Recommended Resources

At Motherwit we know it takes a village. Whether you are stocking your own freezer or preparing to bring something to a postpartum friend or family member, here are our top recommended resources for postpartum foods:

Make your own. Not everyone can do this, but if you're expecting and fully in nesting mode, or if you're feeling called to support an expecting family in your life--please do choose this adventure! I recommend learning and cooking along with these resources:

• Ēwe ʻOiaiʻo and I made these digital cookbooks packed full of information and recipes, customized to our Hawaiʻi context
• Thriving Postpartum
• From Mothers to Mothers
• The First Forty Days

Sidenote, Souper cubes are useful for freezing food at home with less plastic.

2. Use a postpartum doula or other postpartum food service.

• On Oʻahu
  • @nurture.bloom on IG
• On Maui
  • @maui.mama.meals on IG
  • FREE Farm to Mother program by Pacific Birth Collective 

3. Use Farmlink! This food hub and delivery service gathers locally grown and made products and provides next-day delivery on Oʻahu. Some of my favorites for postpartum you can find on their store include:

• Motherwit's very own Tinolang Manok, Pork & Palula Jook, and Kabocha Ginger Bisque
• The ʻUlu Co-op's pre-cooked and frozen canoe crop starches like kalo, ʻulu, sweet potato, and pumpkin
• Bone broths by Farmlink, Maui Bone Broth and Forage Hawaiʻi
• Cooked lūʻau which they have frozen from Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi or fresh lau which they sometimes have from various farms
• Classic bolognese ragu by Onda Pasta
• ʻAi Pohaku kiawe flour ʻĀina Bars for a quick-energy snack
• A variety of well-raised meats, bones and sometimes organ meats 
• A variety of fermented foods like kimchi, coconut yogurt, kombucha, etc.
• A variety of aromatics (like ginger, ʻōlena) and herbs for you kitchen herbalists out there
• Lots of other fresh produce and prepared foods for convenience!

4. On Big Island The Locavore Store offers a mix of pick-up and delivery for some items.

5. Use a meal prep service that makes healthy food, like Nina Cucina on Oʻahu.

6. Check out ethnic grocery stores that have prepared soups, like Palama Market.

7. Search on Doordash/UberEats for Korean, Chinese or Filipino restaurants that have real soups and porridges on their menus (look for seaweed soups, jigae, tinolang, arroz caldo, congee, etc.). Hawaiian and Polynesian restaurants will have lūʻau and laulau--these greens are so nutritious. Find a pho restaurant that uses good bone broth (you can tell because the broth gets gelatinous when refrigerated). Even check out local restaurants like Zippys and Liliha Bakery that serve oxtail soup.