Toddler Nutrition 101, The Groovy Way

My kid is a picky eater.  For a true food-lover like me, this is disheartening.  In my quest to find appropriate, nutritious foods for her, I've searched on Pinterest and found all these lists of toddler lunches, snacks, breakfasts, etc.  They are great lists, with a lot of good ideas...but my baby doesn't eat most of what the other bloggers' kids eat.  No peanut butter...no Kraft slices...no deli meats...no eggs...no cutesy sandwiches...nope.

For quite awhile, I worried and stressed and cried over Babydoll's eating habits (or lack thereof).  I couldn't comprehend how in the world we ended up with a picky eater.  BD will eat anything but beets.  I am only slightly picky, in that I don't dig on swine.  Or beets (this is why we are a well-suited match.  Damn the beets!).  So how, HOW, could we have turned out a child who only eats strawberries and pasta?

Over time, I realized that I hadn't had a good kitchen challenge in some time.  Fine then, universe.  Challenge accepted.

When I was pregnant, I bought a copy of "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld on clearance at Ross.  Surely, I told myself, there will be no true need for this book.  But it was $3.00 and had a lot of puree recipes, so I figured it wouldn't go to waste.

That book was the wisest impulse purchase EVER.

I had always thought that I would be the parent who made only one meal, and if you didn't eat it, then you went to bed hungry.

Well, I'm not that parent right now.  And I don't feel badly about it.

As with everything else we've encountered in this parenting game, the kid is calling the shots.  She didn't sleep through the night regularly until she was 17 months old.  She didn't walk until she was 14 months old.  She is independent, affectionate, funny, smart and determined to do everything in her own time.  I'm still getting used to it and learning to let go of some of the control.

I've mentioned before that one of the main facets of attachment parenting is respecting the child.  One of the ways we do this is recognizing that her taste buds and preferences are not the same as ours, and that's okay. Her pickiness may not be forever.  Some day, she may dive into the baked hake and sauteed brussells sprouts with the same fervor we do.  In the meantime, it's my job to make sure that what she does eat is as nutritious as possible.  This means:

• The cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese is always made with a vegetable puree, like butternut squash or cauliflower.  Vegetables, like peas and carrots, are always added to the pasta.
• Snacks are cut up fruit, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, granola bars, and fruit puree pouches.  She has recently developed a taste for Goldfish crackers and Annie's Cheddar Bunnies, so she gets a handful of those in her snack cup.
• Quinoa is added to all kinds of dishes.
• Smoothies are made with flax seed, spinach or kale, Greek yogurt, almond milk, and lots of fresh or frozen fruit.
• Pesto is made with spinach and basil, flax seed, olive oil and Parmesan (I call it "Magic Sauce.")
• Milk, water, and herbal tea to drink.  Juice is high in sugar and low in nutrition.

I have long been an avid label-reader, even more so now.  If it has no nutritional value, she's not getting it.  I think of it this way: she doesn't eat much, so when she does eat, it needs to pack a punch.  We never miss an opportunity to add a vegetable, fruit or grain to her meals.  I often make several days' worth of lunch for her in one batch, usually in the form of whole wheat pasta cooked in vegetable broth, with veggies (Trader Joe's sells an Awesome Foursome frozen veggie pack that is perfect), some seasoning, butter or cheese sauce.  Muffins are made with fruit, vegetables, or both.

She's still a vegetarian, but I know that she's getting enough protein and iron, because we make a conscious effort about it.  She eats with a fork and spoon, though she still uses her fingers, too.  Sometimes, she makes a huge mess (she recently had a yogurt goatee - it was literally dripping off her face), but this is part of toddlerhood.  She can't learn how to feed herself exclusively if we don't allow her to try.  And here's the thing: sometimes BD and I want to have fish, or scallops, or steak for dinner.  We know she's not going to eat it.  We put a little on her plate anyway, but we also serve her something we know she will eat.  I don't have a problem with it.  I envy those parents who truly can cook just one meal that is happily devoured by the whole family.  Until that day arrives for us (please hurry), I'm satisfied in knowing that what she does eat is wholesome and good for her.

That's good enough.

Homemade organic plum-applesauce