I have been most concerned about Thing 2 recently. I know he is going through or about to go through that 12 month growth spurt, never mind that he is 13 months old. But in the last several weeks his hunger is insatiable. At his 1 year doctor's appointment he weighed in at a fairly average 24 pounds and was 31 inches tall. I couldn't believe it! With how chubby he is I was shocked that he would be so above average for his height and so average for his weight. Wouldn't that make him tall and thin?
Lately all he wants to do is eat meat and flour foods like crackers and bread. He will pry the snacks out of your hands. Fruit is okay, he likes fruit. But not every fruit. Blackberries are too sour and if the peach isn't right forget it. He is still a little young and toothless for apples and oranges. Strawberries and blueberries are now out of season. So we are left with bananas and plums. But veggies? Hahahaha! You must be kidding. That child has never once fed himself a vegetable. But I have found that he will eat them if they are disguised. He will not put up a fight if you mash up veggies in yogurt or in mashed potatoes or even in mashed up avocado. But then you have to put it on a spoon, hand him the spoon and then HE will feed himself. Jeez. We have one of those.
So we are trying to get creative to get more veggies in his belly. Recently I bought an immersion blender. It came with a nice cup that you can make smoothies and other things in. The other day I took the cup and put in two eggs, a healthy splash of milk, a half of a shallot, a handful of spinach and a pinch of sea salt. And I blended it until it was pulverized. Then I fried up that green slurry and made....what else, Green Eggs!!
After a tentative start, (it did look like a vegetable after all) he started inhaling it.
Whew! At least I got one point this week!
Lately all he wants to do is eat meat and flour foods like crackers and bread. He will pry the snacks out of your hands. Fruit is okay, he likes fruit. But not every fruit. Blackberries are too sour and if the peach isn't right forget it. He is still a little young and toothless for apples and oranges. Strawberries and blueberries are now out of season. So we are left with bananas and plums. But veggies? Hahahaha! You must be kidding. That child has never once fed himself a vegetable. But I have found that he will eat them if they are disguised. He will not put up a fight if you mash up veggies in yogurt or in mashed potatoes or even in mashed up avocado. But then you have to put it on a spoon, hand him the spoon and then HE will feed himself. Jeez. We have one of those.
So we are trying to get creative to get more veggies in his belly. Recently I bought an immersion blender. It came with a nice cup that you can make smoothies and other things in. The other day I took the cup and put in two eggs, a healthy splash of milk, a half of a shallot, a handful of spinach and a pinch of sea salt. And I blended it until it was pulverized. Then I fried up that green slurry and made....what else, Green Eggs!!
After a tentative start, (it did look like a vegetable after all) he started inhaling it.
Whew! At least I got one point this week!
My DD did the same thing with the spoon at that age. We could get the food on there, but she wanted to actually put it in her mouth herself. It was so frustrating trying to figure that out at first, I remember the meal vividly. But I have to say I'm impressed. At least your thing will try things. MY DD won't try anything that looks suspicious anymore. If it's green, you would need the jaws of life to open her mouth.
ReplyDeleteTQ
I'll have to try this. I have one of those veg phobic kids as well but mine is three! I have been able to mix pureed veg in his mac and cheese (quinoa pasta and real cheese of course) without him being wiser :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe you've tried this but we would make Green Eggs with a little grated parm and (don't judge) a sprinkle of garlic powder, a tip that I read on a mommy blog and helped give it dimension. Worked for a while then A just wanted "regular eggs". Oh well. Also applied the same tip idea to fresh spinach pesto (handfuls of spinach, one clove raw garlic, fresh parm, dried herbs, breadcrumbs instead of pinenuts, evoo, s&p, and pasta water to loosen). This still goes down well thankfully and we toss with spaghetti and white fish broken up like tilapia. Ok final thought on fruit: at one plus In the winter A ate sectioned pink grapefruit and sometimes I would sliver in grapes and kiwi to make it colorful and reinforce the mixed fruit concept.
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