My girlfriend recently asked me about recipes for breastfeeding mothers that are healthy and not expensive, for her class project she took my advice.  I suggested something simple like the following:
Drink: Carrot & Apple Juice
Put a washed carrot and apple or a few into a blender and mix till juiced. Strain juice out and pour into glass. if you don’t have a blender of juicer then I would suggest a trimmed Buku cut at the top with a straw and maybe a cherry or something to make it pretty. If you think it’s too in your face then pour the juice into a tall glass and make it look nice with a straw etc. Remember healthy food does not have to be complicated, simple is often better.
Meal:
I would guess most of the class will be doing rice so I would suggest something different.
What about mashed potatoes for carbs. It’s very easy and cheap, use one whole potatoes that is medium to large size. Put a large amount of drinking water into a small saucepan, add the unpeeled potato (keeps nutrients in if unpeeled) into pot and bring to boil then turn down heat to just a light boil and boil for about 20-30 minutes or until you can put a fork into potato without too much resistance, don’t overcook or it will be dry, don’t under cook or it will be hard and raw.
Once the potato has cooked then take it off the heat and put onto a plate, let it cool for a few minutes and then peel the skin off.
Put the peeled potato into a bowl and start mashing it with a potato masher (if you don’t have one then use a large strong fork but it will take longer), make sure there are no hard lumps left. Once it is nearly mashed add half a tablespoon of fresh butter and a tablespoon of fresh milk. Sprinkle in a tiny bit of cracked black pepper for seasoning (use vary tiny amount like 2 pepper seeds) along with a pinch of salt. If you have access to some fresh parsley then a sprinkle of that will add a new dimension to it too and mix everything together.
Put aside for serving with rest of meal
For vegetables I would suggest using about 2 or 3 at most, steam them to keep the nutrients in. Pick fresh from the market, I would suggest asparagus, carrot and fresh beans. Make sure you trim the ends off them and present them nicely. Once they are washed and
trimmed, drop them into a small saucepan that has only enough water to steam them in. Do not drown them in water as you lose the nutrients, Just bring about 1-2 cm of water on the bottom to the boil then drop the carrots in first and let them cook a bit since they will take longer unless you chop them a lot smaller than the asparagus and beans. I would suggest chopping a small carrot length ways into slices about 4 cm long by 5mm wide. With asparagus, take about 2-3 cm off the end and throw it away,it should snap off, that part is not much good as it is harder. Don’t chop the asparagus, cook it like whole. Same goes for the beans, just chop the ends off and use the whole bean. So the order of you putting them into the pot of boiling water should be Carrots, beans and then asparagus. Only cook the beans for 3-4 minutes, asparagus about a minute less. You are going to steam them so make sure the lid is on tight and DO NOT BOIL them in a load of water, just a shallow amount to cover the bottom of the pot.
When you have cooked them, empty most of the water out, then put in a bit of butter and mix around, Now add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice along with some grated lime or lemon rind and mix into the veggies. the lemon will bring a nice flavor and color to the veggies, not too much but just enough to spice them up a little, you can sprinkle a pinch of salt on them too.
So now you have your carbs and veggies, now for meat. I would suggest going to Robinsons and buying a nice cut of fish for around 80 -90 pesos. Something like what we had that night. Just look for a cut that is fresh looking and not pale or yellow, smell it, it should not smell fishy. Try to avoid one with a big part of bone or one that has small bones, the large deep sea fish steaks are good.
With the fish, take some flour and put it on plate. Take an egg and beat it up in a small bowl. Now take the fish and and dip it into the egg, put aside. Cut some garlic and ginger up as well and put aside. Now heat a fry-pan till it’s quite hot, add some of your olive oil. Take the fish out of the egg and dip it in to the flour and cover it with the flour and then carefully put into the heated fry-pan and oil. Cook to it’s golden brown about 3 – 4 minutes only (fish does not need to be cooked too long) then turn it over and cook the other side the same. About 2 minutes before the 2nd side is cooked put the garlic and ginger into the pan. sprinkle a pinch of salt over the fish, about 30 seconds before the fish is ready sprinkle some grated lemon or lime rind onto it along with some lemon or lime juice, now serve onto plate. You should also have your potatoes and veggies to be ready at this time too so they are all cooked at the same time and can be served on the same plate hot.
I would suggest practicing this whole procedure once or twice at home before Thursday to perfect it.
Serve into a large very clean white plate if possible to bring out all the colors. Pour some of the juices from the pan onto the fish and pour some of the butter in saucepan onto veggies on the plate to add some juice and flavor along with making the presentation great.
As for general info … I have some research below for you…..
here are some important facts I have found for you….
Breastfeeding women should eat primarily unsaturated fats … Sunflower, corn, rapeseed, and olive oil provide fatty acids that are essential for building the baby’s nervous system. Eat food containing vitamin B 9. In Western countries, the only vitamin really lacking in woman’s diets is vitamin B 9 (folic acid). Birth control pills accentuate a woman’s vitamin B 9 deficit, and may also contribute to a vitamin B 6 deficiency. During pregnancy, folic acid is vital to the development of the baby’s nervous system. Nursing mothers are well advised to continue taking their prenatal vitamins. Folic acid also can be found abundantly in asparagus, cabbage, corn, chick- peas, and spinach. Many other foods, such as wheat and orange juice, have been enriched with folic acid. Check the package labels.
Eats carrots, vegetables, butter, fish, and meat to help with Vitamin A absorption which is important.
Each baby reacts differently to the foods his mother consumes some foods may cause gas etc,
This is a good part of an article that explains about differences in culture and eating:
You can eat anything in moderation. Most of the rules about what you should and shouldn’t eat when breastfeeding are based on cultural traditions rather than scientific facts. Diets around the world vary hugely. In one culture women may avoid a particular food while breastfeeding, while in another culture breastfeeding mums may eat that same food every day.

It is possible that some types of food and drink that get into your milk may unsettle your baby’s tummy. He may have colic symptoms, making him fussy and miserable. Every mum and baby is different, though, so there are no hard and fast rules about what to include or leave out of your meals.
If you think a particular food has affected your baby, you could try cutting it out for a few days to see if it makes a difference (CKS 2007). It’s thought that vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and onions, as well as cow’s milk and chocolate can cause colic symptoms (Gerrard 1980, Lust et al 1996).

Hope that all helps, it took me a few hours to get all this done but I want you to do well with this, good luck, if you have any questions let me know.