Category Archives: food

Munchkin Meals – 15 Months and almost 3

There hasn’t been one of these for a while!  I am linking up with A Healthy Slice of Life for Munchkin Meals today.

SnackTime

We are actually in a great stage right now because both kids have been eating really well.  Phoebe continues to eat everything just about anything we put in front of her, although lately she’s been a bit more picky about textures.  We’ve started introducing utensils as a way around this, and she is slowly getting more and more efficient.

SoupCrazy

Even Enzo has been better about trying new foods, which has been such a nice change!  He still has his favorites, of course, and a few things that he absolutely will not try, but the fact that he took a big bite of orange chicken the other night without us even asking and pronounced that it was “yummy” is a huge success to me. He’s been turning up his nose at it for months!

PastaNom2

What has been tricky lately has been Phoebe’s mobility.  We try to let them both have snacks at the little red table, which works for the most part, but we often have to play referee to keep Phoebe from stealing Enzo’s food. He can eat hers and she doesn’t care, but if she tries the same, Enzo loses it.  Now we just have to make sure Enzo and Phoebe finish eating dinner at the same time, otherwise we have the same issue.  She wants whatever he has… and not an imitation.

PastaNom

All in all, I’m really happy with how well the kids have been eating, and I’m hoping to get them (Enzo especially) more involved with making meals once I can find my focus and start meal planning again.  While I could eat taco bowls all the time, the rest of the family gets bored. 😉 Granted, the boys could eat pizza every day, so we all have our favorites.

Munchkin Meals : 2 Years Old & almost 11 Months

Linking up this week for Munchkin Meals again!

I can’t believe that Phoebe is almost a year old and that it’s almost time to start weaning her off of formula and bottles.  Increasing solids shouldn’t be a problem since she is still loving food and we have no problem with her trying new things.  There are, however, things like yogurt that she can’t quite feed herself with a spoon yet, so we’ve been getting a ton of use out of the reusable pouches lately.

YogurtNoms BrekkieNoms

After her really bad diaper rashes, we’ve stopped giving her strawberries and it seems like those might have been the culprits.  Thankfully, she can still enjoy raspberries and blackberries, which are her new favorites.  The only downside to blackberries is that it looks like she’s murdered someone after she’s done eating them.

DeliciousBlackberries

Both kids get served the same things we eat for pretty much all of their meals.  If there is something that might be too difficult for Phoebe to eat (or too much of a junk food for either kid, but mom and dad ran out of time) we thankfully have some Earth’s Best freezer options for them.  Both kids really love the raviolis, so it’s a nice last minute dinner or lunch.

PastaFirst

Both kids love their breads, though, which can be both good and bad.  I do try to use Whole Wheat for most things and keep down our white flour intake, but they definitely take after their mom.  I LOVE bread.  It’s no surprise that they love weekends when I’m more likely to make muffins or homemade blueberry pancakes.

PancakeNoms PancakeNoms2

It’s funny to me how different the kiddos are when it comes to their eating styles.  As a baby Enzo was often cautious about what was on his plate and he’d carefully inspect his food, especially if it was something new.  Phoebe, however, barely gives me time to put down the tray some days and already has her hands wrapped around whatever looks good… steak, chicken, salmon (the girl is a carnivore), blackberries, roasted veggies… you name it.  A girl after my own heart. 😉

SteakNoms

Munchkin Meals – 2 years old & Almost 10 Months

Linking up this week for Munchkin Meals again!

The food rut kind of continues.  I keep meaning to start scheduling meals again and look up a few new recipes, but then life happens and we get busy.  I’m starting to think of new things to offer the munchkins, but if they’re enjoying what they’re getting and it’s healthy then I might as well stick with it.

HappyNoms SassyNoms

We aren’t doing many purees with Miss Sassy Pants anymore simply because she really has no interest in them.  In a pinch (or if she’s really hungry and decided she didn’t want what was offered) she will accept a pouch, but really prefers to hold onto it so she can feed herself.  She’s gotten to a point where she also prefers to attempt using a spoon for yogurt herself as well.  It’s messy, but she enjoys it… mostly.  We’re still dealing with some frustrations as she tries to make her hands do what she wants them to.

SalmonNoms4One thing she greatly enjoys is salmon, and you really can’t blame her.  It was one of Enzo’s favorites when he was a baby as well, however, he has decided he no longer likes it.  More salmon for us then?

SalmonNoms2

I’m hopeful that Phoebe’s willingness to try everything will stick with her.  I want to say that even as a baby, Enzo was a tad more picky about food than Phoebe is, so we’ll see what happens.  I also know that picky eating seems to just be a standard toddler thing from talking to other parents.

AsparagusNoms Asparagus2

One thing that’s funny to me is that you can generally guess what Phoebe will reach for first on her plate.  If there’s meat – she’ll definitely go for that first.  If there’s something like banana bread or some other tasty grain – she’ll make a grab for it.  I want to say that Enzo was the same way. Now, we just patiently wait to see what Enzo will eat first because we never know.

SteakNoms1 SteakNoms2

Okay, generally he’ll go for fruit first (especially watermelon)… or his dipping sauce.  We try not to give him a spoon when there is dip on his plate otherwise he’ll just eat that plain when you aren’t looking.  Kids.  Like I said earlier, our meals haven’t been super creative lately… mostly because we’re busy and since I know I can count on Phoebe to eat roasted carrots and green beans, we eat a lot of those.  We also discovered that Enzo will gladly eat green beans, but they have to be fresh – not frozen.  Guess I can’t blame him, they are far superior.

ToddlerLunchNoms WatermelonNoms

They also both love pasta and watermelon.  I’ve been trying to get Enzo to enjoy some of the amazing nectarines and peaches I’ve been buying, but the boy is so picky.  Occasionally I can bribe him with a candy or something and he’ll realize they’re delicious and eat everything and accept a couple measly candies, but that doesn’t always work.  Oh well, we’ll keep working on it.  One thing we’re pretty firm about is that dinner is his only option.  No snacks if he gets hungry later, and we’re doing better when it comes to keep him from snacking before dinner.

You see, when Enzo gets picked up from day care usually the first thing he asks for is a snack, so he we’d give him one.  We realized that his snacks were filling him up just enough that he’d decide not to eat most of his dinner.  We’ve been a little more firm lately about giving him only a tiny snack on the car ride home if he really wants one (some raisins or something) and he’s been doing much better about eating his meal.

Also, we finally bought a drop cloth for baby girl… bet you can’t guess why. 😉

PastaFace

The Independent Toddler

It’s funny how sometimes I’ll look at Enzo and see my toddler, but then some days I’ll look at him and instead of a toddler I see a little boy.  It tugs at my heart to see him growing up so fast, but at the same time, it can be quite entertaining.  Often, he has to remind me that he’s a big boy now, though, otherwise I just tend to not think about it.

 Enzo'sApple2

Like with apples.  I’ve always cut up his apples because they’re a choking hazard, you know?  Well, it never occurred to me that he can probably handle an apple fine on his own, so one day he had to tell me that he wanted the apple whole (not his exact words, but I’m sure I asked if I could cut it up for him first, and he probably said, “No!” vehemently).

 Enzo'sApple1

Who would have thought handing him a whole apple would make him so happy?  He carried that thing around most of the morning, slowly gnawing away at it.  Such a simple thing, but a big reminder of how fast he is growing and how independent he is becoming in so many ways. For instance, I have to now put away the kindle and my phone because the little stinker knows exactly how to get to games and videos and will happily sit (in my bed) using either without asking.

 Enzo'sApple4

We haven’t been doing a lot in the kitchen together, but I suppose it would be a really good time to encourage his love of helping and see what tasks we can give him to help with dinner and other things.  He still loves helping us empty the dishwasher, so there is always that, but I’m sure we can think of some other things considering how his eyes light up when he gets to do something new that he couldn’t do before.

 Enzo'sApple3

I’m actually hoping that by involving him in dinner more, maybe he’ll be more willing to try all of his dinner without us resorting to bribing him with M&Ms (Healthier knock-offs, actually).  Yeah, yeah, he only gets a couple, not a handful, and it has helped encourage him to try everything on his plate.  There have even been times where he’s decided he really likes an item and eats more than required for his beloved candies.  It’s not ideal, but at least he’s trying new things and finding things that he likes.

Enzo'sApple5

Oh, these tricky toddlers!  They do make life interesting, that’s for sure, and as always make me see the world so much differently than I used to. I’m really grateful for that.

Munchkin Meals – 2 years old & 9 months

Linking up this week for Munchkin Meals again!

I’m not gonna lie, we’ve been in a food rut lately and are trying to find some new meals to mix in with our favorites, as well as ways in general to just get our picky toddler to eat something besides cereal bars (his favorite).

ToddlerGBeans  BLWGreenBeans

Actually, he’s been doing pretty good and sometimes will completely surprise us by suddenly eating something he’s been politely refusing for several months (which is why we continue to keep offering it).  Things like green beans or even meatballs.

PorkLoinNom NoodleNoms

 

Phoebe continues to try just about everything and loves her meat.  Most recently she enjoyed some pork loin, chicken, and really went to town on a piece of steak.  I really just love that she’ll try everything, and really think about whether or not she wants more. She’ll kind of hold it in her mouth and might even go back for seconds before making a decision.

FettuciniNoms

I think most surprisingly, Phoebe hasn’t gotten as much into pasta as I would have thought. Could it possibly be too messy?  Or maybe it’s a texture thing. Either way, her brother doesn’t mind the mess.

SauceFace

I’ve also gotten really good at tiny omelets, which is a good thing because lady has decided more and more that she either wants to feed herself anything purreed or mushy, or she doesn’t want it at all.  I’m running low on ideas on what to feed her and send to day care since she is also still toothless. Still!

EggNoms

It seems like I had so many more ideas with Enzo… and more time.  Plus, I want to say he definitely had teeth by now, so that’s been throwing me a tad.  I know she’ll get them soon enough and her gums are pretty strong, but unless I can convince day care to give her the spoon, I’m going to need some new solid food ideas.

ZucchiniNoms