5 Fun Ways To Nest While Pregnant
5 Fun Ways To Nest Before Delivery
All of a sudden you have an undeniable urge to clean out your closets and make homemade decorations for your new baby’s room. Trust us – it’s normal when your pregnant. Nesting is nature’s way of telling us it’s almost time to take care of your little one.
Nesting can actually occur at any moment in pregnancy, and while the sudden burst of energy to organize and clean everything may seem out of character, go ahead and embrace it. Just don’t overdo it!
Here are 5 fun and safe ways to nest while you get ready for your baby:
ORGANIZE YOUR PANTRY
This is an activity that will actually help you once the baby arrives. Once your pantry is organized you will quickly be able to find what you need. Toss out expired foods and canned goods. Make sure opened containers are sealed with clips. Arrange like items together (cereal, canned goods, spices, oils and staples like flour). If you want to really go overboard, head on over to your local dollar store for cute storage containers and labels to help you organize.
Stock up on storing extra freezer meals while you are pregnant. It will help save time in the kitchen, once you bring your baby home.
MAKE FREEZER MEALS
Finding time to cook will be hard once the baby arrives. Take any leftover veggies you didn’t eat this week, cook them up and store them in your freezer. This will save you lots of time when you need a quick meal on little sleep. Most fruits, vegetables and beans freeze well. Go ahead and research a few recipes for healthy freezer meals to get you started. Texas WIC also offers a few health guidelines to keep in mind when searching for recipes. Lone Star Family Market, a primarily WIC grocery store, to help WIC clients easily shop for healthy foods.
Find healthy recipes, using WIC ingredients, online.
START A PINTEREST BOARD
After you research those recipes go ahead and add them to a newly created Pinterest board. You can make a board of all the things that inspire you – activities for you and your baby, recipes, parenting tips and just about anything else that pops in your mind. It’s also a great way to relax!
PACK YOUR HOSPITAL BAG
Every mother has ideas on what to pack for the hospital. Call up a few family and friends to see what they suggest. Plus, it’s a great way to connect to loved ones. You might want to consider comfortable clothes and extra underwear and a nursing bra, a cell phone charger, travel-size toiletries like shampoo, conditioner and toothbrush. Also when you head to the hospital don’t forget your ID and insurance card.
SELF CARE
Once your baby arrives, you will be short on sleep and time. This is the perfect time to get in some extra relaxation. In fact, go ahead and get in as much time as you can doing all the things you enjoy. You deserve it.
Tuna Patty Melts Made with WIC Ingredients
Tuna Patty Melts Made with WIC Ingredients
Tuna packs a nutritional punch! It’s also an easy way to incorporate WIC ingredients into your menu.
It offers protein, iron, vitamin D, vitamin B-12 and omega 3. If you are pregnant, you must eat tuna and other high mercury fish in moderation, but that doesn’t mean you have to completely avoid it.
Pregnant and nursing mothers may eat up to 12 ounces of canned light tuna or other low mercury fish a week. Canned Albacore tuna has higher mercury so it is only advised to eat 6 ounces a week. It’s also important that tuna is fully cooked and not raw, health experts advise.
If you are pregnant, the omega-3 fatty acids in tuna also help your baby grow, especially in the development of your baby’s brain.
THE TEXAS WIC PROGRAM
Tuna is a 100% WIC-approved item.
Texas WIC is a special supplemental nutrition program for Woman, Infants and Children. To find out if you qualify, visit an Austin Area WIC Clinic. You can also shop nutritious WIC-approved foods at a Lone Star Family Market location.
WIC INGREDIENT INSPIRED RECIPE
There are plenty of ways to eat your weekly serving of tuna, whether it be a classic salad sandwich or wrap. The recipe below makes for a great sandwich, or can be enjoyed plain. Here’s the recipe that uses WIC-inspired ingredients:
SKILLET TUNA PATTY MELTS
3 cans of tuna
4 potatoes, peeled
1 tomato, sliced
1/3 head of lettuce
1 avocado
Vegetable oil
Dash of salt, pepper
Boil potatoes until cracked. Mash potatoes. Drain 3 cans of tuna. Add tuna into the boil of mashed potatoes. Mix together. Add three eggs, dash of salt and pepper. Mix until combined. Form patties in your hand. Add oil to the pan. Cook patties on medium heat. Serve with lettuce, tomato and avocado.
Enjoy while hot!
