Easy Toddler Lunches

For a long time, I wouldn't make Oliver a lot of "kid" foods. I didn't want him having artificial colors and getting a taste for high-sodium junk foods. Oliver was so picky. He wouldn't eat anything! I don't think he gained a pound from about 16 months old (when he was weaned) until close to his second birthday. People say kids grow a taste for what they're given, but that was not true with Oliver. Our nutritionist at WIC would talk to me about how Oliver wasn't keeping up his weight on the weight-height chart. I kept food available to him literally all day long to try to get him to eat more, but it didn't work.

I had to learn to be less picky as his mom and started to let him eat lots of more typical kid foods, like chicken nuggets. Oliver eats a little of what Andrew and I eat, but he's happiest with simple foods like Cheerios, fish sticks, quesadillas, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So, we let him have those foods for lunch. I don't serve separate dinners, though. I expect him to eat the same dinner as Andrew and me. It doesn't really work, and we have to fight to get him to eat each bite.

Anyway, Oliver doesn't eat fruit and vegetables straight up. He'd literally rather not eat. Our WIC nutritionist told me to always have fruit and vegetables on his plate so he gets used to seeing them so that maybe he'll start eating them one day. I do that, but I also hide fruits and vegetables into his meals to get him to eat them.

Here are three lunch ideas that help me get extra fruit and veggies into my kids' meals. Enjoy!

1. Use baby food in quesadillas

This tip was given to me by a friend a couple years back, when I was struggling to get Oliver to eat his vegetables. For the life of me, I can't remember which friend it was to give credit to (Lisa??).

If your kid is especially picky, use a fairly mild flavor of baby food, and one that will blend into the color of the cheese, like squash. My kids don't notice the baby food and will eat their quesadillas no matter what baby food I smear in there. I used Gerber Garden Vegetables.

All you do is smear a bit of baby food onto your tortilla:

Sprinkle cheese over the baby food:

Oliver, Jo, and Baby Food

I should have thought of this long ago!



Oliver thrives on being taught new things and being given new responsibilities. And Jo? Jo loves her brother and loves food. It makes perfect sense to have Oliver feed his baby sister!

Look Who is (Finally) Eating!

Andrew and I have been working so hard on getting Oliver to eat. His eating habits have typically been this: we dice up something we know he likes, like a turkey dog or a banana, and watch as he eats four tiny pieces of it. We'd give him Cheerios, and he'd eat about 6 and then throw the rest on the floor. We'd give him a waffle, and he'd eat a quarter of it. We'd follow him around with baby food and try to slip in a spoonful when he wasn't paying attention. The boy would not eat, which made me feel bad trying to push his nursing times farther apart.

At Oliver's 12 month appointment, he was at 21 pounds. That's not ridiculously skinny, I know, but it puts him in the 20th percentile.

It sounds stupid, but I get frustrated with people when they comment on his weight. Some people (who see his middle) comment on how skinny he is. He is--you can see his ribs!--but we try so hard to get him to eat! Other people (who notice his cheeks and/or ankles) comment on how chubby he is. This also makes me mad because I just want to say, "But he's not! He won't eat!"

Anyway, finally, finally, Oliver has started eating food this week. He's like a bottomless pit, and I'm not used to it! I'll dice up an inch of turkey dog, and he eats the whole thing. I'll put a handful of Cheerios on his tray, and he eats them all. I put more Cheerios on his tray, and he eats those, too. Then, I think he might need some fat to make him feel full. I put a few ounces of whole milk (organic with no growth hormones) into a sippy cup and hand it to him, and he drinks it down. I'll wait an hour and then open a package of vegetable baby food (he still eats baby food because I get it with WIC), and eats the whole thing (I have to spoon feed him myself again because when I hand him the spoon, all he wants to do is try to spoon out the food from the container--which I let him do sometimes--and won't actually eat any of it).

When I'm eating, I have to constantly hand him bits of my food. He probably eats a quarter of all my meals! It's crazy. Yesterday evening, after a meal of turkey dog pieces, sliced green beans, and Cheerios (so, so many Cheerios), he also got a jar of baby food, and then he ate about a quarter cup of black beans and a few hunks of tomato and tofu from my tacos.

I thought the WIC people and the people at the pediatrician's office were off their rocker when they handed me a list of what Oliver should eat in a day. It would list multiple items for breakfast, like cereals, fruit, and milk, and I thought, "Dude, I'm lucky if he eats more than a spoonful..." Literally, he'd only eat a spoonful of most baby foods, and just a few pieces of finger foods. Of course, I asked them all about it. At WIC, they said, "Just keep offering him foods." At the doctor's office, they said, "He's fine. He knows how much he needs to eat."

Although we never expected Oliver to eat this much, it's such a relief to us that he's eating. We feel like we don't have to stress about cutting back his nursings, and we don't stress about him getting enough nutrition and calories to grow. Hurray to my little man who has discovered the joy of food!

Baby Food

I don't make my own meat baby food for Oliver; I buy it in the jar. Yesterday, I went to Safeway and picked up a jar of Safeway organic vegetable turkey barley dinner. I noticed the picture is of turkey, peas, celery and potatoes, while the ingredients are carrots, apples, turkey and barley. There's no peas, celery nor potatoes in this. Heh.

Apricots and Blueberries

This is my first time cooking with fresh apricots. Oliver & I went to the grand opening of the Sunflower Farmer's Market in Greenwood Village on Wednesday morning, and we were given a free box of apricots.

I peeled, pitted, and diced four apriots. I tossed them into a small, covered saucepan with a handful of blueberries over low heat for a few minutes to soften. Then, I pureed them. It made two servings. For lunch, I made Oliver baby oatmeal and mixed in one of the apricot-blueberry cubes. It was a big hit!

Oliver the Food Critic

Hello to my friends, family, and fans! My name is Oliver. I've been eating for over three months now, and I decided I'd like to share my opinion of food with you.

First, I'd like to start with rice cereal because that's what I ate first. I liked it a lot, but, to be honest, it made me constipated. Now I only eat a little rice cereal mixed in other foods to thicken them up. I'm OK with that.

After rice cereal, I tried baby oatmeal. Oatmeal is delicious! I like it mixed with Mom's milk, warm water, formula, or apple sauce. It's a good source of iron, and it's so tasty. When I eat it, my mom sings me a song that goes like this: "Noms, the oatmeal. Noms, noms, the oatmeal." It's very enjoyable dinner entertainment.

I've tried pears a few times. Mom makes them for me by pealing them, chopping them, and boiling them. They're spectacular. If you want something sweet, I highly recommend you go by yourself a pear. Maybe my mom will boil it for you.

This brings me to apples. While not dissimilar to pears, I prefer pears to apples. I'll eat applesauce straight, but I'd be happier if you mix them with bananas or oatmeal.

Oooh, speaking of bananas, I love them! Honestly, they might be my favorite food. Mom tells me they're cheap, sometimes just forty cents a pound! I guess you can't get better than cheap and tasty. I love bananas. Mom used to mash them with some milk, but she found I love them just as much straight up. I eat half of a mashed banana at a time, but I've been trying to tell Mom to give me a whole banana. Tell your mom not to mash your banana too smoothly because the banana chunks are the best part. My mom makes sure all the chunks are smaller than the size of a pea, though, to make sure I don't choke. That's a good idea. I would like to eat bananas always. I wish I could eat just bananas and drink milk all day, every day. The best part of bananas is when mom sings that children's song to me: Bananas in pajamas are coming down the stairs. Bananas in pajamas are chasing teddy bears!
Similar to bananas, though not quite as good, are avocados. I like avocado! I eat it plain or mashed with banana. Mom likes it because it doesn't require any cooking. I like it for the texture and flavor.

Mom once bought sweet potatoes and cooked them in the oven and mashed them with her milk for me. What kind of sick person eats sweet potatoes straight? Not this baby, that's for sure. The worst part is, she and Dad kept trying to give them to me. I'd make a face, I'd even cry, but they would bust out the potatoes night after night for a week. Thankfully, they've stopped trying to give them to me straight up like that.

I do, however, like roasted acorn squash mashed with milk. It's both simple and scrumptious. If you want, you can add a pinch of cinnamon to it, but you don't have to. If you're being good, your mom might sing a silly made up song that goes like this: Who likes'm squash? Ollie likes'm squash.

My favorite vegetable has to be green beans. Mom buys them in a jar instead of making them. I like looking at the jar, and I want to grab the jar, but she won't let me have it. Green beans are so good and flavorful. Mom made up a green bean song to the tune of "It Stoned Me." Instead of singing, "Oh the water," she sings, "Noms, the green beans." Isn't she silly? Bring on the green beans, Mom!

Speaking of jarred food, I also eat peas from the jar. They're an excellent food choice. Please, have your mom go out and buy you a jar of peas today. You won't be disappointed. Oh, and do you know that Beach Boys song, "Barbara Ann?" Well, when my mom was a kid, she said they made a Chicago Cubs commercial to that tune, and it went, "Cubs, Cubs, Cubs, here come the Cubs." She sings me that song, only she sings, "Peas, peas, peas, here come the peas. Peas peas, peas, here come the peas. Oh, peas. I love my peas. Love 'em steamed, love 'em mashed, I love 'em, love 'em, love' em, love my peas, peas, peas...." I smile and gobble those peas up!

Mommy makes me carrots sometimes, and, honestly, how can you go wrong with carrots? They're orange, colorful, flavorful, and sweet! I recommend eating carrots pureed until they're smooth. Although I normally like chunky foods, carrots are one of the few foods that are better smooth. Also, don't even think about eating them with dill weed. Mom added some dill weed in there once, and it was the worst thing I've ever tried. Worse than sweet potato, for sure.

There's one more jar food that I've tried, and it's called Nutritious Turkey Dinner. Mom makes a funny face when she gives it to me, but I really dig it. At first, I thought it was weird. After a few bites, I was sold. If you try Nutritious Turkey Dinner, don't be surprised if you don't like it at first, but I promise you, if you keep tasting it, it'll grow on you.

My Grandma Colleen made me some homemade turkey dinner. It had ground turkey, apples, onions, and sweet potato in it. At first, I didn't like the texture of the ground turkey and spit the bits out, but then Grandma blended it up more for me. She's a nice lady. I don't think I like the homemade turkey dinner that much, though. Maybe it's the sweet potato in it. Why does everyone try to make me eat sweet potatoes? I think it's a conspiracy. Next time you give Grandma a baby food recipe, Mom, make sure there's no sweet potatoes in it, OK?

Speaking of sweet potato disasters, get this: my mom mixed baked sweet potatoes with steamed carrots and parsnip! Well, I gave it a try, and I ate a whole serving for dinner. Mom took that to mean that I liked sweet potatoes mixed with other foods, so she started making all sorts of new foods for me to try from her baby recipe book. She even made sweet potatoes mixed with steamed broccoli! I decided to let her know that this was not OK. I didn't eat the sweet potatoes with broccoli, and then I refused to eat the sweet potatoes with carrots and parsnip again. Take that, Mom!

My favorite blend that Mom has ever made was the mix of pears, peaches, and blueberries. It was so good! I ate a lot, and I wanted more when it was all gone. I hope she makes that for me again very soon. If you're a good boy, maybe your mom will make some for you.

Mom didn't use all the blueberries she'd bought when she made my fruit puree, so she mashed up some blueberry quarters for me to eat as finger foods. It was too hard to pick those slippery guys up! Thankfully, she helped me and put some in my mouth. I really enjoyed chewing them!

I also eat Cheerio halves for finger foods. I like to look at the Cheerio pieces and grab them, but I don't put them into my mouth myself. I need Mom to do that for me. They're very good, and they're fun to mash in my mouth. I make sure to mash them really well before I swallow them. Sometimes, Mommy and Daddy giggle at me because I mash each half for a few minutes before swallowing it. Safety first, guys.

Last weekend, my mom let me eat Yobaby yogurt. Oh man, yogurt is so good. I'm not making this up. I have tried pear and peach flavor, and I can't get enough. Please, just keep spooning it in. Don't pause! Just shovel it in. I'll handle it from there.

Finally, the last food I've tried is hard boiled egg yolks mashed with Mom's milk. When Mom first let me try the eggs, I thought it was some kind of joke. It's like nothing I'd ever had before! I spit it out right away, and I scrunched up my face to let her know that I did not appreciate her egg joke. For added emphasis, I even gagged. And that was just the first spoonful! I'll tell you what, though. I'm a trooper, and I stuck with it. I'm so glad I did! By the forth or fifth bite, I really started to enjoy it. I decided I really like eggs! It helped that Mom made up a funny song. She sang, "Is your name Meg? No, it's not. Would you like an egg? I'd like it a lot."

For the Love of Sweet Potatoes!

I made Oliver a "trio of root vegetables," which is blend of carrots, sweet potatoes, and parsnip yesterday. At first, he was unsure, but in the end, he decided it was, in fact, delicious. Could this mean he's getting over his disgust of sweet potatoes? I think so! Next, maybe he'll get past his dislike of dill weed (I mixed some in with his carrots, and he was not happy). Tonight, Andrew's mom is going to make him a sweet potato, apple, and turkey blend. I also made and froze a sweet potato and broccoli blend. Andrew sarcastically asked me when he looked at it, "So Oliver doesn't like sweet potatoes, but you thought mixing it with broccoli would change his mind?"

Adventures in Baby Food

I don't make all of Oliver's baby food. For example, I don't make his peas or green beans because it seems like too much of a hassle to run it through a sieve to get all the bits out. Also, I don't make any meats for him because it grosses me out.

However, I make most of Oliver's baby food. I bake squash, I boil apples, I steam carrots. The easiest foods to "make" are bananas and avocados. All you have to do is mash the fruit part, and that's seriously it. Easy as pie!

Here are photos of the two most recent meals I made for Oliver. To make the carrots, I chopped them up into pieces and then steamed them until they were soft. I used some of my milk when I pureed the carrots because I read that they're more nutritious when eaten with a little fat. A baby food recipe book I have recommends using butter, but I'm reluctant to give Oliver any cow's milk products because of his issues in the past. Anyway, other than the timeliness of the chopping, it was very easy and convienent. I make a bunch at once and freeze it so I can just pop it out and resteam it or microwave it later.

To make the banana, I cut it in half, peeled it, and mashed it with his baby spoon. For younger babies, you can puree it so it's completely smooth, and you can even add milk to it. Banana doesn't freeze well, so I just mash half a banana on demand. It's so easy! Right now, bananas are 46 cents a pound, so there's really no rationalization for buying a jar for 60 cents.