Prepping for Postpartum – Easy Snacks Part 1

Once baby has arrived, breastfeeding moms often find themselves ravenously hungry with less time than ever before to prepare their own meals.  I distinctly remember standing in my own kitchen eating a cold leftover pork chop with my fingers after a 2am pump session shortly after my first was born.  I was starving. A granola bar wouldn’t cut it, but there was no time to find something else. It turns out, breastfeeding a newborn requires an extra 500 calories a day – and those need to be nutrient dense calories.  Your body is recovering from birth, you are sustaining an entire human, and you need to care for yourself.   Today, I’ll share some practical ideas for quick, nutritious snacks to keep your body running while you feed & care for your infant.

The Really Easy Options

We’re going with prepackaged options here folks. These are perfect for those first couple of weeks when you’re simply exhausted and starving.  Set aside a section of your fridge and fill it with things like…

·      P3 protein packs

·      Sargento Balanced breaks

·      Hillshire & Oscar Mayer both have some great adult Lunchables

Pair those with an apple, some berries, or a banana and like magic – you have a balanced, no prep meal. I lived off of P3 protein packs and fistfuls of carrots when my first was little. I would grab one out of the fridge and take it to my pump spot.  It was lovely.

Pre-baby, take a quick stroll through the deli, lunch meat, and dairy section of your grocery store and look at what types of prepackaged snacks they have, sometimes you can even find ones with fruit built in.  Give yourself permission to buy the easy ready made thing. For real. Do it. 

If you’re tight on funds or have specific brands you like, you can create a similar experience by getting your support person (partner, parent, neighbor, friend, etc.) to prep some snack trays for you.  Grab something from each category and package it in a sectioned container together.   I do recommend putting your crunchy carbs in a baggie or store those separately.

·      proteins: Lunch meats, cheeses, nuts

·      carb: crackers, tortilla chips, popcorn, cookie

·      fruit&veg: carrots, bell peppers, apples, banana, berry

Most stores carry cheap meal prep containers – these are perfect for this!

Remember – you’re allowed to do the easy thing right now.  

The Meal Prep Option

We’ve discus the really easy option, now let talk about some meal prep options. 

I absolutely love meal prepping.  Egg bites are a go-to in our house. They can be made ahead of time and eaten for several days.  These are also something your friendly neighborhood postpartum doula can make for you during a visit.

Egg Bites

The lovely thing about these is they’re customizable.  We can make them with free range farm fresh eggs or from the bottle of liquid egg, we can add meats, vegetables, seasonings, anything you like to them.

1.        Choose items from the table below:

Base (1)	Cheese (1-2)	Meats (0-1)	Veggies (0-2)
6 – 12 eggs	½ -1 c shredded cheese	Bacon crumbles	Diced bell pepper
16 oz Liquid Egg	1 c ricotta	Sausage crumbles	Diced onion
16 oz Liquid Egg Whites	1 c cottage cheese	Shredded chicken	Diced mushrooms
		Diced ham	Spinach
			Shredded potatoes

2.        Mix your ingredients together in a large bowl

3.        Separate evenly into well greased muffin tins

a.        I HIGHLY recommend a silicone baking pan. It is 500% easier to clean.

b.        You should get 16 – 24 depending on how big you make them

4.        Bake at 350 for 25 – 35 minutes.

5.        Store in the fridge and eat for a few days.

Whether you opt for the grab-and-go convenience of prepackaged snacks or indulge in the satisfying preparation of meal prepped options like customizable egg bites, remember this: nourishing yourself is a vital part of caring for your newborn. Embrace these practical ideas to fuel your body during this demanding yet rewarding time. Your well-being matters, mama.