Featured Recipe:
Polenta Cakes
I recommend using pre-cooked polenta, which comes packaged ready to heat and serve. Zerto brand and San Gennaro brand pre-cooked polenta packages do not contain any milk or soy ingredients. The polenta slices make a good side dish for meat or fish recipes, but can also make a filling lunch! Baked polenta slices are also good as a quick snack when topped with salsa.
1 package pre-cooked polenta
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced
tomatoes (drained)
1 tsp. sundried tomato paste
2 Tbsp. chopped or sliced olives
1 tsp. small capers
½ tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. olive oil
½ tsp. dried oregano (or 1 tsp.
minced fresh)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Unwrap polenta and cut into ½-inch slices, arrange on non-stick baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. While polenta is baking, combine tomatoes, paste, olives, capers, garlic, olive oil and oregano in a large sauté pan. (You can leave this sit if baby needs you.)
4. Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Allow polenta slices to cool slightly and serve topped with the sauce.
6. Enjoy!
Welcome to the Nursing Mom Recipes web site!
According to the Nemours Foundation, approximately 2%-3% of infants have a milk allergy and usually outgrow it. (citation) And according to Dr. Alan Greene, at least 30% of infants with cow's-milk allergy are also allergic to soy. (citation) When you consider that 4 million babies were born in 2003 in the United States alone (citation), this equals approximately 24,000 new babies each year with both milk and soy allergies or sensitivities.
When I was breastfeeding my new daughter, my husband and I (thanks to our pediatrician) discovered she had food sensitivity issues with milk and soy proteins. I had to either cut milk and soy products from my diet, or stop breastfeeding my baby and switch completely to hypo-allergenic formula.
Completely switching to formula was not an option for me, so I began eliminating milk and soy products from my diet - including butter, cream, cheese, and all soybean oils! I became exasperated, wondering "What can I eat?" and nearly bursting into tears in the middle of the grocery store trying to find a single loaf of bread that did not contain milk, casein, whey or soy, including soybean oil.
I was overwhelmed. I had to completely re-think eating and grocery shopping. I lost so much weight in two weeks, my milk production decreased. I was not getting enough calories.
Slowly, I learned which brands made products without soy or milk ingredients. Slowly, I made a list of what I could eat as quick snacks. Slowly, I developed my own way of cooking that enabled me & my husband to get enough calories without causing allergic reactions in our baby.
I began to find online message boards with other nursing mom stories like mine. Lack of food options, frustrated grocery store trips.
This site is for those moms!
What You Will Find Here
On this site, you will find recipe ideas for meals you can eat if you are a breastfeeding mother who must eliminate milk and soy products from your diet.
This web site does not address any other food sensitivities or allergies.
This web site does not address caloric or nutritional content other than to encourage breastfeeding mothers to:
- make sure you are taking a calcium supplement.
I have tried to post recipes that are simple to make, knowing that new, nursing mothers and their partners/spouses have little time and energy to think too much about what they are cooking. Recipes with an asterisk (*) next to the title can be done in many short bursts of time during the course of a day.
Eventually, I plan to accept recipe submissions from web site visitors. For now, please feel free to peruse the recipes currently posted.
This site is a work-in-progress. Check back often to see new recipes posted. Sign up for our email list, using the link above, to find out when new recipes are posted and to receive meal plan ideas.
Legal Disclaimer: The Nursing Mom Recipes web site is not responsible or liable for any problems that arise from the making of any of these recipes. We are not nutritionists or doctors. We simply try to provide useful information from reliable sources.
