To ask for help in substituting a cheaper pregnancy craving before I bankrupt us?

[LeapingUpstream]

This is possibly the most ridiculous problem I have ever considered bringing to Mumsnet, but I'm actually at my wit's end: I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant and for the last fortnight have been absolutely obsessed with smoked salmon. It's not something I usually eat or even particularly like, but now it's all I want, in vast quantities, at every meal.

Tried cheating with smoked mackerel yesterday and it was definitely not an acceptable alternative.

Assuming this means I'm lacking omega 3 or something so have started a supplement, but it doesn't seem to have helped. Frantically hoping someone can suggest something that might hit similar taste/ texture spots? I can't think of anything and it's driving me mad.

Or, failing that, how do I get rid of the craving!? Even rationing myself the current rate of consumption is not sustainable, but I'm literally catching myself daydreaming about it. Woke up at 5am today thinking about it, and ended up buying a packet on the way back from the school run and eating it for breakfast 😳. Husband and I are both wfh today and he's just offered to make bacon sandwiches for lunch... all I can think is that smoked salmon ones would be much better. Particularly if he gave me all the smoked salmon and ate the nasty, non-salmony bacon himself 😂.

Last pregnancy I just wanted cheese and onion crisps, but much less strongly than this, (and besides, I could have eaten an Aldi multipack a day for the whole forty weeks for less than I've already spent on salmon 😫) and in my first pregnancy I didn't have any cravings, so it's not something I've ever tried to deal with before!

Help!

With both my pregnancies as I was v sick, and sometimes after a bad period I crave tuna so I'm guessing with me it is when I get low on iron? Could be the case with you.x

I usually avoid meat & fish substitutes, but at a vegan buffet last year thare was a smoked salmon substitute.
It was better than the vegan cheese.

I wonder if your child will be a good swimmer.
You should consider a water birth

The way forwards is you just don’t eat it. You have self control. Use it.

I know how you're feeling OP - I've been craving pâté all the way through this pregnancy but obviously not been able to have any. I'm going to have vast quantities of it after the birth, having dreamed about it for 7 months so far! Also very much looking forward to snaffling a massive cheese board...drooling already.

If it makes you feel any better, you're almost at the halfway point - then you can go back to eating sheets of smoked salmon again😁(although it probably won't taste as heavenly at that point as you'll not really be craving it any more)

Surely pasteurised or jarred pate can't have listeria in it? Like the little tubs of pate you sometimes see in the Eastern European chilled section in supermarkets… the stuff with packaging that looks like pricey cat food and usually seems to describe itself as sterilised or similar. I know a lot of stuff in the heat-treated pate sector is cheap n cheerful looking stuff (tho maybe that's what you're craving?), but presumably the very very fancy expensive stuff sold in ambient temp jars must also be heat treated, or it would kill bloody everyone?

It's not just the listeria risk that's the problem, it's also the Vitamin A content. Not really worth the gamble!

Ah right, yes if it's a pate with a high percentage of liver then that might be an issue. I didn't know about the vitamin A thing — it's always been the listeria aspect I've noticed people mentioning.

Anyway — I guess it'll taste all the better when you can finally have it!

The way forwards is you just don’t eat it. You have self control. Use it.

There's always one complete misery.

I don’t think it’s ‘misery’ to raise that. The ideas that pregnancy cravings are overpowering, different from ‘the usual’ desire for very palatable foods, and ‘need’ to be followed can be unhelpful, especially for those of us with food issues. The option to feel urges and not always follow them helped me a lot when pregnant with my younger DC, after difficulty when pregnant with DC1.

Aldi or Lidl smoked salmon

One’s a fairly predictable side effect of pregnancy and the other is a mental health issue.

I can only speak to my own experience but never before and never after have I felt the intensity of cravings for very specific foods as I did when pregnant. When in the depths of sickness the only thing that seemed palatable at one point was Five Guys beef burgers. Not sure self control is the right approach when you’re so sick that every day feels like the after effect of a massive bender.

Unless the OP has some backstory of food issues, it’s just one of many well documented pregnancy side effects, so I also think it’s a bit miserable.

I’d try smoked haddock , make or buy fish cakes ?
my cravings were Milka chocolate and satsumas 🤣lots of satsumas .

It’s a side effect sure, but it doesn’t mean you lose all self control.

How about tinned salted anchovies in olive oil? Got the slimy oily texture and saltiness? Hopefully cheaper?

Okay narky knickers

I had this craving too. Sainsbury’s taste the difference salmon pate is the best available.

Unfortunately you can’t eat it OP!

I satisfied my cravings with smoked salmon Philadelphia , knowing smoked salmon itself should not be eaten during pregnancy

Have you tried cooking normal salmon and seeing if that helps? Gousto have a great recipe on their website for Honey & Harrisa Salmon and it's really tasty.

Is mr whippy still banned?

You are a genius!!

Me neither! And I've had 4!

It’s not just smoked salmon, it’s all uncooked smoked fish. It’s because of a listeria outbreak. You’ll probably be fine if you haven’t become ill so far but I’d stop eating it now just in case.

Oh god now I am imagining smoked salmon flavoured Mr Whippy and it's making me gag 🤢

🤣
Mr Whippy was still banned 17 years ago, but not sure if it still is