Snacking For Two is a collection of snack ideas for those with blood sugar issues who are pregnant or trying. Whether you've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes or insulin-resistance from PCOS, or are just having trouble controlling your appetite under the influence of too many hormones, hopefully you'll find something here.

These snack suggestions come from amateur eaters, not professional healthcare providers. They do not take the place of expert advice from a doctor or nutritionist, so you'll need to make sure the recipes fit within the guidelines suggested for you. It may be a simple matter of adjusting the ingredients to suit your needs, but you may have to skip a recipe entirely. Hopefully you'll find something you can use - at least for inspiration.

• General Tips
  
• Mango Coconut Yoghurt Pops - a low-GI treat.
  
• Beef, Red Wine And Chilli Casserole - a meal with snack suggestions on the side.
  
• Easiest Casserole Ev-ah - you can also try the above snack suggestions with this no-fuss casserole dish.
  
• Leftover Wraps - several suggestions for creating snack-sized wraps from leftovers. Stir-fries, casseroles, curries.
  
• The Great Haloumi - several suggestions for using the best cheese ever. Crackers, kebabs, salads.
  
• Taiwan-esque Chicken - this no-fuss hot snack can even be cooked in the microwave.
  
• Pesto A-go-go - several suggestions for using pesto to spice up your snacks. Crackers, kebabs, chicken/fish bites.
  
• Walnut and Banana Smoothie - great for an early pick-me-up before breakfast.
  
• Dips Without Chips - Indian-style cheese dip, hummus, low-GI pita chips.
  
• Curry Lentil Soup - make a big batch and store in snack-sized portions.
  
• Nutso - add variety to nuts and seeds. Flavoured nuts/seeds, salads, toasties.
  
• Meaty Bites - lamb, beef, chicken or fish. Kebabs, salads, sandwiches, crackers. Can be prepared ahead or bought ready-to-cook.
  
• A Drop To Drink - for when you get bored of plain water. Lower-GI juices, teas, lassi.
  

**Some recipe contributors have expressed interest in feedback. If you try an idea, let us know how it went by leaving a comment on the post. If you made any changes, please give details for the benefit of others.**

Pieces of meat can be prepared up to the point of cooking and stored, and you can also cheat by using store-bought marinades (or even buy the whole thing ready-to-cook). When you're ready to eat, just fry, grill, or microwave, and put them on a cracker or slice of wholemeal bread plus or minus a couple of salad vegetables. Otherwise, add them to a kebab stick with some vegetables and/or cubes of wholemeal bread, or toss them onto a bed of salad.

• Lamb Chops/Cutlets/Pieces.
  Brush with olive oil and dust with black pepper.
  Marinade in 2 tsp grated onion, 1 tbl each of mint and coriander, and 2/3 cup natural yoghurt.
  Marinade in 3 tbl olive oil, 1 tbl lemon juice, 2tsp ground coriander seeds, 1/2 clove crushed garlic and 2 tsp honey.
  
  
• Beef Balls/Pieces.
  Rissoles and meatballs.
  Marinade in 1 tbl olive oil, 1 tbl ground cumin, salt and pepper.
  Marinade in 4 stalks crushed lemongrass (or use lemonjuice), 2 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tbl sesame oil, 1.5 tsp five-spice powder, 2 tbl fish sauce, 2 tbl honey, and a bunch of chopped coriander.
  
  
• Chicken Pieces.
  Marinade in 1/2 tsp each of ground coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds, pimenton/chilli powder to taste, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tbs saffron-infused water, 1 tbl red wine vinegar, 1 tbl olive oil.
  Brush with pesto.
  Dust with ground chilli and cinnamon as in Taiwan-esque Chicken.
  
  
• Fish Balls/Cakes/Pieces.
  If you're pregnant and/or just generally worried about mercury content, you might want to make your own fish balls and cakes. Otherwise, buy a brand you trust (try the Asian supermarket) and eat them fried on skewers, dressed with sweet chilli sauce, or added to an asian-style broth with a serve of greens.
  Tinned fish can also come in handy - on salads, crackers or bread.
  

When you've lost interst in cashews, almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, macadamias, walnuts, chestnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds... and all the other types of nuts and seeds I've left out (which should take a while) you can spice things up with these suggestions.

• Thai chilli lime cashews.
  I don't have a recipe (someone?) but you might find them at your Asian supermarket. Nibble as-is, or toss them into a mango salad, eaten from the plate or wrapped up in wholemeal flatbread to eat on the go.
  
  
• Honey roasted nuts.
  Nibble as-is or toss into a salad.
  
  
• Spiced seed mix.
  Mix 75g pumpkin seeds with 75g sunflower seeds, 1 tsp soy sauce, and 1/4 tsp chilli powder. Cook in oven for 10 minutes at 190 degrees C/gas mark 5. Nibble as-is, toss into a salad, or grill on wholemeal bread with cheese spread and tomato.
  

Thanks Andie and Vee for suggesting a low-GI chip. You can also use wholemeal bread or pita, lettuce leaves (as a scoop with dip spooned on), beans, or celery sticks.

• Mix 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 50g finely chopped red onion, a de-seeded and finely chopped chilli (or pinch of ground chilli, to taste), 2 tablespoons chopped coriander, and 200g cottage cheese for an Indian-style dip.
  
  
• Hummus. I've always bought mine ready-made, but if you want to cook it yourself, combine 600g canned drained and rinsed chickpeas, 3 crushed garlic cloves, 100ml olive oil, 2 tablespoons tahini paste, 1 tsp ground cumin, and juice of 1 lemon in a food processor. Whip it up a bit, then add 1/4 cup water and process til smooth. Recipe from here.
  
  
• Andie suggests this chip substitute:
  Wholemeal pita bread, olive oil, parsley, garlic.
  It's really simple. Slice pita bread in to six or eight wedges. Brush with olive oil and crushed garlic (to taste). Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Cook until crispy (about five mins) in pre-heated oven or under the grill.
  Proceed to spread with hommous, pesto, pumpkin dip, baba ganoush, or any other healthful dip (or topping) that takes your fancy!
  Tip: you can make a whole batch at once. Once cooked, they will store really well in an airtight container.
  Vee has a similar idea for those in more of a hurry. Track down some ready-made pita chips (such as these) or simply bake/grill slices of plain pita or lebanese bread til crisp (as above, but without the herbs or oil).
  
  
• Beagle suggested this spicy cashew dip recipe. One to make ahead and delve into as needed.
  

• It gets easier. I had a several some false starts. For me, once I got over the first ten to fourteen days, I was on a roll. My advice is to be strict in the first two weeks, and if you try and fail, just start again.
  
  
• Exercise every day. I don't do vigorous exercise, but I've made a point of going for my "daily constitutional" walk, even if it's just a matter of taking the stairs when I'm going somewhere anyway. Apparently there are muscle-toning exercises you can do even if you're on strict bedrest, but you'd need to ask a professional about those.
  
  
• Water is your friend. Caffeine, juices, softdrinks, alcohol and milkshakes are not. Plain water is fine, but the sparkling variety is mildly ant-acid, and I find it helps with nausea and heartburn so is good with meals in pregnancy.
  
  
• Mornings are especially trying, because you'll be starving and tempted to go for a quick-fix of carbs, and that'll stuff you up for the whole day. Ditto the midnight snack. Homemade smoothies can work well here - whip up something just before bedtime based on plain natural/greek yoghurt, fruit, milk or cream and perhaps a few nuts, and it'll be there and ready to get you out of bed first thing in the morning. I follow this up with a cooked breakfast - a bit of rindless bacon, eggs, or some sausages. If that's too much for an early start, pre-prepare some hardboiled eggs - you can even take a couple with you on the road.
  
  
• When you make a meal, make a snack, too. Make dinners with a little left over so you can wrap it in wholemeal flatbread plus or minus some added lettuce or cheese for your mid-morning snack the next day.
  
  
• Use different herbs and spices. It will add variety and stop you getting bored. It can also help overcome some pregnancy-related food aversions.
  
  
• Have a weekly "cook-up". Make big batches of things you can store, like soups or casseroles. Store them in snack-sized portions, and use one for a snack or two - plus or minus some wholegrain bread or salad - for a meal.
  
  
• When you eat out, check the starters menu. Main meals are often carb-heavy, and the restaurant carb of choice is usually high GI - potatoes, white rice or white bread. Starters, by contrast, often focus on proteins or vegetables (except for the ones which are exclusively carbs - obviously don't order those). It can sometimes be better to order two or three starters instead of a main - a little more expensive, but then you're drinking plain water instead of wine, so it evens out. You might also be able to ask the waiter about "upsizing" a starter to main course size. In any case, make sure s/he brings your starter at the same time as everyone's mains, because otherwise they'll have to sit and watch you slowly digest your whole meal and no-one will bring their food until it's all cleared away.
  
  
• Keep a snack box ready and waiting to be popped into your handbag. Nuts, cheese, wholegrain crackers, apricots... take it with you wherever you go. Good for emergency hunger pangs or nausea, and it'll keep you reaching for the first (high GI) snack you see when you're out - or even at home!
  
  
• Swap your carbs. Go for higher-fibre alternatives. Jasmine rice and long grain rice are high GI, but you can swap them for basmati or brown rice to keep things a bit more in check. (A good general rule with rice is to steer away from the fastest-cooking ones and towards the slowest-cooking ones.) You can also ditch potato in favour of sweet potato or yams, white/refined breads and pastas for the more sustaining wholegrains/wholemeal varieties, and flaked cereals in favour of noodle-shaped bran cereals or oats. You can also swap flavoured yoghurts for unsweetened, natural yoghurts. Make sure you balance the meal with a nice serve of protein.
  
  
• Don't overcook it. You want your body to spend time digesting the food, not your stovetop. Examples: do your pasta al dente, and your vegies on the crisp side.
  

Add your own tips in the comments!

Thanks to Vee for this recipe. So indulgent, you'll be amazed to find it's not sending your blood sugar straight through the roof. The perfect dessert.

per pop-
fat 0.4g
protein 2g
carbs 8.5g
fibre1
cholesterol 2mg
energy 205kj (50cal)
GI 46 low

45og (15oz) fresh or canned mango flesh, roughly chopped
200g ( 6.5 oz) no-fat, no added sugar vanilla yoghurt
1 tablespoon shredded coconut

Put the mango, yoghurt and coconut into a bowl and mix to combine. Divide the mixture into ice block moulds. Add the stick and freeze.

Tip: substitute mango for another fruit. If you're like Max and Vee, you might also want to add a little extra coconut. Doable in a variety of sizes.