Meal Prep Hacks for New Moms: Simplify Your Postpartum Diet

Let's dive into postpartum meal prep and how to feed yourself after birth because it's a lot. I mean, I was blindsided by how challenging it felt to feed myself after birth, not to mention learning how to feed a baby at the same time.

Remember that while I am not a registered dietitian or nutritionist, I have training and certifications from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I worked closely with our nutrition experts while creating our Postpartum Nutrition Guide and Recipe Book.

I hope today's tips and tricks will help give you some insight and help you feel inspired and a little less overwhelmed as you begin to prep for feeding yourself after birth.

• Essential nutrition you need to have for recovery after birth

• Hacks for prepping your kitchen and getting yourself organized

• Easy meal prep tip ideas

• My favorite postpartum meal delivery service

• Recipe ideas to get you started

As always, everything will be linked in the show notes I mentioned, and I'm dropping a link to our Postpartum Nutrition Guide and Recipe Book. This guide is chock full of so much helpful information and includes over 40 recipes for postpartum recovery. Plus, it has a printable shopping list to simplify your life.

Okay, let's dive in. As you begin to think about what you should be eating after birth, you might be wondering, how am I going to eat this stuff? Who has the time to cook?

There are some essential things that you can keep in mind. I've touched on them in a few videos before, but I will share them again here.

For example, I will make a double batch if I'm making chili for dinner and am 38 weeks pregnant. I will immediately take half of that batch, put it in a ziploc bag or freezer-safe container, and label it with the contents, the date made, and any reheating instructions.

This will help you slowly stock your freezer over time and save you a lot of effort once the baby is here.

Head to mealtrain.com to see just how easy this is. For the person organizing the meal train they’ll just enter your recipient's email addresses or phone numbers. They get an email notification or a text notification. Then, they sign up for a delivery date, making it easy for friends and family to drop off meals at your doorstep.

Another option is to order a postpartum meal delivery service. This is such a lovely idea. you can even add it to your baby registry. This ensures that you get the proper nutrients, keep yourself fed, and nourish yourself in a way needed after birth.

At Hello Postpartum, we love and wholeheartedly recommend Mama Meals to all our customers. They are based in southern California and are a family-owned business providing freezer-friendly, super-nourishing postpartum meals. They source their ingredients from organic and regenerative farms.

Their meals are so yummy and simple, and you can just pop them on the stovetop to reheat or even in a crock pot, which makes it super easy to feed yourself after birth. They even have lactation cookies, brownies, and yummy breakfast items. I highly recommend checking them out.

Okay, last but not least, add some DoorDash gift cards to your baby registry. Nothing is better than opening an app, ordering some takeout for something you're craving, and having it appear at your doorstep. This isn't realistic, probably for everyone every night, but having a meal or two taken off your plate is so helpful.

I highly recommend, and you might wonder, what is a postpartum meal delivery service? Which one do you recommend? I love and recommend Mama Meals.

Okay, well, now my stomach's growling. Let me give you a few recipe ideas so you can start thinking about what you could make as you prepare to feed yourself after birth. So, in our Postpartum Nutrition Guide and Recipe Book, as I mentioned, there are over 40 recipes, printing shopping lists, and much more.

Some of our fan favorites are:

• Healing chicken soup

• Overnight oats

• Sausage breakfast burritos

• Cashew date bites

• Midnight muffins

• Easy egg bites

These recipes are easily adapted to your preferences and likings, and you can easily google any of these recipes I just listed and find your variations of them, too, if you don't want to get them in our guide.

Related: 11 Super Simple Freezer Meals for New Moms

Let's move on to some helpful pantry fridge freezer prep hacks because this is what it comes down to. I truly believe we've covered the nutrients that you need to focus on after birth. We've covered some easy recipe ideas.

Here are some ideas to help organize your kitchen, pantry, fridge, and freezer. Because without this step, everything else feels significantly more complicated. Trust me on this!

This could look like freezer gallon bags, glass containers, mason jars with lids (great for storing pantry items, too!), or silicone Souper Cubes, which are great for freezing more liquid items like soups, stews, broths, etc. You want to ensure that you have enough of those on hand so that as you begin to prep, you have somewhere to put all this food.

Run through your pantry and ensure that you have some pantry essentials on hand as you get closer to your due date. These essentials could look like dried rice and quinoa, canned beans and lentils, tortilla chips, nut and seed crackers, nut butter of all different varieties, your favorite jarred tomato sauce, easy whole grain pasta, nuts and seeds, beef jerky, trail mix, etc.

These whole food-centered items can be a more significant part of a meal or eaten as needed. Another idea is to clear out your pantry. Throw out anything expired, and if it’s an item that’s seldom used, you can move it to another shelf. That way, you can make space for items you need to easily and quickly grab or have someone else do during your recovery time.

Another helpful tip for your pantry is to get some disposable and, ideally, recyclable paper plates, utensils, and cups. This will help drastically reduce the number of dishes someone has to clean, and it's one more straightforward step in cleaning up. I think that this is such a genius tip and so often overlooked.

You can similarly prep your fridge and freezer by number one, just cleaning them out, making space for items that you need to batch prep or, you know, stock up on before the baby comes. Start by cleaning it out and ensuring you have enough storage containers (so yes, it’s time to track down those missing lids…).

Then, for your fridge, you'll want to make sure you have enough easy protein options on hand so this looks like pre-cut cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and pre-cooked proteins. Like getting a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or having easy things on hand to help keep yourself fed during these early days.

Another great idea from Lindsay Taylor of The Food Doula, who co-authored our Postpartum Nutrition Guide and Recipe Book. She suggests getting ready-to-go fruit and veggie trays that are pre-cut and easy to grab. You can easily dip veggies in some hummus and dip fruit in yogurt with cinnamon, an easy way to get nutrients into your body without too much heavy lifting.

Pre-stocking pre-cut, pre-made meals, veggies, fruits, and proteins is always a great idea and okay to do for your fridge.

Ultimately, if you take just one or two tips away from this video to help prepare yourself for eating after birth, you will be in a better position than you were before you started watching this video. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, want more direction, or are ready to dive in, check out our Postpartum Nutrition Guide and Recipe Book.

Also, we have a super helpful blog post on 11 Super Simple Freezer Meals for New Moms. We've rounded up these recipes that are perfect for postpartum, easy to store, make, and reheat, that you can use for life after birth.

Ultimately, I need you to remember how important it is to nourish your body during this time. It's not a time to restrict or count calories or cut back on what you’re eating. Your body needs fuel, especially if you're breastfeeding. We need adequate calories from optimal food sources and, you know, make sure that we care for ourselves during this time.