Pregnancy meals inspiration needed!

We just started using a meal kit system and I couldn't be happier with it. I used to whip things up all the time but have had no energy lately. This kit involves no thinking, 30 min meals, and a huge variety from day to day. I feel like this is a life saver for moms and tired pregnant people.

I do a big pot of something on a Sunday to eat Sunday/Monday then freeze 1-2 extra days worth. Usually we eat 1-2 frozen meals in the week and the others are things we fancy but don’t want to make multiple portions of.

Sunday cooks have involved: bolognaise, chilli, chickpea curry, mince and gravy, chicken in cheesy leek sauce, chicken curry, fajita mix… usually I do a huge pan on the job but sometimes the slow cooker comes out to play. If I do mash I freeze individual portions on a tray so we can pull out at lunch time and microwave with tea.

I love cooking from scratch but am trying to get into the habit of stocking and eating from the freezer ready for when baby arrives and kind of have a theory that making a bigger amount doesn’t actually take much more effort than cooking for one day. I suffered with post covid fatigue for 10 weeks so doing one thing on a weekend meant I was prepared for the week and had things my other half could just microwave for us.

If you want I can send you a free meal kit box from Hello Fresh to try. It's $100 worth of free meal kits! Just direct message me your email or post it here so other moms can send you a free meal kit from different companies too! LOL

Smoothies have helped me! Adding chocolate protein or ice cream flavored protein & no flavor probiotic or fiber powders plus frozen fruit (not for the chocolate one unless bananas to sweeten) had been my easy go to. Also I like to cook/shred a lot of chicken, and dice up some fresh veggies on weekends and then keep stored in the fridge. Then I can run to Yummly.com or Allrecipes.com and search by ingredients that are either in my pantry or fridge, find the easiest looking thing that looks good and go for it.

With the shredded chicken and prechopped veggies the options are endless- chicken quesadillas, tacos, soup (just as broth), chicken pasta (I like to keep a can of pre made pasta sauce in the pantry), Chili (with pantry canned beans) in a isntapot or crockpot, salad with a good dressing you buy that you actually enjoy, etc. Those are what I can think of top of my head. Hope it helps!!

There should be pregnancy doulas that prepare meals. I had both a prenatal and postpartum doula and neither one would cook. It's pretty idiotic.

Also don’t be afraid to make extras and then freeze them. Just be sure to label what it is and date the bag. Then on days when you REALLY don’t feel like cooking you can go to the freezer and pull out something that sounds good and just heat it up. :)

I’m from the U.K. too and I’ve been using HelloFresh. I think they sent me some vouchers if you’d like any.

Smoothies are good to get fruit in , traybakes are very quick and easy, and good to chuck in veg and meat. Stir fries , maybe make a big batch of soup?x

This was exactly my situation months ago - toddler, work, pregnant - slow cooker was my saving grace. Throw something (beef, chicken, chili, veggie stew) in there (loads of simple recipes online) and let it cook! Little work needed while working and ready for everyone at dinner. Plus one pot clean up!!

Shred a carrot and red beet and chop purple cabbage finely toss with raspberries or pomegranate seeds and dress with fresh citrus juice bring in a protein with baked chicken or smoked salmon

I do this salmon like once a week: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/asian-salmon-bowl-with-lime-drizzle-51101210
During pregnancy I’ve used shallots instead of garlic since that’s an aversion for me, and it’s great. I double the sauce, it’s great with any roasted veggie or steamed spinach, super tasty. Or you can do chicken instead.

Tons of eggs and beans and avocados, we’ve done huevos rancheros and black bean tacos a ton. Rotisserie chickens are helpful for chicken salad, chicken flautas, sandwiches. When I got really hangry later in 2nd trimester we went through SO much chicken salad. Hummus and veggies. BLTs. Feta tomato salad. Those were my staples.

Cream of broccoli soup! Homemade! Make a big pot and it lasts all week

If you're in the states and in a major metropolitan area, CookUnity is wonderful. Precooked balanced meals - oven 10-15 min or microwave 2-3 min. Easy clean up.

But second tri, all I wanted was cold food and I mostly ate mixed romaine salad with chicken cutlet.

anything w fish is also good for milk production

I loved making a big bolognese with loads of veggies. To do it really easily, I’d make it with a Lloyd grossman sauce with onion, carrot, celery, aubergine, mushroom, courgette and mince. Then stick it in the fridge and have it with a carb (quinoa, couscous, pasta, potato) over the next few days.
Or a lovely stew! Such a nice meal and easy and healthy. I do onion, celery, carrot, swede in a slow cooked with diced lamb in a bit of flour. Add a tbs of tomato purée, a good glug of red wine (it cooks for hours so no worries about alcohol) and 600ml of beef stock. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and a few sprigs of rosemary. Stir it all in the slow cooker and do it on low for like 6+ hours.

Not exactly specific buy I like the app yummly as you can filter so much like flavours and time and ingredients. It has sooo many recipes and give you a shopping list option too.

Greek yogourt and lunchables.

For breakfast almost everyday of my pregnancy I ate avocado toast w a fried egg and a fruit smoothie. The avocado and egg are supposed to help with cramping (those awful leg cramps in the middle of the night) and one of the best brain developers for the baby. For lunch I would premake like a homemade chipotle bowl with rice, grilled chicken, and really any veggies you enjoy, and I would just eat a small snack for dinner, maybe some cheese, a veggie, and a few pieces of lunch meet. This allowed me to stay full throughout the day and night without giving myself something unhealthy and too fulfilling.

All I wanted was carbs, cheese, fruit and red meat during 2T. I used to puree some veg and put it into my pasta. Garlic, onions and most spices were a NO WAY for me. Salt and pepper were my friends. Also, I made some steak pies and tatties & mince which went down well (Scottish...). Was also crushing smoothies and yogurts.

We really like making shrimp scampi with zoodles! Tasted great and fairly easy to make

Baked Sweet potato topped with a veggie & chick pea chilli and sour cream is my go to!
Or any kind of quesadilla, I’ve been buying the taco beans in a tin literally heat them up put them in a wrap omg so good 🤩

Microwave rice, peppers cooked in the pan with a fried egg (popped yolk so its cooked for baby), and a slice of cheese put under the rice so it melts 🤤

Hello fresh i would pick out soups or sandwoches, meals to for dinner
For breakfast I make overnight oats the night before for breakfast with almond milk banana, peanut butter

I make noodle soup a lot. I couldn’t bear the smell of things like sautéed veg or meat in my 1st trim, but boiling was ok. Just chuck some random chopped veg in a pot of low sodium stock, add a few cubes of whatever protein you like. Small pieces of chopped fish or chicken will cook through quickly or you can use cooked leftovers, but tofu is dead easy and not a food poisoning worry. You can add soy sauce, ginger, chilli, garlic etc. Just mix it up. I sometimes stir in an egg just at the end. Noodles (buckwheat or something with fibre) get boiled separately and added at the end so they don’t bloat and go soggy. Touch of sesame oil and spring onions/scallions, sesame seeds. So long as you chop the veg small enough it’s done in 10 mins. Takes longer to eat it, but only if you are trying to look dignified.

Breakfast lately I've been having banana with nutella or yogurt or oatmeal (maple, cinnamon with apples or bananas)
Lunch has been w.e seems to be what I'm craving? Yesterday I had a tomato, mozzarella and basil panini with balsamic on the side. Today was just fruit. Lots of fruit and berries lol.
Usually not hungry for dinner 🤷‍♀️

I often did smoothies for breakfast. And something like burgers or tacos for dinner. Lunch was just anything I could throw together, often cheese & crackers, fruit, yogurt.

Biscuits abd gravy

Roasted plantains and veg sauce

My go-to lunch is a toasted bagel with avo, cheese and tomato! Love any sort of soup for dinner, chicken noodle, ramen, laksa.. you get the pastes in Asian supermarkets. A slow cooker is a life saver too.

I cook for 3 other picky adults and myself and I’m always tired so quick meals are my go to. They love simple bbq chicken with potatoes and veggies, sausage with Mac and cheese and veggies, tostadas are easy just beans and cheese and guacamole (I buy premade pico and just mix with avocado). I also love banana walnut muffins or overnight oats for breakfast. Snacks are usually fresh fruits and veggies with peanut butter toast. Oh and adding a protein shake has really helped me up my protein and feel fuller throughout the day 😊 hope this helps!

Calico beans
Cook hamburger & onion
Then add:
1 Tbs of mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
Variety of canned beans with their juices (my family uses: Kidney, pinto, navy & Lima)
Cook until hot
Taste, add a little more mustard if needed
Simmer until time to eat.

You could do quesadillas
Tacos
Spaghetti
Scrambled eggs with onion & bell peppers
Crockpot meals are easy and lots of healthy ones out there (may need to google them esp if you’re looking for a certain type like keto)

Zucchini and squash spaghetti bake
(sub for wheat noodles) and ground beef with torizo

Use the crock pot 75% of the time now that I’ve got a babe! I always google “easy healthy crock pot meals” or “easy healthy sheet pan meals” and find so much!! Also have joined fb groups for these two things too which has helped so much, I now get 80% of the recipes I make from saved fb posts!

I think you'd be super helpful here!

Oh girl yes it is such a struggle! I hear you! I actually have a pregnancy cookbook that I used which was super helpful! Also I am doing live virtual meal prepping weekly and would love to invite you to that if you would be interested ☺️ I am a prenatal and postpartum fitness coach so if you have any questions feel free to message me! I would love to send you the cookbook’s name and information so just message me☺️

We’ve just started using hello fresh! It’s a bit pricey but we were finding we we’re eating the same meals every week/getting takeaways etc. So far we’ve really enjoyed them x

I make smoothies every morning which have been super satisfying and are a great way to hide in nutritional needs! I always put a variety of fruit, handful of spinach or kale, chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp hearts for my omega 3 and extra protein, and sometimes I even add an inch of ginger which also helps with the nausea! Highly recommend. My friend suggested prepping baggies of the fruits/veggies at the start of each week, so all you have to do is pop it in the blender with some liquid and the seeds and ice!

Nachos are one of my favorite go-tos. We are white particular on our eating lifestyle (basically paleo - dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, organic, and grass fed meats) 🙈 But you can work around pretty much any recipe!
I’ve also been doing fettuccine a good bit lately, it doesn’t take up much time at all if you get the healthy jarred sauce 😉 Or last night I made lemon garlic butter noodles and you can add a protein of your choosing plus steamed green beans/mushrooms on the side - took about 15 minutes 🙌🏼 I’m a fan of quick meals that taste great haha Also avocado toast has been my friend lately, I love it! Just sprinkle a little pink salt on it and a couple flakes of red pepper and it’s gourmet level lol

This is one we love! We swap out a few of the ingredients to healthier choices for our family but we love it!

https://www.eatwell101.com/garlic-butter-chicken-bites-asparagus-recipe

Get a wrap, place spinach, cheese, raw egg and hot sauce in the middle, fold into a parcel, wrap in foil and stick in the oven for 20 mins. Delicious 😋

I loved a Greek yogurt parfait for breakfast every morning. I premade mine in mason jars with berries and honey and put the granola and nuts on right before eating so it wasn't soggy. Absolutely powered me thru my day and helped me stomach my prenatals

Totally agree with smoothies - I have one every morning! For lunch I do some simple veggie wraps: whole grain tortilla, spread cream cheese and chipotle mayo, spinach, red peppers and green onion. Sooo good! We’ve also used our instant pot A LOT more than normal - quick and easy meals.

i’ve been really enjoying buddha bowls for lunch

Curry chicken has been one of my go to as well as homemade chicken ramen

I had major food aversions too. I literally lived off of toast and fruit lol sometimes a yogurt. I couldn’t eat I would just toss it right back up. Your hopefully almost thru it! Smoothies are a great idea. Just stick to the basics you gotta force yourself even if it’s just an orange and some toast! Maybe Mac n chz lol anything light and easy to get down

God I need help too...anything tomato based I cannot touch. 😳

I've been loving toast with smashed avocado and topped with cottage cheese. I add a little salt and pepper.

I wasnt a fan of chicken but i had visited a friend the other day. She made a chicken salad and put it onna toastada. It was so good. Basically shreded chicken, mayo, and mixed veggies.

I lived off of Boost shakes and Mini Wheats 😂

Soups, brochetta, crosants, diff pastas, diff salads, wraps, toasties, meat and veg, stir frys, spud potatoes, taccos, roasts, keives.