Feeding My Toddler Monster

Okay, Mamas and Papas, I want to know, what do your little ones eat?

Today Hendrix had vegetarian quinoa stuffed peppers for dinner and baked sweet potato, black beans, and couscous for lunch. Snack was an apple and breakfast was mango and cereal.

On any given day what do your kid's eat?

In our house we try to offer our babes as much variety as possible. Henry will eat just about anything (except meat, we haven't gone there yet) and of course, junk food (duh).

His favs include

Apples

Bananas

Sweet Potato

Corn on the cob

Peanut Butter. Lots and lots of peanut butter.

Veggie tacos

Eggplant parm

Whole Food's garden veggie lasagna (this is damn good)

Chipotle lime tortilla crusted talapia

Scrambled eggs smothered in salsa and guacamole

Thai inspired rice stir fry with broccoli, baby corn, and peas...he actually liked this so much he kissed the broccoli. no joke.

Grillos pickles and Grillos pickled carrots

Bagels with veggie cream cheese

Veggie chix nuggets with dipping sauces like chipotle mayo and blue cheese

THESE delish broccoli cheese nuggets

THIS Mango pouch

and his favorite...PIZZA. Pretty much any kind of pizza with veggies he will eat.

For the most part we just give him whatever we are having. Spicy food do not bother him, in fact, its usually the opposite. He does have some issues with texture so, for some meals I have to feed it to him or put it on his fork/spoon for him since he hates touching most foods.

He dislikes

Bland foods such as plain pasta, plain eggs, basically anything plain

He doesn't love pear or hummus but sometimes will eat both.

This may sounds dorky but one of my fav things about being a Mama is cooking and feeding Hendrix healthy and tasty meals. I love that he is adventurous. I truly believe you can create a "picky" eater by only giving them the American stand kids food.

We do however, have a picky eater in our house. My step son is pretty picky although he is starting to get a bit more adventurous and I think that may come with his age (he is 9). He eats completely opposite Henry but we try not to push new foods on him, only offer. We have a rule that he does have to try new stuff ( a bite or 2) but if he doesn't like it, he doesn't have to eat it. End of story. Its not worth fighting over.

Oddly enough, when C was younger he would eat a LOT more. He ate fish, sushi, burritos, ect. ect. that he now will not touch. Anyone ever have a child get picker as he got older? Again, we don't push the issue but I do love it when he discovers something new and yummy to eat.

A little tip for those of you with picky eaters: When C was younger we had him make a list of foods he would be willing to eat and if the meal is on that list then he does have to eat it. We gave the list categories such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, fruit, veggies, and snacks and each list had a minimum of items on it. For example, the fruit list had to have 5 different fruits and the dinner had to have 15. He picked everything on the list with no help from us. This made life a lot easier. Its hard to explain to really young children that "I don't like" and I don't feel like" are two different things. This helped put to rest evening squabbles where he was more in the mood for mac n cheese versus a hot dog when hot dogs were already on the table, ya know? We no longer use this technique but it worked great for everyone when he was a tiny guy.

I also can NOT wait to pack Henry's lunches for school (when he someday goes). I used to have a ball packing C's lunches when he was with us. I would scour the internet for fun new lunch box foods. A fav is the vegan lunchbox. We used to have little bento boxes for C and Michael and I would get really creative with his lunches. Now, he is older and usually prefers to buy his lunch.

I would love to hear what you feed or don't feed your babes. Send recipes and suggestions my way!

Someone needs to do a link up for toddler/baby food recipes, no?

**UPDATE: C has decided he wants us to start packing his lunch again. saweeeet**

Apple Pickers.

Oh Hello readers. Sorry I have been MIA but life lately has been insanely over the top crazy busy and complicated. Yes, Complicated. I'm not complaining but it is what it is. There for I have been distracted and by distracted I mean totally ignoring all the overwhelming feelings and bottling them up inside.

So for a minute let's ignore the fact that everything has flipped upside down, leaving me shaken and dizzy. We will forget the fact that there may have been suspicions of leukemia in my younger brother (test came back negative...huge sigh of relief), that my mother has breast cancer and chosen to forgo chemo or that Henry's doctor seems to be very concerned at the alarming rate to which is head is growing. Or that at his 1 year appointment we will be scheduling a long list of tests for his hearing/eyesight/possibly swelling brain and we will just focus on the positive. The easy. The simple pleasures of life.


Okay, let's talk fall.


No, I mean Autumn.





Sounds so fancy that way, yes? Autumn is here in new England which means we are in full swing of our seasonal traditions including our yearly trip to Berlin Orchards for some apple picking. We go every year. For five years now. We eat cider doughnuts, feed the ducks, and walk to the very same spot to pick our favorite Honey Crisps.

Pretty much my favorite picture of him ever

I always take about 9 million pictures and it is fun to line them up and see how we have evolved as a family over the years. Oh how it has grown and changed!

2008

2009

Through so much and so may trials and tribulations we have stuck it out and when I said "in good times and in bad" I meant it.

2010

I always feel sorry for people who have convinced themselves they don't need their family. While family may come with drama and burdens to take on and baggage you can not check it comes with so many pros on the list of life. While we are up, it is important to support those who are down so we may have the same awaiting us in our dark times. I'm proud to say I'm a good shoulder to lean on and I am even more proud to say I have some sturdy ones surrounding me.

I don't know what it is about this time of year but it always feels like a new beginning. Forget New Years, now is when I feel ready to keep resolutions, make lists and check off to dos, and push forward.

and each year we apple pick and it is always a bit of a time marker for me. Much like an anniversary it is another little celebration of a year well done, a year stuck together.

While normally I try to be really aware and present in dealing with my problems, in the here and now, I'm going to push them to the back of my mind. Ignorance may not be bliss but the colors of fall, the warmth of a hand held, late night snuggles in bed with homemade ginger snaps, and a pudgy baby in glow in the dark PJs are absolute, pure and strong bliss. So I'll be raising my glass (of warm apple cider) to looking forward, a strong sense of self, and a loving family.

Cheers.



Click below more amazing pictures. My lovely husband put his Iphone pictures on my computer and I swear they are waaay better than mine pictured above. I love seeing the day from his perspective.
You get a really great view of Hendrix and his serious love for his apple. (eye spy major apple chunks stuck all over his face/shirt/entire body)

You Are What you Eat.

When it comes to parenting I try to stay as neutral as possible. Parenting is such a unique experience for all of us that while I certainly have my personal likes/dislikes, I try with all my might to keep from judging others. Breastfeeding, cloth diapering, co-sleeping...they are all such heated debates and while I know whats right for my family, I can't say I know what's right for others.

But.

I can not for the life of me help judging others when it comes to nutrition and diets and what not. It's the one thing I get all judgey wudgy about. I try to mind my own but the obesity epidemic that is rolling its way across our nation is sickening. No one seems to want to take the blame or own up.  i can't help but point the finger at the parents. When you oversee every little detail of your child's life how do you possible slack on the most important...their HEALTH!

A good example...

We grabbed a coffee the other day a little after lunch and there was a mom and her daughter (oh, say, maybe 8 years old?). Both were overweight. The mom got a ginormous chocolaty coffee thing and she got her little girl a large...LARGE!!... blue coolatta and a doughnut.
Okay, I'm no rocket scientist but I am pretty sure this is the reason we have such an obesity problem.
Not only is that an insanely unhealthy snack but the portion sizes push the calorie limit to the absolute brink. My guess is it probably had as many calories as some people's meals.
Even if you pay devil's advocate and say 'oh, maybe it was a special treat" why not get her a kiddie size, or even a small? Why a LARGE???

Parents need to step up and take some responsibility for what their kids eat. Society certainly plays a part and with the constant push for fast food and designer TV dinners but at the end of the day we are the ones who shape and form our children's eating habits.

I stand by that the old saying "You are what you eat" and if this is so then I'm currently a bowl of cheerios and a plate of fresh fruit. My son? He ate the same this morning.
My goal is that he eats what I eat and I eat healthy so he should develop the same healthy relationship I have with food.
Ya know,
SETTING
A
GOOD
EXAMPLE.

Okay, I am done with the rant. Now I wanna know...
A. How do you teach your kids to enjoy healthy food?
B. Whats the one thing you let them splurge on?
and
C. Whats the one big parenting issue you just can't help but judge others on?

Screw You Grillo's Pickles!...a Baby Food Rant (and some raves)

Picture found on Pickle Freak.


F**k you Grillos Pickles! No seriously, my kid is on a hardcore food strike and will eat nothing but you. Oh yes, you had to be all tasty and what not and now? Mama's homemade baked peaches are just too bland for my kid. Ive tried it all, even offering my leftover boxed mac and cheese that I would normally never allow him to eat and here I am waving it in his face and nothing. All he wants is your tangy goodness. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. So thanks Grillos for creating the world's best tasting pickle and turning my normally easy child into a royal pain in the ass. You've not only ruined any chance of his daily food intake being nutritionally balanced but also ruined my day. To top it off, the pickles make him all burpy and while he may find this hilarious, I do not.


Okay, in all seriousness. I love me some Grillos Pickles and you will too so you should hurry and order some.

Back to my kiddos food strike. All of a sudden he seems to have some serious opinions about food and what he wants on his plate. I have been struggling to find finger foods he can handle with his mostly toothless grin that are good for him.

I started out making all his baby food. I then explored some easy to go pre-made foods and I have since compiled a pretty good list of what I think should be homemade and whats good store bought. I will say some of the stuff I bought I literally took one bite of and threw in the trash. Most of it never even hit Henry's lips.

Wanna know what sucked?

Anything Gerber...yuck. We bought the peaches and that was it. It smelled nothing like our homemade peaches. It looked nothing like real peaches and it tasted like poo.

Earth's Best Zucchini Broccoli Medley. One word...SLOP.

Happy Baby Pouch in Apricot and Sweet Potatoes. It was so overly pureed it was like water. The taste was mediocre at best.


The best?

Plum organics takes the cake for sure. I love every flavor. The Just Mangoes and the Just Peaches are bomb. The Blueberry, pear and purple carrot was super tasty and I mix the apple&carrot blend with Moroccan couscous for dinner. Delish!

Sprout Organics is super yummy. I wasn't able to find a lot of their flavors. I would have loved to try the  Pasta with Lentil Bolognese and the Summer Squash, Yukon Gold Potatoes, and Parmesan. Has anyone tried them?  Let me know what you think. However, Hendrix did try the Oatmeal with Roasted Cinnamon Applesauce (YUM!!!) and the Peach Rice Pudding. Both were fantastic.

Happy Baby frozen yes Peas (with mint) and Thank You Carrots are a good frozen option. But honestly, if I'm going to buy frozen I would just make it myself instead. The whole point, for me anyways, was to buy only pre-made baby food for situations where I couldn't thaw his meals out. I would recommend the peas though, H dug them.

He loves Earth's Best Carrot Tomato which I put over pasta like a sauce. The Pear Mango is pretty good and the Corn Butternut Squash was tasty.


Hendrix seems to have an affinity for things with a bit of a kick to them (hence the Grillos Pickles obsession). For example he refuses plain avocado but adores guacamole. He's not a fan of scrambled eggs unless you add a dollop of mild salsa. Likes his carrots with a pinch of curry. Mashed potatoes? Throw on some pepper, garlic, and parmesan and he will gobble 'em up.

I'm interested in trying some of the World Baby Foods but our local Whole Foods doesn't carry it. They are a company making baby food with exotic flavors from around the world. sounds enticing...

Since the beginning I have been making H his purees and some have been terrific and others have been major failures. I'll be posting some of my fav recipes on here over the next week or so.

I am curious... what do you all feed you lil ones? Store bought or homemade what are your favorites? What did you hate?