As much prep as I did prior to the arrival of V – there’s just no way to prepare for everything. Obvious statement much?
When you are nursing, you need extra calories. For me though, I am ravenous. I need LOTS of calories. I think this is common, but I’ll avoid generalizing because BFing is different for every mom.
More than calories, what I crave is carbs. Sweet stuff specifically. And for the most part, I have been indulging, but I’m starting to feel not so great about it. (1) My gut doesn’t love crappy Easter candy and (2) I want to feed my body with nourishing quality stuff for the sake of V’s development and my own post-partum recovery.
I googled and brainstormed and pinterest-ed the crap out of snack ideas and really came up with very few things that sounded appealing. Let’s be honest, celery sticks are not fun, chocolate is. And while I think there’s a time and place for balance (meaning both of those foods), I want to focus more on real foods (with protein and fat) and less on sugar.
Guess what I forgot about!?! SMOOTHIES! They are the perfect solution! First off, they are hands free and portable (key for me since P has allergies and I can’t eat several food groups in his presence). Secondly, they can be the same or different each day without doing much additional shopping/ingredient stocking.
I am a BIG FAN of Sunwarrior’s chocolate warrior blend protein powder. It’s GF, DF, SF, vegan, non GMO, and delicious.
I especially love that it’s sweetened with stevia so I can add fruit and other carbs without overdoing it in the sugar department.
My current go-to smoothie:
- 4 coconut milk cubes (I freeze canned coconut milk in ice trays)
- 1 cup non dairy milk (I use coconut or almond)
- 1 large handful fresh spinach
- 1 serving chocolate Sunwarrior warrior blend powder
- 1 frozen banana
- [optional toppings/add-ins] 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1/4 cup whole rolled oats, 1/4 cup granola
If it’s not in your pantry right now, go add canned coconut milk to your next grocery list right now so you can freeze some into cubes for this blissfully creamy drink.
Blend away and pour into a bowl (or massive mug).
Slurp up with a straw or scoop with a spoon. For a snack I leave it as is, but I’ve been drinking them for breakfast too so to make it a meal I either add oats prior to blending or granola on top after.
I received these samples of Sunwarrior from the company but fell so hard for them that I bought more on my own.
I like the chocolate and vanilla flavor equally. For my taste buds, the chocolate combines best with banana and vanilla with strawberry. I’m sure they would be good flip flopped too though. In reality, any fruit would work. I have mango vanilla on the brain so as soon as we hit up the grocery store for next week’s haul that’s going in the cart for sure. I’m partial to dates in my smoothies too. Super decadent but oh so tasty.
Hit me up with other ideas for smoothie combos if you have a favorite you want to share!
Actually, hit me up with any other quick snack ideas that are healthy and not all sugar if you have some. I miss you hummus. 🙁 Might have to make my own (tahini/sesame free) hummus soon…
try medjool dates stuffed with sunbutter or tahini and topped with chili flakes or flaky sea salt
Hey Ellise! What about oatmeal for breakfast? I make instant steel cut oats with half a cup of frozen mixed berries, omit a little of the water the recipe calls for, and stir it halfway through. It’s heavenly topped with yogurt + cinnamon!
thanks for the idea danielle…I’m all about the steel cut oats right now too (see my previous post)!
thanks dana – i like the sun butter idea, but no tahini while mr. p is up (he’s allergic to sesame). i used to eat dates stuffed w nut butter all the time. they are definitely a sweeter snack but its a good one to keep on the back burner. i have a few home-made balls with dates/oats/sunbutter in the freezer that I’ve been snacking on as well. all yummy ideas.
Smoothies!
Yes!!!!
My favoritest combo of all time has almond butter :/ i’m sure it great with sun butter too.
Frozen spinach – lots
Fresh or frozen blueberries- lots
Gob of almond butter
A TB chia seeds
Enough almond milk to blend
I usually add in a vanilla protein powder too.
For a great savory version i make a quickie fake gazpacho:
Half a peeled cucumber
2 roma tomatoes
Half an avocado
Salt and pepper
Ice cubes
V8 (regular! Not the nasty low sodium)
Splash of olive oil
The avocado and EVOO help keep me full longer, and sometimes I don’t want a sweet smoothie.
Sounds like you’re working out the kinks in the day to day- and i grew up watching tons of sesame street! That’s easily the best show ever
Wow! I really have been out of the loop! Congrats on the new baby!! Glad I stopped by to see what you were up to. What a pleasant surprise. 🙂 Enjoy your weekend!!
I make hummus with sunbutter often cuz I always have it but don’t always have tahini. Also how about some homemade granola? Or these lactation cookies would be great to keep in the freezer..
http://fitnessista.com/2015/03/lactation-cookies-for-new-mamas/
dude! a savory smoothie (gazpacho) sounds awesome! i loooove that idea! i have never tried v8 but it kinda sounds good right now actually. avocado in it sounds perfect too. super creamy.
i grew up on reading rainbow and sesame street and i think i turned out ok 🙂
aw, thanks lisa! how are YOU!?!
ha – great minds think alike – i have both granola and lactation cookies i made in advance (http://www.hungryhungryhippie.com/lactation-cookies/) but thanks for the link anyway 🙂
sun butter is a decent sub for tahini but it’s just not the same…i made it that way last time and thought it tasted too salty, but i think i just used a salted sun butter. maybe ill try a white bean / chickpea blend with sun butter and see how that works.
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Thanks for sharing! What is your Pinterest user name?! 🙂 I’ve been getting back into more smoothies since it’s getting nicer out! I’ve been getting a lot of my ideas from http://myvega.com/course/smoothies/ ( I don’t always use that exact powder but it gives me smoothie ideas!)
In my early, ravenous days of breastfeeding, I ate tons of toast with smashed avocado and sea salt.
Also, I often make hummus without tahini- just add a lot of lemon, olive oil, whatever herbs you like, and it comes out really tasty.
I also lived on homemade muffins- blueberry lemon was a favorite combo. Definitely satisfied the need for sweet carbs without being a sugar bomb.
Clever! I’m elisehippie (I think?) on pinterest but I don’t even know how to use it. I joined last year and still haven’t really figured it out. Hashtag I’m old.
I’m currently breastfeeding and instead of lactation cookies I add brewers yeast, flax powder and GF oats in all my smoothies, they actually turn out pretty good…because lets face it my little one is 8 months now and eating cookies with sugar (I made them as healthy as I could) all the time really did a number to me. I finally got back on track with eating healthier, which for me is less sugar. Adding all the milk boosting ingredients seems to work supply wise and getting additional calories from it…although my milk supply has gone down since i’ve been back at work, boo.
what a cool idea! do you taste the yeast in the smoothie at all?
less sugar is my main struggle too – i crave sweets all day long but want so badly to try not to eat all the chocolate (which I usually do anyway).
You can kind of taste the yeast, but its pretty mild. Some days I go overboard and add too much, then I can really taste it. I kind of don’t mind the flavor though it kind of gives it a nutty flavor. In Mango smoothies you can taste it more so than if I use berries. I put kale in it most of the time, that seems to disguise the yeast flavor even more. After I had my baby all I wanted was EVERY sweet/carby thing in the house. I finally calmed it down.
PS I’ve been following your blog for a while now. Since before you had P…I have really learned a lot about food from you! I am now starting solids for my little one, i’m going to have to go back and re-read some of the ones when P was just starting out on foods, im so clueless…More nervous with the choking/gagging.
thanks for the info! I’m so glad you’ve gotten something out of HHH (that’s always the hope I guess…haha). As far as starting solids goes, you got this mama! Just trust your gut and do what works for you and your family and try not to stress over it too much. Good luck!!