It is only the second month that I have been trying to get pregnant and I am already nervous about a lot of things, but the most immediate one is how to eat what I am supposed to to eat, once the test is positive.

In the book, "What to Expect When You're Expecting," the authors write that a study done at the Harvard School of Public Health demonstrated that, of the women who had excellent diets in the study, 95 percent had babies in good or excellent health. Those who had poor diets (as in junk food) had babies in good or excellent health only 8 percent of the time, and 65 percent of them had infants who were stillborn, premature, functionally immature, or had congenital defects. Most women, they say, are somewhere in the middle, and they produce babies with average health. Only 6 percent of those women produce babies with excellent health. This is significant, especially considering that what you eat is something over which you have so much control.

One of the pluses about being a little older is that I consider my diet to already be above average. At 25, my daily diet was based largely on diet sodas, bagels, and frozen yogurt, but since then, I have made a conscious effort to eat for my health, instead of just my jeans.

The problem is, there is a difference between making an effort to eat vegetables and eating vegetables. In making an effort, I probably eat vegetables three to four times a week. When you are pregnant, the typical advice from the doctor's office says you should be eating at least five fruits and vegetables a day. According to experts, you also are going to need four proteins, four, five or more whole grains and legumes, four servings of calcium-rich foods, and you should keep an eye out for vitamin C foods and foods high in iron, in case you don't get enough from the first few groups. Who would have time to leave the house, except to go to the grocery store? Even though you may have just checked off a grain and a calcium-rich food and a fruit with a couple of egg whites on the side, you still have a truckload of food left to eat for the day.

I began to fantasize about a day of nutrition packed in a pellet. The following recipes are not quite in pellet form, but I created them with that idea in mind: fiber and vitamin B-rich garbanzo beans with leafy green kale and protein-rich walnuts; stuffed potatoes in their skins with cottage cheese and cheddar, which are great with roasted string beans; yogurt, bananas, and mango shakes are good for breakfast with whole-grain toast, and any time you need a snack, a little bag of trail mix goes a long way.

Greens and Beans Salad
If you have a slice of whole-grain bread with the salad, you will have your complete protein. The kale is packed with calcium and beta carotene; garbanzos are a protein source, add fiber, and even a little calcium, and the ginger and garbanzos help with an upset stomach.

Stuffed Potatoes
Potatoes stuffed with eggs and cottage cheese make a high-protein snack that also has lots of fiber.

Tropical Cow
One of these shakes is a vitamin C, calcium, and beta carotene blitz. The banana even adds potassium, and if you want a little more protein, add a tablespoon of wheat germ.

Trail Mix
Trail mix is great for munching bit by bit when you cannot think about getting down a whole meal. The dried fruit is good for fiber, the nuts are great for vitamin E and protein, and the ginger has been used for centuries to fight off nausea and headaches.