40+ Amazing Pregnancy Snacks with Tons of Protein

40+ Amazing Pregnancy Snacks with Tons of Protein
Want to get healthy meals on the table without compromising time, taste, or your food budget? Join the Humble in a Heartbeat community today! What do you eat during pregnancy when you are absolutely famished? Why, you turn to a delicious protein-loaded pregnancy snack, of course! There’s no better way to fill you up and give you the energy you need to make it to the next meal. It wasn’t until about half way through my second pregnancy that I really started to understand how important protein is in pregnancy. And I didn’t do much about it until this third pregnancy. While the average person only needs about 40-50 grams of protein a day, pregnant and breastfeeding women need at least 70 and ideally more like 80-100 grams IN ONE DAY! Talk about pretty much doubling what you’re used to! I thought it would be incredibly helpful for you and me to get a good idea of what foods contain protein and their protein amounts, and then share some wonderful protein-loaded pregnancy snacks in case you need some great ideas. Foods with Protein Let’s go down a list of foods that have protein. I’ll list these foods by the most abundant to the least abundant (although, each food has different serving sizes to get that amount of protein). Chicken breast, 4 oz. – 29 g Salmon, 4 oz. – 25 g Shrimp, 4 oz. – 24 g Ground beef, 3 oz. – 21.5 g Tuna, canned, 1/4 cup – 16 g Cottage cheese, 1/2 cup – 14 g Pinto beans, 1 cup – 12 g Yogurt, 1 cup – 8-12 g Lentils, 1/2 cup – 9 g Edamame, 1/2 cup – 8.5 g Black beans, 1/2 cup – 8 g Green peas, 1 cup – 8 g Milk, 1 cup – 8 g Peanut butter, 2 T. – 8 g Pumpkin seeds, 1/4 cup – 8 g Quinoa, 1 cup – 8 g Almonds, 1 cup – 7 g Cheddar cheese, 1 oz. – 7 g Chickpeas, 1/2 cup – 6 g Eggs, large – 6 g Oatmeal, 1 cup – 6 g Brown rice, 1 cup – 5 g Chia seeds, 2 T. – 5 g Spinach, 1 cup – 5 g Artichokes, 1/2 cup – 4 g Asparagus, 1 cup – 4 g Avocado, 1 – 4 g Broccoli, 1 cup – 4 g Green beans, 1/2 cup – 4 g Potato, 1 – 4 g Sweet potato, 1 cup baked – 4 g White rice, 1 cup – 4 g Brussels sprouts, 1 cup – 3 g Popcorn, 1 cup – 1 g Flax seed, 1 tsp. ground – .5 g Now that you have a basic idea of what foods to eat to get more protein, here are some excellent protein-loaded pregnancy snacks to get you through to the next meal! For each recipe, I will list the ingredients you need as well as how many people it serves. I would love to take a stab at how much protein you can get by eating one serving, but I’ll let you figure that out, since it could take me several hours for all these recipes! I was given permission to use the pictures below, so please, please, please do NOT pin these pictures from this post. If you want to pin a specific picture, click on the link and go to that specific post and pin it from there. I (and the owners of the pictures) appreciate it! You can also obviously pin the main image from this post to reference all the recipes. And, I added popcorn snacks in here even though they don’t give you that much protein. Because popcorn is da bomb. And every small amount counts. Avocado Toast with Eggs from Two Peas and Their Pod Shallot, spinach, egg, bread, avocado, and tomatoes Serves 1 Roasted Chickpeas from This Grandma Is Fun Chickpeas, olive oil, various seasonings and sweeteners for the different flavors Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt from Family Fresh Meals Plain Greek yogurt, chocolate chips, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and honey Serves 1 Spinach Artichoke Dip from Lil’ Luna Parmesan cheese, spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, sour cream, cream cheese, and mayonnaise Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bowls from Mom to Mom Nutrition Apple, cottage cheese, granola, chia seeds, and cinnamon Serves 1 Greek Yogurt Biscuits from Lovely Little Kitchen Flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter, Greek yogurt, and egg Serves 8 10 Minute White Bean Artichoke Basil Toasts from Pinch of Yum Garlic, white beans, basil, lemon, olive oil, artichoke hearts, spinach, and bread Serves 10 Apple Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins from Running with Spoons Flour, old-fashioned oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, egg, plain Greek yogurt, applesauce, brown sugar, vanilla extract, apple, and raisins Serves 12 Cranberry Almond Protein Bars from Gimme Some Oven Almonds, puffed rice cereal, dried cranberries, coconut flakes, brown rice syrup, honey, and vanilla extract Serves 8 from Eating Bird Food Black beans, eggs, coconut oil, cocoa powder, sea salt, vanilla extract, pure maple syrup, and chocolate chips Serves 16 (or 4 very hungry pregnant women ) Spinach Artichoke Hand Pies from Will Cook for Smiles Pre-made pie crusts, frozen chopped spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and egg white Serves 4 Salted Lime Popcorn from My Sequined Life Coconut oil, salt, popcorn kernels, and a lime Serves 7 or 8 (1 cup servings) from Chef Savvy Peanut butter, chocolate chips, old-fashioned oats, ground flax seed, and honey Serves 12 (1 bite per person) Avocado Bacon and Eggs from Lil’ Luna Avocado, eggs, bacon, and cheese Serves 1 from Good Life Eats Unsalted nuts, olive oil, rosemary leaves, cayenne pepper, ground cumin, dark brown sugar, maple syrup, coarse salt, and unsalted butter Deviled Avocado Eggs from To Simply Inspire Hard-boiled eggs, avocado, lime juice, cilantro, garlic powder, and paprika Serves 3-6 Avocado Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie from A Cookie Named Desire Avocado, frozen banana, cocoa powder, peanut butter, vanilla almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract Serves 1-2 5 Minute Black Bean Dip from Cookin’ Canuck Black beans, salsa, garlic, lime juice, ground cumin, and cilantro Makes 2 and 3/4 cups Breakfast Banana Split from Natural Noshing Banana, cottage cheese, fruit preserves, ground flax seed, chia seeds, and nuts Serves 1 Skinny Peanut Butter Dip from Crazy for Crust Plain Greek yogurt, peanut butter, honey (or maple syrup), and dippers (apples, celery, carrots, chocolate chips, etc.) Makes 1 cup Falafel from Gimme Some Oven Garlic, chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, onion, flour, lemon juice, baking powder, ground cumin, and oil Makes 16-18 falafels Avocado Greek Yogurt Ranch Dip from Cooking Classy Plain Greek yogurt, avocado, lime juice, and Ranch mix Unfortunately, there are no pictures for the next ones, but these are also fabulous ideas! Avocado Cucumber Egg Salad (eggs, cucumber, avocado, mayo, paprika, bread) from The 36th Avenue Chocolate + Black Bean Smoothie (black beans, almond milk, vanilla extract, peanut butter, spinach, frozen banana, and cocoa powder) from (Never) Homemaker Garlic Herb Roasted Nuts (raw mixed nuts, egg white, sea salt, rosemary, ground sage, garlic powder, and smoked paprika) from Little Bits Of High Protein Energy Balls (almonds, chickpeas, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla) from Happy Healthy Mama Avocado Banana Smoothie (bananas, coconut water, avocado, honey, ice cubes, cinnamon, and vanilla extract) from Popsugar FroYo Berry Bites (almond meal, coconut sugar, coconut oil, plain Greek yogurt, honey, and strawberries or raspberries) from SkinnyMs. Margherita Pizza Popcorn (yellow popcorn kernels, kosher salt, oil, dried oregano, dried basil, sundried tomatoes, butter, Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil) from Nosh On.It Oven Roasted Artichokes with Roasted Garlic Butter (artichokes, lemons, olive oil, garlic, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, and salted butter) from From a Chef’s Kitchen Creamy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Popsicles (Greek yogurt, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and sugar) from Ella Claire Rosemary Parmesan Garlic Popcorn (fresh rosemary, garlic, olive oil, garlic salt, popcorn kernels, and Parmesan cheese) from Five Heart Home Other really simple protein-loaded pregnancy snacks: Hard-boiled eggs Yogurt parfaits Smoothies (you can add beans, spinach, Greek yogurt, nuts, oats, etc.) Almonds with raisins or craisins Hummus with fresh veggies Avocado with a sprinkle of sea salt (thanks for this suggestion from reader, Jessi!) Apples with cheese Cottage cheese with fruit Baked sweet potato sprinkled with flax seed I hope you got some great ideas for getting more protein in your pregnancy diet! Original article and pictures take http://humbleinaheartbeat.com/protein-loaded-pregnancy-snacks/ site