One handed breastfeeding snacks and easy meals!

[Softlysoftly]

Ok so ebf DD2 14 days old and am struggling to cook and eat well as I establish a routine with her and dd1 (2.5).

I'm basically living on cereal, bread based items, chocolate and bananas plus whatever dh or mil provides which is mainly meat curry full of oil without veg in sight.

So I am looking for ideas for two things:

1 easy fast meal ideas that can be prepared quickly for DD and myself (DH eats at his restaurant) and are nutritious and healthy and good for milk production.

2 Snacks that can be grabbed and eaten one handed especially to stay awake during night feeds and won't make me the size of house unlike my current milky bar addiction!

I swear by porridge for breakfast. Add whatever toppings you like (I like dates cooked in, with soft brown sugar). Pasta sauces are also very quick to prepare and go a long way. You can pre-prepare pastas and eat cold or hot. Obviously, sandwiches are quick treats. Get into quesadillas too :) Eggs, microwaved pizza slices from the fridge, quickly frying pan cook some fish and add creme fraiche/salad etc. roast up a load of veg/fruit and add to whatever else you want in a meal. Make a big load of meatballs and dig in (microwave or cold) over 2-3 days. Likewise a roast chicken for the fridge. I didn't eat during the night so can't comment on that.

(spot the person who's been coming up with quick things to feed her weaning baby ;) )

I used to make a packed lunch (if very organised) the night before and put in fridge.
Homemade smoothies are also dead easy to whip up in a minute or two, and keep in fridge for a snack later in the day.
For you and dd, it's all time to prepare ahead in that mass of time you must have at the moment....not!
Batch make a tomato pasta sauce, pasta can be cooked when you have a moment, cooled down then warmed up when needed with the sauce?
Finger food - cubes cheese, crudités, hummus, pitta bread?
A lump of fruit cake,
Batch make flapjack
I remember vividly the one handed eating - baked beans and jacket potato all chopped up for me being a low point! - bit you've made me think how enough you do it healthily-ish with a toddler in tow...

Night time snacks:

Chocolate raisins
Cashew Nuts
Chocolate milk

I lived on sliced fruit bread (can be toasted or not), humous with carrot, cucumber sticks, pitta or bread sticks, my DH used to make be a sandwich for lunch in the eveing and put it in the fridge, grapes are an easy one handed fruit. I didn't eat at night but fruit bread would work

I remember those days!!! And ciold cups of tea??!! I did a lot of

• Hummus and carrot sticks and toasted pittas
• Cheese and 'bits', basically any bits in my fridge, beetroot, tomatoes, celery etc with a big chunk of bread
• Quiche
• Breaded fish goujons with lots of mayo!

That was pretty much my rotating lunches, quick, easy and can eat with one hand. Did try soup once and was concentrating so hard on not getting the bowl or my spoon anywhere near my dd's head I leaned over so much to the left and spilt the whole bowl over the sofa and onto the rug. Smelt vile for days after!!

Lots of hummus fans!!

Ah cold tea- what's the record for how many times the same cup can be microwaved?

Ha! Yes, I wonder? After the 3rd or 4th time it's pretty dog rough but it's hot and sweet and I finally have 20 secs to drink it...it's going down!!

Littleweed - having dp chop up your food is a pretty low point for sure. In the early days my dp even shoved chicken pie and mash in my mouth whilst I bf'ed!! I can laugh now!

Chinese! Stir fries are dead quick and easy and if you eat with chopsticks, it's one handed too.

my in-laws found it quite amusing the other night, as i had to feed 7 week old DS2 so DH cut my starter up for me in a restaurant!

I'm eating way too many cereal bars and crap too, so thanks for this thread. :)

i do like a big bowl of grapes or chopped up fruit with Greek yogurt and sometimes golden syrup on top.

yesterday's low was eating half a packet of ham from the packet, with DS2 in the sling, while trying to get DS1 to eat a lunch that did not consist of biscuits or cereal...

oh and in terms of milk production it doesn't really matter what or how much you eat as far as I've read on here and Kellymom. :)

Definitely quiche, pizza, toasted sandwiches, pasta, chicken and fish goujons, fish fingers.

I did the chocolate/cereal bars at night BIG time with DC2 and piled on a stone in about 6 weeks because of it!

So let that be a lesson to you all.

(he's 9mo old now and I've lost the weight through Weight Watchers now. FWIW you can do WeightWatchers now if you are still bf'ing)

Perhaps chop up some fruit and keep in a Tupperware for the nighttime munchies? It's really tough, I know!

Oh and Innocent smoothies in the small bottles to get your fruit otherwise!

this thread has made me so hungry and i don't do night eating normally either.

however it's reminded me i bought a couple of wee quiches and there's still one in the fridge! lunch sorted for today. :)

also fancy some smoothies...

I lived on those innocent veg pots for those first few weeks- 3 of your 5 a day in each pot, just bung it in the microwave and eat it out the pot, really yummy, and also you only need a fork to eat them- I used to find meals involving a knife and fork, I.e. the use of both hands impossible . They are quite expensive I know but are often on offer and I think lots of the supermarkets do their own brand versions now.

Try the Stewed pots, they are great and much better tasting than the Innocent ones.

I love those steamfresh bags - you can get own-brand - of frozen veg with rice in. Yummy. Just add cooked chicken/fishfingers/plain omlette strips.

Salmon is great - put in oven in a kind of pocket of foil- can add herbs/ dressing/ squeeze of lemon depending on effort or just plain

Healthy and can cut and eat one handed with fork. Can also eat next day cold so can cook a couple at once for you and toddler.

Eat With either bags of frozen steam veg ( few mins in microwave), or fresh noodles ( can also microwave at same time and chilli noodles are fab!)

Make yourself or get dh etc to make rice/ chicken/ veggie dish. Can eat for a couple of days ( make sure rice is cooled quickly and kept cool), or pasta dishes. Either can be eaten hot or cold.

Buy mini chicken fillets. Toss in some herbs and olive oil and throw in dish in oven for 15 mins. Can each with one hand as finger food

Baked potatoes. Throw in oven for 1hr 30 mins. Cook 3/4 at a time, can reheat in microwave next day in two mins. Various toppings.

Roast veg couscous, get dh to chop and throw veg in oven for hr, mix in cooked couscous ( also ok for a couple of days in fridge), add ready made tzaziki if feeling exotic.

Pitta bread filled with various toppings

Midnight snack on bananas/ grapes/ unsalted nuts

So many great ideas. I just got as far as eating whatever we normally eat, cut up and in a pasta bowl and with a spoon. I've even eaten several roast dinners like this!

Soup - make or buy - get all your food groups in one go and serve in a mug for one-handed 'eating' (yep, I ruined a few babygros before figuring out the mug thing...)