Yesterday, when Lindsay asked what I was craving, I could have written an essay about it. Why not a blog post?
While I never got sick during the first trimester, I had serious cravings and aversions. Prior to finding out I was pregnant, Binks (and even I) thought I was just being weird. I did not want any bacon or be near it – pork in general. Meat was just hard for me altogether. I could not stand the smell or sight of mushrooms.
What I lacked in aversions, I sure made up and keep making up for in cravings.
Pickles
I cannot get enough.
Yep that is mustard and pickles. Together. It’s a fabulous thing. Try it. I eat a pickle everyday. This is my pickle of choice these days.
Turns out pickles actually quell sugar cravings, which makes sense because I do have a huge sweet tooth. Body – 1; me – 0.
Spicy Food
I ate spicy food before, but this is another issue altogether. I can drink this stuff:
I cook a lot with this:
I don’t know why I crave spicy food. I don’t know any reason behind this except to know that spicy food does rev up your metabolism a bit.
Cereal/Granola
I could eat this morning, noon and night. I limit it to just breakfast because pickles don’t go with cereal.
I love to drown my cereal in the almond milk – which is something I did previously anyway.
I love granolas/cereals – it makes me feel like I’m eating a dessert and I swear to the heavens that the vanilla macaroon granola I picked up at Sprouts tastes like a cookie. So, I’ve been eating cookie cereal. My favorite these days is Cascadian Farm’s Dark Chocolate Almond Granola. Again, tastes like cookies!
And, it keeps me full.
Cold Crazy Breakfast Bowls
To the exclusion of cereal, I’m in love with smoothie bowls and yogurt bowls.
This purple goodness is a mixture of prepared banana oatmeal, blueberries and almond milk. Topped with Justin’s Maple Almond Butter.
That my friends is Noosa Blueberry. If you haven’t tried Noosa yet, you need to. I don’t know what they do to make it delicious, but it is.
Miscellaneous
Other cravings include:
Justin’s nut butters. If you notice my pictures above you seethat I use it often. I wish it were a mental thing but it’s not. I have other Natural Peanut butters and nut butters but something about this one sets it above the rest. So much so that I’m contemplating buying a $10 jar.
Bananas. Maybe I’m needing potassium but I find every which way to sneak in bananas – usually at breakfast.
Coconut. As seen above, I love the stuff. And let me tell you coconut sprinkled on banana slices – O.M.G. dessert for sure!
Actually coconut has been not just a dietary supplement but an all-over body routine lately. I use it on my face as a mask and I notice a huge difference. I’m working on different anti-inflammatory (natural) masks and once I get together a palatable ‘recipe’, I’ll share! I also use coconut oil on my stomach for stretch marks.
Being from Kerala, coconut is used often and widely. Not for nothing. Coconut is a power house of nutrition and other health benefits.
Are all my cravings healthy? No. I frequently crave and sometimes eat (sometimes because these are not every day foods):
(1) potato chips – Kettle Sea Salt & Vinegar. ‘Nuff said.
(2) french fries – Always and forever
(3) fried chicken – This will never go away
(4) pizza – With garlic powder, red pepper flakes and Sriracha sauce for toppings. I dare you to try it.
(5) Magnums – Shall we go there again?
Pregnant or not – tell me what you crave – a healthy craving and a not-so-healthy craving.
OliePants 