Thursday, March 22, 2012

picky eater {granola thursday}

so my child will not eat a vegetable for the life of him, his picky-ness is worse than mine. i'm starting to believe these terrible eating habits are from a generational curse and i seriously refuse for this to trickle down to our kids. healthy eating is a must, it ranks right up there with good sleep and following jesus. as most of you probably know i'm a sleep nazi with hudson and now i'm slowly becoming a food nazi as well. lately ive been finding recipes and even coming up with some of my own in order to sneak veggies into Hudson's food. I still continue to offer whatever vegetables were having but they usually end up on the floor with our dog getting more nutrition than my baby. and yes my 15 month old is still a baby, he is by no means old enough or smart enough to know what foods he should be eating therefore i get to pick what he eats. The other day I asked danny when we should let hudson have his first cookie, or ice cream, or candy etc....and we both came to this conclusion: "why now? why give him sugar filled processed food that does absolutely nothing for his brain, heart or anything else regarding his tiny little body." People try to offer hudson sweets all the time and typically try to make danny & I feel as though hudson is "missing out" but in my opinion i dont mind him missing out on sugar highs, empty calories, stomach aches & cavities. If someone would give me would give me one good reason why my child needs to know what a cookie taste like...maybe i'll change my mind...but right now this kid is beyond ecstatic with bananas (brain food)!

Okay so back to how i'm sneaking veggies to his food! I really was in denial about this and really really didnt think I would ever have to hide food, considering he had almost any kinda of veggie as long as it was pureed just a few months ago. but now he will only eat items that can be picked up by hand or fork...this is where even his morning oatmeal has become an issue some mornings because he hasn't quiet mastered the spoon & i'm just not in mood to clean up oatmeal every morning to let him practice regulary. Anywho...heres some of the recipes ive been doing in case your having the same problems as I am!


Sweet Potato Grilled Cheese (easy & a favorite)
Sweet Potato cooked & pureed
mozzarella cheese (or any kinda cheese you want)
2 slices of bread
the original recipe I got calls for a some butter too...but i never use it.

Cook Sweet potato, once done cut in half to scoop out the mixture. Spread puree onto the bread, sprinkle some cheese (i try to make sure the cheese is close to the crust part so it will seal like a normal grilled chese). You can add butter to either your bread or even the potato mixture and then cook like a normal grilled cheese!

Spinach mini pizzas (so easy!)
1/2 cup of baby spinach leaves
mozzarella cheese (or whatever you would normally use for pizza)
spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce or any kind of tomato sauce you want to use
mini pita bread slices (i use those whole grain wheat thin sandwich things)

steam you spinach for about 5 minutes or so, puree it up or chop (depending on your picky eaters awareness haha). Spread spinach onto bread, then layer the sauce then sprinkle with cheese. You definitely could add other toppings if your kid will go for that...mine wont lol but I'm thinking of trying ground turkey on top next time. After you got your toppings on, stick in at 350 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted! All done!

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
handful of cauliflower cooked and pureed
one potato (peeled, unless your child will eat the skin then thats great!!)
milk
butter (probably could use some yogurt if you wanted to get really healthy)
salt & pepper

Boil your potato just like you would for making normal mashed potatoes. Mix everything together just like you would normally! I always think milk & butter are based on personal preference with the thickness your potatoes so have at it! =)

Pumpkin Oatmeal (so easy)
Oatmeal
Can of Puree Pumpkin

cook your oatmeal as usual and just add some pumpkin to it! this is sooo easy bc all you have to do it open the can of pumpkin! you can also sprinkle some cinnamon on top which is a great antioxidant!


The Ultimate Easiest Breakfast Ever! 
Okay so I found this idea on Pinterest, i've modified it a bit and at first was a little skeptical of it...but the greatness of this breakfast idea is beyond me!
1/3 cup of oatmeal
a few berries of any kind or half of banana (hudson's favorite)
one egg
cinnamon
splash of milk

Put everything into a coffee mug, mix it up real good, microwave for 2 minutes and your done!! Hudson will not eggs or blue berries by themselves so this is a great way for him to get those two things! The best part about it this meal is it comes all together like a big muffin...so you can chop it for the little person in your life to eat with their hands! Instead of spoon feeding oatmeal!! ahhh a life saver! Now I realize this recipe didnt have any veggies in it but it does have egg which is great protein and i usually add flax seed to his as well!

okay now i have a couple of muffin recipes that have squash & carrot in them but I really cant remember the recipe without going back to the source and I have a couple of mac N cheese ones too but they aren't as easy to make as the above! tonight i'm going to attempt to make hudson some "chili" with carrot, onion, spinach & pepper in it...hopefully it goes well!


okay so hopefully theres no typos (haha yah right) because i gotta get started on this chili while hudson naps...;)

2 comments:

  1. angies friend, jessica here. i used a lot of recipes from weelicious.com when ellie was younger. she still has good ones that are age appropriate.....but i got kinda tired of always making a recipe i guess. anyway, you might already know about this girl. she is really amazing. i am all for hiding foods, she is not really though...just a warning. but she might have some recipes on there where the veggies are hidden but she doesnt advertise it that way. know what i mean?!?!?!?

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  2. I've tried the muffin recipe several times, and it's always too eggy. How long do you mix your's up?

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