Motherhood, Recipes

My Favorite Pregnancy Meals

5 November

Did you know that enjoying healthy and low toxin meals while pregnant can help nourish baby during the entire pregnancy, infancy and even into adulthood? many pregnant mamas, (including myself), battle nausea, food aversions and more. if we are able to get around that first trimester slump, pregnancy meals can be so delicious, nourishing and plentiful. I’m walking you through a day in the life when I was pregnant with my son, (now 2.5 years), and a few of my favorite pregnancy meals and crazy cravings!

a day in the life:

I was pregnant during covid, running our organic grab & go shop and cooking in our commercial kitchen for our meal delivery service with my husband. I worked daily cooking on my feet until 36 weeks pregnant when my doctor and I agreed it was time to slow down a bit so baby could stay in my belly until he or she was fully ready. *He* definitely waited- and arrived almost two weeks late. during the daily work chaos during pregnancy, I did make sure to stop and nourish myself and I cooked a lot on the weekends. Behold, my favorite pregnancy meals:

breakfast/brunch:

breakfast usually consisted of my creamy protein bulletproof latte along with a later breakfast of warmed up egg bake or frittata with greens, seasonal fruit, nuts and avocado. along with my prenatal vitamins, I was striving to have plenty of rich healthy fats to support my growing baby and help aid in healthy brain development.

every Sunday, I would bake an egg casserole in a large 9×13 casserole dish, let it cool, cut it into portions and be set for the entire work week. i often made a rendition of this recipe. Although I love veggies in egg casseroles and frittatas, try to abstain and stick to hearty ingredients like potatoes, sausage, bacon and eggs so that your egg bake stays sturdy and fresh throughout the week. Watery veggies such as tomatoes, mushrooms or greens can start leaching water after a couple of days and lead to a soggy casserole.

when we visited my parents at their lake house, I enjoyed making more elaborate and decadent brunches but made sure to use cleaner ingredient alternatives to support my blood sugar and prevent myself from entering a sugar or carb overload. I used this pancake mix often and you can freeze any uneaten pancakes to quickly reheat for busy weekdays.

lunch:

If I was having a busy day in the commercial kitchen, I always stopped no matter what to have a nutrient-dense bar or I would heat up leftovers from dinner the evening before always garnished with fiber-rich nuts or seeds.

if enjoying lunch at home, I loved toasting my favorite paleo bread and topping with a homemade egg salad, (recipe coming soon), or a grilled cheese with organic deli turkey and avocado. I also usually served this with a baby gem salad with seasonal fruit and avocado.

lunch could also consist of a small snack plate of healthy fats, carbs and protein such as: grass-fed meat stick, string cheese, grapes, olives & cashews. keep it simple on those days that feel overwhelming.

dinner:

dinner was usually lighter and I tried to pack in as many veggies and lean proteins as I could, (also to save room for my favorite pregnancy snack later, ha!).

I love topping stir fries like my egg roll in a bowl with pastured egg and avocado for another hit of protein and healthy fats. some of my other favorite pregnancy meals included chili with yummy toppings, wild salmon or mahi mahi tacos, migas with organic refried beans or grain-free lasagna.

snacks/cravings:

I joke that we will *never* speak about my first trimester cravings…my nausea was so bad the entire first trimester and nothing really sounded good. Until one day, I decided that Luby’s sounded amazing. It must have been the nostalgic connotation as my mother, grandmother and I would meet there often in my childhood to enjoy dinner and visit.

I’m gluten-free due to my Hashimoto’s but I was *set* on splurging with a fried fish, fried okra and mashed potato dinner. I surprisingly wasn’t sick after and could only eat half but it definitely hit the spot. The lesson to me was to enjoy my cravings sparingly but also focus on nourishment mainly.

my other major craving was cereal. I never ate cereal before I was pregnant but something about that cold almond milk and crunchy gf cereal really felt euphoric after a hot shower and climbing into bed to watch a grey’s anatomy re-run. In fact, that’s when my water broke. pop! just like a balloon out of the movies on a sunday night cozy in bed with a bowl of cereal.

I hope walking through a day in my life was helpful and has provided some inspiration. Typical pregnancy cravings like tex-mex, cookies, ice cream and more can all usually be made with cleaner ingredients and hit that craving spot on. But even more importantly, taking care of yourself *inside and out* helps keep baby nourished, too. you’ve got this, mama. xoxo