When my mother-in-law was pregnant with my husband, she craved spinach. Mounds and mounds of spinach. I guess that makes sense, with the iron content. Me? I'm craving jalapenos.
I've always liked spicy food. My grandfather used to eat peppers until the tears ran down his face, and he introduced me to peppers, encouraging me to scoop them off of salad bars and suck the juice out of each one. But now I want jalapenos on or in everything. I got a sandwich at Whole Foods, and asked them if they had any peppers - they didn't, but the guy at the counter went in to the back to cut one up for me (sometimes, it pays to be pregnant). There's a little coffee shop that puts jalapenos in the veggie omelet, and it's my new favorite breakfast place. This past weekend, Sean and I took a road trip to Western Colorado to meet up with his folks and, on the way back, we stopped by a road side farmer's stand, where they sold pickled jalapenos along with peaches. Of course I had to get a jar - pickled jalapenos! Who knew? And, in case you're wondering, they're delicious.
Jalapenos don't have any vital nutritional value that I'm aware of, nor do I know any old wives' tales about peppers and pregnancy. It's probably just another weird hormonal quirk, or maybe the baby just digs spicy food.
My earliest cravings were for any sort of potatoes, but especially tater tots. In the past few months, it's mostly been spicy food - which, oddly enough, doesn't seem to activate the morning/all day sickness. I'd also kill for some lox or tuna sashimi. I've got a constant hankering for lemon-flavored anything, capers, and whole dill pickles, but these are also things that, like the jalapenos, I liked pre-pregnancy, but now I'm madly in love with them. When Sean's home, he cooks for me almost every night, and he makes a mean chicken piccata with extra capers for me. He's a fabulous cook, and he can make delicious pies from scratch - yes, I'm madly in love with him, too.
Now I'm hungry again. Time to go eat!
