Postpartum Meal Planning part 1

a sneak peek before photo into my deep freezer

I’m expecting a second little one in June. I’m so excited for so many things, and one of those things is a freezer full of flavorful, home cooked, lovingly made meals. I think it is essential that every family put as much prep into planning for their postpartum weeks as for their birth or the baby’s room, or maybe even more! I spent a ton of energy and time planning last time for postpartum, and will do even more next time. Perhaps this is my version of nesting, because although I did a lot of organizing… I sure wasn’t cleaning the baseboards or ceiling fans last time!

I’m about half way along, so I am in the stage of finalizing my planning…. I’m collecting recipes we already love and choosing new ones to try. I’m making lists of what I want made, and approximately when I’ll be making it. Since postpartum planning is something often skimped on in our culture, I’m sharing my thought process to inspire and educate others. These meals would be great to do as part of a freezer swap, or to take along to a family with a new baby or to someone undergoing a significant hardship or change. Or they would be great for your own postpartum planning (or  even just to make busy days a little easier).

How I’m choosing meals:

Since this is my second I know what meals I will crave… the foods that made my body feel so good after my son was born. Most of my list in inspired from that. And since it will be summer I’ll be making plenty of meal kits for going straight onto the grill, especially steaks and kabobs. I can already imagine sitting by the pool, watching Noah and daddy splash around or play on the deck while I nurse the baby under the umbrella and dinner cooks. While recovering from birth and in early breastfeeding my body just loves steaks/red meat (strange for me as a former longtime vegetarian!). I also loved soups and sandwiches, so there will be plenty of that. One dish meals, hearty enough not to drip off the spoon will be on my list. They are great while nursing or babywearing. Plenty of one-handed snacks like beef jerky, granola bars, muffins, Quiche slices and more will be tidily tucked in the nooks of my freezer and pantry.

I’m also taking advice from my tribe, the mothers I know who may have ideas and advice I had not thought of. My husband is an important part of the selection, so that our entire family can be well nourished. For him I’ll have a lot of chicken pot pies, farmhouse Chicken or Turkey casserole, Chili  etc. Real man food! 😉 He isn’t much for soups and sandwiches, so I’ll plan for those as lunch foods or as school day foods, when it is just Noah and I eating dinner at home. My toddler will eat most anything, and loves most of my favorites just as much as I do.

Right now I’m compiling a huge list, and then Rob and I will narrow it down so that we have plenty of different types of options in our freezer.

Planning the cooking:

We have a big giant upright deep freezer. This is fantastic, but you can do it without. A good 4-6 weeks worth of meals will fit in a side by side or above fridge freezer if packaged efficiently. We got our upright deep freezer on discount as the back had a big dent (it’s against a wall anyhow!). If you have the space and can get your hands on a good deal I think it is a great asset to postpartum meal planning and food storage in general. Besides having more storage space, In a deep freezer things tend to last up to twice as long without having any ill effects like loss of flavor or freezer burn. This means I can start my postpartum cooking earlier and make more meals 🙂 (can you see now how this is my version of nesting???)

Soups and stews and sauces I can do up to 8 months before we plan to eat them, so that is where I’ll start, probably in mid  to late February. Beginning in March I’ll start on the few casseroles we have planned to make. In April I’ll add in doing snacks, smoothie bags, sides, desserts etc. In May I’ll start with making breakfasts, Quiche slices, marinated/ready to cook items and pizzas.

I plan on making 2-4 things to freeze per week as our budget allows. I try to fit in some inexpensive dishes with more expensive ones. Ingredients for chicken soup or quiche for example cost less than half as much as ingredients for lamb stew or marinated skirt steak. I make sure not to plan more than 2 expensive to cook meals per week.  I will likely plan a few weeks where we eat more simply (sandwiches, soups etc) so that we can stock up on extra steaks and other things. It all has to balance out, and quite easily will.

Freezing, Storing, Packing and Organizing:

When things are in the frozen I’ll organize them in a variety of ways… In my freezer I will have an area for dinners frozen in family sized portions. casseroles will be labeled and then stacked. Dinners with multiple frozen components will be stored in plastic grocery bags (somehow we do occasionally bring them home, although I try not to!) with labels (so for example chili packaged in glassware or jars and cornbread wrapped in parchment and a ziplock will be packaged separately then bagged together).  I sure hope that made sense! Stand alone items (snacks, desserts, soups etc) will be in a different area. I’ll label my freezer shelves and spaces with stickers designating areas for each type of item. convenience items (smoothie bags and such) get tucked into the door shelves.

I’m also planning to try out a system to keep inventory. We’re notorious for forgetting to erase what was eaten from the magnetic white board I currently use… but perhaps labeling individual shelves will help, so that is what I’ll do. I may even go so far as to make a menu… but I’m better at choosing what I want as I go… so we will see! I know that everything will be used eventually, so this part doesn’t matter too much.

As for packaging, we store most foods in glass. I have a huge collection of jars and glass food storage. Baking dishes will be another way to store foods. I try to not buy disposable products, but I’m making an exception because I know that this will be an invaluable resource this summer, and anything I can “flash freeze” will be wrapped in parchment then packaged in ziplocks. casseroles I’m going to try to do in the OAMC (once a month cooking) tradition…. Where you freeze them in a baking dish or casserole dish that has been *well* lined with aluminum foil, then once frozen you wrap it and have your baking dish back and ready to use again! You then wrap it in plastic wrap and stack in freezer, being sure to label it well with not only what meal it is, but what dish it fits into as well. I’m going to use the new foil I have noticed advertised that is parchment paper on one side and foil on the other. I try to keep toxins (plastics, aluminum, teflon, nonstick etc) out of our food and that is important to me, so I will likely end up adding to my glassware collection a fair amount. Canning jars are my favorite way to store single serve soups and more. The huge quart sized jars can even store saucy meals with their fabulous wide-mouth lids.

The Meals:

(please remember this is my place for brainstorming all of this) Most of these recipes are tried and true favorites, but I’ll haven’t tried all of these meals yet. I’m pretty good at knowing what about a recipe to change to suit us, and how well it will turn out…. but I do have the rare flop! One of my favorite things about the internet is recipe reviews, so that helps me to know what changes to make to suit us. I have just a few cookbooks that I get a lot of use out of, so those are also mentioned here.

We will edit and change these recipes to suit our tastes and ingredient preferences as well. I’ll write about all of this as it happens.

            Soups, Stews and Sauces

• Autumn Chicken Immunity Boosting Soup, recipe inspired by whole foods recipes and my friend Jessica
• Addictive Red Lentil Curry https://homemadeswapper.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/addictive-red-lentil-curry/
• Black Bean Soup, recipe received from a food swap many moons ago.
• Butternut Squash Curry Soup
• Cabbage Soup with Shredded Chicken
• Carrot Soup with Honey and Nutmeg, from NYMSCCB (Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cook Book… one of my favorite books!).
• Chicken Cacciatore with mushrooms and plenty of Shredded Veggies. I LOVE this dish. Rob eats it with pasta usually, but it’s so yummy alone or with steamed, buttery broccoli
• Chicken Stew with Garlic Herb Dumplings https://homemadeswapper.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/chicken-stew-with-herbed-garlic-dumplings/ I’ll be freezing this sans dumplings in half-size portions. The dumpling mix I will make up and store in a glass container on the counter, just adding milk and butter when ready to mix them up and cook.
• Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
• Chicken Soup (noodles optional)
• Chilli…. oh… how soon I need to make this! YUM! I could eat this chili weekly or more often, and usually do.
• Creamy Potato and Leek soup, recipe adapted from NYMSCCB . Freeze in jars and have with turkey sandwiches or pesto spread on toast.
• The EASIEST French Onion Soup, adapted from NYMSCCB, 
• Ground Beef Minestrone Soup https://homemadeswapper.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/minestrone-soup-with-ground-beef/
• Harvest Vegetable Soup (with Shredded Chicken and without). This was one of the first recipes I created, I think I was about 15. I have been making it often, ever since.
• Lamb Stew with root veggies in a tomato wine broth
• Meat Sauce for Pasta
• Pesto, frozen in small jars. Serve with grilled or sautéed chicken and pasta, or on toasted bread with a soup.
• Ratatouille in the crock pot, frozen in jars. Serve with pasta covered in mozzarella and parm, or as the filling of a sandwich on a big crusty roll, also with melted mozzarella. For a meat meal, eat as a side with grilled chicken breast cutlets. I may also use part of this recipe for a veggie lasagna to also freeze! Recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/Ratatouille-in-the-Crock-Pot-52757  Changes I’ll try for the recipe include adding just a bit of balsamic vinegar and some red wine, plenty of fresh basil leaves, honey rather than sugar, and I will omit the red pepper flakes since my husband (and some nurslings) prefer less spice). I’ll cook it on low and check it around 5 hours in, as a 7-9 hour cook time seems too long to me.
• Roasted Tomato Soup, made from fresh picked tomatoes
• Salsa Chili (from NYMSCCB) I’ll make this from homemade salsa
• Sloppy Joe Filling. I make this with ground beef, lentils, and plenty of shredded beets, sweet potato and carrots. We just LOVE this meal, it feels so warm and comforting. This is a grown up version of the childhood fave, and just fills a heart up. I’m thinking of freezing this in muffin tins then transferring it to a zip top bag. I think this might give me the perfect meal sized portion to heat up on the stove or in the oven, right from frozen! I’ll freeze rolls with it so its easy and ready to go. This is also a fab topping for 
• Slow Cooked broccoli Soup with Garlic and Olive oil
• White Bean Chicken and Spinach Soup
• White Chicken Chili

           Casseroles and Meal Components: (start prepping in March)

• Cheesy Pasta Bake
• Chicken Enchiladas recipe: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/05/freezer-meals-chicken-enchiladas.html this makes 2 8×8 dishes.
• Chicken Pot Pie (or Turkey Pot Pie)
• Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco (filling component) http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/05/cilantro-lime-chicken-tacos.html
• Farmhouse Chicken or Turkey Casserole (my husband LOVES this meal!)
• Lasagna Roll ups, with spinach/ricotta. I’ll do these as the roll-ups since Rob won’t like these filling choices. Flash Frozen then put into ziplock bags. It’ll be so easy to just pull out a few, pop into the oven and have lunch.
• lasagna- probably I will do a few types of layered lasagna, all versions Rob will enjoy, frozen in molds to fit smaller glass baking dishes to serve 4.
• Meatballs
• Mini Meatloaves
• Shepherd’s pie with ground beef, carrots, peas, green beans and topped with mashed potatoes.
• Shepherd’s pie lamb variation, with 1” cubes of lamb, brussels sprouts, carrots and peas, topped with mashed potatoes.

         Snacks, Smoothie Bags, Sides, Quiche Slices, Desserts etc: (start prepping in April)

• Almond clusters adapted from here: http://home-madehealth.blogspot.com/2011/03/true-north-almond-clusters-copy-cat.html I may add peanut too…. that is how the TN brand ones are.
• Apricot chocolate nut clusters, recipe on all recipes
• Beef Jerky (marinated 30-60 minutes in honey, worshtershire and tamari) This I won’t need to freeze, of course, just dehydrate and store. The trick will be HIDING it from my husband and little one so there is some left for a hungry nursing mama!
• Carrot Cake Pancakes– my goal is to freeze 60 of these. Noah will eat one for breakfast, I’ll eat two, so him and I will have 20 days worth of a fairly healthy breakfast option. I’ll probably cook up a bit of beef bacon when we serve it as well, for extra protein/fats. They reheat perfectly in the toaster oven on 325 for about 5-10 minutes. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3050
• Creamsicle pops, made with coconut and fresh orange juice. Hey, it’ll be summer and hot out, and we love dessert!
• fudgepops, made with coconut milk, cream, honey and cocoa
• Ice Cream… I would love to make a few types of homemade, full fat ice cream. What a perfect late night mama treat, and when I make it I eat a moderate amount and I know it’s as healthy as ice cream can be! (Chocolate Raspberry, Mint Chocolate Chip and who knows what else are on my list)
• Lactation cookie Balls, ready to bake
• Muffins, many types: pumpkin spice and blueberry from Aviva Romm’s postpartum book, and these two recipes: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1457 http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1463
• Orange Black Beans with Cumin, from NYMSCCB
• Quiche many flavors! frozen wrapped in parchment and foil for quick snacks from the toaster oven. I may do some crustless as well.
• Roti (I may just buy these, but making them is lovely and fun. It’ll depend on my energy level.)
• Smoothie Bags, many varieties. my goal is to freeze 20 bags/jars.
• zucchini bread recipe from WFM: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2580

          Marinated/Ready to Cook Meals, Pizzas, Breakfasts: (start prepping in May)

• Asian Stir-Fry with prefrozen veggies and marinade. I’m planning to do versions of this with chicken, beef strips and shrimp.
• balsamic Braised Short Ribs, recipe here: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2009/08/balsamic-braised-short-ribs.html 
• Beouf Bourguignon http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/2009/11/boeuf-bourguignon-for-love-of-slow.html
• Crocked Beef Fajitas recipe page 325 NYMSCCB. I’ll use fresh red peppers, not frozen.
• Crockpot Chicken Curry, recipe from same blog post as the healthy mama barbecue below.
• Cholent (assembled and frozen, ready to dump into crock pot). This is a traditional jewish shabbos stew and something so comforting to eat and enjoy!
• Fig balsamic Chicken recipe here:  http://joelens.blogspot.com/2011/09/fig-balsamic-chicken.html
• Fish Tacos (freeze marinate, chopped fish) recipe: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2011/06/easy-summer-meals-fish-tacos.html
• Healthy Mama barbeque Chicken ( I love the name of this recipe… how fab for postpartum cooking! And the fact that there are TONS of veggies in it as well. recipe: http://mamaandbabylove.com/2011/04/05/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker-recipes/
• Herbs de Provence Chicken recipe: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/05/herbes-de-provence-chicken.html we’ll grill this and make some grilled veggies to go along with it.
• Meatballs in tomato wine sauce recipe from NYMSCCB, made with my own homemade meatballs.
• Moriah’s Chicken and Roasted Veggies just the chicken in marinade will go in the freezer, then I’ll assemble with fresh veggies before roasting.
• Orange Hoisin Chicken recipe from NYMSCCB, frozen and ready to put in slow cooker.
• Red Wine short ribs of Beef (ready to cook in bag) page 398 from NYMSCCB
• Roast Chicken with Spring Vegetables, Lemon and Capers recipe: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/07/roast-chicken-with-spring-vegetables.html
• Salsa Chicken, recipe from NYMSCCB
• Soaked Pizza Crust recipe: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2007/11/tuesday-recipes-pizza-crust.html
• Southwestern Eggrolls I think this meal (or filling snack) would be an especially good treat for my husband. Who doesn’t like deep fried food every once in a good while? I may add avocado and up the red pepper. recipe: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/05/southwestern-eggrolls.html
• Stephanie’s Goulash (also from healthy mama barbecue blog post.)
• Teriyaki Chicken (marinated and ready to grill or bake) the marinade is too simple for a recipe even: 1/4 c. sake, 2 tbsp mirin, 4 tsp tamari, 1-2 tsp honey and marinades 1-1.5lbs of chicken.

So…. now to the editing and scheduling! and on to lots of recipe penning…..

Chicken Stew with Herbed Garlic Dumplings

This meal if not really my own original recipe, but from one I adapted to fit my family. The original recipe is here: http://www.herbcompanion.com/cooking/fresh-flavor-for-old-favorites-chicken-stew-with-rosemary-garlic-dumplings.aspx My updates include a slightly smaller piece of chicken for each serving, more veggies, and different spices. Oh, and more good, grass-fed butter! I don’t typically cook with or even buy white flour, but this meal is just so comforting and soul-filling that it is worth going for it.

I’ve found this meal is one that is worth the slightly increased amount of effort compared to my normal dinners. The fact that it serves 8 (or our family of 3+ for at least 3 meals as my little one needs only 1/4 a chicken breast instead of half) is a huge help! Reheated in the oven it tastes just as good as freshly baked. Just typing this is making me hungry! 

Chicken Stew with Rosemary Garlic Dumplings: Serves 8

Ingredients:

For stew:

• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2lbs chicken tenders (or 4 chicken breasts, each breast split into two width-wise, making 8 pieces of chicken)
• 1-2 tbsp paprika
• 1-2 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper
• 1 medium chopped onion (about 1 cup)
• 2/3 cup diced celery (about 2 stalks, I diced this fine and loved it despite not being a celery fan)
• 1 cup chopped carrots (I made thin half moon shapes)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 pound fresh or frozen peas

for dumplings:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1.5  tablespoon hard butter, diced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp garlic powder

1. Heat the butter in a dutch oven over medium heat, coat chicken with garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper, then brown 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and sauté the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and mix well. Add the broth, honey, salt, pepper, rosemary and bay leaves; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Return the chicken breasts to the pot and press down into sauce. Cover and bake in a 350°F oven 20 minutes. (at this stage it may look more like soup then stew, this is ok!)

2. While stew is cooking, prepare dumpling mixture: blend flour, baking soda and salt. Pulse or cut in butter until well blended. Combine the egg, rosemary, and milk, and add all at once to the dry mixture in a bowl; blend quickly with a fork, just enough to moisten.

3. Remove the pan from the oven and increase the heat to 425°F. Remove bay leaves. Bring to a boil on top of the stove. Shape dough with your hands into sixteen dumplings and drop onto boiling stew. Return to the oven and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the peas, cover and cook 10 minutes longer.

 

***I’m planning to make and freeze the stew portion after step 1 as one of my for my postpartum meals, then thaw and continue from step 2 with freshly made dumplings.

Chicken and Veggies with Marsala Sauce

I was able to test this recipe with company during the holidays, and it was a big success! Everyone loved it, and as is always a good sign, the recipe was requested.

I doubled this to feed 6 adults, two boys and two toddlers. A regular batch should feed a family of 4-6, depending on ages and appetites.

This meal uses the same yummy marsala sauce I love, but has baked chicken instead of pan-fried with breading, and has plenty of flavorful veggies to replace the pasta. If you want a thicker sauce you can add a bit of a roux (equal parts melted butter and flour, cooked over low heat to form a paste), but I enjoyed the thin sauce and the grain-free/gluten-free meal.

• 1 stick butter, halved
• 1 lb Brussels sprouts, stems cut off and halved or quartered if large
• 2 cups mushrooms sliced (using good mushrooms like creminis is best, but buttons will do)
• 1lb carrots, cut into thick slices
• 1 cup onions, julienned
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1.5lbs raw bone in chicken pieces (we prefer thighs and legs, but you could use breasts if desired), lightly seasoned with garlic powder, salt and pepper

1. Saute Brussels sprouts in ½ of butter over medium high for 5 minutes, lower flame to medium and add mushrooms, carrots and onions, cook 5 minutes, then add garlic. Cook until mushrooms are browned. Season veggies to taste, remove from pan.
2. Raise flame to high, Add the Marsala wine, chicken stock and spices, boil for 10 minutes, scraping bottom of pan to get yummy brown bits into your sauce. When reduced and slightly thickened add in remaining butter, season to taste and stir in veggies then remove from flame.
3. Butter a 9×13 baking dish and put chicken into it, top with veggie and sauce mixture and cook at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, test chicken to make sure it has fully cooked. To make ahead, refrigerate before putting into oven and cook in oven before serving.

****If desired you can serve with pasta or rice, but it doesn’t need it to be a good and filling meal.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I haven’t yet tried this recipe, but it should make a very large pot of soup, perfect for freezing half or more for busy nights.

high in iodine, antioxidants, protein and minerals, use a good homemade bone broth to add even more nutrients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon dried poultry seasoning
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 cups diced or shredded carrots
• 2 quarts chicken stock (8 cups)
• 1 small jar of cream soup (I use leftover “creamy” potato/leek soup) (1.5-2cups)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1.5 tsp kelp flakes
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• 3 cups cooked wild rice
• 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
• Salt and pepper to taste
1. Sauté onion, garlic, poultry seasoning, turmeric, mushrooms, celery, and carrots in small amt. olive oil for 5-10 min on medium (in stock pot).

2. Add stock, leftover cream soup and wine; boil 10 min

3. Add chicken, rice, kelp and parsley, cook 2 minutes

4. Serve or cool and store.