Food prep and simplifying home

[bornmc]

I’m 3 weeks postpartum, 2 (7,5) of my kids are back at school, 2 and 1 year old at home and hubster goes back to work tomorrow. My supply isn’t meeting baby’s needs so I’m just nursing around the clock and pumping when I’m not nursing.

What sorts of things do you do postpartum to make things easier at home?

I’m trying to think of what all can be prepped/made ahead of time food wise and simplifying breakfast/lunches. I have an instant pot.

We use WIC for a lot of grocery items like fresh fruits/veggies/dairy so grocery pick up is usually not typically something I do.

 

[slartibartfast]

@bornmc I did hellofresh meal kits and we ate the leftovers the next day. It took me about an hour to put it together while my husband watched the twins and eventually I did it after the kids bedtimes once the twins got a circadian rhythm even if dinner was at 9pm. It beat going to the store for groceries. And I had a meal in the time I would go to the store, pick up groceries and come back home. It was cheaper than takeout here. It was pricey but a temporary evil until I could get some sort of meal plan going. I would put my pumps on and cook while pumping with a spectra in my backpack. My husband wasn’t able to take more than a day off post partum, works long hours and is a terribly picky eater. The meal kits he liked every single one except a chicken shawarma.

 

[caleb23]

@bornmc I make extra when I cook/food prep. (This might (ha!) be difficult at 3 weeks PP with no extra time.) Then I have access to a few freezer meals each week and as they run out I just make one new thing to eat & freeze on weekends.

eg. Make a double batch of veggie burgers, eat some, freeze the rest. Same with muffins. We also do burritos but that one takes a fair bit of time, and I often prep the filings over the course of 2 days.

BIG pot of chili is a favorite - I can freeze a bunch and have chili with rice, chili with bread, toast with eggs and chili, loaded potatoes with chili, sour cream, cheese etc.

We usually have a Lentil soup in the fridge as well: Chop and saute onions, carrots, celery. Add oregano and marjoram, stock and red lentils, canned (whole) tomatoes. Bring to boil and cook until lentils are cooked (translucent.) Add salt and pepper to taste. The chopping is pretty much all the work - a few times, my husband has chopped and then I'm able to make the soup real quick while managing the Littles.

*I said "I" but this is really more of a "we" situation.

 

[toysernis]

@caleb23 If I’m pressed for time I buy frozen or fresh mirepoix (chopped celery, onion, carrots. sometimes there’s other combos mixed in too.) to make lentil soup, butternut squash soup, etc. Another option is to cut and freeze some mirepoix mixes in stock cubes myself if I have the time for future soup starters.

 

[caleb23]

@toysernis Mirepoix is so useful. I have never seen it pre... arranged? in the stores. I have seriously considered doing several freezer bags of it.

 

[toysernis]

@caleb23 Really? Not sure what area you’re in but I have seen it fresh at Kroger, Meijer, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods! For some reason I have more trouble finding it frozen, which is why I make stock cubes with hand cut mirepoix since that’s usually more useful than fresh.

 

[caleb23]

@toysernis I live in Canada in a smaller town.

 

[toysernis]

@caleb23 Ahh gotcha. Well cutting fresh and freezing in cubes of stock works well for me! I just pop one in before anything else, let it melt and sauté with butter a little, then add more broth and whatever other veggies/meat/noodles etc. It saves a lot of time!

 

[faithfullyfit]

@caleb23 To add to that- most pasta sauces freeze well even if the noodles themselves don’t. While you’re thawing the sauce it’s easy to throw some noodles in a pot of boiling water for 8-10 mins.

Prepping crock pot meals is big for us. Beef stew veggies cut and frozen, chicken fajita veggies cut and frozen, soup veggies & meats, etc. That way first thing in the morning you just ‘dump’ your already-prepped ingredients and turn on the crock pot!

 

[morehumble]

@bornmc Make big(ger) meals for leftovers or freezing. By the time children are school aged they should have basic cooking skills, and mine do their own breakfast & snacks weekdays. School aged children also participate in making their lunches. It helps teach them healthy eating habits, and they're more likely to eat what they picked out!

 

[caringhusband]

@bornmc I have 3 kids. 3 is at preschool part-time, 2 year old and 4mo are home with me. We do very boring breakfasts (muffins I make on the weekend + yogurt + fruit, scrambled eggs on toast, or oatmeal). And either leftovers, sandwiches or soup from a box + snacky sides for lunch. If you can make a double batch at dinner that is the easiest thing for lunches, just reheat and serve! We make a lot of quiches/frittatas, sheet pan bakes and doctored-up pasta sauces--easy to make twice as much and they reheat well.

 

[rebekah_h]

@bornmc Also on WIC here! I started doing a little more disposable/single use eating - cheese sticks, individual yogurts, leftovers for lunches, frozen food (yep, it’s postpartum!) OWYN shakes. More pasta and rice.

 

[raynk]

@rebekah_h I have one (voluntarily sterilized) but I love coming to this sub for tips on multitasking, scheduling, and storage, and household management strategy among many (like myself, partner, and kid). I was also on WIC, and on the only plan option that had provided soymilk as an option.

For what it's worth OP, I exclusively breastfed. It was 17 times of feeding within a 24 hour time frame in the beginning. My partner and I catalogued all feeds and all diaper changes in the beginning to understand the pattern. At one year it was 10-12 breastfeeding sessions in a 24 hour time frame. At two years its a little hard to remember but when we ceased at 26.5 months nearly 27 months, the very last session was before bed.

To echo, cut fruit and veg in containers. Cheese sticks. Cereals (gluten free or otherwise). Cut or rolled meat pieces. Just channel inner charcuterie board ideas smoothies were quick and easy. Cups of stock broth.

Between SNAP and WIC, we ate a lot of canned chicken or canned tuna mixed into rice with some Tamari (gluten free soy sauce and nutritional yeast mixed in (not bakers yeast, not brewers yeast)). Lots of dried fruits and nuts (cherries, apricots, walnuts, pecans). We found the dried bean to energy output ratio was not worth it unless you have a constant batch going. Canned simplifies. Overnight oats or chia pudding (chia sitting in a milk base) was super easy. Pickled beets, pickled carrots, pickled green beans, olives, pepperocini. Basically almost everything was shelf stable in case of a power outage to avoid pantry or financial losses/scarcity. Look for good packaging to avoid pantry moth infestation.