What do you know about postpartum nutrition?  The act of healing with food?

This is NOT a post about diet or about shedding weight – this is a space for riots not diets. 

It can start in pregnancy, batch cooking in the last few weeks can be therapeutic (for some), but it is also something you can ask friends and family to do for you (if they are feeling like a spare part).  Following the birth of your baby, your body has to go through a monumental transformation; recovery, rebirth, healing, energy and lactation production.  Your body undergoes huge waves of hormones, emotions, adrenaline in the first few days with a peak between day 3-6 following birth.  

We are not known for making selfcare a priority in our society; we unfortunately have pretty shite postpartum support networks, our paternity leave is woeful, we don’t always live close to families and we’ve just lived through the worlds biggest shit blip ever.  If you can make anything easier for yourself, then consider adding these items to your food shop in the next few weeks; the seasons are changing and we are going into longer nights, so broths, soups and slow cooker meals are on.

Soups are another thing you can make and freeze, making your own bone broth is easy, made a roast chicken/lamb dinner?  Keep those bones.  Bone broths origins trace as far back as 2,500 years ago where it was used in Chinese medicine for supporting kidney and digestive health, now it considered a must in postpartum menus to support new mothers.

Put the bones in a crock pot, cover with water, season, put a carrot and/or onion in, bring to the boil, reduce, cover and simmer.  Cook for at least 10 hours or until it has reduced by ½, the more it reduces the more intense the flavour and more collagen is extracted.  [You can ask your local butcher for bones to make broth and they might give them away for free].  You can add the bone broth to miso, green onions, garlic, noodles, corn and shredded chicken.

Bone broth is rammed full of vitamins, minerals and amino acids, it can be sipped like a tonic, you can pour it into ice cubes trays, then freeze and add to any casserole, gravy, stew or sauce you make and it keeps for up to 3 months [leave some space at the top of each ice cube compartment as it swells when frozen].  If kept in the freezer it will probably have an appearance of jelly – this is normal once heated it will return to it’s previous state.

Do you have any other go to batch cooking recipes? Post in the comments x