So nobody wanted to touch the vaccination thing, eh? I don't blame you.
Then again, I'm sort of having trouble finding motivation to continue writing every day with all this radio silence, ladies! (I'm wagging my finger right now).
Am I sort of just talking to myself? If I am, that's totally okay. I can look back on these posts when/if I have a second kid to remind me of everything... But if you're out there and are on the fence about commenting - I bet other Moms would love to hear your perspective.
Okay. On with the food.
Finding enough variety when it comes to feeding your kid is an on-going challenge for me. Anna's staples are crackers and hummus, toast and cream cheese, bananas, pears, yogurt, oatmeal and goldfish. I constantly worry that she's getting enough of all the food groups.
At dinner time, I try to sneak some veggies into her meals, but she is not interested, thank you very much. On the other hand, give her meat and she goes to town. She LOVES her meat (even pork. Who knew you could eat pork with just 3 teeth?)
When I asked my fellow Mom friends for some food ideas, here's what they said:
- Ritz crackers with cream cheese is a fave for G&W. They also like Mandarin orange segments, grated apple, cheerios, mini rice cakes, blueberries, shredded cheese, bread sticks, minigo
- Does Anna like tomato sauce and pasta? I can hide any veggies in lasagna or on a piece of pizza. Also one book I have suggests sneaking stuff in muffins or even smoothies.
- One of my coworkers made the brownie recipe from this site and added carrots and squash to the mix - deelish!
Of course, after writing that, I decided to try giving her some veggie sticks (like cucumber) and she loves them. She actually wants to snack on cucumber every day now. This kid. Who knows what's going through her little noggin.
Someone also asked when I'm going to let Anna have her first taste of chocolate. Since she had a birthday in February and there just can NOT be a birthday without chocolate cake in our house, she's already had a taste of the crack. Mind you, she had her one taste and that was it. Her reaction wasn't like she was SO into it that she couldn't believe she had stumbled upon this glorious, glorious food (I don't know if she's my kid.) So I haven't offered her any more.
If she's willing to snack on hummus, why offer her chocolate, right? It's not like she wants junk and I'm just being a meanie by not giving it to her. She actually doesn't want it. (Again - don't know if she's really my kid.)
Same with liquids. I'd be interested to know what you guys give your kids to drink. Since Anna's not breastfeeding anymore, she has a lot of water. (She loves water, so juice is a no-go for her in our house). I give her milk at least once a day, but not as regularly as I used to. I think she has a bit of a sensitivity to milk (even though she LOVES it). So all she gets is water - and lots of it. Which is great. But should she be getting more milk? How much is enough, really?
Anyway. I'm not sure if this helps. I hope there's some good info for all you Moms also struggling with the food thing in your house.
Oh - here's one more link. It's to a page about baby finger foods from Wholesome Baby Foods. Some good ideas.
Good luck fellow Mamas. May the veggie and legumes force be with you.
I have a cookbook called the Sneaky Chef and one called One Bite Won't Kill You. Both are really good for recipes where you can "hide" veggies. Of course, I don't know if, after steaming and then pureeing and then cooking the spinach/yams/other veg there are any nutrients left but hey it is worth a shot!
ReplyDeleteFood issues! Always a fun topic. Here's my two cents:
ReplyDelete- I wouldn't worry too much about milk, if she's getting calcium from other stuff like cheese or yogurt
- water is a good thing! if she likes it, and drinks a lot of it, then it's all good!
- you can try smoothies too, to mix it up. I throw anything in them, both kids loves them. i buy a bunch of strawberries, raspberries, melon, pineapple, and freeze it all. Add some frozen banana, some frozen fruit, bit of yogurt, and some juice and you're all set. i add some ground flax seeds sometimes too
- veggies are a tough one for us too. both my kids love little tomatoes (although they're fruit, but oh well.....). when i make pasta sauce, I saute a bunch of veggies (carrots, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms) and then blend them all in the blender and throw them in the sauce. voila! veggies.
- the best piece of advice i got from my pediatrician was to look at what your kid eats over a week, rather than day by day. kids are weird - they'll eat one thing for two days straight and then not want it anymore. so watch over a week and see how they're doing. chances are, they're just fine
- net net? if she's growing, happy, bright eyes, then she's doing just fine!!!
I only have one baby cookbook. I should get some more!
ReplyDeleteShelley - excellent tips! Thank you! :)
Thanks for some good ideas!
ReplyDeleteI thought that since Olivia is my second I would be an expert this time around with the feeding thing ... I'm not:( She's pickier than Aliya was and therefore keeps me guessing.
A friend also recently recommended this website for food ideas http://onehungrymama.com/
I made the zuccini pancakes and Olivia loved them!
Thanks again everyone!
And thank you for vaccinating your babies ;) I totally agree with your philosophy Heather. We live in a country (countries) without these diseases because we've been vaccinating our children for years!
From my research on milk, I came across multiple sites suggesting 16-24 oz of homo milk a day. This is what I do (most often on the 16 oz side of things) I offer 4 oz of milk at a time and he usually takes 4 bottles worth in a day.
ReplyDeleteI made this recipe up and it's been great:
ReplyDeletehttp://babysmallhall.blogspot.com/2010/11/apple-carrot-oat-bars.html
I've also done them with some zucchini mixed in.
Recently I made burger patties with shredded carrots and red peppers, plus chopped onions and garlic. Just pan cooked them in a little oil then froze them individually wrapped. I give them to her on one of those thin whole-grain sandwich rounds with some good cheese.
Also, I know you said you don't do juice, but occasionally I'll give my daughter carrot juice, mixed with a touch of apple and/or orange. That might be a good option, too. Oh, and she drinks anywhere from 8-16 oz. of whole milk a day, plus lots of water.
I"m sure you've probably tried sweet peas, avocado, and sweet potato, but those are some of her favorites, too.
Hope that's a little helpful ;-)
One more thing, a woman that was at the bachelorette party I put together last weekend made us all fruit and raw veggie smoothies each morning and they were amazing. She used a handful of spinach and/or kale, blueberries and/or strawberries, mango and/or banana, OJ, and coconut milk (unsweetened). I think she might also put some almond butter in there. She said she varies it all the time, but always uses a good amount of the raw green vegetables. It might not work for your daughter, but I know I'm going to start making them for myself!
ReplyDeleteWow - those smoothies sound healthy!! I'll have to look into some recipes... thanks!! :)
ReplyDelete