Harley is growing so nicely, it’s amazing to see her put on weight and thrive just on my breast milk. It makes me feel so good to know that my body can feed another little body. Of course, I need to feed myself to make that possible, and I’ve been doing my best to eat well. However, I have a dinner conundrum.

While she is doing better, Harley still has her most needy and difficult time in the evenings. I usually spend the majority of the time between 5-9pm nursing, cuddling, bouncing, burping and otherwise looking after the little one. It’s the most inconvenient time – not only do I miss out on quality time with Dean, I’m also unable to do much to help with dinner. Dean is pretty wonderful about doing the cooking, but it’s not exactly an easy set up.

You see, because I’m home in the day, I generally figure out what we’ll be eating for dinner. I defrost whatever needs defrosting, and answer that awful daily question, “What’s for dinner?” But when it comes time to actually implementing the dinner plan, I’m usually unable to do so. For example, I bought a lasagne from Woolies yesterday (they were on special) and some broccoli with the plan of serving them together. When dinner time came around, Dean threw the lasagne in the oven, but he didn’t steam the broccoli, turning my relatively balanced meal into a pure meat and carbs celebration.

I don’t really mind, but I do know it’s irritating for Dean, and it also means that the meals I think of don’t always get made, leading to food wastage and some last minute takeaways. I know this time with Harley will pass – she is already so much easier than she used to be – but we still need to eat until then. When winter comes, I can easily put together a stew or curry during the day, leaving just the starch component for Dean to cook in the evening. But while it’s still so hot out, I don’t like to eat that way. Any advice for meals that I can prep in the day, or cook without much effort while holding/wearing a baby? What are your go to easy dinners?

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