Week 23: Eat this not that

Way back when Lee and I decided to first start trying to make a baby, I took a farewell tour of all of the yummy foods I’d be forced to forego the moment a positive pregnancy test turned up. We had sushi and made a flaky baked brie. I excitedly ordered my eggs over easy and sopped up every last bit of runny yolk. It was basically a prebaby bucket list of delicious eats … and it was wonderful.
Since then, I have been surprised to discover that the one thing I miss the most, the thing I desperately crave (though I am hesitant to call it a pregnancy craving because it’s more that I KNOW I can’t have it) isn’t any of the foods I expected. It isn’t even anything that I ate often prior to pregnancy.
So, what is it that I want to chow down on more than anything? It’s deli meat. If you want to get really specific, it’s the club supreme served “Mike’s way” with pepper jam from Jersey Mike’s Subs. (No. 9 forever and always!)
I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent daydreaming about this sandwich. It would be too sad to report even if I actually had any hard data. But suffice it to say that I have already informed my sweet husband—more than a month ago—that THAT is what I want to eat the minute I birth this babe. Sure, I’ll take a second to gush over this new little person that will certainly rock my world, and we’ll hopefully have some solid skin-to-skin bonding time. Maybe we’ll even give nursing a whirl right out of the gate. But while I’ve got my newborn in one arm, I’m thinking I might as well have a sub in my other hand. I kid. Sort of.

I’ve thought about ordering a veggie version, but that doesn’t sound all that appealing. I’ve also come THIS close to getting one and zapping it in the microwave. (Apparently that can kill the listeria bacteria, which is what earns deli meat a spot on the no-go list.) But that also sounds kind of gross.
After months of trying to ignore just how much I want this sandwich, I finally gave in this past weekend. I came up with a plan to buy all of the ingredients and make myself a DIY version—complete with bacon, roast beef and turkey, all piping hot from the oven to get rid of any pesky germs. And it was good. I was worried it might not hold up to the original, but, even though it wasn’t identical, it still tasted sublime. I was seriously in the best mood all day on Saturday because of lunch. #yepiampregnant