Life with Baby Series: Batch Cooking Tips
Happy new year! I hope this month finds you healthy and ready to take on a brand-new year. For me, this new year will bring a special new addition to our little family – a baby boy! I’m anxiously awaiting his arrival and am inspired to share with you what I’m doing to ensure healthy eating is the easy choice when he arrives. Over the next few months, I will share my favourite tips and recipes for healthy eats at home while bringing you along on my journey of motherhood!
To start off, I’d like to share how I’ll spend my last few weeks “nesting” and preparing meals to have when baby arrives. Cooking will be the last thing on our minds for the first few months – sleep, anyone?!
Slow cooker recipes
Here are three recipes I plan on prepping in freezer bags, so they are ready to throw in the slow cooker to make easy, healthy and delicious dinners that require minimal effort!
Slow-cooker butternut squash lentil curry – Leave out the stock and lime juice until ready to cook.
Slow-cooker sweet potato chilli – Follow step one, cool and then freeze with rest of ingredients. I will likely use ground chicken or turkey for this recipe instead of beef.
Slow-cooker Mexican quinoa bake – Leave out the stock until ready to cook. Follow the recipe when cooking for adding cheese.
Prepare, cook, and freeze recipes
Here are two recipes I plan on preparing, cooking, cooling and then freezing for quick and easy meals.
Sweet potato and black bean freezer burritos
Note: Another thing I plan to do is prepare a big batch of sauce to freeze for easy spaghetti nights. No two sauces of mine are ever the same. I like to experiment with different meats and seasonings.
Other quick and easy dinner ideas
Pasta with sauce – This is where my frozen spaghetti sauce will come in handy. Boil some water, cook pasta, heat sauce and voila! Dinner is served! (Don’t forget a side of veggies or salad.)
Breakfast for dinner: Avocado and a fried egg on toast – This meal always satisfies, so why not have it for a relatively quick and easy dinner?
Stir-fry – No need to follow a recipe here. Stir-fry your favourite veggies, a protein with teriyaki sauce and serve on a bed of rice. Delicious!
Next month, I’ll share with you what I plan on preparing in advance for quick and easy breakfasts!
Jenn Giurgevich is the founder of Spark Nutrition & Health, a virtual nutrition consulting business.
Visit www.sparknutritionandhealth.ca for more information.
