How to Find Time to Cook With a Baby or a Toddler; 16 Tips That Work

A baby or toddler demands nearly all your time and energy from sunup to sundown.

I know you’re exhausted. I’ve been there. Just thinking about making a healthy, home-cooked meal can be daunting and overwhelming.

How do you find time to cook with a baby or toddler in the house?

Here are 16 real-life tips to help busy mamas get meals on the table.

Are you familiar with meal prep and batch cooking?

Implementing either of these into your life can help you move from overwhelm to in control.

Batch cooking is a style of meal prep that’s super trendy right now. And for many people, batch cooking is an excellent solution. In fact, I’ve done it myself many times over the years.

The problem with batch cooking is you need long blocks of time to do it.

And when you’re busy with a baby or toddler 24/7, you don’t have long blocks of time EVER… or the energy to do a 2-3 hour batch cooking session each week.

But you still can, and should, do some type of meal prep.

Meal prepping can make your life infinitely easier when you have a baby or toddler at home.

This article will show you simple meal prep techniques plus other practical strategies to help you get healthy meals on the table.

Below are 16 real-life ideas to help you find time to cook with a baby or toddler

Lower Your Expectations

Go easy on yourself.

You are in a very busy season of your life.

Every meal does not have to be a perfect balance of all the nutrients or be the most amazing thing you’ve ever tasted. As long as most of the meals in the week are reasonably healthy, nutrition will balance out over the week.

Throw perfection out the window.

Toddler mamas don’t have time for that

2. Plan for leftovers on purpose

Make extra-large or double batches of soup, chilis, curries, beans, and rice, and freeze extra in quart-sized mason jars (leave an inch at the top for expansion to prevent the jar from cracking).

3. Get creative with leftovers

You don’t have to eat leftovers the same way you did yesterday.

Change it up.

Wrap your leftovers in a tortilla.

Use leftovers as a topping for baked potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Use leftover pasta sauce or leftover beans or potato as a base for soups; add water, veggies, and seasonings.
Use leftover potatoes for hash browns and add veggies and seasonings for a complete meal.
With leftover rice, you can add veggies and crumbled tofu and make fried rice.
Use leftover beans for nachos. Just add vegan cheese and salsa.

4. Prep during baby’s nap time

Baby’s nap time can be an ideal time for a prep session. You don’t have to use the whole nap time, either. If you choose just one task below, you’ll probably still have time left to have a little rest yourself. If you’re able to take a little nap while baby is napping, you totally should.

What to prep during nap time:

Boil pasta
Chop veggies
Bake mini muffins
Make a stack of PBJ sandwiches and freeze
Make energy bites
Cook potatoes, grains, or beans in the Instant pot
Make overnight oats
Slice bananas and freeze them for smoothies and smoothie bowls
Bake potatoes or sweet potatoes
Steam veggies
Roast veggies
Marinate tofu
Roast tofu

5. When baby’s awake, prep foods that need little or no tending

You can prep these kinds of foods any time of the day, even when you’re busy watching little ones, since you just set them and forget them.

Potatoes, sweet potatoes: It takes literally 10 seconds to rinse, poke and toss into the oven. You can use them for all kinds of meals or eat them plain.

Beans, rice, quinoa: Spend 30 seconds putting rice or beans into the Instant Pot with water or on the stove to simmer. If using the stove, be sure to use a back burner so curious toddlers can’t reach.

Bread: If you have a bread machine, it only takes 1-2 minutes to measure the ingredients and press the start button. Nothing else to do with it until it’s time to slice the bread. Your kitchen will soon smell heavenly.

6. Make your meal-prep time fun

If you’re prepping while your little one is sleeping, indulge in a little mama entertainment while you chop veggies:

Listen to a podcast
Listen to an audiobook on Audible
Learn something new on YouTube
Turn on your fave Netflix or HULU show
Listen to relaxing or upbeat music
Learn a new skill at Skillshare

7. Keep it simple

When you have a baby or toddler, you are in the busiest season in your life! Avoid recipes that have too many steps or ingredients. Busy mamas don’t have time for complicated meals.

Simple meal ideas:

Sandwiches
Veggie burgers
Soup
Buddha Bowl
Salad
Nachos
Breakfast for dinner
Pasta and sauce

Get inspired fromYouTube plant-based cooking channels

Below are some of my favorite YouTube Channels for easy, plant-based, family-friendly recipe ideas.

8. Do mini meal prep sessions throughout the day

Be on the lookout for small chunks of time throughout the day when you can squeeze in a little prep.

Even the smallest task will help.

Try doing as much prep as you can early in the day. Just 10-15 minutes of prepping can make your day or week go smoother.

For example, if you have a few minutes in the morning, you can wash all your fresh veggies and set them in colanders or lay them out on towels on the counter to dry. Later in the day, if you have another 10 minutes, you can chop those veggies up and put them back into the fridge.

BOOM! Veggies are now ready for all your recipes.

You’ll thank yourself later.

9. The freezer is your friend

Always think about how you can freeze extra. Create a vault in your freezer of frozen foods ready to serve you in your time of need.

When you make muffins or cookies, freeze half of them.
When you make staples in the Instant Pot, such as rice, quinoa or beans, freeze extra in mason jars or reusable ziplock bags.
Make a stack of PBJ sandwiches, wrap each sandwich and freeze individually. Now you have some last-minute grab-n-go toddler lunches. They thaw in 10 minutes and the taste and texture is the same as fresh.

10. Use shortcuts

Using convenience foods can be a game-changer for mamas who are exhausted and tight on time yet still want to provide healthy meals.

You don’t have to make everything from scratch. You’re in a VERY BUSY season of your life. One day you might decide you want to make everything from scratch, but now is the time to make use of healthy convenience foods.

Convenience foods do cost more. So you’ll have to ask yourself if the cost is worth the time and stress it saves.

One day you’ll have more time and energy than you do right now. So consider splurging on a few of these items to simplify and streamline your meal prep.

Pre-washed greens,
Fresh washed and cut veggies
Fresh cut fruit
jarred pasta sauce
frozen veggie burgers
frozen veggie ‘meatballs’
frozen chopped veggies
canned beans
frozen veggie dumplings or potstickers
Pre-seasoned tofu and tempeh

11. Make weird meals (yes, you heard me right)

I’m sorry, but if you want to avoid last-minute take-out, you’ll probably have to make some pretty weird meals sometimes, and that’s perfectly ok.

Wait, what??

Sometimes you’re just too exhausted and didn’t plan or prep. That’s when just need to grab whatever you have on-hand and get creative.

Got frozen waffles, beans, apples, and peanut butter? You’ve got a perfectly weird yet nutritious meal.
Leftover chili, tofu, broccoli, tortillas? Wrap it all up in the tortilla, and you’ve got another weird but perfectly healthy meal.

Totally ok!

12. Kitchen tools to make it easier

Certain kitchen tools can help reduce your workload and the mess that comes with food prep.

Parchment paper--line baking sheets with parchment paper. It works as a non-stick surface, and it makes clean-up quick and easy.
Reusable freezer bags or containers--use to freeze extra rice, beans, fruit, or anything.
Mason jars or plastic or glass storage containers--great for food storage in the refrigerator or freezer. If freezing, leave an inch of headspace to allow for expansion so the jar doesn’t crack.
Instant Pot--allows you to cook foods quickly, and you don’t have to watch over it like cooking on the stove. You can also use it as a slow cooker.
High-speed blender--fairly expensive, but it can make the best pasta sauces, smoothies, and smoothie bowls. Smoothies and smoothie bowls are an excellent source of nutrition and toddlers LOVE them.
Rice cooker—Just add rice and water and forget it. Makes perfect rice, and you can get a good one for about $20. You can also use it to steam vegetables.

Related: 5 Vegan Smoothie Bowl Recipes to Make Ahead and

The Complete Guide to Smoothies for Babies and Toddlers

13. Plan, plan, plan

I’ve been planning and meal-prepping for 25 years to feed 4 kids, and I’ve learned that having even a simple plan helps my day. A plan reduces stress by freeing up my brain to focus on other things, like my kids or my work. When you have a plan for the day, it just goes smoother.

You can plan meals for the day or the week. I recommend taking a few minutes before you go to bed to write down your meal plan for the next day.

Let’s say you wanted to have Buddha Bowls for dinner, you could plan to wash veggies first thing in the morning, then chop and roast the veggies and cook rice during nap time. Without much work at all, your Buddha Bowls are nearly done and will be easy to put together for dinner.

For help with meal planning, grab my ebook: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Meal Planning for the Busy Mama

14. Wear baby in a backpack

When my 4 were babies, you could often find me meal-prepping with a baby on my back. This kept baby content and allowed me to do some meal prep while baby was awake.

I realize this won’t work for every mom in every situation, but it can be a useful option for some.

**If you choose to wear baby on your back, be especially careful because babies will reach and try to grab anything they want. I don’t recommend cooking at the stove or using a sharp knife if baby is big enough to reach and grab. Better to do things like washing veggies, washing dishes, or stirring muffin batter if you’ve got a baby on your back

15. Appoint your toddler as a helper

I know it takes longer and is messy to have your toddler “help” in the kitchen, but there is value in doing it. You can get some meal prep done while sharing a special time with your little one.

When toddlers help in the kitchen they:

Learn all about food...smells, textures, colors, tastes
Learn meal prep skills at a young age
Feel proud for helping you
are happy to spend quality time with you
Will learn to be a confident cook

Ways your toddler can help in the kitchen:

Washing fruits and vegetables
Tearing lettuce
Cutting soft veggies with a plastic knife
Washing non-breakable dishes
Helping make a sandwich
Stirring
Helping set the table
Mashing potatoes or avocado
Washing or wiping cupboards

16. Take a week off and try a meal service

Sometimes you just need a break to relax and rejuvenate.

Consider taking a week’s respite from meal planning and prep. Let a meal-delivery service do it for you.

I’ve tried Sun Basket, and the meals were tasty. After a couple weeks doing the meal-prep service, I felt rested and eager to plan and prep my own meals again. I also discovered a couple new recipes that I still make to this day.

Meal-delivery services:

Conclusion

It can be overwhelming to get healthy meals on the table when you’re caring for little ones who demand nearly all of your time.

But you CAN do it. Choose from the ideas presented here to create your new meal prep routine. You’ll get more done and be less stressed.

For additional help with meal planning and prep, download my ebook for a complete step-by-step meal planning system that will work with your unique lifestyle.

Heidi Masanga RN, BSNApril 1, 2020Comment