Veggie Baby

After doing some research, I decided to hold off on introducing meat and poultry to Babydoll until she was about a year old and/or had more teeth.  The very idea of pureed meat makes me gag, not to mention that the smell of it is disgusting.  I want the babe to enjoy food, not be repulsed by it, and I figure that if she sees Mama vomiting over her dinner, it probably won't elicit a very healthy response to what's being served.

Bleh.  I am still shuddering over the thought of pureed meat.

Between 12 months and 14 months, we introduced turkey (in the form of meatballs), chicken and ground beef.  She's definitely not into the beef.  That's cool with me - we don't eat it very often, anyway.  Chicken has been hit-or-miss, and that's okay with me, too (I don't really care for the bird).  I cut up the turkey meatballs to put in her pasta-veggie lunch combo.  Sometimes she gets down on it, other times, the dogs get a super yummy snack.

If my baby is naturally inclined to be a vegetarian, I'm all for it!  My only concern is that she gets enough protein and iron in her daily diet.  She drinks cow's milk like a champ, and she loves yogurt and cheese.  While these are good sources of protein, I know that a growing toddler needs around 15 grams of protein per day and 10mg of iron.  I've started looking into non-meat sources of iron and have come up with the following foods (that I know she'll eat):

• lentils
• quinoa
• spinach
• beans (kidney, pinto, black)
• chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
• potatoes (with skin)

Fortunately for us, this kid LOVES quinoa.  Not only is it a good source of iron, but it's a pretty kick-ass protein, as well.  We don't love cleaning it up off the floors after dinner time...nor out of her hair.  Man, that stuff sticks like crazy to baby hair!  She also loves lentils.  Yay!  Lentils are a staple at the Groovy Homestead - we eat them about once a week.  Trader Joe's sells a 1 pound bag of steamed black lentils that are so yummy and super easy to add to almost any meal.

I should mention that soy is a good source of both iron and protein, but we don't do soy.  After corn, it's the most genetically-modified food in America.  And it wreaks havoc on women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (that would be me).  Soy in small amounts is very healthy, but most people tend to eat/drink far more soy than is healthy for your body.  Ah, but that's a post for another day.