Vegetarian and Pregnant? Tell me what you're eating!

Hi folks, Strictly speaking I am not a vegetarian, since I eat some fish. Because I'm now pg, I'm making a conscious effort to include protein in every meal and I'm getting bored. I don't feel like eating fish; I'm making myself eat it because it's 'good for me.' I eat: eggs hummus lentil soups tarka dahl quorn yoghurts, cheese, nuts (I know they're not great for protein but I believe there's some in there) salmon cod Any other ideas you'd have would be much appreciated. TIA!

Sounds like you have plenty of good protein in there. Would you add bean soups/bean salads/quoina?? I'm sure I read that you should limit portions of salmon to twice a week. Have hake/haddock instead. O find bbc goodfood great for recipes and they have list of recipes suitable for pregnancy diet.

Sophie- I'd be doing well to manage 2 portions of salmon per week- really not mad about the stuff! It doesn't help that it's so often the token 'fish option' on menus for carvery lunches, pub grub and weddings! I'm just bored and looking for ideas...

That all sounds pretty good, also baked beans on toast. Chickpeas are good for protein too so I used to add some to the quorn mince when making bolognaise.

[quote="Sophiessecret":287ply4a] Would you add bean soups/bean salads/quoina?? [/quote:287ply4a] How do you make quinoa taste decent? I tried making it a few times and it had this nasty bitter aftertaste.

I lash butter onto it it helps! Apart from that trying to eat cheese eggs and milk, butter beans etc but am nowhere nearly hitting the 70g a day mark. Have been eating fish once a week too.

Chickpeas are super. Look up a recipe for chana masala - it's chickpeas in a spicy tomato sauce and it's yummy! If you like Indian, you could try Saag. Fry chillis, onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes together...add spinach (I use frozen as it's so handy, just make sure to squeeze out as much water as posdible. Add to pan with cumin, indian spices, some tomato passata, and a dollop of natural yoghurt. (You could add cooked potatoes/chickpeas/freshly chopped tomatoes etc at this point to bulk it up if you wanted), serve with ric - delish! Health food shops do a smoked tofu which is super yum and can be added to pretty much any dish. I add lentils to pasta dishes when cooking ( throw them in with the pasta when it's cooking).they actually go surprisingly well together! Mexican bean soup is totally yum too and super easy to make! I'm not actually vegetarian but I cook a lot of vegetarian meals, as I like veggies!

[quote="Sophiessecret"]Sounds like you have plenty of good protein in there. Would you add bean soups/bean salads/quoina?? I'm sure I read that you should limit portions of salmon to twice a week. Have hake/haddock instead. O find bbc goodfood great for recipes and they have list of recipes suitable for pregnancy diet.[/quote The recommendation are to eat at least two portions of oily fish per week . Certainly no need to limit your intake.

You seem to have a lot here and others have made good suggestions. I ate a lot of what you have listed here. I was obsessed with Tarka Dahl. Only ones I can think of are bean dishes and Falafel which you can buy or I have a very easy recipe for it if you want to PM me . I took Iron and a high dose of Omega 3 (veggie version) but if you're eating oily fish you're probably ok with the omega 3. Generally if midwives hear you are vegetarian (or Pescetarian ) they will tend to tell you to take iron. Just a side note, I didn't eat meat or fish and my DS was 8lbs 3oz and I was healthy all the way though pregnancy. In other words don't force yourself to eat fish if you don't want to. Its not true that you need to eat it esp if you are taking a high dose of Omega

I make quinoa with stock and plenty of chopped corriander and black pepper thrown in. Try a veggie lasagne with chickpeas using tortilla wraps instead of pasta sheets-delicious.