I'm usually the cook in our family but I've had about 9 months off of doing it every night like I used to. Morning sickness, fatigue, moving in with my parents for 4 months, moving into the apartment super pregnant and being exhausted again, then having Otto and the chaos of his schedule of feeding and trying to get him to nap... Jason (or my parents) did a lot of the cooking for a while!
But the past couple weeks I've been able to actually cook real food for us most nights and I feel so good doing it again!!
I've come up with some hacks and found a few super easy recipes and meal ideas that are much healthier than eating out or buying prepared foods. I still don't have tons of time, but these are things I can do quickly, start ahead of time, or use in two meals (or as leftovers for lunches) so are great for a busy mom (or anyone). I put together these 5 meal combos, with links to recipes or just simple instructions, and hope they'll help you with super easy, tasty, homemade meal ideas when you're busy! There's even a shopping list for you!
These meals are Paleo-friendly or can be made strict Paleo with some substitutions, though for me personally I've relaxed on what I do and don't eat through pregnancy and a busy lifestyle. I've found I can tolerate white rice, corn, packaged dressings/sauces, and grassfed butter, so those are included. But again, feel free to substitute what you can't eat, and/or add dairy like cheese to things if you want!
I know lots of people are busy, but these recipes are particularly good for new moms - I know a lot of nights I just can't predict what Otto and I will be up to around 5:30 when I'd like to be cooking dinner, so I've found I can chop some veggies ahead of time, put some things in the oven and hour early, etc. and make it work. Plus, breastfeeding moms need to eat real food/balanced meals, so cooking at home is maybe a little more important now than other times!
