Cravings!

Along with the daily questions asking me if I have made any progress . . .. the other question that I get asked quite often deals with my cravings. I have to admit that I expected to have a lot more cravings than I have! I guess I just always have heard about those women who sent their husbands out in the middle of the night to get them pickles and ice cream. (Good thing I didnt have those desires since I doubt I could talk Rob into going to get them for me and I want to be sleeping in the middle of the night and not thinking about eating!).

1st Trimester - I was so sick that I had hardly any cravings but one day I did insist that Rob bring home spinach dip on his way home from work.


2nd Trimester - When I started feeling better it was October and right about the time when pumpkin stuff was everywhere. All I wanted that month was pumpkin related items - I made a few batches of pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, and Shanna was awesome and sent some pumpkin dip from Amish Country back with Nicole to help satisfy my craving for pumpkin dip.

3rd Trimester - This trimester has been an odd one because I've had acid reflux so badly that I haven't enjoyed eating very much and when I can eat - it's very small portions. But I think this little girl has dropped though because in the last week I've actually been starving all the time and having some cravings. An odd one for me is soda pop! Most especially root beer. I can't get enough of it!


My other craving is for fruity candy - skittles, starburst, sour punch straws, and swedish fish in particular!

And then my newest one is for cheesecake. We haven't had time to go to the Cheesecake Factory so when Rob was out of town this week, I went onto allrecipes.com and made this Brownie Caramel Cheesecake. The cheesecake is stuck in the springform pan still but I think I've almost managed to polish off half of the cheesecake by myself over the last few days. I figure I can afford to gain a few pounds since for 8 weeks I didn't gain anything! (Nice justification, huh?) But then I'm reminded that this little girl still has to come out so I probably shouldn't over indulge this late in the game. This cheesecake is just too good though!

Here's the recipe (just for you Heidi!)

Brownie Caramel Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS
1 (9 ounce) package brownie mix
1 egg
1 tablespoon cold water
1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate fudge topping
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
In a small bowl, mix together brownie mix, 1 egg and water. Spread into the greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes.
Melt the caramels with the evaporated milk over low heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir often, and heat until mixture has a smooth consistency. Reserve 1/3 cup of this caramel mixture, and pour the remainder over the warm, baked brownie crust.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour cream cheese mixture over caramel mixture.
Bake cheesecake for 40 minutes. Chill in pan. When cake is thoroughly chilled, loosen by running a knife around the edge, and then remove the rim of the pan. Heat reserved caramel mixture, and spoon over cheesecake. Drizzle with the chocolate topping.