Fruits & Veggies Competition #31: "A Mama's Love Begins With NUTRITION!"
To trick to getting a good balance of nutrition into a young child who goes through phases of refusing certain meals is creating foods that appeal to their favourite flavour preferences.
As parents we are often given advice from the health visitor to simply puree an amount of our own dinner and feed it to our infants. Whilst this works successfully for some children, it really doesn't suit others no matter how persistent and consistent the parent's efforts. Then parents can often work themselves up into a sweat worrying about their child lacking nutrients or becoming fussy as they grow. Trying to persuade a child to eat their dinner can be exasperating to say the least, and parents sometimes find the more they push, the more the child resists.
With my own son (now two-and-a-half) he ate pretty much everything I offered to him from the age of about 9 months to 2 years, but for the last 6 months or so he has been asserting his will a little more and refusing some foods he previously ate with no issues. It's easy to get frustrated (especially if it means wasting lovingly-prepared expensive organic food!) but instead of making a fuss about it, I appeal instead to his tastebuds. I return to a few simple favourites that he enjoys, trusting that in a few months he may accept a wider variety once again. I think it's best to just relax and not stress about these things.
So, at the moment he eats for dinner things like (homemade) bread, chips/fries (mainly white potatoes or butternut squash 'chips' oven roasted in a little coconut oil) or chopped-up wholewheat spaghetti. For lunch he eats a meal like the recipe I have for you below... an assortment of veggies and fruit mixed with a grain such as millet, amaranth, quinoa. For snacks he eats seeds (mainly large seeds like pumpkin), homebaked scones/bread, fruit. So, despite not wanting to eat meals he ordinarily likes such as curry or bolognese, he still gets a good variety of nutrition even with these simple foods he prefers at the moment.
I think the main reason this lunch is easily accepted is that it tastes YUMMY! The combination of veggies and fruit is no different to a delicious smoothie that we'd make for ourselves. The only difference is that instead of adding water to make it into a smoothie, we add grain to make it into a thick meal that an infant can easily eat with a spoon. I vary the kinds of veggies & fruit I put into this daily, but try to put complimentary flavours together. Bananas and berries are always a good option because they help balance an otherwise savoury meal with some sweetness, thus appealing much more to the tastes of many infants. You can also get other good stuff in there such as this wheatgrass powder I put in today. So, little person happy, and big person happy. Everybody wins, hooray!
Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1/2 avocado
Handful blueberries
Handful spinach leaves
Handful sweetcorn (cooked)
Handful peas (cooked)
1 tsp wheatgrass powder
200g quinoa (lasts for several meals; refrigerate for up to 3 days)
Directions:
Cook the quinoa (2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, simmer for about 12 mins). Puree the fruits and veggies in a blender, or using a hand-blender. Stir in the wheatgrass powder. Mix in enough cooked quinoa to satisfy your child's appetite... you know how much they will eat, and there is no right or wrong amount. Serve in your child's favourite bowl and enjoy watching them gobble down this nutritious meal!
A variation of his favorite lunch, this time with millet.
Cooked quinoa, millet, or other grains can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Many thanks to @lenasveganliving for continuing to host this wonderful contest, and thanks also to the sponsors, judges and supporters! For details how to join in, see here.
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("5 Cs" shared with kind permission from @kiwideb)
quinoa power!
Our boys just turned two yesterday, but they were always a difficult top please ,so lets just hope it will not get any worse, lol.
This is a really wonderful recipe Dear Joanna, full of nutrients and delicious. I will pass it on to my daughter.
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Thanks very much! I imagine it can get quite tricky at times dealing with twins... one is difficult enough but two, my goodness! And I wonder if one decides not to eat the meal, does that encourage the other not to eat it too? Or are they both more independent when it comes to their likes/dislikes? We can only do our best as parents and hope to get enough nutrition into them as they grow!
Oh yes it is very tricky and usually they have their independent taste, but who knows how it will work out, when they get older,lol.
Always a pleasure Dear Joanna...............we love to have you evry Monday with your valuable advise and amazing recipes 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU! A WELL-EARNED AWARD!
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Oh my goodness, what a lovely surprise! Thank you so much x x x
Always a pleasure Dear Joanna 🌸💖🌸
Lately, I've been checking a lot of superfood powders such as: wheatgrass, spirulina, hempseed, guarana etc. but I couldn't decide which one should I try first. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks in advance :-)
Well Putri, that depends on whether you're after specific nutrition or healing properties, or whether you're just keen to find out if they make you feel healthier in general! I know they can be pricey so perhaps you wouldn't buy them all at once, but I'd recommend getting stocked up on as many as you can... since they're all super in different ways! A good way to take them is in smoothies, and perhaps one day you add a tsp of wheatgrass powder, then the next day have a different powder, and so on... so you get different nutrients every day, but a good balance of the course of a week. Or something like that :-)
I'm just keen to find out about them. The organic shop close to my apartment sells many kind of superfood powder and yes, they are pricey. That's why I need to think before buying my first superfood powder. I cant decide :-D I was thinking to put in smoothies just like you said.
Good job mamma! I'm sure it must be so nice as a mother to get ideas like this to help make sure your little ones get good stuff in their bellies! I also love that you always present it in such a non-judgmental and kind manner. I can attest to enjoying this kind of meal even as an adult! I did a variation with beets, but definitely need to try this again soon for my own breakfasts. ;)
That's so nice of you to say, thank you! I have to go back over my words sometimes to remove the judgmental attitudes because to me nutrition is everything and it pains me to see children eating rubbish or having problems like obesity. But I know most parents try their best and it's not helpful to feel put down by know-it-alls! I too enjoy meals like this for breakfast/supper... it good with oats too, or even chopped nuts :-)
I know it. I'm sure I have probably said/typed some things that are not entirely compassionate, but like you said it's tough when you feel so strongly about proper nutrition. I try to be especially careful when talking about children because I am not a mother so I don't have firsthand experience actually dealing with feeding a little one. I think you strike a very good balance between informing while not alienating anyone. :)
Thanks, it's good to have feedback like this! :-)
Hello friend!
Ufff that recipe so great! I will definitely encourage my wife to cook it! spectacular! I'm already showing him to cheer him up! my mouth watered! exquisite!
Regards!
Thanks so much @gersson! You are always so lovely and positive with your comments, I appreciate them very much! :-)
Hello!
Thank you for answering my comment!
I will always try to bring health through my post!
Live green! live healthy!
i can see you are a good mum!
Aww thank you, that's very sweet! :-)