Living with and Feeding a 1 year old: Month 1

It's been awhile since I posted, yet Baby G still eats. So what gives?

Baby G turned one. With that came a major milestone in eating, but also the sudden attachment phase which I have feared since I first heard murmurings among my more experienced mama friends. Suddenly, I am the coolest person in the world and no one else compares.  Not daddy, not grandma, not her adoring cousin Hannah, no one. Just mama. All the time. 

On one hand, I know that I need to enjoy what will probably be the only time in her life where she only has eyes for me. I know that once she gets a clue, she will realize that daddy is way more fun, grandma lets her do whatever she wants, and cousin Hannah is really the coolest person we all know. But this period is not without its challenges. Namely, there is no escape from her her chubby hands, sweet smile, and occasionally, shrill cries.

Suddenly, cooking time has vanished and yet, the other major milestone that comes with the first year is that she needs to get all of her nutrients from solids as we are no longer using formula. So I need to give her more complete meals. Throw in the fact that it's summer and we are running here, there, and everywhere, and I hope you can see why I haven't been posting much.

Life has been a little crazy.

I thought I would share with you what she has been eating and I would love, love, LOVE to hear what you are feeding your little one. I fear some days that I am raising Baby G on single girl food: veggie burgers, tamales, quesadillas, and hummus by the boat load. It's easy, it's not the worst food in the world, but it makes me sad that I am not all Donna Reed and whipping up these amazing family meals. It's just not how we live.

Breakfast Foods

There is not a lot of variant in our breakfasts. Once I introduced toast, there was no going back. Baby G recognizes the bread bag and the toaster. I still make my own bread, and I usually mix whole fat plain yogurt and a little jelly to make a topping. To tide her over while the bread is in the toaster, I have been giving her a squeeze pack of my yogurt mixture. I use these reusable pouches and love them. I bought them because they were out of the disposable ones and I didn't expect to like them. I highly recommend them if you are interested in making your own purees or yogurt mixes. They also make it easier to make yogurt bites like this:

I just fill the bag and then squirt little dots of yogurt onto wax paper and freeze them. Baby G loves these! I got the idea from another mama friend (Thanks Erin!)

Back to breakfast, I usually give her fruit and I am trying valiantly to get her to eat eggs. She is so not interested but I keep trying. I have tried scrambled them with cheese, with seasonings, and just plain. Moms, any tips on getting your kids into eggs? The closest I have come to success is giving her French toast and she loved that.

I found a recipe for banana oat bars that I wanted her to like, but I ate most of them. I found the recipe at Foodlets, a great whole foods family blog. She calls them cookies, but that's like saying kale chips are like chips. Why do healthy bloggers torment us so? 

For the not-cookies, you just mash two ripe bananas with a cup of old fashioned oats, scoop them out,  and bake them for 15 minutes at 350 dg(F).  

You can stir in [1/4] cup of mix-ins and of course, I stirred in mini chocolate chips for me. I love them with my coffee, Baby G is not so sure about them, but we will keep trying. If anything, it gives me a sweet, healthy treat with my cup of joe.

Lunch and Dinner

We are not as set in stone with lunch and dinners. In a perfect world, I would make myself a great, healthy lunch and dinner, then share it with Baby G. In reality, I usually drink a protein smoothie for lunch and dinners have been haphazard as both my husband and I golf a lot in the summer and aren't home together as much as we would like. When we are home, it's lots of veggies, sometimes meat (most times not), and a big salad.

For G, I try to follow a basic formula. Lunch and dinner always include: a protein, a dairy, a veggie, and a fruit. We are finally in CSA season, so it's been fun to experiment with new variations.

 Here are some of our protein standbys: 

-Some type of quesadilla: either pinto/black beans mashed with salsa and cheese in a wheat or corn tortilla, heated in a dry frying pan until the cheese melts, and then cut into bites by my new favorite tool, the pizza cutter.

Our other favorite variation is a veggie burger mashed with ketchup and cheese in a tortilla. If a tortilla is involved, Baby G is in. 

-Hummus and tortilla.This is her favorite, by far. I use Sabra roasted red pepper hummus because we all eat that in embarrassing amounts.

-Black bean or spinach and cheese tamales. 

-Baked beans.

-Tofu- we cook it in a sauce. She is still a little unsure about the texture, so we are still working on it.

She doesn't have much interest in meat, but I have had the greatest success with getting her to eat chicken enchiladas- I cook the chicken in a slow cooker with salsa, shred it, and then wrap it up in tortillas. She loves a little spice so I think she likes the salsa, salsa verde is her current favorite. 

And whenever applicable, we give her what we are eating or leftovers from the night before. 

Veggie standbys:

- raw, peeled zucchini sticks- I gave some to her on a whim, mainly because I needed a veggie. She loved them! I think it has a similar taste to cucumber, but the texture is easier for her to eat, more spongy.

-thawed frozen peas

-steamed green beans, asparagus, or carrots

  

-cooked red peppers

Fruit standbys-

Baby G is one of the only babies who is not interested in fruit. We have the best success giving it to her at snack time, usually with homemade cheese crackers.

-red or black grapes, cut in half (green grapes have not been popular!)

-thawed frozen blueberries

-fresh figs cut in half

-strawberries

We have tried peaches, plums, apricots, watermelon, cantalope, and mangoes, but Baby G isn't too interested yet. Hopefully I will have some updates on more fruits she likes as summer progresses. 

Dairy standbys

For dairy, we normally give her cheese and yogurt (sometimes in frozen bite form as pictured above). She is a little lactose intolerant, so she doesn't drink whole milk, but can eat cheese and yogurt. Because of that, we try to give her dairy at every meal and opportunity. For anyone living in the Madison area, you can buy diced cheese at Woodman's. Highly recommend it! It makes meal prep so much easier and it's a nice blend of a lot of cheeses. 

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So, that's what we have been eating. What are some of your current favorites for your little one?