What My Toddler Eats In A Day…

Feeding my daughter Harley real organic food has been one of my highlights as a Mom. From the very start, I had so much fun introducing as many vegetables as possible to Harley and to teach her about where her food comes from. We started a large vegetable garden when she was first born and now picking the vegetables is one of her favorite activities. We love to visit farms in the spring and fall to pick fresh produce and see farm animals. She definitely takes after my Mother and my husband – who both love to garden! And the obsession is serious – she bangs on the front windows of our home screaming to go outside and “pick matos!” from the large above ground wooden planters we have. Mato is her name for tomato at the moment 🙂 

I exclusively breastfed Harley for 6.5 months before introducing solid food (and still breastfeeding as she turns 21 months). Avocado was her first food and I continued with various vegetables before I exhausted the options and then introduced all the fruits, some meats, eggs, oats and quinoa. At the moment, she does not tolerate dairy too well but loves almond butter – so I plan to make her fresh almond milk one day soon. 

Here’s what a typical day in the life looks like in terms of what Harley eats. Please note – she doesn’t always finish her plate, but this is what she starts with and what I offer her. Also – I usually serve the meal in courses, unless we are in a hurry to get somewhere or running late. And keep in mind, she still breastfeeds first thing in the morning, several times throughout the day, and before bed. I serve all of her meals with water.

Breakfast is always what we are eating, plus a few of her favorites. I love making steel cut oats in a crockpot overnight on low so it’s ready to roll first thing in the morning. She loves them and I love them.

We always pair it with some ground flaxseeds, cinnamon and fruit – her favorite is pomegranate seeds and blueberries. For her egg muffins, I follow this recipe but leave out the cheese. I also bake them in mini silicone cups (which prevents sticking and makes them easy to store in the freezer). I thaw them out in our toaster oven at 300 degrees for 6 minutes.

Pictured: Steal cut oats with pomegranate seeds, 1/4 of a banana, and an egg muffin made with red peppers and onions.

Snack #1 is usually left over breakfast. A lot of days, Harley is so full from nursing first thing in the morning, she will just eat a little of her breakfast. Instead of throwing away her food, we’ll offer it to her again as a snack and then usually thaw out one buckwheat pancake – I make a bunch and freeze them separated by parchment paper. I use this store-bought mix, but add an extra egg and add one mashed banana to the mixture instead of honey. 

Lunch on this day was one steamed vegetable, some type of bean and her favorite pasta and some fruit. If she is still hungry, she’ll dig out of my salad bowl till she’s satisfied (I almost always have a salad for lunch these days, or I’ll offer her some avocado or almond butter (she eats it by the spoonful!) 

Pictured: Steamed yellow squash and lima beans with grass-fed butter, and Tolerant elbow macaroni with Yellow Barn pasta sauce, and a side of grapes.

Snack 2# happens after she wakes up from her nap. She likes to nurse and then have a mini zucchini muffin plus some fruit (watermelon balls are the current favorite). Harley also started eating rice crackers recently, and likes to dip those in almond butter. She loves organic dried fruit like goji berries and golden berries and will ask for most snacks by name and knows what she wants!

For Dinner we always almost eat the exact same meal as Harley. On this day, I made wild salmon, quinoa, sautéed purple cabbage and sautéed kale in olive oil and she had some frozen peas, raspberries and pomegranate seeds for dessert.

Pictured: Wild salmon, quinoa, kale and purple cabbage

Here are some of the feeding tools I love:

What does your toddler eat?

I’d love to know! Please share a typical day in the comments below, not only am I always looking for more ideas, I know other parents would love to see what you do as well!

Xo,

Vani 

 

Posts may contain affiliate, sponsorship and/or partnership links for products Food Babe has approved and researched herself. If you purchase a product through an affiliate, sponsorship or partnership link, your cost will be the same (or at a discount if a special code is offered) and Food Babe will benefit from the purchase. Your support is crucial because it helps fund this blog and helps us continue to spread the word. Thank you.

from Food Babe https://ift.tt/2Odc0QI