Reader Recipe Contest Winners! Best Dishes

We asked you for your tastiest and healthiest prenatal recipes. Here are our 5 faves, plus some of your best snack ideas.

When you're expecting a baby, life as you know it changes drastically. Your sense of smell, your desire for (or aversion) to certain foods and your enthusiasm for preparing meals are all suddenly...different.

Even so, eating a well-balanced diet is a top priority to ensure that both you and your growing baby thrive. But how do you keep it interesting and healthy? On fitpregnancy.com, we asked just that in our first reader recipe contest.

HOW WE CHOSE THE WINNERS
We pored over the entries, tested the finalists and pared them down to the most delicious. We're also sharing readers' smart suggestions for trading in the junk food for more healthful snacks. (Most popular: hummus, baby carrots, peanut butter and apples.)

Each winner will receive a Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus(R) 11-Cup Food Processor (retail value $179). If you'd like to submit an entry for next year, go to fitpregnancy.com/recipecontest.

Recipes:
Kristen's Peanut Butter- Chocolate Balls
Maria's Balsamic Chicken Salad
Jenna's Easy Fish & Vegetables
Amy's Chickpea & Spinach Saute

From June/July 2008