#10: Happy Belly & Baby

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What to eat during pregnancy?

Today we are talking about motherhood. I myself have recently emerged from a few months of roundness. “Being in pregnancy” as my son says.

But rest assured, we will also talk about fatherhood.

When life blossoms within us, our attention undoubtedly sharpens concerning the content of our plate and what we will share with our child. The doctor generally provides some basic recommendations regarding listeria, dietary supplements, coffee, and alcohol.

But these are rather meager pieces of advice given the life multiplying inside us, which surpasses us.

Maternity is often also a turning point and raises questions about our lifestyles, our dietary habits, the pollution surrounding us, and what we will transmit.

So we invite you on a little journey to understand this very special period from a nutritional perspective.

The guest: Isabella Obrist

To talk about motherhood and nutrition, I’m thrilled to welcome Isabella Obrist, specialist in Chinese dietetics and the Cuisine of the Five Elements.

She has 25 years of experience in practice and created “Petit Ventre Heureux“, which is both a brand of energetic potions, a website, the title of three books, a community of learners, and a mission: to remind those we love that we are what we eat and drink…

She told me that one evening at Tian Tai Shan, a monastery at the foot of a sacred mountain, she discovered a fascinating aspect of Chinese dietetics: cooking in harmony with the movement of nature, imitating the working system of the cosmos…

She’s with us today because she’s especially the author of “Petit Ventre Heureux attends a baby: a pregnancy entirely in wisdom according to Chinese thinking“, published by Trédaniel.

My questions

• What’s your background? How did you get interested in nutrition?
• Your approach is called “Petit Ventre Heureux”. What, in your opinion, is a happy little belly?
• What are the principles of Chinese dietetics? You particularly speak about the 5 elements?
• What should you be mindful of in terms of nutrition when you’re pregnant?
• Do you particularly speak about the cycles of the Moon?
• And just after giving birth, during the famous “Golden Month”, a key 40-day period that is so seldom discussed in France?
• What dietary balances should be watched and what are the risks of deficiency?
• What are the star foods during pregnancy? And which ones should be avoided?
• Are there better ways to cook than others during pregnancy?
• What is the father’s role in this diet for the mother and the child?
• Can you share with us a recipe for each of the 4 trimesters? (including the golden month)

Resources to explore further

• Petit Ventre Heureux, the website.
• Petit Ventre Heureux Attends a Baby (Editions Trédaniel), her book.

Isabella Obrist’s 4 pregnancy recipes

1st trimester: Mushroom and Chickpea Soup with Miso Flavors

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 small onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 bay leaves
• 300 g of cooked chickpeas, homemade or store-bought
• 2 garlic cloves
• 250 g of button mushrooms
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1 handful of marjoram leaves (or 1 teaspoon of dried marjoram)
• 1 handful of chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of barley or rice miso
• Freshly ground pepper
• Approximately 600 ml of vegetable infusion (preferably made with the chickpea cooking water)

Method

1. Slice the onions, press the garlic.
2. Dice the carrots.
3. Thinly slice the mushrooms and the celery stalk. Dissolve the miso in a little warm water.
4. Heat a pot, add the olive oil and cook the onions for 3 minutes.
5. Add the carrots and celery and cook for about 4 minutes.
6. Add the mushrooms, bay leaves, garlic, and marjoram leaves, then stir.
7. Add the cooked chickpeas, then the parsley.
8. Add the thyme sprig and the vegetable infusion. Cook for 5 minutes.
9. Add the pepper, then the miso, and lower the heat (the miso should not boil).
10. Adjust the seasoning, you might want to add more miso.

Tips

Barley miso has a stronger taste than rice miso. So, start with a tablespoon before adding more. To make this soup a more complete meal, you can add soba noodles with the vegetable infusion, or blend a portion to make it creamier 

2nd Trimester: Beetroot Hummus

Ingredients

• 200 g cooked beets
• 70 g walnut kernels
• 1 tablespoon of tahini
• 1 clove of garlic 
• 1 pinch of salt
• Juice of one lemon 
• 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 pinch of caraway 
• 1 tablespoon of oat cream 
• 1 pinch of coconut for decoration

Method

1. Toast the walnuts dry in a saucepan or in the oven and set aside.
2. Toast the coriander seeds and caraway dry as well, then crush them in a mortar.
3. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend into a smooth cream.
4. Serve with a swirl of oat cream and some coconut flakes. 

Tips

You can replace tahini with peanut butter. 

3rd Trimester: Sweet Potato and Sheep Cheese Dumplings

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes 
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice 
• 80 g crumbled sheep cheese (or tofu feta)
• 100 g coarsely crushed hazelnuts 
• 1⁄2 bunch chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon mustard 
• 40 g pumpkin seeds powder
• 2 sliced onions
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt 
• 1 pinch of sweet paprika
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons seaweed flakes
• 5 g grated parmesan 

Method

1. Cook the sweet potatoes in their skins and peel them.
2. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan.
3. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add salt, lemon juice, sweet paprika, and sweet potatoes. Cook for another two minutes and mash the potatoes, then turn off the heat. 
5. Add the hazelnuts and half of the pumpkin seeds.
6. Add 2 grinds of pepper, mustard, then seaweed and parsley. Mix and add the sheep cheese or tofu feta  and the egg.
7. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before forming dumplings.
8. Mix the parmesan with the remaining pumpkin seeds.
9. Brown your dumplings on each side in a pan and sprinkle them with this mix.

Tips

You can also roll them in the parmesan-hazelnut mix and bake at 180° for 20 minutes. 

Golden Month (4th Trimester): Tofu Feta

Ingredients

• 200 g semi-firm tofu
• 120 ml olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 pressed garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 1.5 teaspoons coarse salt

Method

1. Put everything in a pretty glass jar and marinate for at least 24 hours.
2. You can keep it in the refrigerator for 7 days.

The (R)evolution Food podcasts are presented by Louise Browaeys

Agronomic engineer (AgroParisTech) with a specialization in nutrition, Louise has been working for ten years in the fields of agriculture, food, and ecology.

She is the author or co-author of several books on the themes of food, ecology, permaculture, and corporate social responsibility. Including: “The Share of the Earth: Agriculture as Art” (Delachaux and Niestlé, 2014), “Permaculture Daily” (Terre Vivante, 2018), “The Planetary Diet” (La Plage, 2020).

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