My favorite season is rolling in! I don't think I could live anywhere that doesn't have Fall....I love the leaves, the sweater and rosy cheek weather, the fall fashion, the pumpkin everything and those cool, crisp nights. Love. It. I also find that September is a natural time to reorganize and plan.  Maybe it's that back to school vibe...maybe it's that it's the last quarter of the year.  Either way, it's had me thinking about meal prep.  I got away from a lot of meal prep as I navigated the postpartum period after this sweet little baby joined us and I've been winging it. It's time to get back to a little bit more organization....and less cereal for dinner if I'm being completely honest here.

This breakfast bowl combines apples, sweet potatoes, turkey sausage and spinach.  This fall sweet potato home fry mixture is paired with scrambled eggs for a wholesome start to the day.  It's easy to put together and makes 4 meals ready to go.  

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients
-1 medium to large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
-1 medium to large apple, peeled and chopped
-1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
-1-2 generous handfuls of spinach
-6-10 turkey breakfast sausages
-salt
-pepper
-5-6 TBS olive oil
-6 eggs

Directions
Add approximately 3 TBS olive oil to a large skillet and heat on medium.  Once heated, add the chopped onion and stir fry until softened, which takes approximately 2-3 minutes.  Add the sweet potato and apple. Add salt and pepper to taste and continue to stir fry together for approximately 20-25 minutes until the sweet potato and apple are fully cooked.  Add more oil as you feel like the ingredients are getting dry and sticking to the pan.  In a separate skillet, prepare your turkey sausage (or you can substitute any sausage you prefer) according to the directions (I used a 10 pack of turkey breakfast sausage links).  Once fully cooked, remove from the heat, chop into pieces and add into the large skillet with the other ingredients.  Toss 1-2 generous handfuls of spinach into the skillet and stir fry until reduced in volume and cooked throughout the other ingredients.  Remove the skillet from the heat and allow to cool.

Prepare 6 eggs by scrambling them in another skillet.  Divide the eggs and fall sweet potato mix into four separate meal containers.  Store covered in the fridge and enjoy!

Let's talk about breakfast! It's my favorite meal of the day but it can be a tricky one because mornings are go, go, go! Ok, dinner is nuts too but there's something so soul satisfying to me about having a hot cup of coffee and a nice breakfast.  I'm a die hard fan of baked goods and I like to make my own most of the time.  This helps me control the ingredients and save on cost but I still try to keep breakfast baked goods simple.  These muffins hit the spot, kick my chocolate cravings in the teeth and my kids loved them too.

Here's what you'll need for these delicious muffins to make ahead and enjoy for breakfasts and snacks....

Ingredients
​(makes approx. 10 muffins)
-2 ripe bananas
-1/2 cup Greek yogurt
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup sugar 
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
-1/2 cup milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp espresso powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks

Directions
Grease a muffin tray and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, mash the bananas and mix them with the eggs, yogurt, vanilla, milk and sugar.  Pour the dry ingredients of flour, baking cocoa, baking powder, espresso powder and salt on top.  Use a fork to lightly mix together the dry ingredients and then combine the dry and wet ingredients until mixed thoroughly.

Scoop the batter into the muffin wells.  I use approx. 1/3 cup per muffin.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips or chunks on top of the uncooked muffins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes and remove from the oven once an inserted toothpick can be removed without batter on it (I find that 22 minutes works great for me).  Allow to cool in the tray for 20 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to complete cooling.  Enjoy!

Hello from Baby Watch land! I am officially within 2 weeks of my due date and trying to keep the house, fridge and pantry prepped for baby's arrival in the midst of this global pandemic.  I'm learning that keeping a house clean while 3 young kids and 2 dogs are home with you all day long is no easy task and that it appears that the incline on our stair case has increased based on my breathlessness as I go up and down them 26 times per day...or maybe it's the growing human in my belly bringing that on.  Either way, I'm feeling slower these days but baby is growing well and that's all that matters.  I'll be breathing back to normal before we know it.

Over the next few weeks or months, I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes to support breastfeeding and that postpartum period, which is commonly referred to as the fourth trimester.  In all honesty, I would probably be given a grade of a D or an F for my past fourth trimester performances if the fourth trimester was graded because I've not done a good job slowing down, recovering and taking care of myself after my past deliveries.  I've focused too much on a "bounce back" mindset and tried to do all of things all of the time to the detriment of myself and likely those closest to me. 

After our first baby, I competed in a triathlon when she was 10 weeks old.  I signed up for 2 x 1/2 marathons to be completed before baby was 11 months old after #2.  After our third child's birth, I wasn't as focused on athletics but I absolutely did not rest or take care of myself properly when I had experienced both the loss of my dad and the birth of my son within about 3 weeks of each other. This time, I'm really trying to focus on soaking up that newborn time without other expectations. To be clear, I'm not saying that road races or athletic events are bad things.  For many people, they bring energy and life to them and make them feel alive.  I love athletics and the process of training.  The problem wasn't the event.  Rather, it was my mindset around the events.  I approached these post-baby registrations with an inflexible attitude and white knuckled that "these things must be done" regardless of the fact that there were clear signs that I was actually pushing too much on myself too quickly.  Those things may not have been too much for someone else, but looking back, I can see that they were for me at the time.

So as I begin to prep for our fourth baby's arrival, one of my focuses is on ingredients to support my intentions to breastfeed.  Breastfeeding has been a challenging journey for me with each of my kids and while I truly believe that fed is best and love is the most important nutrient that a baby needs, I do plan to do my best with it again this round.  This global pandemic certainly has me wanting to boost this baby's immune system as quickly as humanly possible. 

​This brings me to galactagogues*, which is a fancy term for substances that increase milk supply.  While there are herbal substances with research and testimonials to support their assistance in milk supply for breastfeeding moms, my recipes are focusing on basic milk boosting food ingredients in recipes such as oatmeal, flax seed and brewer's yeast.  You don't have to look far to find lactation boosting cookies, bars, snacks and shakes ready for purchase.  These can be great convenience items to have on hand, but there are also simple ways to incorporate these ingredients into some prep ahead recipes.  I have two recipes for Lactation Cookies here and here and this week I've prepped some freezer waffles for a quick grab and go breakfast item....or a middle of the night snack during those night time feedings that are coming up soon.

Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients
(makes approximately 10 servings)

-2 cups oat flour (you can buy this as a flour or process 2 cups of rolled oats through your high powered blender or food processor to make into flour)
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-1/2 cup neutral flavored oil
-3 TBS ground flax seed
-1 TBS brewer's yeast
-4 tsp baking powder
-1-2 tsp cinnamon
-pinch of salt
-1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions
Turn on your waffle iron and set to a medium/high setting.  These waffles need to cook a little longer and a little hotter than regular flour waffles.  I've also learned that the key to waffles from scratch is to really whisk the eggs first so that the waffles come out more fluffy.  I've made them before with skipping this step and they were dense and not so much fun!  So, the first step is to add your eggs to a large bowl and using either a hand or stand mixer, whisk the eggs starting on low and increase speed to medium/high.  Whisk together for approximately 2 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add in your wet ingredients of vanilla extract, oil and almond milk.  Stir together.  Add in the dry ingredients of oat flour, flax seed, brewer's yeast, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Stir until well combined.  Fold in your blueberries.

Make sure the waffle iron/maker is well heated.  My waffle maker is set up to make one large circle waffle that is broken into 4 triangle waffles (I consider 2 triangles 1 serving).  For this waffle maker, I pour approximately 3/4 cup of batter evenly around the waffle maker and gently close the top.  These waffles take a little bit longer to cook than others and I find that they are turning golden brown on the edges around 5-6 minutes.  Keep an eye on your waffle maker as different models may produce different results.

Once ready, these waffles are a little more delicate than conventional all purpose flour based waffles.  Using a spatula, gently lift the waffle off of the waffle iron and transfer to a plate to cool completely.  Follow this entire process until all of the batter has been used.

Once all of the waffles are completely cool, you can stack them with a piece of wax paper separating each waffle and place them into a freezer bag and store in the freezer.  Alternatively, you can lay them out individually on a sheet tray, freeze and then place them in the freezer bag.  If you freeze them all stacked together without something to separate them, they will freeze/stick together, which isn't the end of the world but might be frustrating trying to take out one waffle at a time later on when you have a baby in your arms.  

Once ready to eat after that sweet baby arrives, simply remove the portion of waffles that you wish to prepare, place in the toaster, top up the heated waffle based on your preferences (my favorite is a smush of nut butter) and enjoy!

*For more information regarding galactagogues, please visit the following resources:

Kelly Mom- What is a Galacatogogue and Do I Need One?

Very Well Family- Foods to Increase Breast Milk Supply

​It is important to note that none of this information is intended to be medical advice and this information is based solely on my experience and personal research.  I encourage anyone with lactation and breastfeeding questions to seek the advice of an IBCLC Lactation Consultant and/or their medical provider for individualized questions or concerns.
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