Crock Pot Freezer Meals: A Postpartum Mama's Best Friend

One of the things I did to prep for baby #NESTINGFEVER was to make several, like 11 to be exact, crock pot freezer meals to get us through the first few weeks of having a newborn.

I can honestly say that it was THE most helpful thing I did.

The first 30 days of parenthood are literally the equivalent of military survival training. You deserve a freaking patch for making it through AND keeping that little human alive. I'm not saying it's not a wonderful time & full of precious moments - it is. HOWEVER, the first 30 days are full of nothing but the unknown.. exhaustion.. nipple pain.. + unlimited trial/error.

Cooking was the absolute LAST thing I had time for & eating was the #1 thing I'd forget to do. But we all know, it's SO important to eat good foods regularly after baby comes for your milk supply to come in.

So first - you need food.

Secondly - you need healthy foods.

Anddddd we all know that when people BRING you meals, 9 out of 10 times, it's a really unhealthy plethora of casserole type dishes & comfort foods.

Trust me, you'll want to do this.

Make the time.

Prep at least 4 or 5 meals.

But go for 10 if you have the freezer room.

I promise you won't regret it!

I whipped up a couple of my own personal "recipes" during pre baby food prep, but I primarily used THIS post for my inspiration!

We loved the convenience of these crock pot freezer meals so much that about a month or so after Reagan was born, we made about 6 more to get us through the next month!

(our peanut had some ROUGH reflux when she was teeny so these were seriously a blessing to have on hand).

Keep in mind, these are not my original recipes.

The original link/source is a couple sentences up.

Sharing is caring, though!

So here ya go.

First up..

Mushroom Barley Stew

Prep/Bag:

1 pound Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

1 rib celery, diced

1 onion, diced

1, 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup uncooked pearl barley

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon black pepper

Day of:

Add 1 1/2 cups of water to slow cooker before cooking
Cook Time: 8 to 10 hours on low
Serves 6 to 8

Second..

Hearty Lentil Stew

Prep/Bag:

1 onion, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 cups peeled and diced (1/4 inch cubes) sweet potatoes

1 cup red lentils

½ cup washed quinoa

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

Day of:

Add 5 cups stock (I used veggie stock) to the slow cooker before cooking.

Cook Time: 6- 8 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high

Serves 6 to 8

Third..

Teriyaki Chicken

Prep/Bag:

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken, thighs or breast, cut into bite-size pieces

(I recommend thighs, they don’t dry out as much in the slow cooker)

½ cup soy sauce
(I used liquid aminos in place of soy sauce)

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

¼ cup maple syrup
(I used agave in place of maple syrup)

1, 20-ounce can pineapple chunks

2 cloves garlic, minced

Day of:

Cook Time: 8 hours on low

Serve with: cooked brown rice and green veggies

Serves 6 to 8

Fourth..

Vegetable Beef Stew

Prep/Bag:

2 pounds stew meat

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 cups green beans, broke into bite-sized pieces

1 cup sweet corn

2 tablespoons beef stock base (I like Organic Better than Bullion)

1 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup apple juice
(I left out the apple juice)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Day of:
Add 1 1/2 cups of water to slow cooker before cooking

Cook Time: 8 to 10 hours on low

Serves 6 to 8

Fifth..

Beef Stroganoff

Prep/Bag:

1 pounds stew meat

1 pound sliced baby bella mushrooms

1 onion, diced

½ cup apple juice
(I left out the apple juice)

1 tablespoon beef stock base (I like Organic Better than Bullion)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

Day of: Add 1 cup water to the slow cooker before cooking. Stir in 1 cup of sour cream just before serving.

Day Of:

Cook Time: 8 hours on low

Serve with: quinoa or brown rice and green beans

Serves 6 to 8

*I stirred in greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
Additionally, I used turkey in meatball form*

Sixth & final..

White Chicken Chili

Prep/Bag:

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

(you can also cook this all together with the breastz whole & shred in the crock pot at the end if you prefer) 

2 cups of frozen corn

1, 15-ounce can black beans

1 can of diced tomatoes and green chilis

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

Juice from 2 limes

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Day Of:

Add 2 cups of chicken stock to slow cooker before cooking

Cook Time: 6- 8 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high

Serve with: quinoa or tortilla chips.
Top with greek yogurt, cheese, olives and/or salsa!

Serves 6 to 8

 Want more crock pot freezer inspiration??
Pinterest is where it's AT, y'all!!

And don't forget that you can find loads of recipe inspiration that you can always tweak to be healthier or to appeal to your taste buds.

If you end up trying any of these out, be sure let me know what you think and/or what you switched up.

Happy PREPPING, mamas!

Thoughts & Tips for Natural Birth: Part One

Natural Birth.

Kind of an oxymoron if you really think about it.

The most natural act in all of nature, after sex/procreation, is childbirth.

And yet, we are raised nowadays with a new way of thinking.

A way of thinking in which a natural birth {vaginal & unmedicated} is optional & is the exception, rather than the norm.

Because of modern medicine & technology, both of which are wonderful & serve an important purpose in our world, we have been made to believe that birth is more of a medical process than a natural one.

We've accepted, usually without even realizing, that we will need the assistance of medical professionals &/or multiple interventions when the time comes.

I myself assumed this for years, after watching movies & hearing lots of stories.

The plot in each was usually the about the same.

Women got pregnant.
Their husbands were clueless & frantic.
The expectant mothers are screaming & cursing in pain.

And they are portrayed to ultimately need doctors, medicines & machines or devices to help birth their babies

Am I right?

Through early adulthood, after a few careless years of "living it up", I've begun to live more & more conscientiously.

I truly believe in caring for our bodies.

Doing so in a natural way - simply helping it thrive.

Because we have been fearfully & wonderfully created.
We are but stewards of AMAZING, strong, capable, intelligent bodies that we've been entrusted with.

Fast forward to getting pregnant the first time.
(read more about my pregnancies & journey through miscarriage HERE)

I started thinking..

"I know I was made to do this.. but..
I wonder why some women CHOOSE natural births vs births with some sort of medical interventions.. does it matter? And what do I want."

I did some.. er, LOTS of.. googling.
I consulted some trustworthy friends.
I ordered a few books.

I knew that I was interested in the pursuit of natural living - this adventure would be a continuation.

The more I read..
The more epiphanies I had.
The more I understood my body.
The more confidence I developed in myself.
The more excited I got to "train" over the next 9 months.
The more I questioned the widespread fear amongst my peers.

Was I missing something?

I mean.. we are the ONLY mammals that don't birth our babies like it's our J-O-B.

Our culture, compared to others around the world who have been less influenced by media or who have had less access to modern medicine, is the one that has taken this mindset & embraced it as normal.

Why are we fearful of something so innately natural?

Something so beautiful?

Something we were chosen to do as women?

A multitude of thoughts continually flooded my mind..

Then, it hit me.

I'm only half of this picture.

Oh gosh..

I have to talk to Nate.

And what will he think!?

The first time I brought it up to him, he was a little defensive & had some concerns.

"But women do it this way all the time."
"What if something happens."
"There's nothing wrong with medicine or doctors - shouldn't you trust the professionals?"
"You don't want one of those home water births, do you?" 

You know.. all the things you'd probably expect - he felt & shared.

I told him I understood where he was coming from.
But I asked if he would do something for me.

I asked him to watch "The Business of Being Born" together.
So we did.

It empowered me further.

And it OPENED his eyes in a big way.

It was what we both needed to decide if we would keep having this discussion.

After we watched it, his mantra became "if this is what you want, I totally understand & completely support you." He even began to embrace the idea himself!

But hang on a second..

Why did it take the internet & documentaries for both of us though to alter our mindset?

Nate & I are both God-fearing, bible believing Christians.

Didn't we know that this is what women were LITERALLY created by God to do?

Yep.
And still.
Nope.

Our culture, y'all..
Gosh, it's powerful.
How we are raised & nurtured really truly shapes us.

Simply said..

Influence is power.

And because of that influence over time.

The numbers in our country are staggering.

Our c-section rate..
often times forced on women who are TIRED & simply trusting the experts in a time of EXHAUSTION.

The number of birth related mortalities..
comparatively to other countries.

Heck, the fact that so many women, well before their due dates, schedule an induction around their own personal schedules..

I'm not trying to judge or belittle anyone - but think about how much this deviates from our natural process.

Listen to me.

I am NOT knocking situations in which things happen that are out of our control in which intervention is absolutely needed.
I'm extremely grateful it's available in case I had needed any of it when Raegan was born.

But I am saying that we seem to have forgotten how amazing our bodies are & what they are capable of - with little to no prompting or assistance.

Why doesn't this light a FIRE within us!?

I believe it all starts in the mind.

With understanding, appreciation & the removal of fear.

I spent my entire pregnancy strengthening my body & most importantly - rewiring my mind.
Continually LEARNING & working my confidence muscles.

"Natural birth" is fairly simple, in reality.

And YES, it's hard as HECK.

But it's amazing.. & so so doable.

Here's the deal though.

You've gotta WANT to do it for some other reason than "just because."

And while our bodies don't necessarily need lots of fancy prep-work, our minds DO.

So be willing to put in some time to prepare.

My experience was one I'll never forget.

I'm SO grateful to have had the opportunity..

To get pregnant.
To carry a baby to term.
To birth her without any serious complications.
To remember it.
To have experienced it so fully.
To have had a newborn so ALERT.

It was NOTHING short of amazing.
(to read my birth story, click HERE)

I've been asked from my own reading & experience to share a bit with my readers.
But before I did that, I needed to share my heart & mind with you.
You needed to know my WHY & where I was coming from.

So stay tuned TOMORROW for part two of this post - some tips, in no particular order, that I'd like to share with other mommas who are in a season of preparation.

You can do this, momma.

Believe in yourself & your body.

Our {natural} Birth Story: Part Two

Our Birth Story: Part Two

(This part is LONG, because I didn't want to leave anything out!)

... When we arrived around 9:15pm, we signed in (doing paperwork sure was interesting that far into labor) & went to triage so I could be checked to see how far I had progressed at home.

At that point, I was 5 centimeters dilated & 80%. I remember thinking, "only 5?" & feeling bummed because I have friends who stayed stuck at that point for a LONG time. I got over it quickly though & refocused on breathing through my surges & letting gravity work with my body.

They moved us to a room where I saw the midwife, got a hep-lock put in (no fluids though, just a port for safety) & they checked baby girl's heart rate. I shared my birth plan with the nurse & they decided to basically let us do our own thing, checking back periodically.

The midwife had decided, when she heard my timeline, that I must be progressing about a centimeter an hour & recommended we move to a room with a tub so I could labor more comfortably for the next, what she thought would be, several hours.

Once we moved rooms, I posted up on the bed.

We adjusted the back of the bed completely upright and I got onto my knees & held onto the side rails. From here, I would sink down onto my heels or rest my head on the back in between surges; and then I would sit back up on my knees during each surge. I was having some serious back & leg labor!!

Nate began filling up the tub & I decided to stand by the sink for a while, rocking back & forth. I drank water & apple juice to keep my energy up because the pressure was getting SO intense as she moved down that it felt like my legs would give out during surges. At this point, I also started having to fight the urge to puke - I knew from my reading that this was a sign of transition. The end was near.. I decided to be encouraged & somehow strengthened by it!

(PLUG to be educated on how your body works during labor so you know what to expect!!

SO SO helpful!)

About an hour & a half after my initial check/assessment, I told the nurse she should check me again because I was convinced I was progressing quickly. Sure enough, I was 8 centimeters. And they, the nurse & midwife, decided this was going to be a much quicker process than they anticipated!

I decided at that point to go ahead and try getting in the tub.

I labored there on my knees for a very short period of time. For some reason, the water made the pressure I was feeling MUCH more intense instead of easing things like the midwife thought it would. I got out & asked to be checked again because the pressure was feeling unbearable during the peaks of my surges - I was 9 centimeters & 90% thinned.

Back on the bed & on my knees, the nurse checked baby girl's heart rate. She noticed that it was dropping to a concerning level & the midwife suggested I try another position to see if it helped. She had me lay on my side, which helped with the heart rate issue, but was SO much less comfortable for me. I literally have no clue how women labor and birth laying down/on their backs! I told her the pressure was INTENSE and starting to change. I felt like I needed to start pushing. She said to do my thing & work with my surges to work her head down a little more. My midwife literally sat back in her chair with her arms crossed and watched me work. She completely trusted my body & let Nate continue to coach me.

After about 15 minutes of pushing, she said it was GO time & that the head was crowning. She had the nurse give me oxygen to maximize my surges & I gave it my ALL. Breathing & pushing like my life depended on it. Chin down, jaw open, grunting like a cave woman & fully giving into my body.

Nate kept saying how close I was & that our girl was about to be here. He was so encouraging!! About 15 minutes later, I gave a final push & she was HERE.

The midwife caught her & handed her to me right away. I'll never forget the utter disbelief of her being OURS. Seeing her the first time & feeling connected in a WHOLE new way!

Unfortunately, she wasn't responding like they needed her to with her breathing - she was born with the cord wrapped around her neck and body. This explained her heart rate dropped as she descended while I labored upright. They had Nate quickly cut the cord & took her to start stimulating her.

Before I knew it, the NICU team was in the room getting ready to transfer her, while the original nursing staff finished her APGAR testing.

They told me they would have to take her for the next several hours - no bonding, no skin to skin, no immediate nursing, no delayed cord clamping. Delivery had gone SO wonderfully, all of my wishes followed. But sadly, our immediate bonding time just couldn't happen, which was a little heart breaking. But in that moment, ALL I cared about though was making sure she was okay. So I sent Nate with her & started prepping to deliver the placenta.

My mom came back to keep me company while Nate was gone & I filled her in on the details of baby girl. Within minutes we got news that she was coming back! They regulated her breathing without the help of a machine so no additional monitoring was needed. PRAISE THE LORD. She was going to be in my arms again soon!

The midwife then informed me that the placenta wasn't budging - I wasn't contracting enough, probably in part because we hadn't been able to nurse yet. She gave me the option of a procedure to remove it or a pitocin drip. Although I did NOT want meds during my delivery, I opted for the drip so I could knock out the afterbirth process. Within a short time, it was out & baby girl arrived back in the room!!

They laid her on my chest for skin to skin & she latched onto my breast right away! Feeling her against my skin.. looking at her face.. watching her breathe.. gosh, that took my breath away.

I had a daughter.

She was safe in my arms.

Nate & I were parents.

My world was complete.

Thank you, Jesus!!

__________________________________

I want to wrap this up by saying how GRATEFUL I am that we were able to stick to our natural birth plan - it was the most incredible, HARD, empowering & rewarding experience of my life.

Even moreso, I want to offer HUGE praise to the Lord, who had his hands of protection over our sweet girl. Although we weren't able to have immediate skin to skin/nursing or delayed cord clamping, it was still perfect. Baby girl's birth was the experience of a lifetime & our sweet baby had arrived safely!!

Tuesday night, the 13th, into Wednesday morning, the 14th, was the hardest but most empowering experience I've EVER had. I'm so proud to have had the opportunity to go through every moment with Nate. He was my rock!!! Literally breathing with me, coaching me through each phase of labor, trusting my body & reminding me to stay focused on the end goal.

I could talk now about what helped me throughout the process & share some tips with some of my expecting friends, but I'm saving that for another time & another blog post (COMING SOON).

So thank you to everyone who prayed for us. Prayer is POWERFUL & I believe they truly made a difference in our delivery!

#BabyRaeGhoens #GhoensPartyOfThree