My Favorite Pregnancy Snacks

One of the biggest changes in my life since becoming pregnant is my constant desire to eat!

I am not typically a big snacker. I am a “three meals a day and a snack before dinner” type of person, always have been. I never really got hungry enough to snack during the day, and if I did, I would ignore it until it was meal time.

Not. any. more. I am hungry ALL the time, and this hunger is not like any hunger I’ve ever experienced. It’s urgent and immediate. I cannot wait to until meal time to eat, usually I can’t even wait 5 minutes to eat!

It is super important to keep healthy snacks around for when these hunger pangs strike so that you can give your body (and baby) the nutrients you (and they) need!

Here is a quick list of snacks that we now keep stocked at the Weir household.

Pregnancy Snacks:

Larabars (Cherry Pie and Peanut Butter Cookie are my favorite) 

While I wish these were organic, I love the fact that they only have 4-6 ingredients in them. They are all natural and a great source of protein and nutrients! They are also gluten free, and have a lot of dairy free flavors!

Ener-G Foods Sesame Pretzel Rings 

These are great for the first trimester when you can’t hold anything down. They are a great gluten free substitute for Saltines.

Organic Apples w/ Organic Peanut Butter

It’s probably the time of year I’m pregnant as well, but apples with peanut butter are one of my favorite snacks lately. The peanut butter gives you a great amount of protein, which is super important during pregnancy. Don’t forget to get organic peanut butter though! (Peanuts are one of the most sprayed foods out there!)

Organic Corn Chips

 

We get a big bag from Costco. Another great mild food for when nothing else sounds good. Easy to pack as a snack or to keep by your bed for those middle of the night hunger attacks!

Cherry Tomatoes and Carrot Sticks

This is definitely a second trimester snack. I wouldn’t have been able to even look at these foods in my first trimester. Getting vegetables back into your diet in your second trimester is super important, and these snacks are great starting point! Any veggies you can stomach would be great to add to this list!

Stretch Island Organic Fruit Leather 

Sometimes you just gotta have something sweet. These treats are a great healthy option for when the sweet tooth kicks in, as they contain no added sugar or artificial ingredients!

Applesauce 

This another great sweet snack, that is super easy on the stomach, and feels great on the throat if you get a cold or sore throat while pregnant. My first 8 weeks, I had a constant sore throat and I lived on this stuff.

There are so many other great ideas for snacks out there, but these are the ones that I have found to be the most helpful (and easiest) to have on hand.

Curious what foods I’ve been craving since being pregnant? I’m sorry to disappoint, but not very many. I am kind of bummed that I didn’t get any of those weird cravings! I would love to freak people out by asking for pickles and ice cream, but ewww!! The biggest craving I have had is actually Skittles! I am definitely not a big candy fan normally, and if I do ever want candy, it’s typically Jelly Belly’s or gummy candies (think peachy-o’s or those blue shark gummies!) But right now?  I am all about the Skittles!. I am trying to be good and ignore the craving most of the time, but I have had a bag or two :) 

I am still dealing with lots of aversions, such as animal protein (of all kinds), coffee, the smell of red wine, spinach and most Asian foods (especially teriyaki). I’m not sure if these will last my whole pregnancy, but for now, I am simply avoiding them when I can!

Dairy-Free Peanut Butter Smoothies

Summer in Seattle always seems to start at the very end of August and linger into September. While it isn’t a long season, it’s truly one of the most beautiful places in the world to be during the few short months of sunshine.

One of my favorite breakfasts to make during the summer is this indulgent Peanut Butter Smoothie. It’s rich, creamy and a total treat! This would make a great desert as well!

I got this recipe from Heavenly Homemakers and adapted it to make it dairy free. 

  

Dairy-Free Peanut Butter Smoothies

(makes 2)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Coconut Milk (I have found other dairy free milks are too thin for this recipe. Coconut really is the best choice here)

¼ Cup Organic Peanut Butter (peanuts are extremely high in pesticides so I highly recommend organic peanut butter)

1 Tbps Cocoa or Carob Powder

1 ½ Tbps Honey

2 Frozen bananas, chunked

Okay, here is where it gets a little complicated:

Throw all the ingredients into a blender, and mix until smooth and creamy.

Whew!  I hope you were able to follow those complex directions.

Enjoy this delicious treat any time of the day!

Nut Butter Bread

I found this recipe on Homemade Dutch Apple Pie’s blog and was so intrigued by the recipe I had to try it for myself.

I could not wrap my head around the fact that the ingredients in this recipe come together to make a… bread? But low and behold, they did! This Nut butter bread is moist, flavorful and a wonderful treat!

Nut Butter Bread

1 cup nut butter (I used almond butter!)
1/4 cup honey
3 eggs ( I only had two left, and the recipe turned out just fine, but I would recommend 3 if you have them on hand)
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 T vinegar or lemon juice (I used lemon juice)

Combine all ingredients except for the lemon juice and mix well. Add the vinegar or lemon juice and mix well, then pour into a greased loaf pan.

Bake about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven (mine only needed about 25-30 minutes, not sure if it was because I omitted an egg or not?). It is done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Now, if you are anything like I have been my entire life, than you read that title and though.. “noooo, thank you!” They have a bit of a unique smell, as a kid you hated them, but, have you tried them lately??

I am willing to argue that if you haven’t tried brussel sprouts in a while, that if you try these, you will change your mind. I know, I know, those are big words, and I better have the goods to back them up! All I can say is that when I was little (okay, now too) I was the pickiest eater in the world. I didn’t like much of anything. I have branched out a little as I’ve gotten older, but not much! This being the case, I LOVE this recipe. And if someone as picky as me can love this recipe, I strongly believe that you can too!

Okay, okay, enough tooting my own recipe horn, on to the recipe!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts:

Brussel Sprouts – as many you like, washed

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 425

Slice the brussel sprouts in half. Transfer brussel sprouts into a baking dish. Drizzle sprouts with Olive Oil (we had about 20 brussel sprouts and used about 1 – 1 ½ Tbps). Arrange sprouts so that the flat sides are facing down. Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper to taste. Bake for 10- 15 minutes, or until done to your liking.

Triple-Seed Crackers

One thing I love as much as blogging and cooking, is reading other blogs about whole food cooking! I have noticed that almost every blog I follow has some sort of cracker recipe.

I’m not sure why but crackers seemed intimidating to me. I was fearful that they would come out bland, too dry, burnt, ect, and it would be a lot of work, for little payoff.  Well, I decided yesterday to conquer my fears and tackle making a batch of crackers.

Oh man! I am bummed that I waited this long to make crackers. This recipe (that I got from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen) and slightly adapted to use what I had at home is amazing! The crackers are delicious, and they were SO easy. They were actually pretty fun to make too!

Triple-Seed Crackers 

(from Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen)

1 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup cooked quinoa

6 to 7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/3 to 1/2 cup water

Topping:

1 to 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 to 2 tablespoons flax seeds

1 to 2 teaspoons poppy seeds

S ea salt and cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 375

Place the sorghum flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Mix lightly.  add the quinoa and extra virgin olive oil. Process until well combined. Add your water slowly while processing, just until the dough forms a ball. Once a ball has formed, your dough is ready. Do not add any additional water.

Split your dough in half. Take one half and roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper. Make sure to get the dough rolled out as thin as possible, so you have crispy cracker.

Remove the top layer of parchment and sprinkle with seeds. Place top layer parchment paper back on top of dough and gently press/roll the seeds into the dough. Remove top parchment paper.

Slide the rolled-out dough onto a large cookie sheet. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into small squares.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (Mine only took about 15 minutes). Watch baking time carefully as it will totally depend on the thickness of your crackers.  Crackers will crisp up as they cool

Homemade Hamburgers and Sweet Potato Fries

Of all the things that I cook, bake, grill and steam in the kitchen, it's safe to say that my husband’s favorite food is sweet potato fries. He asks for them multiple times a month. What Can I say? He’s easy to please!

Well, we were long overdue for some sweet potato fries, and what better to go with them than homemade hamburgers? Not only are homemade hamburgers MUCH better for you than restaurant burgers, they are much more frugal and are super easy to make!

Here is a break down of the cost:

1 lb Grassfed beef - $ 4.99

Spices - $ .25

1 Tomato (organic) - $ .79

1 head of Romaine Lettuce (organic) - $ .99

1 Onion - $ .59 (when bought in bulk)

Homemade Buns (4) - $ 2.00

3 Sweet potatoes (organic) - $ 1.75

Total for 5 homemade burgers and fries = $ 11.36, Total per serving: $ 2.27

Compare this with the cost of a fast food burger, and you save about $ 3.00 PER SERVING! Not to mention all the added nutrition and increased quality of this meal, using real, whole foods! Plus, you don’t have to worry about ecoli, sodium content, fat content, contamination, ect!

Homemade Burgers:

1 lb Grassfed ground beef

4 pinches paprika

2 pinches of thyme (or other spice of choice)

2 pinches of onion powder

1 tsp Worchester sauce

2 Tbps shredded or finely minced Onion

Tomato, Onion, Lettuce – to top burgers (all optional)

Homemade Buns (recipe here) 

Mix ground beef, spices, Worchester sauce and onion in bowl. I used my hands to mash them all together. Shape the mixture into balls, we had enough for 5.

Heat your skillet over medium heat. Add a small amount of oil. Once oil is heated, add your burgers to the skillet. Press the balls down with your spatula, to create a hamburger shape. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side (4-5 if you like them really well done). Repeat until all burgers are cooked!

Then garish with your toppings and sauces and serve! We had bunless burgers, but these would have been great with these homemade buns!

Sweet Potato Fries:

3 Medium to Large Sweet Potatoes

¼ Cup Olive Oil

1 Tsp Basil

1 Tsp Minced Garlic

2 Tsp Sea Salt (depending on how salt you like them, reduce or increase amount)

Preheat over to 425. Wash and Peel your sweet potatoes. Then cut them into fry sized pieces, they can be thicker or thinner, depending on your preference!

Mix Olive Oil, Basil, Garlic and Sea Salt together in a small bowl. Empty the bowl into a gallon size plastic bag. Add the sweet potatoes and shake until well coated.

Transfer to a cookie sheet, bake for 20 minutes, then flip the fries and cook for another 5-10, until crispy on both sides!

I am sharing this on Real Food Wednesdays, Pennywise Platter Thursday, and What’s cooking Wednesdays!

POPCORN!

Popcorn is my all time favorite snack. One of my best friends, Natalie and I have this in common (this may be why we have stayed friends for 15+ years!). I love it plain, salty, sugary, just about anyway you can make it, I’ll eat it!

The problem with popcorn is that most of us are eating microwave popcorn. ICK! First of all, the bag that your microwave popcorn is sitting in, is lined with Perfluorooctanoic acid (try saying that three times fast!), which is a CARCINOGEN (which causes cancer).

Secondly, the substance that they use to make the “buttery flavor”, Diacetyl, when heated to high temperatures, releases a toxic vapor, that, with prolonged exposure, causes severe respiratory problems (I may not have prolong exposure to it, but I want to avoid that at all cost!).

Thirdly, all bagged popcorn is extremely high in sodium, calories and cholesterol. They are also packed with artificial ingredients, chemicals and the like.

But fear not, there is a healthy popcorn alternative. There are two actually.

1.)    Buy an air popper. You can find these at a thrift store, or stores like Bed Bath and Beyond, for fairly cheap. Then buy some popcorn kernels and get to popping!

2.)    (My family’s preferred method) Pop it on the Stove – this is how popcorn has been made for centuries, and it is still the best way! Its really simple too:

a.       Heat about 3 Tbps of Coconut oil in a skillet until bubbly hot.

b.      Add 2 big handfuls of popcorn (I never measure), and cover with a lid

c.       The popcorn will slowly start popping. Once a dozen or so have “popped” light shake the pan back and forth (to keep from sticking and burning) and keep doing that until its all popped. Usually a few minutes.

d.      Top with your flavor of choice.

Not only are these methods MUCH better for your health, they are super healthy and frugal too! You can get organic popcorn kernels at the Co-Op for under $ 2.00 a lb. And the toppings we use, we always have stocked in our house!

Here are some of our favorite Popcorn Toppings:

Peanut Butter Popcorn

½ Cup Organic Peanut Butter or Almond Butter

3 Tbps Sucanat

3 Tbps Coconut Oil

3 Tbps Honey

Salt to taste

Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring until all ingredients are well combined. Toss over popped popcorn. Then sprinkle popcorn with salt to taste! makes enough for about 6-8 cups of popped popcorn!

Kettle Corn

3 Tbps Coconut Oil

3 Tbps Sucanat or other unprocessed sugar
2-3 Handfulls of popcorn kernals

Salt to taste

Heat the Coconut Oil over medium high heat until hot. Add popcorn kernels and sucanat. Let the popcorn begin popping, then lightly shake the pan until all popcorn is popped. Transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Favorite Popcorn Seasonings:

Coconut oil (melted, in place of butter)

Extra virgin Olive Oil (in place of butter)

Garlic Salt

Sea Salt and PEPPER! (So delicious!)

Cajun Seasoning

Be Creative, look around your cupboards and see what sounds good to you! You really can’t go wrong!

I'm sharing this post on Real Food Wednesdays!