[Linda]

Hello! My daughter is arriving back in UK this week and is 29 weeks pregnant. She has requested liver and onions for dinner as she said she needs more iron in her diet. Anyone got any ideas for meals that are high in iron? She will eat anything!!!

[Rhythm]

Dates are a power packed source of iron. I used to snack on those when I was pregnant. Dried beans, dark green leafy….

[dubhels2003]

Linda, another little one for you to sew for! In both my pregnancies I had low iron during and after birth. I loved sweet potato mashed with ginger and then fried up with steamed broccoli and wilted spinach and steak with soy sauce with a half of guinness on the side. Yumyumyum. Also chilli tofu with noodles, I *think tofu has plenty of iron in it (anyone?). I bet your daughter will be really looking forward to some Mum tlc.

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by dubhels2003.

[Nicole]

My favourite was to cook a steak to medium rare and whist it was resting, make a green salad with baby spinach and sliced mushrooms and then slice the steak in strips and stir through the salad dressing with a mango puree (sometimes a little sweet chilli).

Lucky girl to have a doting mum.

[Sarvi]

A bean soup with with wilted kale/spinach stirred in at the end should hit the spot — I don’t like chard but love kale, but you could use whichever green your daughter likes best:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/01/chard-and-white-bean-stew/

How lovely of you to cook for her! A quick google advises taking vitamin C with it to help absorption. Some lime juice over the top would be tasty.

[Mary Go]

I’ve been anemic for years (found out it was from wheat or gluten in my case) but cream of wheat cereal is loaded with iron (ironically for me, I was stuffing down cream of wheat which was making it worse!) And blackstrap molasses is good, too – just have her eat a spoonful every day, if she can stand it!

[Mel]

My mom swears using a cast iron frying pan helps 🙂

[Linda]

Thank you ladies, that’s some delicious ideas there. I love beans and greens and so does Laura, so those meal suggestions are perfect! Sarvi- I just discovered smitten kitchen about a week ago and sent the link to my daughter too- I love her blog. If any of you haven’t seen it yet and love cooking (I presume you must do to be in this group!) I suggest having a look. Thanks again, everyone.

• This reply was modified 9 years ago by Linda. Reason: Typo

[mcholley1]

I’m having this tonight.
http://www.girlmakesfood.com/slow-cooker-lentils-vegan/
I substituted kale for the spinach and stirred coconut cream, red pepper, and lime juice into my bowl.

Met my qualifications for today:
Yummy, nutritious, easy, and cheap!

[Linda]

Marygo- I don’t know what cream of wheat is, there presumably is a UK substitute? Or maybe we just call it something else? Oh- porridge?

[Tamara]

Linda when I was pregnant I couldn’t get enough of baby spinch and beans. I eat a lot of red meat also. Unfortunately, you have to eat heaps of the iron rich foods to actually have the amount of iron needed – baby takes all the body’s iron reserves in the final trimester. I would suggest double checking with the doctor also as she may need an iron top up with tablets – I needed to even with the iron rich foods I consumed.

Vitamin C helps to absorb iron but milk products eaten with the iron rich sources can take it out. Just to let you know of this so that you daughter to can keep an eye on what she eats when to gain maximum benefit.

Hope this helps and good luck.
Tamara

[Linda]

Thanks Tamara, my daughter mentioned the absorbtion issue as well. She’s here now and booked into see midwife next week, so she’ll check re iron tablets. Thank you.