Feeding during pregnancy means you’re eating to nourish two people. Now, don’t stuff your plate with double servings. Your diet must contain adequate nutrients to help the fetus grow and keep you healthy throughout the nine months. Eating healthy gets even trickier during pregnancy. Sometimes, you’re too tired to cook or meal prep. Otherwise, your partner could get overwhelmed with cooking and doing the dishes every night.
Regardless, your body requires those nutrients. While it’s tempting to give in to your junk food cravings since cooking can get hectic, you can try easy recipes that won’t have you spending hours over the stove. On this list, you’d find some recipes that don’t need cooking. That’s how easy they are.
Before proceeding, know that your meals should contain nutrients like iron, calcium, proteins, and folate. Ensure to stock foods like eggs, greens, nuts, fortified cereals, chicken, beans, lentils, and salmon.
In This Article
1 Hummus Sandwich
That greasy bacon sandwich you keep drooling over sounds delicious. As mouth-watering as it looks, that meal isn’t the healthiest breakfast choice. How about something you don’t have to fry or even cook? Why risk getting grease in your eye when you can prepare an easy sandwich that’s equally delicious?
The ingredients for this meal include red bell peppers, mashed avocado, salad greens, carrot, hummus, sliced cucumbers, and whole-grain bread. Prep the bread and spread the hummus and mashed avocado.
Layer the vegetables and serve. You can switch up this recipe by replacing the avocado with some grilled chicken breasts.
2 Grilled Chicken Wings With Baked Potato Fries
You can never go wrong with a chicken dish, regardless of your diet choices. Whether you’re pregnant or just trying healthy food, chicken recipes come in handy. Maybe you’re craving some fries from your favorite restaurant. Thankfully, you don’t have to remove potatoes from your diet during pregnancy.
You’ll need spices like ginger, salt, bullion cubes, cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, ginger, and basil flakes. Mix the spices and pour them over the wings. Leave to marinate for at least one hour.
While the wings soak in the flavor, season the potatoes adequately. Place the chicken and potatoes in separate trays and pop them into the oven. Baste both sides of the chicken with buffalo sauce after a few minutes. Serve with your favorite dip.
3 Prepared Meal Delivery Services
Sometimes, pregnancy comes with an acquired taste for specific meals. In some cases, pregnant women refuse home-cooked meals due to nausea. So ordering prepped ingredients won’t work. Instead, you can opt for prepared meal delivery services.
If you can’t cook at home during pregnancy, these services can deliver chef-cooked meals depending on your taste and nutritional needs. Who needs home cooking when you can get chef-cooked meals?
4 Pan-Seared Salmon And Lentils
During pregnancy, some health gurus will tell you that all fat is bad. Well, that’s not true. You need healthy fats to help your body support the baby. Some foods with healthy fat include avocados, salmon, olive oil, almonds, and organic peanut butter.
With this recipe, you get a rich supply of fats and proteins in one easy meal. You also get the option of serving with a side of vegetables like leeks, carrots, and celery. Start by soaking the lentils in hot water for 15 minutes.
While the lentils soak, sauté some leeks and garlic in olive oil. Next, add some chicken stock, carrots, celery, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf, and seasoning. Add the lentils to the bubble and cook until tender. Season the salmon and cook on a pan for 3 minutes. You can either transfer to an oven for 6 minutes or cook both sides in a pan. Sprinkle some parsley and serve warm.
5 Chicken Tortilla Casserole
Inspired by Mexican meals, this dish is a perfect summer-time lunch recipe. Loaded with carbs, iron, and protein, you get a nutrient-filled meal in one serving at an affordable price as well.
Ingredients like eggplants, spices, onions, garlic, chicken tenders, corn, tortilla wraps, Jack cheese, zucchini, and cilantro come in handy for this meal. Season the onions and corn with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Mix the chicken, zucchini, and garlic with seasoning before popping into the oven. Remove the chicken from the rack when the vegetables start to brown.
Shred the chicken and spread the pieces on each wrap. Finish off the wrap with some vegetables, enchilada sauce, and jack cheese. Place in the oven until the cheese starts melting on the sides.
6 One-Pan Pasta And Veggies
There’s nothing as satisfying as preparing a one-pot dish. You can even watch TV while everything cooks nicely. For this meal, your favorite vegetable medley works, from broccoli to carrots and olives.
Sauté some onions, garlic, and sausages for two minutes in olive oil. Add some tomato paste, spinach, pasta, chicken broth, and olives. Cook the mixture for five minutes and stir in the rest of the soft vegetables. Add some cheese if you like, and finish off with a sprinkle of chopped basil leaves.
7 Almond Chia Pudding
Oatmeal can get tiring for breakfast. Switch things up with a serving of some nutritious chia pudding. With this easy breakfast recipe, you don’t need to cook. Mix the chia seeds with low-fat milk like almond milk and maple syrup.
Refrigerate for up to three days. Stir the pudding and top with your berry of choice and toasted almond nuts.
