The reality star also shared what she's been craving and why her husband, Chip, no longer complains about her cooking!
Kids, mind your treats if you’re around Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines! The star, who is expecting a baby boy with her husband, Chip Gaines, has revealed that she’s currently craving sugar and lots of it.
“Anything a 5-year-old or younger would love is what I am craving right now, which is so weird!” Gaines told ET’s Darla Murray while promoting her new cookbook, Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering, in New York City on Tuesday.
“For Drake, [I craved] ice and lemons, so I always made Chip go to the gas station late at night to get the crunchy ice because we didn't have that in our fridge,” she continued, comparing her cravings while pregnant with the couple’s other four children. “With the boys, it was always something citrusy and right now, I am craving oranges and lemons. And then [with] the girls, [I wanted] salty. I normally don’t crave citrus, but I have to have an orange every day now.”
Reflecting on being knocked up at 40 -- her first pregnancy in almost nine years -- Gaines shared how she’s finding so many “fun” things that make impending motherhood easier these days.
“It feels like it’s all brand-new, even the things that are available now to moms,” she said. “Everything is so fun, these things are really going to help me!”
“[Like] all of the swaddle things,” she continued. “I was so bad at swaddling my kids, and now there are all of these things that will swaddle them for you and it’s like, ‘Oh, that is done.’ And the kid clothes.”
Joanna added that she’s also relishing her pregnancy more, now that she’s not running around after her littles like she was the last time she was expecting.
“I am having so much [fun] now that my kids are older,” she said. “Time goes by so fast, so this was one of those things where I’m trying to cherish every moment, but back then I had four kids [aged] 4 and under. I was right in the thick of it, trying to figure things out, and now I have four older helpers. They are so excited.”
The children are so excited that they rub Joanna’s belly as soon as they get home and are counting down the days till the little one arrives.
Until then, Joanna is busy promoting her new cookbook, which features delicious family recipes like Bacon & Cheddar Quiche and Open-Faced Grilled Cheese with Arugula & Balsamic Reduction Drizzle
And, for anyone too lazy to give the recipes a whirl, many of the dishes in the book are on the menu at Chip’s dream restaurant venture, Magnolia Table, which focuses on breakfast and offers dishes like the Gaines Brother Burger.
“Chip has always wanted a restaurant, even before the show -- we would always drive around and try to find the perfect property for this restaurant, and just never came to be until two years ago,” Joanna explained. “This historic restaurant went out of business [and] he fell in love with it right off the bat.”
“I was terrified of getting into the restaurant business because I am like, ‘We do homes, we do renovations,’ but I think it’s all about hospitality,” she added. “We love when people come to the Silos -- we want them to feel inspired for their home -- and what other way to show hospitality than feed people?”
Joanna has also gotten her hands dirty in the kitchen, throwing on an apron and hairnet to help make biscuits with strawberry butter and calling the “new office” a dream gig because “you can eat while you work.”
Joanna’s book also features fun tidbits, like how Chip didn’t like her cooking when they first met.
“He was comparing it to his mom’s, and I think anybody knows, you just don't do that, she laughed. “He didn't know that I was crying -- he’s never said it again since. I think he has learned. I think he has just had to adapt.”
“He loves his momma’s cooking, and I appreciate that and I hope my kids love my cooking when they get older, but there’s that fine line of just shutting your mouth so you don’t offend your spouse!” she continued. “I was like, ‘If you ever want me to cook again, you just say, ‘Thank you.’ Don’t complain!’”
See more on the reality TV family below.
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