This time, it has changed a little over time. There was a weird moment or two when I really wanted a beef burger (which entirely disagrees with the fact that I hate the taste of meat) but otherwise, the cravings have been quite normal. It's been pretty dairy orientated. I talked early on about how cheese featured heavily and made 'pregnant pasta'. A lot of the first trimester was spent wanting cheese and this hasn't really dissipated. Laughing Cow (or La vache qui rit) has featured heavily - spread on fresh bread or in these little dipper pots - there was a stage where I was managing one of these when I got home from work every day.
On a similar theme, cheese muffins or scones were a regular breakfast option at the weekends and I resolved to make my own. I intend to make a variation of this recipe this week.
Finally, something that hasn't so much been a craving as something that has felt a really satisfying eat. Cashew Butter is something that my great aunt introduced me to as a child and something that I am pleased to have introduced my child too. To my thinking, it has a much mellower taste to it than peanut butter. Unless I'm making noodle salad, peanut butter doesn't really exist in the house. Cashew butter is great on crumpets and toast. I recently made a poppy seed fresh loaf that just cried out for toasting and spreading. If you haven't tried a different nut butter on your toast, I strongly recommend it. Now I'm wondering if I should sneak the crunchy one into the cupboard and keep it to myself!
Maybe I should mention that I've also been having a few cucumber and garlic mayo sandwiches...
I've been crowdsourcing other people's pregnancy cravings on Twitter and Facebook and it's thrown up some expected cravings along with a couple of slightly strange ones. Chelle of Unique and Chic had similar cravings to me and there was a difference between her daughter (the first pregnancy) and her son (the second): -
@kneadwhine @tattooed_mummy first time fruit juice, milk and cheesecake. This time avocado but nothing really obsessive
— Chelle McCann (@chellemccann) July 24, 2014
Jetta of Mischievous Mum talked about how her second pregnancy is a lot different from the first. I'm going to stick my neck out and say that she's going to have a girl this time around...
"I'm on pregnancy number 2 at the moment. In pregnancy 1 I craved tomato things. This pregnancy I can't even eat tomatoes it gives me such bad heartburn. Also in pregnancy 1 I went completely off tea even after the pregnancy and only drank coffee, in this pregnancy I can't bear coffee unless it's iced and only drink tea! My first pregnancy was a boy, find out in 2 weeks what I'm having this time around, you'd think with having polar opposites that this will be a girl, but we shall see!"
Having said that, an old school friend, Hayley told me that she had similar cravings for tomatoes - she had a daughter.
"I also craved tomatoes. Before I got pregnant I hated raw tomato but I ate loads when I was pregnant. The first craving was noodles. I didn't even know I was pregnant but I just couldn't stop thinking about noodles and I went for a twenty minute walk in the rain to get some because I wanted them so bad. Also one day woke up craving a cheeseburger so I got the greasy spoon across the road from my office to cook me one at 8.30am."
She isn't the only one to have been asking for food that wasn't quite in line with the time of day. Tattooed Mummy demanded hash browns at McDonalds outside of breakfast time.
@kneadwhine I had a moment in McDonalds once, guy said breakfast was over,I just coldly said "I'm pregnant and NEED hash browns" he got them
— Tattooed_Mummy (@tattooed_mummy) July 24, 2014
She was also rather fond of pepperoni. In the 'I can totally get on board with that' category, were the following - well, excluding the grapefruit and the pork pies: -
Penny of OptimumTen was a fan of lots of grapefruit and tarka dal. Mmm, lentils and garlic!
Fi from Child Care is Fun:-
@kneadwhine pork pies, marmite and whispas. I hate the first two but had them so much in both my pregnancies! Urgh!
— Fi (@Childcareisfun) July 24, 2014
Finally the - 'huh?' category: -Jess of Owl Crazy Mummy blogged about her cravings but the one that most surprised me was the strawberry body wash.
My brother's fiancee admitted that she's been eating horseradish by the spoonful.. painful! She's due extremely soon which is very exciting - another cousin for D.
and... Collette of Going on an Adventure feels a bit cheated by going through three pregnancies with no cravings whatsoever: -
@kneadwhine None. None at all and I felt so cheated! I wanted to crave something! lol
— Colette (@Lollinski) July 24, 2014
How about you? Any weird pregnancy cravings? Any suggestions for recipes featuring green veggies that might help to boost my low iron levels.