When you have a baby, all your attention hones in on feeding the newest member of your family. Moms keep track of feeding times and lengths, visit the lactation clinic, figure out latches or bottle flows, and worry if Baby is getting enough to eat.
Brand-new moms spend a lot less time working on feeding themselves, and that’s no good: Parents have enough on their plates without being hangry on top of everything.
So when two friends had babies a few weeks ago, I took the first opportunity to bring them each a meal. Since I’m not terrific at feeding myself, either, I chose recipes that would feed all three of our families!
When flipping through my Pinterest boards, I looked for functional foods. I decided on this super-protein-packed quinoa enchilada slow-cooker dish because research from blogs like Body Nutrition shows protein is crucial in repairing damaged tissues—something especially important for mothers who had c-sections.
I also made these coconut-pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies. Yes, it’s important for dinner to meet all your nutritional needs, but in those early weeks of raising a newborn, sometimes a bite of something sweet can get you through that moment when your munchkin poops all over you the second you’re showered and wearing clean clothes for the first time in a week. I added a salad, threw in some tortilla chips and called it a meal.
I made a few alterations to the recipes. For the super-protein quinoa enchiladas, I nixed the turkey (I’m a vegetarian) and added tofu instead. I used Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce (it’s so much tastier than the canned stuff!) and went easy on the spices—sometimes a lot of fire and garlic transfers to breast milk and upsets babies’ tummies. I added a bit more veggies, too, because I’m a big fan of ’em.
I was thrilled that I could throw everything in the crock pot and let the appliance work its magic! Man, I love a good slow cooker recipe.
For the cookies, I swapped chocolate chips instead of raisins because duh. The recipe instructs you to refrigerate the dough for thirty minutes, so plan accordingly. I ended up leaving it in the fridge overnight because I didn’t manage my time well and had to bake them in the morning, and the dough was a little crumbly because of the extra cooling, I think.
I used a melon baller to scoop the cookie dough, which made for perfectly and uniformly sized two-bite cookies. (Seriously, the melon baller is my secret cookie tool. I love it!) They’re best the day-of; after a few days, they start to taste a bit dry. That’s the tough part of using coconut flour.
For the salads, I chopped all the toppings and included them in a plastic baggie. Ain’t nobody got time to slice peppers and peel cucumbers when a newborn’s in the house.
And voila—there was a three-course dinner for three families! It also happened to be entirely grain-free because I couldn’t remember if one of my friends was still avoiding gluten. And the verdict was overwhelmingly positive: Both friends told their husbands to keep their paws off the quinoa dish so they could have seconds; Eric rummaged around for more of the quinoa enchiladas, too, which he ate in taco shells; and Peeper scarfed down a toddler-sized portion with no complaint.
If you’re making a meal for a family with a new baby—and if you know someone who recently had or adopted a baby, I urge you to get on that—here are a few tips:
- Deliver the food in recyclable containers. Don’t put anything in Pyrex you expect to get back; new parents don’t have the energy or attention to keep track of your dishes. Put it in aluminum one-use pans, repurposed yogurt containers or Ball jars.
- Make something that’s freezable. Even if you deliver on a date designated by a meal train, you don’t know if the family has been inundated by a ton of meals at once (or if you deliver the third lasagna in a row). Make a point of saying it’s freezable—which could help the new family later, when the dinner flow dries up but they’re still figuring out how to cook.
- Write instructions on a note. I include a list of the meal with any cooking or reheating instructions. Don’t just tell them; new parents are functioning on no sleep and so won’t remember what temp to warm the oven.
- Dinners are great, but so are other meals. A friend made me a dozen breakfast burritos when I had Peeper, and reheating one in the morning was such a nice change of pace from my milk-boosting regimen of oatmeal-oatmeal-oatmeal.
Do you have any recommendations for bringing meals to new parents? What are your go-to recipes?
I’m bringing some food for a friend who had her father pass away this past weekend. May bring those cookies in addition to the veggie lasagna I was planning. Thanks!
I’m sorry for your friend’s loss. Cookies can do nothing to assuage the pain of losing a parent, but knowing you were thinking of and caring for her will surely help ease the grief, even a little bit.
Ooo… These sound like really yummy cookies!!!
I ate so many! They were scrumptious.
What a great idea, and very thoughtful to make enough to share!
It helped that the slow cooker recipe made so much!
Those look delicious!
Despite my terrible photos haha! Everything WAS good!
Love your tips for making meals for new parents! It’s such a huge help, and I agree that breakfast freezer meals are really nice in addition to dinners. The welcome cards are an extra sweet touch! So thoughtful!
Thanks! I’m always happy to send Peeper’s artwork along with a card or a meal. 🙂
Grain-free meals are a great idea for nursing moms and new babies, who can be very sensitive! Quinoa can also be a little hard on the stomach (seed, phytates/lectins etc) but those coconut cookies sound great! Here’s a grain-free lactation cookie recipe if you ever need it, too! http://paleoparents.com/2011/video-blog-ep4-breastfeeding-qa-and-grain-free-lactation-cookies/
I did a similar thing with the metal dishes when I did this for a friend last fall–it was a hit! I did this grain-free Shepherd’s Pie with grassfed beef from our cow share. http://www.create-enjoy.com/2015/01/real-food-shepherds-pie-recipe-two-ways.html So nourishing for nursing moms and babies who need vitamin D and Omega-3s!
Thank you for the lactation cookie recipe! I’m planning on making a few batches to keep in my freezer in preparation of Baby #2’s arrival, and I’m always interested to try grain-free baking.
Ya had me at quinoa enchiladas. What a splendid idea.
They’re good for folks who didn’t just have a baby, too, Geoff! 🙂
This is such a thoughtful and helpful post. I never thought to write instructions for the family’s we bring meals to or to make sure they’re in recyclable containers. These recipes also look pretty yummy. I’ll definitely need to pin them for later… thanks for sharing, cheers!
Thank you, Danielle! I’m all about making a meal even easier of families with a newborn. They have enough to think about as it is!
This is awesome! It’s so nice to have meals brought in when you have a new baby. You rock!
Aw thanks! I’ve been there, so I know how much it helps to have a healthy, filling, easily reheatable meal delivered.
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As a wonderful addition to your delivered meal add the recipe so that if it is loved it can be re-made. Especially if it is a crockpot / fix and forget meal! This from a mom who ate crock pot soups the first 2 months my child was here. Unfortunately he was born June 1st so I was sweltering the entire time, but I did eat!
That’s a great idea to include a copy of the recipe!