Leslie Bobo-Kiesel is a dietician and new mama to 8-week-old Pressley. She lives in Alexandria, VA, with her husband and their chocolate lab Lulu (who they affectionately refer to as their first child). She’s also the face behind The Gathering Page—a food blog dedicated to sharing delicious recipes. Below, Leslie shares a bit about her motherhood journey so far, along with two nutritious recipes for new mamas.
As a new mom, I know firsthand how hard it can be to find the energy to get in the kitchen and make a meal. Even as someone who runs a food blog and loves cooking, it’s been hard to find energy with so many sleepless nights!
My first couple weeks postpartum were pretty rough. I won’t sugarcoat it. The baby blues hit hard, and it felt like all I could do every day was just try to survive. There were times I wondered if I’d ever feel like being in the kitchen again. I grew up cooking with my mom and grandma and have loved it for as long as I can remember. It’s a form of therapy for me, so having absolutely no desire to cook felt foreign.
That said, each day I’ve started feeling more and more like myself, and we’re starting to get in the groove of things with our new little babe. When I was ready to get back in the kitchen and start doing other everyday activities, my Solly Wrap came to the rescue.
While I was pregnant I had friends tell me how much they loved using their Solly and while I was excited to use it, I had no idea just how life-changing it would actually be. Babywearing with my Solly Wrap has allowed me to get back to the things I enjoy while also spending time with Pressley. And a bonus is how much he loves it, too. If he’s crying and I wrap him, it immediately soothes him and he usually falls asleep right on my chest.
It might sound silly, but being back in the kitchen has helped keep me grounded in these early days of motherhood. Not to mention it’s been so special sharing my passion with our baby while he’s wrapped up on me. I dream of the days when he can help me cook, but I’m also soaking up this time of newborn snuggles as well. I’m quickly learning that about motherhood—you want time to stand still, but also can’t wait for what the future holds with your little humans. Each day it feels like my heart can’t expand any more, but somehow it does!
Since I’ve been cooking again, I’ve been focusing on simple, nourishing postpartum meals. It’s so important to take care of our minds and our bodies postpartum so that we can show up for our babies—and we owe it to ourselves as well. I try to focus on making meals fun, easy to make, and full of flavor. I’m excited to share a couple of my favorite recipes with you. Let me know how you like them and let’s stay in touch! I share new recipes @gathering.page weekly.
Butternut Squash Soup
This soup is a favorite in my household! It’s super simple to make, full of vegetables, and absolutely delicious. Just roast the vegetables, blend them together, and add in some broth and cream. Doesn’t get much easier than that, right? It’s especially good served with a warm grilled cheese. The whole family will love it!
Ingredients
½ butternut squash, peeled and sliced
16 oz cocktail tomatoes
1 head of garlic, top 1/4 chopped off
1/3 cup packed fresh basil
½ yellow onion chopped
⅓ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable broth
½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Place butternut squash, tomatoes, garlic, basil, onion, olive oil, and salt and pepper in a casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- In a large pot heat the vegetable broth. When the vegetables are done roasting remove the garlic from the pan. Pour the vegetable mixture into the broth, including the juices at the bottom of the dish. Squeeze in the cloves of garlic.
- Blend with an immersion blender.
- Stir in heavy cream. Let heat a few more minutes and serve.
Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Whatever your feeding journey looks like, being a new mom takes the energy out of you and we all need some quick snacks on hand. If you are breastfeeding or pumping, oats are known to help boost milk supply. These cookies are fluffy and have so much flavor from the bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. We all deserve a yummy treat like this.
Ingredients
½ cup (1 stick) room-temperature butter
1 egg
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups of all purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
2 overripe bananas
⅓ cup runny peanut butter
½ cup chocolate chips
*Makes about 30 cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place butter, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat until mixed well.
- Add flour, old-fashioned oats, baking soda, and cinnamon to the bowl and use a spatula to mix ingredients together.
- In a separate small bowl use a fork to mash the bananas.
- Finally, add the mashed bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate chips to the rest of the ingredients. Use the spatula to mix all ingredients together.
- Place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
- Scoop out dough in a heaping tablespoon, roll into balls, and place on a non-stick or parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
