Posts tagged with ‘Healthier Treats’

Looking for a tasty, healthy pregnancy snack? This butternut squash dip is full of prenatal vitamins; enjoy with veggie sticks for a perfect addition to your pregnancy diet!

Low in calories and high in nutrients butter nut squash is a winner as far as we’re concerned – scoring top marks as a tasty healthy pregnancy snacks! It’s packed with Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin B6 – and is especially good as part of your pregnancy diet as it contains folate, essential for your baby’s healthy neural development.
This yummy dip is great with carrot, cucumber and celery sticks – or eat it with bread. We’ve even spread it on toast!

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash
2 tbsp tahini
Juice of half a lemon
1 large clove of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon of smoked paprika (optional)
Drizzle of olive oil

Method

Split the squash in half and take out the seeds. Drizzle a little olive oil over and roast in the oven at 1800 until completely soft (about 40 minutes).
Remove the skin, roughly chop the flesh and blitz in a food processor with the tahini, lemon juice and garlic until the mixture is smooth.
Add salt and pepper to taste and the smoked paprika which gives it a wonderful warm smoky flavour – but if you don’t have any it’s good without too! If the mixture is too thick thin it down slightly by adding some olive oil.
Healthy dips are really easy food for pregnant women – this one will keep in the fridge for several days and is ideal for lunch or snacking.

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Wondering what to eat while pregnant for your prenatal vitamins? Try this delicious carrot and ginger salad for essential nutrient and a beta carotene hit!

Ooh we love this recipe! Carrots are the perfect source of beta-carotene, so important for your healthy pregnancy diet. Just one portion of this salad will give you more than the recommended daily amount to beta-caroten AND it’s teamed with fresh ginger to help combat pregnancy nausea!

Ingredients

4 large carrots coarsely grated
2 spring onions finely chopped
2 tbsp of sesame seeds
4 tsps of finely grated fresh root ginger
4 tbsps sunflower oil (rapeseed oil or peanut oil both work well too)
6 tbsps rice vinegar
3 tbsps soy sauce
2 tsps soft brown sugar
A few chives for garnish

Method

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until golden brown.
2. Mix the carrots, spring onions, sesame seeds and grated ginger in a bowl.
3. Make the dressing by combining the oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce and sugar and stirring vigorously.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients, mix well and serve.
5. Garnish with a few coarsely chopped chives

Serves 2-3

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Need a healthy pregnancy snack? This beetroot hummus is full of prenatal vitamins and folates and a delicious addition to your pregnancy diet!

Apart from its nutritional benefits this hummus is very easy to make and is such a wonderful colour that’s its worth including if you’re making a selection of dips and snacks. Chick peas are a good standby to include as part of a healthy pregnancy diet as they are high in both folic acid and iron. They are also a great source of fibre, essential food for pregnant women! Beetroot is another great source of folic acid – they also contain potassium, magnesium and iron.

Ingredients

400gm tin of chick peas (drained)
4 beetroots peeled and cooked (buy them ready prepared, it’s much easier!)
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Juice of 1 lemon
90 ml of olive oil
1 dessert spoon of tahini
½ teaspoon of ground cumin (add more to taste)

Method

Simply place all the ingredients in a blender and whizz together until smooth. If the mixture is too thick add a little water until it reaches the right consistency.
Serve with sticks of raw carrot, cucumber and celery

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Looking for an easy vitamin packed dish for your healthy pregnancy diet? Try this tasty carrot and kohlrabi salad packed with prenatal nutrients!

Kohlrabi often appear in organic veggie boxes and in my experience used to get left at the bottom of the fridge….but not only are they high in nutrients and low in calories they are rich in Vitamin C, are a good source of potassium and an excellent source of dietary fibre. A perfect addition to your healthy pregnancy diet! This recipe also includes carrots for your dose of beta-carote!

Ingredients

Two carrots cut into julienne strips
I small kohlrabi peeled cut into julienne strips
1” of root ginger finely chopped
A tsp sesame seeds
Balsamic glaze

Method

Simply mix together the carrots, kohlrabi and ginger. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and top with balsamic glaze.
Adding a crisp grated apple to this is good too!

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Want a tasty, healthy pregnancy snack or lunch? This baked vegetables recipe is packed with prenatal nutrients for a delicious addition to your pregnancy diet!

Super-sweet, super-colourful and super-delicious! Need any more reasons to make this? Just in case, it’s super-easy to prepare and a super-good to include in your healthy pregnancy diet! Red peppers are a great source of Vitamin A, rich in Vitamin C and contain plenty of B6 as well. Combined with tomatoes (lots of Vitamin C) this dish is a real winner.

Ingredients

1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 red onion
2 garlic cloves
3 tomatoes (plum tomatoes are best)
A few black olives
½ tsp soft brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2-3 sprigs of rosemary

Method

1. Cut the peppers into strips, slice the onions, quarter the tomatoes and place in a large roasting tin with the olives. Sprinkle over the sugar, drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil, season well.
2. Cover with foil and put in a pre-heated oven ( 200oC/ 400oF) for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the foil, add the sprigs of rosemary and return to the oven until the vegetables are tender (approx 30 mins).
4. Serve hot or cold with plenty of crisp green salad and warm bread to mop up the juices.

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Healthy pregnancy snack: mushroom pate

Need a tasty, healthy pregnancy snack? Mushroom pate is full of prenatal nutrients and zinc; eat with raw veg for perfect addition to your pregnancy diet!

Commercially produced pate is on the ‘foods to avoid when pregnant‘ list, as it’s a potential source of listeria – but that doesn’t stop you making your own pate! Mushrooms contain many healthy nutrients for pregnant women including zinc, which is important for normal fetal development. Best of all this mushroom pate recipe is super easy to make and tastes delicious.

Ingredients

225 gms mushrooms (chestnut are ideal)
1 medium onion (red or white – they both work well!)
1 large clove of garlic
1 tbsp butter
200 gms of cream cheese
Handful of chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Grated nutmeg
Heaped teaspoon of freshly grated parmesan

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and gently fry in the butter until they soften. Wash and finely chop the mushrooms and add them to the pan. Cook until soft.
2. Put the mushroom and onion mixture into a blender with the cream cheese, roughly chopped parsley and parmesan.
3. Blend, add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
4. Put into a dish and chill for an hour
5. Serve with savoury biscuits, French bread or fresh granary loaf

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Healthy pregnancy diet: vegetable dip

This recipe is ideal for your healthy pregnancy diet. Packed with protein and prenatal nutrients enjoy as a healthy snack or for a light lunch!

This hummus is quick, easy and moreish. If you’ve forgotten to soak your chickpeas, tinned ones will work just as well. Chick peas are an excellent source of protein so good nutrition for pregnancy too!

Ingredients

125g/4oz dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tbsp tahini
2 cloves garlic, peeled
120ml/4fl oz olive oil
Salt

Method

1. Drain the chickpeas and put in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Boil until tender this can take 60 minutes or more depending on the age of the chickpeas. Don’t add any salt to the water or the chickpeas will not soften.
2. Drain and cool. Put in a food processor with the garlic, lemon juice and zest, tahini and salt. Whiz together and pour in the olive oil as the motor is still running.
3. You want a smooth dip, so if necessary add some cold water, still with the motor running, until you get the consistency you want. Taste for flavour and if it tastes bland, add more salt.
4. Serve with hot pitta bread, vegetable crudités or with jacket potatoes and salad for a healthy lunch option

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Healthy pregnancy snacks carrot hummus

A yummy snack or easy lunch that packs in essential nutrients? Carrot hummus is full of prenatal vitamins; enjoy with veggies for perfect addition to a healthy pregnancy diet!

We love dips! Even if you’re not feeling much like eating you can dunk sticks of raw vegetable into a bowl of something delicious and before you know it you’re well on the way to your five a day – with added vitamins and minerals. Easy pregnancy nutrition! Or serve with salad leaves, olives, caper berries and warm flatbreads for a quick lunch that’s not just good food for pregnant women – it’s good for their family and friends too!

Ingredients

3 large carrots
2tbsps olive oil
150-200gms of chick peas
2tbsps of tahini
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp smoked paprika
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Cut the carrots into chunks.
• Put a scant tbsp of olive oil into a sauté pan with the carrots and crushed garlic.
• Saute gently until the carrots are tender and beginning to caramelise slightly. Don’t let the garlic burn.
• Meanwhile lightly toast the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan for about a minute until fragrant. Grind to a fine-ish powder in a pestle and mortar. You can use cumin powder but it won’t taste quite so good!
• Tip the carrots and all the remaining ingredients (apart from the cumin) into a food processor (or a bowl to use with a hand-held blender) and blend to a puree.
• Add cumin to taste – you don’t want to overpower the flavour of the carrots but a good spicy kick is the essence of this dip.
• If the mixture is too thick, add more olive oil or thin slightly with cold water to reach your preferred consistency.

FittaTip! Depending on the size of the carrots you may need at least another tablespoon of olive oil – but don’t worry olive oil is rich in Omega-3 and good to include in your pregnancy diet.
​If you would like more inspiration for your healthy pregnancy diet click to download our free recipe book below, its full of advice on what vitamins to include in your diet and tasty ways to enjoy them!

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