BLW Meal Prep Ideas

One of the hardest aspects of BLW is the constant cooking...and clean up. Meal prepping is a great way to alleviate some of this burden by preparing larger quantities of meals that you can freeze or store for the future. Here are four main dishes that you can make ahead of time, which are particularly great for daycare days or when you are leaving your baby with a cooking-impaired relative (or husband). You can also follow us on Instagram for more - we post meal ideas in our stories daily!

*I realize in hindsight that most bulk-recipes require an egg, so I am sorry for my egg-free moms. You can try an egg replacer (flax egg or Bob's Red Mill) for the meatloaf, waffle, and muffins, but the egg cups are a lost cause.

1. Veggie-Packed Meatloaf

• 1lb of (organic/grass-fed) lean ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/2 cup veggies of choice (we used diced spinach, carrots, and onion, which worked well)
• 1 large egg (this is to bind the ingredients, so you can try an egg replacer if egg free)
• 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I toasted organic, whole grain bread and crushed this)
• 1/2 cup of milk (I used organic whole milk, but I don't see why formula or breastmilk wouldn't work if only your baby will be eating this!)
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp of garlic powder

1. Lightly grease a pan (mine was a little smaller than a 9 x 5) and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl (I found using my hand was easiest to ensure even transfer of ingredients and a fully combined "loaf").
3. Transfer to your pan and cook in the oven until no pink is present (this took about an hour).
4. Cut and serve or allow to cool and then store in a freezer-safe container,

*This made several meals worth for us, depending on how much your baby eats. It was a tiny bit "dry" since meatloaf usually has a sauce, but that's essentially sugar and ketchup most of the time, so I omitted it. Sloane had no complaints at all. If you're making meatloaf for the family, there are many meatloaf sauce recipes out there to add on before baking. A "healthier" version for kids would be a glaze with tomato paste, vinegar and maple syrup.

2. Egg Cups

• 1 dozen large eggs (you can use less to make less, but using a normal sized cupcake tin, we needed the whole carton)
• 1/2 cup of veggies of choice (we used kale, onion, and butternut squash)
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp of nutritional yeast flakes (purely for added nutrition, not a necessary component)
• 1/4 whole milk (or formula...or breastmilk)
• *Optional 1/3 cup of low-sodium cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a muffin tin with your choice of non-stick spray.
2. Add and beat the eggs in a large bowl until scrambled.
3. Combine the veggies, milk, black pepper, yeast flakes, and optional cheese with the beaten eggs.
4. Using a spoon or ladle, fill each spot somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 full (they will raise quite a bit).
5. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until thoroughly cooked through (you can test with a knife or toothpick).
6. Remove and serve or wrap in foil to freeze for later!

*For us, this made a dozen egg bites that are about the size of a normal cupcake. Sloane has a big appetize and ate two per meal with some other fruit/veggies as a side. So that can be six meals or days of daycare in one bake!

3. Veggie Waffle

(*We've also revamped this to a protein packed toddler version here)

• 1.5 cups of your choice of flour (you can use whole wheat, oat, or almond)
• 1/4 cup of oatmeal mix (we used Ready, Set, Food)
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp of nutritional yeast flakes (for added nutrition, not a necessary component)
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 - 2 very ripe bananas
• 1 cup of veggies of choice (some good options are zucchini, carrots, spinach, squash, or sweet potato)
• 1.5 cups of whole milk (or formula...or breastmilk)
• *Optional 1/3 cup of natural peanut butter for a different flavor

1. Preheat waffle maker. Grease with spray of choice or coconut oil.
2. Mix eggs, bananas, veggies, milk, and peanut butter in a bowl. Add flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutritional yeast, and baking powder and stir.
3. Scoop approximately 1/2 cup of batter (per waffle) into your waffle maker and cook until golden.
4. Remove and serve or store in the fridge/freezer.

*You can serve right away or freeze for the future. I topped each waffle meal with something different: sometimes fruit, sometimes just some flax seed, sometimes peanut butter with shredded coconut as pictured. They were good every time! If you don't have a waffle maker, these two come very highly recommended (Presto Belgian Waffle Maker and Dash Mini Waffle Maker). However, the only true non-toxic option is a cast iron waffle maker. Slightly inconvenient, but just load up on coconut oil.

4. Homemade Pancakes (various flavors) (here's a video of us making it!)

• 1 cup of oat flour
• 2 tsp of baking powder
• 1 cup of organic milk
• 2 tbsp of coconut oil
• 1 egg (beaten)
• *optional: 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

FLAVORS: above is the base of your pancake - you can make any flavor combination your babe would enjoy, keeping it sugar free or making it extra sweet!

• Fruit puree: blend your choice of fruits with a bit of milk and add the liquid to your pancake mix; you may need to add a little more flour to thicken
• Chocolate nut butter: add unsweetened cocoa powder and your choice of nut butter
• Pumpkin cinnamon: half a cup or more of pumpkin puree and cinnamon to taste

5. Veggie Muffins

Number five?! But I said I only had four recipes for you - well, technically I'm only writing out four of them. But this previously published veggie muffin recipe is a big hit and another great option for meal prepping and travel. Check it out if you need another one.

Hopefully this can help give you some options for preparing ahead, on-the-go, or whatever you might need them for! If you're looking for more BLW ideas, check out our other posts or follow us on Instagram where I post Sloane's meals in my stories daily.

You can also check out our other recipe posts:

- Healthy BLW Meal Ideas

- Healthy BLW Meal Ideas, Part 2 

- Healthy BLW Meal Ideas, Part 3

- Healthy BLW Meal Ideas, Part 4 

- BLW Pasta Ideas

- BLW Toast Ideas

- BLW International Themed Cuisines

- Healthy On-the-Go Baby Snacks

- Homemade Baby/Toddler Snacks

- 50 Baby & Toddler Breakfast Ideas

Our Favorite Non-Toxic BLW Feeding Tools

- WeeSprout silicone suction plates

- mushie silicone suction plate

- mushie silicone suction bowl
- NumNum preloading spoons

- mushie fork and spoon

- Elk and Friends silverware

- mushie silicone open cups

- Elk and Friends straw cups

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