Feeling lethargic? Not in the mood to spend long hours cooking? The constant fatigue is eating you up? Relax.
It is completely natural on pregnancy days. The more you move forward to the final trimester of pregnancy, the more you feel like this.
Carrying a life in the womb brings in a sense of tiredness along with the blissful emotion of motherhood. Therefore to enjoy these days, you need some quick meal ideas.
We will share here some 15-minute recipes to try during your pregnancy. As they are easy to prepare, they save you from fatigue and tiredness.
Also, we have prepared the recipes with healthy ingredients. So, you can safely have them without any tension of harming your baby by any chance.
Often, we find expecting mothers asking for quick dinner ideas, easy breakfast recipes, and so on. In this article, you will find such quick meal ideas for pregnancy days.
You can prepare them for lunch, dinner, and breakfast, at your convenience. However, before we delve into the recipes let’s focus on how you should have meals during pregnancy.
Diet Plan during Pregnancy Days: 5 Essential Tips to Follow
When you are about to be a mother, the very first thing that changes is your food habits. You should not eat whatever and whenever you want. You need to be cautious about your diet plan.
Visit a professional nutritionist and get a diet chart for yourself. Here, let us share some important tips that will help to maintain your diet during pregnancy days.
- Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day.
- Add five servings of fresh fruits in your everyday diet.
- You can take light snacks three times a day.
- Six servings of whole-grain breads and cereals should be included.
- Light breakfast and heavy evening meals are ideal for the first trimester.
- Heavy breakfast and light dinner are for the last days of pregnancy.
- Avoid alcohol and tobacco.
- Limit your intake of caffeine and extra sweet beverages.
- No raw food like sushi, etc. should be there.
However, the meal plan changes as per the individual requirements of the would-be-mothers. That is why, a regular meeting with a doctor is necessary.
Now, without much ado, let’s move forward towards our special 15-minute recipes. Get your quick meal ideas for pregnancy days here.
Beetroot-Lentil Gravy Soup
Ingredients
- 300 gms red lentils (washed)
- 200 gms beetroots (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 inch ginger (grated)
- salt (as per taste)
- 1 tomato (chopped)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 pinch turmeric powder
- 1 green chilli (chopped)
Instructions
- Boil the lentils in a pressure cooker.
- Heat oil in a pan and add garlic paste, ginger, chilli, and tomatoes. Stir fry them.
- Now, add beetroots and stir fry until they become tender.
- Add salt, turmeric powder and cumin powder. Fry for 5-6 minutes.
- Pour the lentils, mix the ingredients, and add water.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes and serve.
Nutrition
Homemade Cottage Cheese Burger
Equipment
- Pan
Ingredients
- 4 pieces English muffins or burger buns (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 beetroot (grated)
- 1 capsicum (finely chopped)
- 1 carrot (grated)
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 1 tomato (chopped)
- 3-4 lettuce leaves (cut into large pieces, blanched)
- 100 gms cottage cheese (cut into small cubes)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp tomato sauce
- salt and black pepper (as per taste)
- 1 tbsp butter
Instructions
- Stir-fry the vegetables on medium heat with olive oil for 2-3 minutes.
- Add cottage cheese cubes and fry until they turn light golden brown.
- Sprinkle salt and black pepper. Keep the veggies aside.
- Now, brush butter on the pan and fry the muffins or buns for a few seconds.
- Spread tomato sauce and the lettuce leaves on a bun, stuff veggies, and top it with another bun.
- Prepare two pairs and serve.
Low-sugar Semolina Porridge
Ingredients
- 300 gms semolina
- 500 ml milk
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 cloves
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 6-7 pieces cashews
- 10 gms raisins
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Stir fry the semolina in a pan. Keep it aside.
- Boil the milk and add sugar. Stir well.
- Gradually, add semolina to the milk and keep stirring.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes. Add cashews, raisins, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, and, cloves.
- Turn off the flame and let it cool.
Nutrition
Chow Mein with Egg and Veggies
Ingredients
- 2 packs chow mein noodles (boiled)
- 2 cups mixed vegetables (carrot, onion, capsicum, beans, green peas, cabbage)
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp green chilli sauce
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- green onion (for garnishing)
- salt and black pepper (as per taste)
Instructions
- Stir fry the vegetables with some salt, cumin powder, and coriander powder.
- Fry the egg separately and mix it with the veggies.
- Add sauces and stir well. Cook for 10-12 minutes.
- Add noodles and mix it with the gravy.
- Sprinkle green onion and black pepper and serve.
Nutrition
Smashed Potato and Lentil Stew
Ingredients
- 200 gms lentil (red lentil is preferred)
- 2 potatoes (boiled)
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 tsp ginger- garlic paste
- 1 green chilli (chopped)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tomato (chopped)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt (as per taste)
- 1 tbsp oil
Instructions
- Heat oil on a medium flame and stir-fry the onions, and ginger-garlic paste to it.
- Add tomato and chilli to it and stir well.
- Now, add cumin powder, coriander powder, and salt. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Mix boiled potatoes with the spices and smash them with a spatula.
- Boil the lentils in a pressure cooker. Wait for 2-3 whistles.
- Pour the boiled lentils on smashed potato gravy. Mix well. Drizzle lemon juice and serve.
Nutrition
Corn Capsicum Salad
Ingredients
- 2 capsicum (chopped in thin long slices)
- 1 tomato (chopped)
- 1 and 1/2 cup corn (boiled)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- salt (as per taste)
- 1 green chilli (chopped)
Instructions
- Stir-fry the capsicum and tomato for 5-7 minutes in olive oil.
- Add corn to it and fry.
- Drizzle light soy sauce and mix the ingredients well.
- Add chilli and sprinkle salt and black pepper.
- Once the dish is cooked, serve hot.
Nutrition
Vegetable Fritters with Coriander Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cup mixed vegetables (onion, cabbage, spinach)
- 1 tbsp fenugreek leaves (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)
- salt (as per taste)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 green chilli (chopped)
- vegetable oil (for frying)
- 1 and 1/2 cups gram flour (add some more later to get the desired thickness)
For coriander sauce
- 1 cup coriander leaves (chopped)
- 3 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup water
- salt and black pepper (as per taste)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 green chilli (chopped)
Instructions
- Add vegetables, fenugreek leaves, coriander leaves to gram flour. Mix well.
- Add water until you get a thick batter.
- Mix salt and black pepper as per taste.
- Take a scoop of batter and fry until both sides turn golden brown. Repeat with other fritters.
- Blend all of the ingredients for the sauce, except lemon juice.
- Add lemon juice to the sauce. Serve the delicious fritters with the sauce.
Nutrition
Quick Meal Ideas: Things to Keep in Mind
Well, so you have got the quick meal ideas. Here are a few things that you must keep in mind when you cook these 15-minute recipes.
First, make sure all of the ingredients are well-cooked. If frying takes time for any of the recipes, you can boil them. Limit your salt intake as well along with sugar. That’s how you can enjoy the recipes with more fun.
Check out some more delicious recipes, here.
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