My Second Trimester, Gluten Free

Hanging out with my bump in an Iowa cornfield!

I got my appetite back. Yay! During all the yucky sickness during my first trimester, people kept telling me the 2nd trimester would be much better and they were right. Pre-natal yoga and walking up and down the many hills of San Francisco are keeping me free from aches and pains so far.

I was hoping I would crave some of the crazy combinations you hear about pregnant woman eating like pickles and ice cream or peanut butter & cheese sandwiches but so far, these things aren’t tickling my taste buds. This trimester I’ve been all about:

Gluten-free cereal: The more varieties I can fit in my bowl the better! A combination of Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise Flakes, Corn Chex, Enjoy Life Crunchy Flax & Envirokids Gorilla Munch topped with fresh pear or nectarine and a whole bunch of milk. That’s my idea of breakfast right now! Sometimes I find myself craving a big bowl of Frosted Flakes so I’ll need to check out some gluten-free alternatives.

Cheese: I’m all about strong cheddars and cottage cheese as a topping to pretty much anything or just as they are.

Chilli: It’s always been a favourite dish of mine and pregnancy makes me want it even more. Chilli with rice, chilli nachos, baked potato with chilli, chilli with salad. It’s all good and it’s all gluten free!

Lasagna: At our wedding, John and I had the most fantastic lasagna catered by John’s Grocery in Iowa City. This trimester I’ve really been craving it so when we visited Iowa this September I bought a fresh half sheet of the stuff to nibble on all week. This turned out to be a fantastic decision.

The best gluten-free cake, ever!

Homemade kimbap!

Salmon: I’ve been craving fish and in particular, Salmon. My favourite way to eat it is oven baked alongside baby tomatoes and served with mash potatoes and avocado. Hopefully our baby will be a smart cookie with all the Omega 3’s it’s getting!

Kimbap (Korean sushi!): I just can’t get enough of the stuff. I ate it every day for lunch when I lived in Korea but it’s impossible to buy it here, gluten free, so I make my own. It’s super simple and I’m impressed with how well it’s been turning out. Basmati rice, seaweed, tuna (I found low mercury stuff that’s just tuna and water), avocado, carrot and cucumber with gluten free soy sauce for sipping. Sooo good! I’ll put my recipe up soon incase you fancy making it yourself.

Dessert wise, I’m all about gluten free cake, preferably of the cupcake or birthday cake variety. Luckily, I haven’t been craving anything gluten containing so far.

It’s not food related (Well, sometime it is!) but the weirdest thing about pregnancy so far is all of the CRAZY dreams that I’m having! Every night I wake up wondering how on earth my brain came up with yet another bizarre storyline.

When you’re pregnant, everyone who has ever had a baby before you has an opinion. In terms of the baby’s sex, apparently we’re having a boy. All of the random strangers I’ve encountered this trimester as my belly has grown more and more with each passing week tell me it’s a boy. My husband and I have no clue what it is but it appears that they do. We’ll soon find out….

What type of cravings did you have during your pregnancy? What couldn’t you live without? Did you crave anything bizarre or gluten-filled?