Who will admit to this?

[hollysmom]

Just opening a can of Spaghettos...



I am 2 months PG and have a 4-year-old and tend to develop the 'queasies' late afternoon - so cooking is not at the top of my list. DD doesn't complain about 'Rolios' - her word or the Mac and Cheese - but it's not the best nutritionally for any of us

Husband is a pilot and is away frequently. He cooks when he is home.

Suggestions for 2-3 step simple preparation ideas would be helpful to get me through this stage.

SSM

[Peggy C.]

Why not keep some pasta and plain rice ready in the fridge, I'm sure some pre cooked pasta and a little jarred sauce is better for you than the stuff in the can. A pre made bag of salad and your all set.

[Janeway45242]

Prepared rice and grains freeze very well and crumble for easy dipping out for servings, unless you freeze in specific serving sizes. Cooked pasta may freeze equally well, but I'm not sure. The ultimate fast food is already cooked rice, grains and pasta. When you prepare these, never make just half the package. If you're already boiling water for pasta, might as well make the whole box. It's the ultimate fast food! It's a great base for all kinds of healthy cooking. Frozen vegetables on top of some pasta, rice or grains with any sauce you've made ahead (or, gasp! open a jar) and voila! your child will have something new to name!

[little_bopeep]

I always tried to keep plenty of good, hearty veggie soup (sometimes with meat) on hand....Campbell's chunky soups are a fav. And don't forget that pb&j on whole wheat, a piece of fruit and a glass of milk is a perfect meal. I like Spahettios, by the way....they're not altogether unhealthy (except when you drop them on your toe. but that's another story. )

If you're feeling OK in the morning, see how much you can make ahead. Maybe you can start a roast beast in the crockpot early in the morning and let it go all day...unless the smell late in the afternoon would bother you. You could also make a batch of spaghetti sauce in the morning, or assemble a casserole that you could put in the fridge and cook later.

Interesting that you're having your morning sickness in the afternoon....I never had it in the morning, either. I got big-time heatburn around 10 at night. Argh.

[claire797]

Hi!

Have you checked the pregnant moms thread over on Healthy Living? There are some good tips over there.

My recommendation is having plenty of fruit, fresh breads and sandwich meats on hand. When I was pregnant, turkey sandwiches still tasted good.

[yorkshirepud]

hi claire ...

congratulations on the pregnancy ... :)

why not do a hugh pasta salad ... they refrigerate well for a few days and can be served hot or cold ... there's tons of recipes on the CL site ...

alternatively ... you could cook a big batch of stew ... freeze it into individual serving portions and just defrost as needed ...

HTH!
YP

[claire797]

Originally posted by yorkshirepud
hi claire ...

congratulations on the pregnancy ... :)

why not do a hugh pasta salad ... they refrigerate well for a few days and can be served hot or cold ... there's tons of recipes on the CL site ...

alternatively ... you could cook a big batch of stew ... freeze it into individual serving portions and just defrost as needed ...

HTH!
YP

Hee hee. I am no longer pregnant. I had my DD 7 months ago but it seems like yesterday!

Hollysmom,

Yorkshire's pasta salad suggestion is a good one too. If you do a search (I think in healthy living), someone started a thread just like yours and there are tons of good suggestions for healthy snacks.

By the way. Have you tried steeping fresh ginger to make ginger tea? This helped me a lot with the queasiness.

[MusicMom]

Baked potatoes are easy and nutritional. Some people bake them in the microwave, but I still prefer them in the overn. We have them frequently as main dish accompanied by a salad. Toppings can be as simple or complicated as you wish- just cheese and sour cream or leftover chili. DS likes to put salsa or salad dressing on his.

Soup is another wonderful option, as others have suggested. There are so many varieties and they're easy to adapt if you're in the mood.


Congratulations and hope you feel better soon.

[kimmer99]

I keep frozen raviolis and tortellini's in the house. Pop them in boiling water and ten minutes later you're done.

I'm also a big fan of breakfast for dinner - cereal w/ some sliced fruit and milk, scrambled eggs with a side of baby carrots or fresh fruit, and sometimes pancakes.

[Jewel]

I personally do not partake of this delicacy, but I have at least a dozen cans of Chef Boyardee Beefaroni and Ravioli that DH insists on keeping in the cupboard next to my cans of FF refried beans. :rolleyes: He's had this weird twisted love affair thing going on with that fat Italian Chef since he was a kid....it's scary! :eek:

[greysangel]

I used to like the stuffed ravioli. One time DH was away and I got this weird hankering so I bought a can...ewwwwwwwwwwww. My taste buds have changed between college and marriage :D I went for Kraft Mac and Cheese instead!

I did see somewhere they recalled the chef boyardee lowfat cheese ravioli so beware :eek:

JeAnne

[marti]

I don't care for canned pasta but its not that unhealthy for a short period of time. You're not making it a part of your normal diet or you daughter's; you're just just using it to get through a few rough weeks. That's okay.

[kimmer99]

Originally posted by hollysmom
Just opening a can of Spaghettos...
SSM

Hello, my name is Kim and I'm a Spaghettioholic....

Yep - used to eat them all the time but I'm proud to say it's been over 9 years now (since a craving during my first pregnancy :D )

[MrsReber]

When I was queasy like that ( a mere 2 months ago!!) I ate lots of english muffins. I'd melt some cheese on them, or peanut butter or make english muffin pizzas (love those!). Rice and beans was always good, too, and it's got plent of protein! There wasn't too much that I wanted to eat and anything that was too strong in flavor would upset me even more.

How about low fat hotdogs and baked beans? I had some things on hand for DH as he was still hungry even if I could not eat much. I admit to using convenience foods like jarred sauce and canned beans. The thing is that I could not stand the smell of things cooking so I had to be in and out of the kitchen quickly! Good luck with your pregnancy - come join us on the healthy living board if you have some time!

Susan

[Mlasley]

I found that packaged cous cous is a godsend (5 minutes to cook and you don't have to watch it once you remove it from the heat). Add pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the deli and a bagged salad mix and you're done.

I also like the Morningstar farms tomato and basil pizza burgers. They take about 1 minute in the microwave and you can always bake some pre-packaged fries in the toaster oven to go with.

When I was pregnant I craved tuna fish with pickles and jelly beans (all together of course). How gross is that?!

Hope you feel better soon!

[JennyAnne]

Hi Hollysmom,

I just started my 2nd trimester & went through exactly what you're going through now (I have an 18 month old). Here's what worked for me.

*cheese quesadillas w/ steamed veggies on the side (this is still her favorite dinner)

*prepare a batch of meatballs during the low-queasy part of the day. I'd freeze them while still raw on a cookie sheet & transfer to a freezer bag once frozen. I'd thaw the number I needed in the fridge the night before & cook when I could stand it. Come dinner all I had to do was reheat the sauce w/the meatballs already in it. Of course it was always jarred sauce. I couldn't stand any food in raw form, even veggies.

*make a batch of homemade mac & cheese and freeze in single-sized portions for your DD. That way you at least have food for her if you can't eat when she wants to. Just heat in the microwave.

*get a chicken ready to roast & in the pan early in the day. Keep in the fridge till time to cook. Low hands-on involvment needed.

*buy boil-in-the-bag white or brown rice. You can cook it in the microwave in 10 minutes.

*sandwiches always worked, especially turkey and PB&J. Actually, those are the only sandwiches she'll eat besides the obligatory grilled cheese.

I hope you find some of this helpful.

[AndreaU]

Nothing wrong with some O's once in a blue moon... My friend who now lives in Belgium stuffed 4 cans in his suitcase when he went back because his wife needed a big-time Spaghetti-Os fix!

For quick prep, what about a roasted chicken from the supermarket (if they have them)? Our are around $5-6 for a whole chicken. With it you could make any kind of Mexican dish (enchiladas, tacos, etc.).

Pasta is very simple and you can put pretty much anything on it. We haven't been using a lot of red sauce lately, instead we're favoring simple, light fare. Toss cooked pasta with sauteed onions, olive oil and feta cheese. Throw in some cooked chicken or Italian sausage.

Best of luck with your second child!

[BlueMoose]

I made french toast (made with cinnamon bread) a lot early in my pregnancy. Eat it with fruit and a glass of milk. Very easy, and kids love it, too.

[Beth]

It's been nearly six years since I could blame PG for anything, but just yesterday morning I opened a can of spaghettios, heated them up and dumped them in a Thermos to pack in a lunch box grateful that I could find anything he would eat that day. I buy the ones with calcium, and there have been days they have been the only calcium he has gotten. I'm grateful for that and pray this too shall pass -- but that's another story too.

Tortellini with jarred sauce is one of our emergency meals. Eggs are good, but my boys won't touch them -- not with a fox, not in a box. Can Holly help make sandwiches? Good luck finding new options -- but don't worry or feel guilty in the meantime. When you have two on your hands, there may be times it gets worse. :eek: Hang in there!

[dcornelius]

I was last pregnant 17 years ago but I gotta tell you the smell of spaghettios would send me realing for the B/R when I was pg! I could not tolerate them ans y then 4 y/o son loved them, that was quite a delemma! So I reserved them for Daddy days when I wasn't home and Daddy had to feed DS.:D

[Karen in VA]

Neither my kids nor I like any of those canned pastas, but I always find the packaged noodle dishes, like mac and cheese, pasta roni, etc work well in a pinch. I throw a handful of frozen veggies in so that they have a little more nutrition.

When I was pg I too had problems with food the first few months. For me, any type of potato was wonderful! I was known to drive to KFC or Chicken Out just for some mashed potatoes! When I was pg with my son, my daughter was only a year old, so I could feed her pretty simple things like yogurt, waffles, fruit, pasta etc. I have a friend going through her first trimester right now and she is living on things like chicken salad and egg salad (mildly seasoned).

Good luck! I hope you are feeling better soon!

[MelissaAS]

My favorite emergency dinners are spicy, so I'm not sure if they'll work for you, but they're based on those "Zatarain's" rice boxes...they have a few: Creole Chicken (add cooked chicken), Jambalaya Mix (add cooked chicken or kielbasa or sausage or shrimp or whatever), etc. REALLY quick and yummy.

Congratulations!
Melissa

[label]

You can feed kids all kinds of things that are healthy, they like, and don't require cooking at all. I feed my grandkids dinners like apple wedges with peanut butter, a slices or cubes of cheese and carrots w/dip. Or cereal. Or peanut butter sandwiches and applesauce w/cinnamon.
It's only for a while, she'll survive!12 firebrick :p :p

[KimKelly]

Holly's Mom... congratulations on the pregnanacy! We are in similar boats, or have been anyway. My husband is a pilot also, so I know where your at with cooking for just you and your child. When I was pregnant with my second (3 years ago now...) we did LOTS of "noodles". I could stomach noodles fine, and my son loved them. I frequently just opened a jar of sauce, or I would freeze much of my sauce in smaller batches. Or, we just used butter and parmesean along with frozen vegies and fruit. Lots of peanut butter and grilled cheese too (hmmm... maybe that is what contributed to my 55 lb gain???). Also pancakes and french toast.
I still frequently eat what the kids are eating when he's gone. THis makes me really jealous as his latest line has been Honolulu/Maui. Something just isn't fair here!!!
Hope you are feeling better soon!

Kim

PS... I forgot oatmeal! I craved otameal when I was pregnant, and always topped it with fruit and maple syrup (the real kind) as it had some iron which I needed.