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Recipes and Nutrition

The old pregnancy adage, "you are eating for two" really carries a lot of weight when you look at how important and how easy good nutrition can be during your pregnancy. You and your baby are nutritionally inseparable. How you take care of yourself, including how well you eat during pregnancy, is a direct reflection on how you take care of your baby. Pregnancy is a good time to fine tune an already good diet and improve a poor diet by eating nutritious, well balanced meals. Some basic guidelines are:

• Make every bite count. Before taking a bite of food ask yourself, "Is this the nourishment bite I can give my baby?" If the answer is yes, go ahead and enjoy yourself. But if the answer is no, think twice and make a better food selection for you and your baby.

• All calories are not created equal in the nutrition world. The nutritive value found in a 150 calorie doughnut made with white sugar and refined white flour will never compare with the nutrition found packed into a whole grain muffin sweetened with natural sugars and fruit.

• Never skip meals. Your baby needs regular nourishment at regular intervals. Even if you are not hungry, your baby is. If morning sickness or heartburn makes you feel miserable after eating, try eating five or six small meals spaced a few hours apart throughout the day rather than the traditional three larger meals.

Eating for two means eating better, not necessarily more or at least not much more. It takes a total of 55,000 extra calories to make a baby. That may sound like a lot but the average pregnant woman only needs to add about 300 additional calories per day beyond her normal caloric intake (for most women this is between 1800 and 2000 calories per day).

At some point in pregnancy, eating becomes relatively easy and enjoyable. But cooking on the other hand, is a different story. Because your body is working overtime growing a new life, you're more tired than usual. You have a lot to take care of before the blessed event, and the desire to tear into the kitchen and cook may not be there for you (especially if it wasn't there for you prior to becoming pregnant!). At times like this, it can be very tempting just to grab something quick and easy not caring about how nutritious it may or may not be. Here are some easy tricks and recipes to help you maintain good nutrition for you and your baby without the stress of rattling the pots and pans!

Hearty Vegetable Dip with Fresh Veggies

Mix one package of Knorr's Spring Vegetable Dry Soup Mix with two cups low fat sour cream or plain yogurt. Add one half cup mayonnaise. Mix well and chill a minimum of one hour. This dip will stay fresh for up to one week (if it lasts that long). Keep the refrigerator stocked with ready to eat fresh broccoli and cauliflower florets, baby carrots and celery sticks. Nonfat pretzels make great dippers too. It's easy to put together a great snack or meal in no time when you have everything ready to pull out of the refrigerator. You will get a serving of yellow and dark green vegetables along with a good serving of calcium in the dip. This is a good recipe to remember once you're home with your new baby. It's great for those busy days at home when sitting down for a meal just isn't going to happen. Another plus for this recipe is that kids love it too! Once that new baby becomes a toddler (time will fly it, always does!), little kids love being big and dipping pretzels and veggies not realizing they're eating a healthy snack at the same time.

Fruit Water

For a refreshing alternative to plain water and a better alternative than colas or teas loaded with sugar and caffeine, try this one. Keep a good selection of fresh lemons, limes, oranges, or any other citrus fruit you like on hand. When kept in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator they will last for quite some time. Fill a large (16oz. or larger) glass with crushed ice. Squeeze at least one half or a whole lemon, lime, orange or combination over the ice. Fill with cold water and enjoy. If you want this to be a little sweeter add a little sweetener to the ice before adding the water. You may have to play with the amounts of water, juice and sweetener to get this one just right for you but the reward is worth the effort! Wet, cold and refreshing . . . ahh!

Stir-Fry Your Way

Stir-frying is a relatively healthy and easy way to cook during pregnancy. It's good for both you and the baby, with easy preparation and clean up. Once again, keep your favorite vegetables on hand and ready to go in the refrigerator. Most produce departments these days stock a good variety of vegetables already cleaned and precut right on the shelf. The most economical and easiest way too keep vegetables on hand for stir-frying is to shop once a week for your vegetables. Bring them home and immediately clean and cut up the vegetables according to your preference. If stored in vegetable bags (gallon-sized Ziploc bags with tiny holes designed to let excess ,oisture out) in the vegetable crisper, these vegetables will keep for quite some time and be ready to go when you're ready to cook!

Pour about a tablespoon of olive, canola, peanut or your favorite oil into a heated stir-fry skillet (a must) and you're on your way to a quick, easy and nutritious meal. You can do a variety of vegetables and can get in a serving of protein by adding cut up beef or chicken. If you're including meat in the stir-fry, always add this to the oil first to ensure it's fully cooked once the vegetables have been added and cooked. Give into your craving when seasoning your stir-fry. Craving something sweet . . . add some sweet and sour sauce just before finishing. Lite soy and teriyaki sauce are great to satisfy a craving for something savory. Dry seasoning such as Knorr's All Purpose Seasoning, Johnny's Salt, or Callandra Greek Seasoning are wonderful and really bring out the flavor of the vegetables.

Finally, you can have an occasional treat. You don't have to give up all your favorite goodies just because you're pregnant. Processed foods, packaged snacks and sugar loaded desserts shouldn't be the mainstay of your diet. One great trick is to buy your favorite candy bar in the bite-size snack pieces. That way when a craving hits, you can have just a bite without having to open a whole candy bar. Love ice cream? Try nonfat frozen yogurt, sorbet or sherbet. Another good alternative for something sweet is an all-fruit popsicle. Craving potato chips, go for the low-fat version chips, microwave popcorn or pretzels.