Instant Food packets during Pregnancy, Safe?

Question

Hello,

My wife is 3 months pregnant. The scenario is such that she does not have any energy to cook food whatsoever. I was considering the idea of asking her to get instant food kits which can be prepared in under 5 mins in most of the cases.

Is it safe during pregnancy? We are pure vegetarian.

Answer 1

...yes, it's just food.

Perhaps not ideal nutritionally; you'll want to throw some fresh fruit and veg in there too, but. Safe.

I'm vegetarian too, and had a pretty decent boil-in-the-bag curry the other day. The quality of that sort of stuff has really improved.

Good luck!

Answer 2

you may want to find out what kind of additives and preservatives are in those packets first before you consider it. If it is safe, I can reassure you that they are not healthy enough for her to eat often.
She isn't going to be getting the vitamins and nutrients that she would be getting from fresh foods which is way more important for the baby's health and development. The first and second trimester are a very important time to make sure you are eating healthy. If she doesn't have energy to cook (which most of us can relate) Make sure she has foods on hand that she can quickly steam or eat raw. For a while, I did peanut butter sandwiches and apples when I didn't have time to cook, I still got my proteins, fats, sugars, and some vitamins. I always keep carrots, broccoli, celery and cucumbers in my fridge, they are cleaned, cut and prepared ready to eat, so on my non-energy days I have healthy stuff to munch on.
You can also purchase a microwave vegetable steamer, they steam your veggies in about 3 minutes.. Another thing I recommend, is that if you are worried about your veggies and fruits going bad, you can always buy the frozen ones. Vegetable processing plants use the "flash frozen" process in their packaging so that the vitamin content is still there when you open the package and will still be there as long as they are not overcooked. These are great to keep on hand when refridgerator storage becomes an issue..
Keep encouraging your wife to eat healthy. She needs that input from you. Sometimes I had bad days and would not eat because i was so tired and so frustrated, but with my husband there to back me up or make me a sandwich made all the difference in the world..

Answer 3

It should be safe, as long as you get them from trusted stores or food markets. Why don't you help out and prepare some food too? Or recruit friends to make a bunch of meals for you guys to freeze, then when you want to use them you can just pop them in the microwave. I also suggest you do this for the end of the pregnancy, have several meals prepared and frozen so that when you and your wife are tired from being up with the baby, you won't have to worry about making meals. By the way, unless your wife is deficient in iron or other nutrients, her tiredness should go away after the 3rd month of pregnancy. If it doesn't then she needs to have blood tests to see what is going on, she might be low in iron, especially since you don't consume meat products. (And No, I'm not saying you have to start eating meat, but she might need iron supplementation. Also make sure she's getting enough calcium or it will start to be leached from her bones.)

Answer 4

Instant food kits are a decent idea, but you need to make sure you read the labels. Most pre-packaged meals are loaded in calories, fat, and sodium. If you insist on having your meals this way, at least add in extra fresh veges to compensate for the high fat and sodium. Of course, you can always ask your doctor for advice on cooking. You said your wife has no energy, but what about you? You didn't say anything about you not knowing how to cook. You can always share the cooking reposibilitry as well. That would give your poor wife the time to rest while she is waited on for once.

Answer 5

Am a bit confused. Do you want her to go out and buy these to fix for you since she doesn't have the energy to cook? Or, are you considering picking some up for her to pop in the microwave so she can have something to eat during the day while you're at work?
Nutritionally, there are health conscious frozen foods out there. They aren't like your mother used to make - but they're ok in a pinch.
I truly hope you're looking for something to help her out, not something for her to make for you. I'm assuming you're a healthy guy, and if that's the case - help her out. Yea, you work all day - but, what are you going to do after the baby comes?
If you belong to a church family, or have close friends - maybe they can help her out with a casserole every now and then. And, you can learn to fix some simple dishes for the two of you.
Parenting takes two people, right from the start, all the way through your children's lives.

Answer 6

Well, it will be hard on your body, to go from a healthy diet, to an unhealthy diet.

And this is a really important time for her to get good nutrtion.

Is there anyway that you can cook dinner on the nights shes feeling tired?

Im guessing shes in the first trimester, yes?

The tiredness ussually passes when she gets to the 2nd trimester, so you would only be cooking for a short time.

Even if youre a horrible cook, it would be better than pre-packaged food.

If you have to go pre-packaged, try to stick to 'organic', like Annies... it will be less of a shock to your system.

It won't kill you, but its not the best thing.

Answer 7

like both, fruits: berries, pears, pears, peaches, dragonfruit, pomegranate.... Vegetables: CUCUMBERS, bok choy, green beans, broccoli,.... My spouse and i guess the two are great.

Answer 8

as long as it's healthy... the amy's entrees are great the vegetarian lasagna.... so good. Just make sure shes getting all she needs in the nutritian department