Pregnancy Snacks - Fruit with yogurt

Oh man, Tim is riding me hard on proteins, and I know he's right, but wow - it is sooo hard to get the recommended values of each food group while pregnant. Oops, did I mention I was pregnant? Probably not yet, at least, not here on this blog. Yep, I'm pregnant. So you may see some additional posts about that topic and comments related to the food I'm making, just cause that's a current happening in my life right now.

So back to protein, I was surviving just fine in that department while I was not-pregnant. But now there's extra emphasis, AND extra calories/food I need to eat. Ah!

If you are pregnant, and having a hard time like me, I combined a few sources to make this list of good-snack-foods. It's been helpful. Some are good for protein, and some are good when you need to eat but don't really want to. Whether you're pregnant or not though, these are very tasty, healthy snacks.

• whole wheat tortilla rolled up with peanut butter and banana (Ok, this doesn't sound so good to me... you? Instead, I've eaten quite a few apples with peanut butter smeared on them. PB is great protein)
• fresh fruit salad or fruit dipped in vanilla yogurt (see 'recipe' below)
• raw veggies dipped in hummus (Another favorite. Click here for my hummus recipe. Chickpeas - great, great protein)
• whole grain crackers with cheese and apple slices (I do the cheese and crackers, forget the apple. Cheese = protein)
• mixed nuts and dried fruits (raisins, apricots, figs, prunes) - This is a great summer trail mix idea!
• bean salad with toasted pita wedges (add beans to salad, pastas, etc - easy way to add a bit of protein)
  
• a handful of raw almonds (I do this even when I'm not pregnant, very good protein. You can also add chopped, roasted almonds to salad, delicious)
  
• bran muffin and milk (prunes, then bran cereal... anyone seeing a trend here?)
• baked potato with plain yogurt and chives (click here for my twice baked potato recipe. Eating potatoes with skins is a protein source)
• cottage cheese with canned peaches or pineapple slices (My friend jamie used to like this, or was it ketchup in the cottage cheese?? Anyway, I cant get on board with this - I'd eat the plain cottage cheese though, good protein)

As my 'recipe' for today (which has next to no protein- oh well), I'm giving you one of my favorite summer-time, pregnancy snacks... fresh fruit with yogurt. It's light, refreshing and cold. While I didn't suffer any nausea, this snack has helped me get in a few extra calories when I wasn't really looking forward to eating anything else. It doesn't sound or feel filling. Fruit, esp cantaloupe, is full of liquid, so I also helped myself stay hydrated... another one of my short-comings, drinking enough water.

But this isn't JUST a pregnancy snack, oh no. Think of how nutritious and yummy for a summer afternoon kiddo snack. Or just for you, because it's fresh fruit and yogurt, and who doesn't like both of those?! Very easy to take with you to work.

You can even make it into a fun 30 minute activity with the kids.... give them a 1/4 cantaloupe to scoop (a little melon scoop would be better than a knife, in case you're wondering just what in the heck I'm proposing for your little darlings!), and a couple handfuls of blueberries to wash, let them mix, and add the yogurt and voila - instant fun and instant snack. If you want to add some crunch, put out a bowl of granola or rice krispies or something to also add in. Maybe even graham crackers! Use your imagination.

Fresh Fruit with Yogurt:
I know this is too easy to post, but eh, what the heck.

Pre-cut a half cantaloupe into bite-sized pieces. Then wash and add 1-2 cups of blueberries. Keep in the fridge, covered with saran wrap.

When ready, scoop out 1/3 of your fruit mix, and combine with a small container of yogurt (your choice on flavor, I use vanilla).

A 3/4 full regular cereal bowl kept in the fridge, usually makes 2-3 days worth of nutritious afternoon snacks (depending on how hungry I am - munch, munch, munch!).

Guten appetit!