5 Easy Meals For New Moms
It’s not easy being a new mom. No matter how prepared you feel for the transition, adjusting to life with a newborn is both amazing and overwhelming. As your focus falls totally on your newborn, it’s easy for regular household duties to fall through the cracks—especially cooking. Heck, no matter what age your kids are, things can fall through the cracks! When making meals becomes a hassle, it’s easy to compromise health and budget goals by eating out or grabbing quick eats.
Let me be clear, there is no shame if you’ve resorted to eating a hot dog or grabbing Chick-fil-A. The first priority is just that you eat at all! However, there are quick and easy meals out there that are healthy and delicious. If your baby isn’t here yet, you could even prepare freezer meals to cook when the baby arrives and things get crazy or set up a meal train to help you get through those first few weeks or even months.
So, today, I am sharing 5 easy meals for new moms that you can use for meal prepping or fast weeknight dinners. All of these are either made in 30 minutes, are freezer-friendly, or get cooked in a crockpot, which is perfect for busy new moms! Here are the recipes:
5 Easy Meals For New Moms
30-Minute Beef Stir Fry
Ingredients
Stir Fry:
2 lbs of beef steak cut into strips
2 sliced bell peppers (your choice of colors)
1 cup of cut broccoli
1 sliced medium onion (any variety)
4 diced green onions
2 ½ TB of cooking oil
Stir Fry Sauce:
6 TB soy sauce
2 TB sesame oil
1 TB rice wine vinegar
2 TB brown sugar
1 TB ginger
Instructions
Step 1: Make sauce.
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and mix. Bring it to a boil, then remove from heat and stir one more time.
Step 2: Cook veggies.
Add oil to a wok or deep frying pan and heat. Once the pan is hot, add the peppers, broccoli, and onions. (Add more vegetables if you want!) Cook the veggies on medium-high heat until they’re tender. Remove them from the pan and put them into your serving dish.
Step 3: Cook meat.
In the same pan or wok, add your beef strips and turn up the stove to high heat. Cook the steak until the internal temperature is 130°-140°F. This will make your steak medium rare, but feel free to cook it longer if you prefer your meat well-done.
Step 4: Put it together.
Return the vegetables to the wok or pan with the beef. Add the green onions and sauce as well. Toss it together for 2-4 minutes.
Step 5: Serve it with rice.
Now it’s time to enjoy! Eat it as is, or add a small side of rice.
Crockpot Hearty Black Bean Soup
Ingredients
3 thinly sliced carrots
2 diced celery stalks
1 chopped medium onion
1 diced green pepper
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 30 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 14.5 oz cans of reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 ½ tsp dried basil
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp hot pepper sauce
Instructions
Dump all the ingredients into a crockpot and cook on low for 9-11 hours. That’s it!
Crockpot Freezer Pork Burritos
Ingredients
1 boneless pork sirloin roast halved
¼ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 TB of reduced-sodium taco seasoning
1 TB dried parsley
2 cloves of minced garlic
½ tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt
1 16 oz can of refried beans
1 4 oz can chopped green chiles
14 flour tortillas
Your choice of topics: lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, guacamole, shredded cheese
Instructions
Step 1: Mix seasoning.
In a small bowl, mix together broth, taco seasoning, parsley, garlic, pepper, and salt.
Step 2: Cook meat.
Put both halves of the roast in the crockpot. Pour the seasoning overtop the roast. Cook it on low for 8-10 hours.
Step 3: Prepare burritos.
Remove the meat from the slow cooker and pull the meat apart with forks. Skim fat from the cooking juices in the crockpot, and then put the meat back in the crockpot. Stir in beans and chiles and let it sit until the beans and chiles are heated thoroughly.
Step 4: Serve.
Serve the burritos in tortillas (or a healthier alternative) and add your desired toppings.
Bonus tip: Freeze it.
To freeze this meal for later (or for a meal train), prepare the burritos, and wrap each one in a paper towel and foil. Then put them in a Ziploc freezer bag. Label the bag and put it in the freezer. When you want to eat them, pull them out, remove them from the foil, and microwave them for 3-4 minutes on a paper towel.
Freezer Sheet Pan Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
2-3 sliced bell peppers (your choice of colors)
½ tsp garlic powder
1 TB olive oil
2 TB lemon juice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
½ tsp curry powder
Black pepper
Tzatziki
¾ cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
⅓ cup grated cucumber
2 TB lemon juice
2 TB olive oil
⅛ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried dill
1.2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
Fixing:
1 diced cucumber
½ diced red onion
¾ cup kalamata olives
¾ cup feta cheese
6 pieces of flatbread
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the chicken and peppers.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then, in a mixing bowl, mix all the chicken ingredients. Spread the chicken and peppers over the baking sheet and put it in the freezer. When the chicken is totally frozen, transfer it to a freezer bag and put it back into the freezer until you’re ready to cook.
Step 2: Bake frozen chicken and peppers.
When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the frozen chicken back onto a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Make the tzatziki while you wait!
Step 3: Prepare the tzatziki.
Combine the tzatziki ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Step 4: Serve.
On a large baking sheet, serve the chicken and peppers, tzatziki, and all the fixings. Your family can build their own pitas for a delicious and healthy weeknight meal.
30-Minute Freezer Chicken Pesto Meatballs
Ingredients
1 cup whole-grain spaghetti noodles
1 TB olive oil
¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
2 TB pesto
2 TB grated parmesan cheese
½ TB basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 lb lean ground chicken
1 ½ cups marinara sauce
¼ cup water
Instructions
Step 1: Cook spaghetti.
Cook spaghetti using the directions on the box. Drain it and put it in a separate serving dish. Add the olive oil and stir until it’s evenly distributed. This will prevent the noodles from sticking together.
Step 2: Make meatballs.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, pesto, parmesan cheese, basil, and garlic powder. Then, add the chicken and mix. Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls.
Step 3: Cook the meatballs.
Preheat a skillet to medium heat. Once it’s heated, brown the meatballs. Then, add the marinara sauce and water. Bring that to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover the meatballs. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Serve.
Serve the meatballs and marinara on the spaghetti!
Bonus Tip: Freeze it.
Freeze the meatballs and sauce in a freezer Ziploc bag and label it. (Don’t cook the spaghetti.) When you want to cook it, thaw the meatballs. Then, reheat the meatballs on low heat in a skillet or saucepan. Of course, make your pasta too.
Use these healthy and easy dinners to maintain good eating habits while adjusting to life with a newborn!
If you're a new mom, your whole world has been turned upside-down in the best possible way! As everything gets a little more complicated and difficult, do what you can to make mealtimes simpler. These recipes will hopefully help you get back to mindfully eating and focusing on your own health and recovery too.
If you still need help, consider working with me! I can help support you through this, not only because I’m a nutrition coach, but I’m also a mom. I’ve been through what you’re going through. I know the specific challenges of investing in yourself when you have a baby. So, let’s chat and make sure you’re taken care of, too! I can’t wait to meet you!
