What's On Your Plate?

 

 

As a mommy of littles, food consumes a vast majority of your day. A topic of discussion amongst moms is often what your kids eat, as they grow through changes, like stages of eating, to changes in preference. With a preschooler going through a growth spurt I feel like I live in the kitchen. Thankfully both of my kiddos are fairly good eaters, I attribute this to: 1) Both of my babes are/were breastfed, Olivia is still nursing and Sean was nursed for 19 months. It is said that flavors of food pass through breast milk and babies who nurse tend to be more adventurous when starting solids. 2) I made their baby food. Have you ever played the baby food game at a baby shower and missed several because the taste/color was indistinguishable? Exactly, homemade baby food tastes fresher and more similar to eating the whole food itself, which helped my kids transition to eating these foods later as finger foods 3) We buy it, so they eat it! They won’t eat what’s not readily available. If fast food and junk food is what is on hand, their taste buds will begin to prefer that over other food choices. Trying to get a child to change from eating those salty, sweet, and fatty foods is very difficult, trust me I know from experience. Feed them right from the start!

Now I will say my family is not vegan, vegetarian or healthy food fanatics. We do eat pizza and cookies and other not so healthy treats on occasion; but we try to keep eating fast food and junk to a minimum, cook as much as possible rather than quick processed meals, and try to keep introducing new foods to our diets. We do like to eat out on the weekends since we love other cultures' food. Our favorites are Japanese, Greek, and Indian. When we eat out both kids also eat and get to try new things.

 My goal is for my family to eat the R A I N B O W every day. I feel that by eating the rainbow each day they are getting tons of vitamins and minerals from an array of items, and it keeps them from getting bored or stuck on a “favorite.” I keep the refrigerator stocked each week with fruits and vegetables of all colors/variety and fill in with protein and grains to make a meal. When we are out and about I always carry snack bags of fruit, nuts, water/juice, granola etc. so that I am not enticed to stop and pick up fast food. Sometimes I get in a rut and feel like they are eating the same thing so I head to Pinterest for toddler meal ideas; weelicious is a great website for little people meals.

Here is a list of what produce we typically eat throughout the week:

Red: strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes, apples

Orange: oranges, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, mango, carrots, peaches, persimmons

Yellow: banana, lemons (juiced in our water), squash, pineapple, corn (popcorn)

Green: edamame, spinach (salad, green smoothies), kale (salad, green smoothies), kiwi, green beans, peas, broccoli, zucchini, avocado, grapes, celery (snack with peanut butter, green smoothie), lettuce, pears, peppers, asparagus

Blue/Purple: eggplant, blueberries, grapes, plums 

I used to say that I would not be that mom who cooks separate meals for their kids, but I had to eat my words. On occasion I will go to one of Sean’s “go to” meals which is “green pasta,” pesto pasta made with Barilla Plus Pasta and pesto sauce. I like the Barilla Plus because it is made from wheat and legume flour, flaxseed, and oats. It is full of protein and omegas which is perfect for the kiddos since they don't eat a lot of meat.

Most days though both kids will eat an abbreviated version of the main meal cooked for dinner. Below are examples of how I prepare meals for myself and the kids.

* Taco Night: Mine (taco salad), Olivia's deconstructed taco, Sean's taco and guacamole

 

*Asian- Mine (veggie fried rice (brown), stir fried veggies, sprouts) Sean (edamame, spring roll, rice, miso soup) Olivia (brown rice, veggies)

 

 

 

*Pasta Night: Eggplant Parmesan

 * Sean's Plate- he doesn't like sauce or cheese on his, Olivia has her eggplant diced in with the pasta, Mine (regular)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do a loose meal plan each week before I go grocery shopping so I basically jot down what I will prepare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and use that for my list.

The following are a few samples of what the kids  typically eat.

 

Breakfast: *always served with fruit, sometimes bacon or egg

Sean and Olivia eat the same thing for breakfast.

 

 

•  homemade wheat/flaxseed blueberry banana pancakes ( I make a big batch twice a month and freeze them so in the morning I just need to heat them)
• Kashi blueberry waffles
• Multigrain oatmeal with sautéed apples or peaches

• Cereal
• French toast
• Homemade orange or blueberry/banana muffin

Lunch:
Sean- soup, grilled cheese, plums    Olivia- melon, avocado, black eye peas
Sean's school lunch- fruit, craisens, pesto pasta, garlic bread    Olivia- pasta, cheese, mango, avocado





 

Sean:

• Pesto Pasta, salad

• Grilled Cheese, soup

• Turkey Sandwich

• Homemade Pizza

• Peanut butter & Jelly sandwich

• Tacos

•  Beans and Rice

• Homemade Vegetable Fried Rice, edema me, veggie spring roll 

• Homemade mac and cheese with pureed squash baked in

Olivia usually has a deconstructed version of Sean’s lunch: for example if he has a sandwich, she will have the meat, cheese, and veggies without bread diced up.

Snacks:

 

 
 

 

 

 

• air popped popcorn and fruit

• graham crackers/apples/celery with peanut butter
• smoothie
• tortillas and salsa/guacamole
• homemade fruit popsicle
• yogurt and granola
• veggies and dip

 

Dinner:

We all eat some form of the same meal majority of the time. Sean and Olivia are not  big meat eaters so they will sometimes have the sides with a salad.

We normally have fish at least once a week, a veggie dish like eggplant or beans once a week, and chicken the rest of the week. I do not cook pork (outside of bacon) or beef (occasional ground beef maybe once a month) at home often. Here a few sample meals:

(left--> right)
Mine and Olivia's stuffed chicken breast, veggies, mashed potatoes

 

trout, edamame, sweet potato         jerk chicken wraps, plantain chips, fruit salad

 

salmon, shrimp scampi, fingerling potatoes, snap peas     Olivia's mac n cheese with squash, snap peas, watermelon

 

dinner salads for Sean and I

 

 

I would love to know what's on yours or your kiddos' plates? Always looking for new ideas so feel free to share in the comments!

Savvy Shopping

Shopping with children is always an adventure as they never want to stay in the cart, they always want to help, and can’t help but ask for everything they see! YES… “So fun,” said NO mom ever!!! Being a stay at home mom, however, means that I have both children on our weekly grocery shopping trips. Here are my tips for sanity!

#1 Have snacks on hand!

I carry my own cutup fruit, nuts, granola bars, fruit snacks, and baby puffs which keeps them occupied and deters the nagging can I haves!

#2 Be prepared with a list that is ordered by aisle or department to help get you out of the store as quickly as possible. Organization is key!

#3 Unleash the beasts! Olivia just loves the ride but if she gets antsy I’m a baby wearing momma so I throw her in a sling. I send Sean on scavenger hunts for certain colored items, various shapes, specific fruits and veggies, wet/dry ingredients, healthy vs unhealthy foods, etc. You be creative and do what works for you. I practice math skills by having him weigh the produce and read me the number, he counts out the produce as we bag it, and compares items by size and weight.

#4 Reward a job well done.

When we go to the Farmer's Market I let Sean pick out something new we've never heard of or tried. This is a great way to add variety to otherwise predictable meals.

#5 Create! Upon returning home and unloading, let your wee ones be inspired by the "fruits" of their labor!

I’ve been working on not buying as much junk and shopping the perimeter for the past few years, but I have a major sweet tooth that has been passed down to Sean so as a treat when we get home we whip up either homemade frozen yogurt or yogurt pops. Sean is my little chef in training and loves helping me in the kitchen and we both get to satisfy our sweet teeth!

Our super easy yogurt pops!

Ingredients:

Yogurt of your choice (We use vanilla Greek yogurt)

Frozen or fresh fruit (We use frozen mango, blueberries, or strawberries and a banana)

Honey

Milk (We use almond mild)

 

Sean does majority of the work.

Process:

 

 

I used the Nutribullet but any good blender/processor will work. Throw in a handful or 2 of frozen fruit, a whole banana, couple dollops of yogurt, spoonful of honey, top off with milk. Blend and pour into Popsicle molds or ice cube trays. I purchased my molds at IKEA and one in the dollar section at Target during the spring/summer. Enjoy!