Since the twins have had some pretty major latch issues and won't nurse, I have been exclusively pumping to provide their milk. They are currently getting about 70-80% breast milk, but that changes rapidly from day to day. If I had one baby I would have more than enough! So in addition to pumping around the clock, I have been trying to increase my milk supply naturally through food. There are four basic ingredients that I have been using to do this: oatmeal, brewer's yeast, flax seed, and almonds. I have made cookies, granola bars, smoothies, and parfait, and they have all shown some sort of an impact on my milk supply. Crazy, but true! You can find any number of recipes for lactation cookies online but these recipes are the ones I use because they are fast and easy. Who has time to bake 2 dozen cookies?!
Lactation Preacher Cookies (no-bake)
So far I have noticed these giving the biggest and most obvious boost in my supply. A day without these and I only manage 2-4 ounces every time I pump compared to 4-6 ounces. Once I start eating them again it only takes a couple hours to notice a difference.
1 stick butter
*2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups oatmeal
3 or 4 tbsp brewer's yeast
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup sliced almonds, crushed
Melt butter over medium heat then add sugar, milk, and cocoa. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Boil for 1 minute then remove from heat. Add vanilla and peanut butter, stirring until peanut butter is melted. Mix in all other ingredients. Drop in spoonfuls on waxed paper and let sit for a couple hours to harden.
Enjoy a cookie (or two) every time you sit to feed the baby or pump.
*You can use less sugar but the cookies will not harden as well on their own. They will need to be kept in the fridge. I used 1.5 cups and they were still good but goopy unless refrigerated.
These are very popular cookies in my family. This is what I found in the kitchen after a fresh batch had been made recently:
Lactation Parfait
No recipe here, but I wanted to tell you about my new favorite breakfast! I use frozen berries- either strawberries, cherries, blueberries, or a mixture. I thaw them a little in the microwave then add old fashioned oats, homemade yogurt (find my recipe here), 2 tbsp ground flax seed, 1 tsp brewer's yeast, and sugar. Usually a couple teaspoons to cover up the horrendously terrible brewer's yeast taste! On days that I don't eat either this or regular oatmeal with flax seed and brewer's yeast, I struggle with my supply in the middle of the day. It's amazing how my supply can be so fickle!
Lactation Granola Bars
I found a recipe for honey oat bars in a cook book and it inspired me to fit it to my own lactation needs. My family loves these so much that I might need to impose a limit because I will need to make more very soon!
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup sliced almonds, crushed
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
1/2 cup flax seed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp brewer's yeast
Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar, honey, and cinnamon and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Let boil one minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Push into 9x13 baking dish lined with wax paper. Place in refrigerator for at least an hour. Cut into desired shapes.
If using chocolate, these would probably be best to stay cold so they don't get so goopy. In the future, I might not use chocolate chips, although they sure do make them GOOD! You really can add anything you want to these. I thought about coconut but I didn't think it would go well with raisins. You can add dried cranberries, dried cherries, other kinds of nuts, the possibilities are endless! For lactation purposes, I would keep the brewer's yeast, flax seed, and almonds, though. I'm sure that no matter what you put in these, they will taste great!
Note: you can find brewer's yeast with the nutritional supplements, not baking items. I ordered both the brewer's yeast and flax seed from Amazon.
Now go ahead and enjoy these, whether lactating or not!
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