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.

Thanks to Vee for this one. Casseroles may have a long cooking time, but they're not difficult to make. The big plus is they freeze well, so you can cook up a big casserole on the weekend, have some for dinner, and store the rest in snack-sized portions to eat throughout the week. When you get peckish, just pop a portion in the microwave and eat as a mini-meal with some wholemeal bread, or wrap it up to munch on the go.

Serves 4
per serving 2058kj (492 cal)
14.3 grams total fat (6.2g saturated fat)
26.7 cards 3.7g fibre- low GI

2 teaspoons low fat dairy spread
1.5kg lean beef chuck steak cut into 3cm pieces
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 fresh small red thai chillies, sliced thinly
2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
1 large brown onion (200g) sliced thickly
2 medium tomatoes (380g) chopped coarsely
410g can tomato puree
3/4 (180ml) cup dry red wine
1.2 cup (125ml) beef stock
1.125 liters of water ( 4.5 cups)
1 cup (170g) Polenta
1/4 cup (20g) finely grated parmesan
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Melt spread in large saucepan: cook beef in batches until browned all over. Cook garlic, chilli, mustard and onion in the same pan, stirring until onion softens. Return beef to pan with tomato: cook, stirring, 2 minutes.

2. Add puree, wine stock and 1/2 cup of the water to pan: bring to boil. Simmer, covered about 1.5 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally.

3.Bring remaining water to boil in medium saucepan. Add polenta: cook stirring over medium heat about 10 minutes or until thickened. Stir cheese into polenta.

4. Stir parsley into casserole just before serving with polenta.

A small wrap is a snack, a couple at once is a meal. When you make something wrappable for dinner, make a little extra, and store the leftovers. I like to eat them by lunchtime the next day for reasons of food hygiene. Be sure to use wholemeal wrapping bread.

• Stir-fry wrap
  Your favourite stir-fry can just be wrapped and eaten.
  
  
• Casserole wrap
  Casseroles, like these two, go well with salad.
  Add salad leaves, tomato, carrot and/or other salad vegetables as desired.
  Lamb casseroles are especially delicious with salad leaves and fetta cheese.
  
  
• Curry wrap
  These go well with salad leaves.
  The world is your oyster! Go Thai one night, Indian the next, Japanese or Malaysian after that.
  You can easily cheat with sauces from the supermarket.
  
  

Haloumi is the best cheese ever. You can grill or pan-fry and eat it on its own, dress it, put it on a cracker as a snack, or dice it up for a kebab.

• Dressed Haloumi
  Grill, griddle or pan-fry a slice of haloumi cheese.
  Squeeze over some lemon and sprinkle on some thyme.
  Eat on its own or place on wholemeal cracker or slice of bread.
  Add a slice of tomato if desired.
  
  
• Haloumi Kebab
  Place diced haloumi on a skewer.
  Add cubes of wholemeal bread, roasted pepper/capsicum, courgette/zucchini and/or button mushrooms.
  Grill or fry.
  Dress with a squeeze of lemon and some basil or thyme for added flavour.
  
  Tip: make lots of kebabs at once and store ready for quick cooking and eating.
  
  
• Haloumi Salad
  Toss salad leaves with cherry tomatos.
  Add pieces of cooked, rindless bacon and/or chopped nuts (eg pine nuts) as desired.
  Grill or fry some diced haloumi and add to the salad.
  Wrap the whole thing in wholemeal flatbread, or just eat from the plate.
  

Taiwanese Fried Chicken is crumbed, deep fried, and then dusted with cinnamon and chilli. This is the same, but without the crumbing and deep frying. Instead, cook your chicken through by microwaving (extra-easy), grilling, griddling, baking, or shallow frying in olive oil and maybe a bit of butter.

Ground cinnamon
Ground chilli
Sliced chicken breast

Cook. Dust.

Buy tiny jars of pesto. There's lots of different types - classic basil and pine nut, roasted aubergine/eggplant, roasted red pepper/capsicum and almond, sundried tomato...

You put together a quick, pesto-flavoured bite in one of two ways - coat and cook chicken or fish, or spread onto wholemeal bread or crackers.

• Pesto Mozarella Melts
  Spread pesto onto a wholegrain cracker.
  Top with a slice of mozarella cheese.
  Zap in microwave for about 20 seconds.
  
  
• Pesto Cheese Kebabs
  Spread a slice of slightly stale wholemeal bread with pesto.
  Dice, and put onto a skewer with a cube or two of haloumi cheese.
  Grill or fry.
  Add a squeeze of lemon before serving if desired.
  
  
• Pesto fish/chicken
  Buy small, thin fillets of white fish, salmon, or diced chicken.
  Spread with pesto.
  Grill, fry, bake, microwave.
  

Fruit, milk and even yoghurt (who knew?) count as carbs when you have gestational diabetes, but not all carbs are created equal, and the nuts are somewhat balancing. If you drink it with a protein-rich cooked breakfast, you're all set. It'll certainly go further than a sugary breakfast cereal with a glass of sweetened juice, and it makes a worthwhile snack at any time of day.

1 orange
1 banana
150ml milk
150g plain natural or greek-style yoghurt
25g walnut bits
1tsp clear honey

Blend. Drink.

Tip: make it before bedtime, and get your husband to bring it to you in bed the next morning along with your injection.

What would soup be without lentils? Non-lentil soup, that's what. Probably potato, or mushroom, or fish, or any number of other soups. It's a lengthy question to answer in full, actually. But let's not think about that now - this one's got lentils aplenty, and can be made up in a big batch to freeze in snack-sized portions.

250g red lentils
1 tblsp vegetable oil
A large onion, finely chopped
A garlic clove, finely chopped
A celery stick, finely chopped
200g tinned, chopped tomatoes
Half a small, green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp harissa paste
1/2 tsp cumin
600ml vegetable stock or water
Salt and pepper
1 tblsp chopped coriander (to garnish)

Put the lentils in a bowl of water.
Heat oil, fry onions, garlic and celery til soft.
Add lentils and tomatoes to the pan.
Add chilli, paprika, harissa paste, cumin, stock, salt and pepper.
Cover and simmer 30-40 minutes, or until lentils are soft. You might need to add water periodically.

Not On Fire has another great lentil soup recipe.

The main - sorry snack menu is here. For anyone with blood sugar issues who is pregnant or trying.

--
"So," said Mr Bea the other day, "you've put on about 7kg since the start of this pregnancy, right?"

"Yep," I replied.

"And, I notice on our detailed scan report it says the baby weighs about 350g."

"That's right."

"So... where's the rest going?"

"Well there's the amniotic fluid, of course, and the placenta. I'm also carrying around an increased blood volume - and gut volume, for that matter, considering my constant appetite and the fact that food doesn't... move through as fast when you're pregnant. I may have the teensiest bit more muscular weight, just from carrying around the extra seven kilos, but that's probably negligible. And then the rest is..."

"Yes?"

"Well, the rest is fat."

"Fat?"

"Yes - breasts, hips, tummy, face. I'm just rounder than I used to be."

"OhreallyIhadn'tnoticed."

I'm not particularly feeling sensitive about it. Presently I'm within a kilo of the most I've ever weighed, and at 21 weeks I think that's allowed. Granted, I was a little concerned when it started piling on at 1kg per week at the start of the second trimester - going from 50kg to nearly 80 in six months didn't sound right, and was bound to be a shock to my system. But since I started the low GI diet (cue daytime TV hairdo and sparkling smile) I'm down to a more reasonable half a kilo a week gain, I have a manageable appetite, more energy, more time in my day to do the things I need to do, and I just feel so much healthier!

Nearly Dawn has been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and was asking for snack ideas. And think of all those PCOS chickies with insulin resistance! They need to snack, too. Now, I haven't been diagnosed with either of these as yet, but I did struggle to make the recommended dietary adjustments after weeks of insufferable hunger, nausea, migraines... oh, and a positive glucose test at sixteen weeks. Snacks were a particular problem. It seems what we need is a low GI infertility and pregnancy snack compendium, and who better to get us started than my gracious self? Well, ok, but give me points for actually starting it.

All foodies are encouraged to contribute recipes, and those who've had GD/insulin resistance should add tips or corrections. As always, please also check with your health professional - I'm just some gal who hasn't even been diagnosed with anything rambling on about my personal experiences, so keep that in mind.

For our first installment, here are some General Things I've Learned About Eating Low GI For Pregnancy.

• 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!

If you're a low-GI foodie, please send a recipe! You can email me at infertilefantasies at gmail dot com, or leave a comment. I plan to put up a haphazard collection of tasty and delicious low-GI/diabetic-friendly snack-sized recipes with one recipe per post, under the label "snacking for two". If you want to go crazy with sending photos, etc, be my guest. If you want to do a post on your own blog, let me know and I'll link.

The single most helpful measure I've found isn't watching what I eat, but watching what I drink. Apart from all the unnoticed carbs, some drinks contain caffeine or alcohol - both of which lower your ability to deal with glucose. Meanwhile, plain water is fantastic, but gets boring. These low or no caffeine/glucose/alcohol alternatives are a kinder, but still have some taste.

• Sparkling mineral water. This one may also help with pregnancy nausea or heartburn. Drink it plain, with a slice of lemon or lime, or use it to dilute unsweetened juices to lower their punch.
  
  
• Unsweetened fruit juice is more sustaining than soft drink, and even more so if the fibrous pulp is left in. Dilute with sparkling mineral water to lower its impact even further.
  
  
• Teas and flavoured water. There are a million things you can pour boiling water over to achieve a great flavour, and many of them are caffeine-free. A tea infuser makes things easy, but you can easily just use a cup or mug, plus or minus a strainer. Drink it hot, or chill it to serve with ice.
  Orange peel and a cinnamon stick.
  Fresh mint leaves, plus or minus green tea.
  Fresh ginger (chopped or crushed) with a squeeze of citrus (lemon/kumquat etc).
  Honey and kumquat (good for sore throats).
  Rose petals.
  Dried apple pieces.
  
  
• Lassi, either salt or sweetened with fruit.
  

I kind of invented, kind of adapted this the other night, and it is so good! It also thaws well from frozen for sandwiches, wraps, or a mini-meal snack, and the flavours are versatile enough to work with a variety of salad or roast vegetable ingredients. The trick to making it super-simple is to get the herbs pre-minced in jars or tubes from the supermarket. It's so simple you can whip it up as you're preparing tonight's meal, and freeze it (in snack-sized portions) for later as you're doing the dishes.

1-2 tsp minced ginger.
1-2 tsp minced garlic.
1-2 tsp minced parsley.
1-2 tsp minced coriander (or coriander pesto).
1-2 tsp ground cumin.
Dash of olive oil.
Cubed beef or lamb.
Ground black pepper.

Mix all ingredients together in a casserole dish. Marinade for a few hours or overnight if you have time. When ready to cook, cover the meat with water and place in a pre-heated oven for an hour at 180 degrees C. Check and stir a few times towards the end to make sure it's not drying out, but the idea is that the water will just be gone as the casserole finishes.