Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones whose friends and family arranged a meal train for those first precious weeks as a growing family. Or maybe you took advantage of those pregnancy nesting urges by preparing a whole bunch of freezer meals ahead of time. Whether you were super organized, have the support of friends or family, or let the postpartum meal preparation fall through the cracks there will undoubtably come a time where you need a quick and easy postpartum recipe.

When you haven’t slept in god knows how long the last thing you want to do is have some taxing meal prep zap the very last bit of energy you have. If we may, let us share a couple of ideas that just might save that precious bit of energy and restore your sanity.

Having an infant can drain all of your physical and emotional resources, so having an extra set of hands can literally be a life-save in more ways than one. A postpartum doula can offer a set of arms to your rock baby while you get a much needed shower or nap. Or perhaps you just need to be able to sit down and bond with your baby while your doula whips up a quick snack.

Did you know that when you hire a postpartum doula, that one of the services they may offer is light meal preparation? This will look different for every doula and for every family, but it is a service we highly recommend! Your doula can prep easy hand-held snacks that store well in the fridge, she can throw a healthy meal in the crockpot (and freeze the extras) or she can help you set up a meal train so that your support system has tangible ways to contribute to the love and care of your growing family.

If a postpartum doula isn’t in the cards, we suggest finding some quick, easy meals that you can throw in the crock pot, InstantPot, or air fryer? One of our favorite kitchen tools is the InstantPot, that thing saves our butts regularly because even if I forget to prep stuff earlier in the day, it can cook a meal in under an hour… and I don’t have to be paying attention to timing or cooking temps. I literally just push a few buttons and voila!

One of our favorite protein options for the Instantpot is chicken. Because mom brain regularly makes us forget to thaw meat, we love that you can throw frozen chicken breasts in and can have a cooked protein meal in about 40 minutes with just about no prep. Here is one of our favorite on-the-go recipes

Chicken & Green Beans

2-4 – Frozen Chicken Breasts

3 cloves - garlic minced

1 lb fresh green beans (can sub for frozen)

1 tbsp butter

Salt & Pepper to season

*optional a squeeze of fresh lemon or a splash of lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS:

Put your grate in the bottom of your InstantPot, fill water to the bottom of your grate. For a little extra flavor you can add chicken broth or Better than Bouillon in place of the water. Add chicken breasts, whole. Add 2 tablespoons of your minced garlic on top of the chicken. Season with salt and pepper to your preference and add the optional splash of lemon juice or a squeeze of lemon.

Place your lid on, make sure that your seal is in the closed position, press the poultry button, and then set your time to 32 minutes (if your chicken is thawed you can reduce your time). The pot will take care of the rest!

Once your timer is down to about 15 minutes you will want to start the green beans.

First, wash & prep the beans. Place your butter in the pan on medium. Once the butter is melted add the remaining tablespoon of minced garlic to your pan and brown lightly. Add the green beans. Cook until just lightly softened to keep as many of the nutrients in them as you can. 

Once your Instantpot timer goes off you can manually release the pressure or let it do a natural release. Check your chicken temp is at least 165 to be sure it is cooked through. 

Plate and enjoy!

If cooking really isn’t your thing, one option you might consider is a meal delivery service.

One such service is Mama Meals. With delivery available throughout Michigan and Metro Detroit (including Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties). They offer organic, healthy and nutrient dense meals with a curated menu based on the traditions of Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and Weston A. Price. The pre-cooked, packaged and frozen meals are delivered right to your door. You can use code NATLBABYCO20 to get $20 off your first order of $200 or more. We personally know the owners of Mama Meals and can attest to their commitment to nourishing moms and babies!

There’s also an incredible local service called Aratham with locations in Troy & Westland. Their focus is on plant-based and organic meals. They offer delivery within a 25 mile radius of their Troy location or you can pick up items at either location.

The great thing about services like Aratham & Mama Meals, is they do the prep, the cooking and deliver healthy meals right to you. This takes all the stress out of meal planning for new and growing families.

If you still want to be able to cook but not plan out portions and shop, many families are loving services like Home Chef, or Hello Fresh or Emeals. Now the really great selling factor with Emeals is that you go to their site pick your meal plan, then you can chose to either have it sent to your Walmart, Amazon or Kroger grocery shopping list, or you can have it sent to your Instacart or Shipt account. Now that your list is transferred you can have all your groceries hand selected and either be delivered to your door step, or ready at your next grocery pickup. This setup frees you up to get some rest, knock off something else on your to-do list, or take the moment to get some extra baby kisses and snuggles. 

No matter what options you choose, we think each one has the potential to nourish your family in the postpartum stage of life and are definitely doula recommended and approved!

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