I'm Back

I haven't posted here in a *long* time (life was crazy for a bit), but I'm hoping to get this rolling again.

New change is that Reshen is in daycare, so weekday lunches and snacks are not provided by me. I'll still blog about what he does eat at home though.

And remember, if you have any tips or suggestions for toddler food, leave a comment. I'd love for this to become a place for sharing food ideas :-)

What Reshen ate today:

Breakfast: Oatmeal/Carrot Muffin (see recipe below), water

Pre-dinner snack: Juice and goldfish crackers

Dinner: Veggie/Chicken Rice (boxed variety), chicken quesadilla, half of a peach, water

Oatmeal Carrot Muffin Recipie

1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. oatmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 toddler size jar carrot baby food

Combine dry ingredients (first 7), then add moist ingredients, stir by hand only until mixture is moist. Do not over stir. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 15 to 18 minutes at 350 degrees.

Little Bit of Heart

Thursday, June 14-

Today we all went to Seattle for job interviews for Alan and I. Because of this, we ate out a couple of times.

Breakfast- Freeze Dried Bananas and Strawberries, Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Morning Snack- Banana Bread at Starbucks

Lunch- Dim Sum. For those not versed in authentic Chinese food, Dim Sum (meaning "touch the heart") is a culinary adventure, offering small plates of meat and veggie filled dumplings, sweet stuffed pastries, and other yummy treats which are constantly pushed around the restaurant on carts. You can read more about this tradition here if you're interested: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/diningout/p/dim_sum.htm
Reshen loves going to Dim Sum. Today he had some Shu Mai and another tofu wrap dish (I don't know what it was called). I was hoping for egg tarts, but they never came by and Reshen was getting antsy so we left. I was full anyways I guess.

Afternoon Snack- "healthy" cereal bar and some watermelon

Dinner- Chinese Spaghetti. Made with Spaghetti Noodles, Ground Pork, Mixed Veggies and Bean Sauce. Reshen likes this dish.

Kiddy Favorites

Friday, June 13-

Breakfast- Cinnamon Raisin Bread and a couple bites of banana.

Morning Snack- Grape Nut Flakes cereal with milk. Baked Apple with Cinnamon. Crackers with Tomato Basil Humus. This is what happens when you're making snacks for three kids under the age of 4.... you often get a smörgåsbord as one kid wants one thing and another wants something else. But then when you serve them, they end up wanting what the other has *sigh*. So Reshen had *all* the snacks. He really loved the crackers and humus, by the way.

Lunch- Annie's All Natural Mac and Cheese with frozen peas stirred in. Yummy.

Afternoon Snack- Creamsicle. We were finishing up the box from yesterday. Reshen finished his before the other two kids who are older than him. My boy loves his ice cream.

Another Snack- Grapes

Dinner- Fish Sticks with Ketchup, steamed carrots and watermelon. He ate a lot of the fish sticks and the watermelon. Some bites of carrots. For the fish sticks, we eat the Trident Seafood Brand... better for you- less breading, less fatty layer, better quality fish stick than most others. Also they practice sustainable fishing. We buy these at Coscto and I really like them.

We had an unfortunate incident at dinner though. Reshen was in his booster seat which is strapped to a kitchen chair. He pushed off of the table with his feet and went over backwards, chair and all. Needless to say, he was very upset :-( I don't think he got hurt (we have carpet and he was strapped into the seat), but I'm sure it was very scary. And this was after we had an "argument" about him not wanting to sit in that seat (he wanted to sit in the big chair, not his booster seat). Perhaps he is a bit psychic? ;-)

Ice Cream Galore

Tuesday, June 12 2007-

Breakfast- Wheatabix cereal with milk and warmed in microwave. Bite of banana. He loved the Wheatabix.

Morning Snack- grapes and all natural crackers. He ate two servings of grapes, and *loved* the crackers. He would stuff them in his mouth and then ask for more. I obliged.

Lunch- Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches using flatbread. He was so-so on this. Mushed it in his hands and made a fabulous mess but didn't eat very much of it.

Afternoon Snack- Raspberry Creamsicle. Special treat. He devoured it of course.

Dinner- Egg scramble with peas, corn, and cheddar cheese. Baked (ok, microwaved) apple sprinkled with cinnamon. He ate all his dinner enthusiastically. Didn't even pick the peas and corn out like he usually does. Yay! He also likes baked apple more than raw apple. Good to know!

After Dinner- A few bites of mommy's ice cream (not too much, mind you, but I had to share)

Note: My guy drinks approximatively 20 oz of milk per day, and gets maybe 6 oz of juice. those are all at specific times of the day. He drinks water throughout the day in a sippy I leave out and refill.

Intro

Welcome to My Kid's Plate; Adventures in Toddler Feeding. I'm Brooke, mommy to an 18-month old boy who can go through some mean picky-eating phases. After I served him grilled cheese sandwiches two nights in a row this week and stayed awake worrying about his overall nutrition, I decided to start this blog.

Here I will log what he eats every day (or at least that is my goal!). Hopefully this will make me more conscious of what I put on his plate and perhaps I can share ideas and recipes with other mommies looking for toddler food ideas. I welcome comments, suggestions and dialouge with other parents. Anything to give my guy a more varied menu!