Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Tasty Toddler Tuesday

I have to admit that I have been enjoying trying to come up with food for E to eat. I am excited about her eating "big people" food. It also gives me something to think about an focus on during the week.

Quinoa (Keen-wah) was my experimental grain (but not really a grain- actually a relative of leafy greens) of choice with little E this past week. I made a delicious curried quinoa for dinner one night- for the big kids- Pete and I- not for Eliza. Then I was inspired to make some dishes using this healthy grain for E. I checked out Wholesome Babyfood to see what I could scrounge up. I also grabbed two books from my local library that have been very helpful.

What do I love about Quinoa? It is reasonable priced. It is very high in protein and easy to digest.


My fist attempt was a recipe I thought sounded Yummy. It was Quinoa with applesauce and yogurt. I whipped some up for lunch one day at I have to say it was received with mixed reviews. I tasted a teensy bit and though it was delicious. That E just doesn't know sometimes.


Moving right along I decided to try out something a bit different. I went with cheese because cheeses makes most everything taste good. I melted in some cheddar and make Cheesy Quinoa Balls and they were a HIT!

Another combo I tried was sweet potato mixed into the cheesy quinoa. That was also a hit. I think cheese seems to be key here.

Other hits and misses from the past week

Hits
Cantaloupe
Shredded Cheddar

Misses
Raspberries

Undecided

Eliza is still undecided when it comes to spinach. I'll keep trying.

Here is Eliza's Dinner Buffet Tray- Who doesn't love a Buffet?


In her buffet tray she had: carrots, o's, meatballs, peas, noodles, spinach, shredded sharp cheddar, applesauce and some shredded apple.

This week we are adveturing with brown rice. I had better get some more cheese.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

How fun and creative you are with her food! I find myself giving Kaelin the same stuff week after week! I need to start doing some research (or just letting you do the research for me!!).

Lori said...

cheese is a big hit here too! (with the big and little people) glad to see she is enjoying her variety of choices

Amanda-The Family News! said...

I get SO nervous when it comes time to let the little ones try big people food. I am so afraid they will try to inhale it and choke... I have to say that has been my biggest thing with being a mommy....Lauren is much more into things than Avery was so I think she will be all about big people food earlier than he was. I like the buffet..I think it's cute!

La Mama Naturale' said...

How cute! We love Quinoa! It's so delish and healthy. T-man loves it too. We sometimes add a little fruit juice and yogurt to it...yum! I'd like to have your recipe for curried quinoa....that sounds super good. :) I've been doing green smoothies with my little guy and it seems to be a hit- add spinach (or any green really- in blender)- banana- apple- mixed berries or just blueberries and a little lime and honey and my guy just sips this away like nothing. He gets spinach alone so it's not like were trying to disquise what he eats all the time but since summer we've done lots of smoothie/popsicle variations. Hubs and I try to have a green smoothie daily just to get our green/fruit portion for the day. Try it. We pour it directly into his sippy and he absolutely loves any smoothie really! No Jamba for us! :)

Dana said...

you're super mom!!

Stephanie said...

What a great idea with the buffet thing! I love it.

Pam said...

wow! You can come cook at my house anytime you want to experiment!!

Missy said...

oh, you are making the rest of us look bad! We have such a limited variety of food here - and I don't usually feel very creative when my little guy is screaming bloody murder because he wants to eat NOW.

You rock. :)

Marni's Organized Mess said...

A buffet tray... what a great idea!