Food

After birth our digestive systems are slower and weaker so it’s important to focus on foods that are easy to digest. Ideally you would be enjoying warming soups, stews and broths that help to heal the body and replenish the body of liquids. As we all know the ideal and the reality do no always aline especially postpartum. We are sleep deprived, riding a wave of hormones and often just trying to survive so food is often whatever is easiest to grab in a hurry. If you’re lucky you’ll have a group of friends or family who can set up a meal train for you so that you are well fed and can focus on healing and bonding. 

When it has come to postpartum periods I have learned not to rely on others to help feed us. While we had a few friends drop by food for us [thank you to those two families who did] we were mostly on our own. To prepare I made a number of freezer meals and stocked the pantry with healthy snacks and essentials. I also went in search of a meal service that offered foods that were plant-based, nutrient dense and involved little to know preparation and that is when I found Splendid Spoon. 

Okay so Splendid Spoon isn’t specifically a postpartum meal service but it checks off many of my personal postpartum meal “requirements”. Splendid Spoons meals are vegan, gluten free, high fiber, low in sugar and nutrient dense. The best part they are ready to eat so all I have to do is quickly heat them up on the stove (or microwave if you have one – we don’t) or grab straight from the fridge to enjoy. 

The Splendid Spoon Program 2.0 has been perfect for my postpartum recovery because it provides 4 smoothies,  4 drinkable soups, 1 breakfast bowl and 6 plant-based bowls. If you were to do the Program 2.0 as a cleanse you would do five days of smoothie or the breakfast bowl for breakfast, a plant-based bowl for lunch and a healthy dinner of your choice. You would end the program with a soup cleanse day which would be all of your drinkable soups and a plant-based bowl – see more here.

Since I am not doing the program as a cleanse I have have done a oats for breakfast, a smoothie as a snack, a plant-based bowl for lunch and a drinkable soup as an afternoon snack along with a healthy fat such as half avocado with a bit of salt and pepper, a handful of nuts or a scoop of nut butter. For dinner I usually had a grain bowl, salad, or pasta.  

Let’s get on to what you really want to know….

So how does it taste?

I have been so impressed with how everything tastes. The plant-based bowls have all been really delicious. I absolutely loved the chipotle black bean chili and could have eaten it everyday. I also was so impressed with the drinkable soups and those where by far my favorite off everything. The cauliflower coconut and the celery plant where my favorite drinkables. For the drinkables you can drink them without heating but I chose to heat mine on the stove and then drank from my giant mug- seriously the perfect afternoon snack.

Lastly, there are the smoothies which ranged from delicious to meh. I loved the blueberry coconut smoothie and the cacao almond  but the two that included greens just were not great. I found the texture to be a little off for me so I ended up putting them in a blender with a frozen banana and almond butter which resulted in a delicious nutrient dense smoothie filled with the extra calories I needed for breastfeeding. A side note on that you make sure you are eating enough calories throughout the day and are not just relying on these soups and smoothies [when doing the Program 2.0 as a pregnant or postpartum mama]. Add healthy fats like avocado, coconut and nuts to your meals to help increase calories and keep your milk production up. 

and the other thing you want to know….

Is it worth the cost?

Based on my experience it is so worth the cost. I felt at peace when it came to food because I didn’t have to worry about anything. I knew that I was going to have healthy, nourishing meals and snacks and I didn’t have to plan, cook or really do anything I could just grab and enjoy. It also meant my husband could focus on our two older children and all he had to do for me was heat meals up for me. I left the first weeks of my postpartum feeling nourished and my digestion and healing was on point. This has seriously been the easiest postpartum period of my three and I completely attribute that to dedicating the early weeks to rest, bonding, having little to worry about (like making my own meals) and eating foods known for healing and nourishing the body. 

Use my link and save $20 off your first Splendid Spoon Plan. 

This post isn’t sponsored by Splendid Spoon, but I am a brand ambassador for them and the links are affiliate. Thank you for supporting brands that make Running With Tongs possible. As always all opinions are my own.