Make Postpartum Life Easier: Kitchen Edition

After this baby arrives, I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

At least for the first few weeks, I don’t want to cook.

And I don’t want to clean the kitchen either.

There will be a newborn head to sniff, endless diapers to change, a milk supply to establish, naps to take, walks to go on. Not to mention plenty of loving and lap time for my 2 year old. Keeping yourself fed in those early weeks is a job in itself. I’m always ravenous when I have a new nursing baby.

I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make those postpartum weeks a little easier.

* Stockpile Freezer Meals

I’ve never done freezer cooking or once a month cooking before. But in my last month of pregnancy, I’m going to cook a couple dozen main dish meals and store them in my freezer. I don’t have a stand alone freezer, just the skinny little side-by-side next to my fridge. Which means I’ll also need to clean out my freezer and use up some of the stuff that’s in there to make space.

(Do you have any favorite freezer friendly recipes? Please let me know in the comments!)

* Buy (gasp!) Disposable Products

We use real plates, microfiber cloths for cleaning, and cloth napkins at the table around here. But for the first few weeks postpartum, the green police won’t get me if I go disposable. My sanity is more important. (Besides, using cloth diapers and cloth mama pads kinda balances it out, right?)

So as not to shock my grocery budget too much, I’ve been buying a little of this kind of stuff at a time as I see great deals. (Since loading the dishwasher and doing laundry are actually two of my kid’s chores, this tip won’t really lighten my load. But if the kids have a little less work to do they can help me with other things that are usually my job.)

* Enlist Hubby’s Help

I asked my hubby if he would cook a couple of nights a week. He enjoys grilling out, so that’s good for one weekend dinner. There are a couple of other meals he likes to make (sausage and cabbage, burritos), so I told him I’d be sure to have those things available so he can work his magic in the kitchen.

My oldest has become adept at making homemade pizza, so I might put him on that once a week.

* Ask Friends for A Casserole Shower

I don’t want a baby shower, but a friend keeps insisting on doing something for me. I asked her to host a casserole shower, where everyone brings a meal for my freezer. When Ruby was born, a few friends brought me dinner afterwards, which was wonderful. But it’s more convenient for them and for me if it’s already at my house when baby arrives, no?

* Encourage the Kids To Cook Breakfast and Lunch

Y’all know I’m all about kids cooking. They are all (except for Ruby, she isn’t expected to cook for herself since she’s only 2. Her time will come though!) capable of making their own breakfasts and lunches.

I normally cook a hot breakfast every morning, but for awhile they’ll be on their own. Ditto for lunch. I’ll be sure to stock up on things I might not ordinarily buy to entice them a little. (Like organic frozen waffles, maybe even cinnamon rolls from Whole Foods. Or maybe I’ll have a baking day where I make waffles and freeze them myself.)

I also plan on making hearty breakfast muffins (like my favorite bacon/egg/cheddar coconut flour muffins), waffles and other breakfast foods that freeze well in big batches and… well, freezing them. Homemade granola too.

What kind of things did you plan to make postpartum life a little easier? Do share!