It was mint chocolate chip ice cream at 9:45 last night. By 10:45 we were halfway through the macaroni & cheese. Pregnancy nutrition is a strange and wonderful thing.

“Do you want some mac and cheese?” Alison looked at me sheepishly as if it was an off handed idea not prompted by ravenous hunger or impulse cravings.

By her expression I knew she felt funny about eating so late at night, self conscious about weight gain feeling hormonal. So, I played the role of eating buddy again. I love macaroni and cheese anyway, plus I didn’t want my choice not to eat prevent her and the sprout from getting the food they needed, so why not.

It was incredibly tasty and I’m glad I did it. Not only was it a great treat, hopefully it will help preserve the gap between my body weight and my wife’s.

Incidentally, if you love the yummy, inexpensive and non-perishable glory that is macaroni and cheese as much as I do, there is an alternate way to prepare this delicious dish that reduces the amount of fat, sodium and calories per serving.

On the side of the Kraft mac and cheese boxes there are instructions which include using unsalted butter in a smaller quantity, among other small tweaks. This cuts the fat of the dish by 65% and the calories by 25%.