorite easy meals that can be thrown together in a few minutes and doesn’t create a huge mess! You can bake the bacon in the oven on a lined baking sheet to make clean up easy. If you don’t eat pork you can easily use turkey or beef bacon (yes, it’s a thing and it’s DELICIOUS).

Simple Postpartum Snacks

• Lactation Granola Bites- You can find a ton of recipes online, but I plan to share my own recipe soon! These are great to make ahead and keep in the fridge or even freeze.
• Snacky Saltines- this might be taking liberty with the definition of “real food” but it’s another simple recipe that can be whipped up in minutes. Lay as many saltines as you want on a parchment lined baking sheet. Smooth some peanut butter on top of each saltine, then place a regular sized marshmallow on top of each cracker. Place on the middle rack of your oven and broil on low until the marshmallows are puffy and toasty.
• Dates sliced in half lengthwise and filled with your favorite nut butter, you can sprinkle with coconut, chocolate chips, or just eat as is for a quick treat that isn’t full of sugar.
• Meat sticks – Costco has a huge bundle of meat sticks with real ingredients, if you find it on sale it’s a great deal! You can also find meat sticks made with 100% grass fed and finished beef from Azure Standard. They have three flavors, but I’m linking the original flavor.
• Boiled eggs- I really enjoy boiled eggs for a quick snack. The best part is you can boil as many as you want at once and they keep in the refrigerator for up to one week after being prepared, according to the USDA.
• Cheese sticks
• Granola with fruit, yogurt, or milk of choice
• Veggies with your favorite dip- stock up on the ready to eat bags of carrots, celery, sugar snap peas, etc. to save yourself the hassle of prepping when you need a quick snack. Azure Standard has some great dip mixes that can be mixed with mayonnaise or yogurt.
• Lacto fermented pickles wrapped in lunch meat- I love a good pickle wrapped in a slice of pepper jack cheese, deli meat, and dipped in my homemade thousand island dressing! Bubbies pickles are a fantastic way to get some extra probiotics in and make a convenient snack.

Convenience Foods Made From (Mostly) Real Ingredients

These are items that could be made at home, but there are times and places for needing a pre-made option. I will note and link where I find these items if at all possible!

• Purely Elizabeth Granola – I have so much love for this granola! It’s made without cane sugar and industrial oils, and it tastes amazing! It’s a bit of a splurge, but so worth it! I know that sometimes it can be found at Walmart, although my local store doesn’t carry it.
• Sourdough Einkorn Crackers – Crackers aren’t a usual purchase for me because my family gobbles them up so quickly and they aren’t a filling food. However, if you are a hungry nursing mama, some high quality crackers with some fruit and protein will keep the inner wolf at bay. These can also be found on Amazon, but are much more expensive compared to the first link from Azure Standard.
• Organic Frozen Pizza – Aldi carries it’s own line of organic frozen pizzas that are (slightly) healthier than regular boxed frozen pizza. Costco also has some good options if you need gluten free!
• Grass Fed hamburger patties- I plan to snag a box of ready made hamburger patties from Costco to keep in the freezer. This might sound like a silly thing to have as a “convenience” item, but having quality meat that doesn’t need to be prepped or thawed is a life saver. Keep the things you need for hamburgers on hand and you can have a meal ready in under 20 minutes.
• Organic Mac N’ Cheese – again, not a health food. Sometimes you need a healthier version of junk food so you can pull through on a hard day without feeling like you’re poisoning your family.
• Siete Tortilla Chips and other products – You can also find these chips at Costco! I like that they are made without industrial oils. They aren’t the exact same texture as a corn chip, but still very tasty! We use these to make nachos, add on top of soups, and for dips. Siete offers a full line of ready made tortillas, snacks, and various flavors of chips.

Keep It Simple

Remember that the end goal of this season is to take care of the needs of your family and enjoy your new family member. Your diet may not be pristine, but by spending a bit of time thinking ahead you can save stress, hassle, and even some money by having a plan for food.

Another thing I want to highlight is that sometimes things don’t get really stressful for postpartum mamas until a few weeks after the baby is born. Family and friends move on with their lives, your husband has gone back to work, and all the lovely hormones begin to crash and elevate at alarming speeds. Be gentle with yourself, and keep ingredients or components for easy meals on hand. I’m planning on using up some of the more “hands on” meal ideas for the week that my husband is home. He can make sure the meat is ready to grill, veggies and fruit are chopped, and handle the clean up.

The organic frozen pizzas, quesadillas, and yogurt parfaits will come more into play during the weeks I’m home alone getting back to “normal”. I don’t want to be a worst case scenario thinker, but I also don’t want to be under prepared. I’m planning on stocking up on enough things I’ll need for those simple meal ideas to make them 2-3 times each. Even if all goes perfectly smoothly, I’ll be glad to have easy meals.

What are some meals and snacks you rely on for busy or stressful times? I’d love to know!

Shalom and Happy Eating,

Olivia

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