Ideas for snack food at work

[Mama2Tristan]

I work out of the home, and need ideas for eating all day long. This is the only way that I am going to make it through my nauseousness...The problem is that I am not motivated to make real food at home these days...I'm gone from about 5am until 4:30pm or so, and then taking care of ds when I get home..so really I'm just too tired. I need to create some bulk items to bring in, and not have to worry about running out of for a couple of days. Any ideas?

[Nature]

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[ehsclt]

Yes, I have a few ideas and will think of some more for you. Do you like edamame? It is hands down one of my favorite pregnancy snacks. I buy the shelled, frozen kind and throw some in a tupperware container and eat it later in the day when it has thawed. I don't even feel the need to warm it up. It's loaded with protein and I love it.

Do you like tofu? I have a very simple (I promise), baked tofu recipe that travels well and is good cold. It's very quick. If you want it, I'll send it to you. PM me.

Also, these peanut butter (or almond butter) balls are great. They are yummy and full of protein. Mix 1 cup dry milk powder, 1 cup oat flour (or oats blended into a flour using your blender), 1/2 cup natural pb or almond butter, and 1/2 cup local honey. You just form these into balls and you don't have to cook them or anything like that. They freeze well using ice cube trays or will keep in the fridge. You little guy may like them as well, if you are giving him nut butters. This recipe yields about 16 balls for me.

When I was pregnant and working, I also kept some containers of nuts in my desk drawers. I found that they were one of the only snacks that really kept me full for a while.

I'll try to think of some more for you. Do you like to eat muffins? I like to make a batch when I am feeling particularly energetic and pull one out of the freezer to take with me. Again, I have many good, healthy recipes to share, should you want them.

You are amazing working all day and dealing with the way you are feeling and also being a nursing mom. Yay for you!

[Mama2Tristan]

I have to figure out how to pm still...

I love all your ideas. My only problem is that I can't eat soy based food because I have hypothyroidism. During the 10 years that I was a vegetarian, I never gave it a thought...But then I had ds, and was diagnosed. So, I'm supposed to stay away. But I love the idea for peanut butter balls. I'm going to buy some dry milk tonight! I think I have everything else.

If you don't mind sending more healthy recipes, that would be great. I am much more of a salty food type person, but need to get away from my daily trip to get french fries....bad craving, I know.

Basically I am eating every hour...sometimes more. I actually just stepped out to buy those sea bands because I am getting sick of the non-stop eating to ease the nauseousness.

[ozzyemm]

I bought some prepackaged melon pieces and cut up vegetables to help me. I have been unable to cook (basically too lazy ) and veggies just rot in my fridge unless they have been presliced and prewashed for me. I hope my energy comes back!

[Jlse]

OH I would love more high protein veggie ideas too! I'm having such a hard time eating - already lost 2 lbs in the last week. I really like the idea of the peanut butter balls but is their a sub. for the powdered milk?
I've been getting sick after eating and even while sleeping! Actually woke up at 3 a.m. last night to throw up

I work in my home but only have another week left before summer break - can't wait!!!

[ehsclt]

Jlse, the pb balls also work great with granola. So, you could mix granola, pb, oat flour (or not) and honey until you get a consistency that holds together and is right. Other than that, I think you could get away just fine with doubling the quantity of oat flour and leaving out the dried milk. Or you could substitute wheat germ. If you used toasted, I bet that would be really good.

I also have a good granola bar recipe with pb in it, so it's pretty good for protein. If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll type it in. Sorry, it's late and I am too tired right now.

[sarahlynne]

Hi, I haven't hit the nausea yet - but I know it's coming. While I'm dealing with "morning" sickness I always keep some Zone Perfect bars by my bed and eat them in the morning - which is sometimes 2am. Also to get protien with veggies you can make yogurt cheese - just let the (plain) yogurt drain for an hour or so (I use a strainer lined with a coffee filter) - and then use that to make ranch dip. I also reccommend a really good book called Program your Baby's Health: The Pregnancy Diet for your Childs Lifelong Wellbeing It has good tips on what to stay away from when your going through the nausea, most nutrient packed foods list and lots of good recipies!

[nichole]

mama to tristan

i have hypothyroidism to. do you take medication or just control it with diet?

[delicious]

hummus and whole wheat tortillas, crackers or pitas, with veggies.

boiled egg.

ezekiel bread w almond butter (toasted bread tastes better, i think.)

yogurt.

when i was pregnant with ds i basically lived off of hummus for a loooong time. you can make it in big batches and it freezes well.

: oops, i did not realize i was posting in a due date club! sorry!

[ozzyemm]

delicious-- That is totally fine. You have lots more experience with "what to eat when preggers" than a lot of us do. You are an expert!

[gabry]

I'm not as inspired as some of the other posters, and mostly use ready to go snacks, such as pretzels, sunflower pits, dried fruits, roasted soynuts, raisins, babycarrots. All the 'nutty' things sound great, but my husband has a few food allergies and because that increases the risk for our kids to have them too, specifically nut allergies, I'm staying away from any nuts when pregnant/bf'ing. (there is some evidence that exposure in utero/bm ups the risk for peanut allergies, which can be severe)

[ozzyemm]

Emily-- I tried the recipe. It is very good, but I think I will 1/2 the honey next time. My body is really sensitive to sweets right now .

[Wugmama]

I have been keeping packages whole grain pita bread and humus in the fridge at work. I usually rip one in half, pop it in the microwave, then dip it in the humus. It seems like "heavier" snacks help more with the nausea, so this does the trick.

I know two children with severe peanut allergies, and both of their mothers ate peanut butter sandwiches very frequently during pregnancy, one is my husband's half brother. I avoided peanuts during my last pregnancy and for the first 2 years of bf'ing my dd. I am also avoiding them this go -round. Something to think about.

[ehsclt]

Mama2Tristan,

I am glad you liked the pb balls and I agree that less honey is a good idea. Esp. since it is the only part of the recipe that doesn't offer much nutritionally.

I know the other posters have a point about nuts. I have eaten pb like crazy during both previous pregnancies (I am almost vegetarian and get much of my protein from nuts and legumes.) I also tend to have low body fat and nuts really help me to stave off hunger. Both of my children are fine with no nut allergies. I know that's no guarantee, and I may be too lax about that. But my midwife was the one who initially gave me the pb ball recipe one day when I was complaining about my incessant hunger.

I appreciate reading everyone's snack ideas. I've been reminded of some things I love, but have kind of forgotten about, like hummus.

[ehsclt]

Ooops, sorry! I now see it was Emily #1 , who tried the pb balls, not Mama2Tristan.

[Mama2Tristan]

I'm making the pb balls this weekend! But maybe I'll use a little less honey too.....

[deb_b]

The pb balls are on my list of things to do! Yumm!

Do you have access to a refrigerator? I’ve been getting little snack-sized containers of rice pudding, cottage cheese and yogurt (not all in the same container – bleh). There’s no prep work, they take a few minutes to eat and have the added benefit of calcium. You can't really snack on it all day, but I find one serving keeps me happy for a couple of hours.

I did the South Beach diet a while ago and still use snack ideas from there. One of my favorites is the magical ½ cup of ricotta cheese. You can do a ton with it. Throw a few tablespoons of dry pudding mix in (one package of pudding mix lasts a while) Or add sweetener, vanilla or almond extract, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Or just throw fruit in there. Some people hate the texture, but if you microwave it for a few seconds or mix it up really well, it’s not bad.