Easy and healthy meal plan for young families! Tips!

Welcome back to one new post of my health-tips series!
I hope you enjoyed my last post with health related tips and a tricks based on wholefoods.

Easy meal plan for new parent's.

Today I want to write about one very important and urgent matter for many young families.

What ** are we going to eat today??!

When I was home with my new born child and my boyfriend was working a lot, I had to prepare my meals by my self. Which maybe sounds like a easy thing.
Let me say one thing:
It isn't!!

If you have children you know how difficult it can be, especially in the beginning when your baby wants to be near you all the time.
My baby was so in need for being near that I hardly couldn't do ANYTHING for a few months. He didnt want to lay somewhere near me while I was cooking or washing the dishes or brushing my hair. He wanted to be breastfed all the time. Literally non stop. (That's why he grow so fast hihi 😂).

This was of course also a very sweet and fantastic time too. True magic was happening when I saw him growning and seeing his personality unfolding.

And of course it was a life challenging situation for me as well. How couldn't it be different.
I didn't know how to manage all the things that I therefore could handle so easily.

So let's start with my first suggestions for a easier life with a baby ( when it is all about FOOD and SLEEPING.)

• Tips number one: if your baby don't want to lay done some minutes by him self, buy a baby carrier. With a baby carrier you have your hands free and your baby feels warm and secure near your breast. Without a baby carrier I wouldn't survive the first 9 months. That's the truth.

• Tips number two: plan your meals on Sunday with your partner. Write down a simply meal plan for every day during the week. This will help you a lot. And this will also reduce your costs. We have a budget plan for every week and that works very well. One Monday we take out the money in cash for the week for me to know exactly how much I can spend every day without spending to much money on food that I don't really need.

• Tips number three: buy and eat a lot of fresh veggies, fruits, seeds and nuts when you are hungry. Than cook one simply and BIG meal a day with legumes, potato or lentil pasta to make sure you will get enough energy from your food intake.

Right after the birth of your child and as long as you are breastfeeding your baby, you will be hungry almost all the time and your body really needs a lot of calories to produce milk for your baby. So please never start a diet when you still breastfeed your baby. You need the energy from the food. Just focus on a healthy intake on nutrients and eat a lot!

I personally lost about 10 kilos already the first week after giving birth and really needed to gain some weight.
But it took me some months to gain them back.

Focus points the first week's and months after giving birth

• A high intake of calories from Potatoes, Legumes, Pasta (gluten free), millet and brown rice.

• Proteins and nutrients from legumes, greens, quinoa, amaranth, nut butter, nuts, seeds and chia or flax seeds.

• High quality fats from nuts, avocado and virgin coconut oil and other cold pressed oils like linseed oil or hemp oil.

• fresh vegetables and fruits.

• prepare big meals to eat at least 2 times a day.

SIMPLE meal plan:

Breakfast
When you wake up and you already feel very hungry, start the day with some fruits. After that you can prepare a bigger breakfast.

• Option 1:
  During summer time prepare overnight oats the night before by soaking 1 cup plantbased milk with 1 cup rolled oats or millet flakes. Add 1 tbsp Chua seeds or flax seeds and leave it in the fridge. (Add some nuts and seeds if you like to.)
  The next morning simple spoon it in a bowl, add some berries and fruits and eat.

• Option 2:
  During the winter time I prefer to eat something warm in the morning. Porridge is a great way to start the day with. Simply cook 1 cup rolled oats or millet with 2 cups water or plantbased milk (I only use oat milk), add one banana and some spices as cinnamon, cardamon or gingerbread spices. Stir until it starts to thicken and when necessary add some more liquid.
  Cook it for about 2-3 minutes (millet need a about 10-15 minutes) and spoon it in a large bowl. Top with nut butter, seeds and what ever you desire. This breakfast will keep you satisfied some hours. I don't add any sweetener to my breakfast but do it if you wish to.

Lunch and Dinner

Yes that's right. Cook ONE big meal a day. That will save you a lot of time and you have enough for lunch and dinner. If you make a big lunch your partner will get some of it too.:)

• Option 1:
  When you are in a REAL HURRY and VERY hungry, simply cook some lentils, add a few spices and cook for about 10 minutes and your food is ready. If you have some minutes to prepare your food, you can of course chop some veggies and onion to add to your lentils.

• Option 2:
  Chop potatoes (you can use the skin of the potatoe if they are organic), carrots or other veggies and bake them in the oven for 30 minutes. Eat with avocado if you don't have time to prepare a sauce.

• Option 3:
  Make a big salad of greens, veggies and quinoa or millet with spices, oils, apple vinegar or lemon and herbs.
  Easy and filled with nutrients.

SNACK PLAN
You need snacks at home. But only the healthy ones. Think seeds, nuts, dates, raw bliss balls and fruits and raw veggies like carrots.
Many times you will not have time to cook and live on snacks. So be sure these are filled with the calories, nutrients and energy you need.

Avoid cookies, cakes, soft drinks, coffee, chocolate (one piece a day is alright thou.;)), and chips.

Don't forget to drink a lot of water. I always have a can of water on my table to be sure I drink enough. When you are a breastfeeding mother you need a lot more liquid than usually.

If these tips helped you, I am more than happy if you share your thought about this topic in the comments below. If you want to add something to my article, let me know! I love to get your feedback because that's how I learn.

That's all from today! I may share one more recipe with you tonight, until then check out my other recipes on my page.😊

Take care and LOVE!

/Niina