Before I was pregnant with my first born, I thought that pregnancy cravings were simply preferences. You know, like how sometimes you prefer Chinese over Italian? I thought that surely these pregnant women were just using cravings as an excuse to either cram in empty calories or to send their significant others out on food errands at random hours. Ha! Boy, was I wrong. Pregnancy cravings more appropriately fall into the “need” category. And when you brain decides that you need something, you want it immediately. What’s really bizarre about these cravings is that sometimes, they make no sense. With Parker, my cravings were chocolate milk (which I never usually drank) and watermelon. I think I ate 3 entire watermelons a week in my third trimester with him. I also went through chocolate milk by the gallon.
As you can imagine, cravings vary from one pregnancy to the next. This time around, Mexican food has been a biggie – enchiladas, nachos, chips and salsas. There’s something about the massive salt content that has been calling to me.
As an aside, the way that I’ve been making nachos is super easy and wonderfully tasty. First, I preheat the broiler and then I grate some Monterrey Jack cheese. I cook up a meat substitute (usually Quorn brand grounds) and flavor it with taco seasoning – of course, you could just use regular ground beef here. Then, I arrange a layer of tortilla chips, add my taco “meat” on top, sprinkle it with cheese and stick it under the broiler for a handful of minutes or until all of the cheese is melted. Finally, I top it off with diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, diced onions, sliced jalapeños and sour cream. Seriously, this has been dinner at least 2 days a week for the last month.
Back to cravings – the other day, completely out of the blue, I had a desperate craving for a piña colada. Now, I haven’t actually had a piña colada in about 5 years, but at that moment, I could taste exactly what I had been missing all of these years. Unfortunately, I did not have access to a piña colada (virgin or otherwise), so I grumpily went about my business.
The following day, I was in the grocery store when I stumbled upon these Edy’s Coconut
Fruit Bars. I grabbed a box (or three) immediately and opened the first one in the car. Oh was it heavenly! Creamy, coconutty and best of all, only 130 calories. So naturally, I ate two. Happily, my craving was satisfied.
While I don’t know what’s next in the craving department during these last couple of months, I’ve learned to be prepared for anything. I’ve also learned that cravings can be easily fooled. Thank goodness for that!
Daily Cynema 
