Pregnancy snacks/foods?

[Tropicaliyes]

Hi all,

I’m looking for some suggestions on what I can buy as snacks/food during pregnancy?

im almost 13 weeks and seem hungry non stop, I haven’t had much nausea but have also not had any cravings either, more food aversions than anything. I’m looking for advise on what I can keep grazing on since I have found that I will get hungry about every 3-4 hours depending on what I eat. I now have to eat just before I go to sleep to keep me going through the night but as soon as I wake I need to eat straight away.

Im due to do an online shop and wanted to know what I can/should pick up.

I don’t eat peanut butter so when I see people having fruits/veggies dipped in peanut butter it’s not something I would eat (but I do eat peanuts). I also don’t eat celery. I have been totally off carrots (one of my aversions).

I have decided to buy some seeded bread, wholewheat pittas and wholewheat couscous to try and keep me fuller for longer. I wanted to make up some salads but have found the lettuces available where I shop is very limited in comparison to those ready made bags which they say to stay away from, so I will still make my salads but no fancy leaves.

I didn’t think finding things to eat would be so hard, never even thought aversions was a thing stupidly but at the same time I have the ability to still eat mostly everything but just need some help.

Thanks in advance

I ate a lot of salt and vinegar rice cakes 🤤

Ah like snack a jacks? I use to eat their caramel or toffee ones (can’t remember which ones it is now) but never willingly bought the salt and vinegar but I will add them, just never actually thought about it tbh and it would be better than eating crisps! I stopped eating crisps and started eating lentil chips but I only like one flavour so will need to fancy those, but thank you, this is one extra item to add!

Do you like hummus?

I lived off toasties when I was pregnant. Also ate half a galia melon at a time (husband doesn't like it so no one to share with!)

Ritz crackers was always a go too as well. Yeah snack a jacks! Or the lightly salted ones with Philly! I found I was starving throughout my whole pregnancy. At the end when my friends couldn't eat because the baby was in the way..... I didn't ever have that 😂

You dont need to avoid the bags of mixed lettuce. If you are worried then wash the leaves before use

@PritiPatelsMaker i totally went off chickpeas in the beginning as I was vegan and relying on them an awful lot to the point where I got an aversion to all the protein sources I would of had usually however I had some pitta and hummus the other day and was perfectly fine with it! Maybe I just needed a break with it! I will make some at home since I still have some jars of chickpeas but wonder how long it will last once made🤔.

@ToddleToddleToddle toasties? Like toasted sandwiches? If so I haven’t had one of them for a long time as I don’t have a toastie machine and use my grill and can never get the inside to melt or heat through enough without the outside burning! Quite annoying actually but I enjoyed them when I could make them so always worth another shot… I’m clearly doing something wrong lol.

@Blendandmix you know I bought some ritz anticipating morning sickness and potentially not being able to eat much and firstly I never got the morning sickness and then secondly since I didn’t eat them before I was actually quite surprised how sweet they were! I was looking for a salty cracker and all suggestions were ritz but they were far from salty and tasted more like a vanilla biscuit! Was quite disappointed as I have been totally off sweet stuff. It’s not so bad now but anything with sugar in the beginning seemed overwhelmingly sweet it was not fun! In fact I still haven’t found a salty cracker! I actually added some Philly to the shop (bought low fat though which has no added sugar surprisingly) so will look for the lightly salted ones which I actually didn’t know they do!

These are both really nice! I went off so much food when I was pregnant. It's taken me a while to get back into fish!

Know what you mean about the ritz being sweet actually!

@dementedpixie I was actually contemplating this! I was going to ask my midwife but she didn’t seem to know what she was talking about when she brought up the avoid list! She told me to avoid shellfish, then listed sushi and such, I asked what about Prawns as I didn’t hear I had to avoid that and she told me that they were fine! (But prawns are shellfish and sushi is not). I did ask her about eating salads when from take outs as I heard not to get salad from bars or like subways etc and she told me that it’s fine and just depends on how strict I want to be! I didn’t think it was an option on how strict you choose to be and thought it was to not risk listeria! I didn’t leave feeling confident with her advise but I will get some bags and wash them (I use to find slugs, bugs and caterpillars in she already washed bags so would always be opting to wash those regardless, but will have to avoid the ones with sliced carrots and such as that doesn’t wash well lol. Thanks for the heads up.

You can have cooked shellfish. At the moment it's advised to cook any fish used in sushi and smoked fish as there have been listeria issues linked to smoked fish especially.

www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/foods-to-avoid/

@Blendandmix oh I actually have some of those in my cupboard actually! I bought some organic M&S cheese spread and it wasn’t nice, I had to add salt as it tasted so bland! I put it on these crackers and as much as it wasn’t totally unpleasant I for sure won’t buy it again and will just still to what I know😆. Btw is it me or do these crackers taste a little stale/soft? Is it meant to be like that?i wrapped them in a food bag after as I managed to slightly rip the top so the clip was useless.

and yeah the ritz were disappointing as I had something else in my mind, wish we could get saltines here.

Yeah I continued to eat prawns because I didn’t find anything online to say it wasn’t okay and I never liked sushi before this anyway so wouldn’t start now. I don’t like salmon so that was also never on my list of foods to eat. I also don’t think I eat anything raw. I also thought tuna was okay to eat but just not too much, like once or twice a week? But she said no tuna or tuna steaks (I also have tuna steaks in the freezer I haven’t used as I’m unsure now).

Oh thanks that link actually answered my tuna and tuna steak question 😆🤦🏽‍♀️

So I bought some snack-a-jacks and found some “off the eaten path” rice & pea chips which are actually quite nice. Bought some lighter Philadelphia (made sure lighter doesn’t mean added sugar), bought some mixed leaves salad bags with some different flavoured cooked chicken, my idea is to make some chicken salads with eggs, or add some to pasta salads and make up a dressing. Also got some wholewheat couscous and found some Fornio to try out, also to make up some salads with grains, can add the meats to them also. (Been feeling salads and pasta salads lately in case you didn’t notice lol). In fact, most of what I bought is to go in a salad 😂, some cheese, sundries tomatoes (been fancying those lately along with some pickles) also bought some seeded and brown sourdough bread as I was aware I am relying on carbs a lot so wanted to not stay with just white.

got some yoghurts, fruits and it dawned on me I don’t really have dinner meals but I will figure it out. I think I have made a good start so far.

thanks for the suggestions and advice, I’m not feeling as lost anymore😮‍💨.

Plain yoghurt with granola was a good snack for me; filling and cheap

With my eldest I ate tons for cashew nuts. Helped with the nausea a bit.

Can't stand them now.

With my youngest I craved chocolate oranges - terrible for you.

Make a toasted sandwich in a frying or griddle pan, get a cast iron weight for it if you want, the middle melts no problem but you don't need a toasted sandwich maker.

Haha I never thought to do a toastie in a frying pan! How silly of me! I would do that with the bread untoasted right?

got some yoghurt but it never fills me up, and granola I’m not too keen on but I bought a box and will have to dress it up.. maybe I just don’t like that particular one.

and cashews I have always disliked! It’s a soft nut and I don’t like the way they feel in my mouth🤦🏽‍♀️ Same with Almonds and walnuts, I don’t like peanut butter because of that feeling but I will eat peanuts lol

and chocolate I have been off of, it’s weird but I think I’m starting to get to the point now where I’m okay with the idea lol.

Yes with the bread untoasted, it will toast in the pan 😄

Hi OP 👋🏽 congratulations on your pregnancy! How about a frittata/ crustless quiche type of dish you can portion up? Made with eggs, cottage cheese, seasoning and add in any veg etc you like (peppers, mushroom etc) and bake in the oven. This is my go to snack and keeps me fuller for longer! (I’m not PG yet, just always hungry 🤣)

@Garman thanks, I will try that now, had some real tough bread today I intended to make a sandwich but decided maybe it’s best as toast😒 I have never had such a hard toasted sandwich before in my life! Now roof of my mouth is all cut up😂🤦🏽‍♀️ I should have just made a toastie😮‍💨

@LovelyBitOfSquirrelll hahaha no need to be pregnant, but I know with pregnancy it’s best to watch what you eat and sometimes you are totally off the things you are usually fine with so quite annoying! Funnily enough quiche is something I have never liked! My mum use to eat them all the time and I always found the texture wrong for me. (I’m one of those texture people). I know pregnancy can change your sense of taste so I might just buy a mini one and see how it goes.

In my first trimester I used to take a small Tupperware of cheerios into work with me so I could nibble/graze when I started feeling hungry. Not hugely nutritious, but helped to bridge the gap between meals.

A bigger issue was my relentless craving for a Greggs sausage roll, and the Greggs in the station on my way home every night 😬.

@QueenOfWeeds lol you know what, one of those Greggs outlet stores open up opposite my house a little while ago and while I spent almost a year not ever visiting I went there a few weeks ago for a cheese & onion pasty which I have been wanting for a while and since then I have been wanting more! Thing is I went to actual greggs the other day, ordered the same thing and it just didn’t taste the same! Was missing some salt and the signature taste i was looking for! The steak bake was as expected but after my last disappointment with the lack of salt I think I might be over it now! I should have just gone to icelands to buy the bake at home ones🙄.

Did you find the cheerios kept you going? I think it’s a little sweet for me to be snacking on, and I have found a lot of them have Honey which I’m not allergic to.

Isn't a toasted sandwich a toastie? What's the difference?