Munchkin Meals 19 Months

Good morning, Ella here! Can you believe I just turned 19 months old the other day? Well it’s true! I keep getting bigger and life keeps getting more and more fun! I think I keep it pretty interesting for my mommy and daddy. Look at me, how can’t they love the adventure I bring to their day!

I love experiencing a wide variety of food—things very interesting because my mommy loves to cook. I play and bring her my babies, she cooks. I taste. I’m down for trying lots of things. Especially when they’re giving out samples at Whole Foods.

I’m just sitting here at my breakfast table with my  buckwheat sunbutter-hemp-apple muffins my mommy makes me. These are slightly similar to the pumpkin muffins she makes but with more hemp, no pumpkin and a few other goodies in there:

I usually eat two mini muffins for breakfast with melted coconut butter on top.

And with sippy cup full of hemp milk -and probiotics because my mommy is pretty much obsessed with building a strong immune system for me. That and fats. She loves loading up my food with healthy fats. Toddlers need lots of healthy fats, especially for our growing brains. I don’t mind. Fats are delicious.

My favorite thing to do is snack. I love going in the snack drawer in the kitchen and take out my kale crackers.

Whenever we go to whole foods and I spot them on the shelf I let it be known that mommy can’t leave without replenishing my stock.

Lately mommy has been buying me the cheddar flavor, and they are pretty good too!

(I’m spoiled…they let me & Big Bird watch Barney in their bed eating raw crackers. Don’t tell my mommy that it’s bad parenting and ruin it for me.)

 

I hope Brad chooses me to be his spokes baby; mommy thinks that maybe they would give me a life supply for free. That would be swell. My Aunt Carly babysits me twice a week when mommy works and she asked me if I eat a bag of these a day. I told her that I would if they let me.

I also have really been loving cashews lately too. They are yummy, and a soft enough nut for me to chew up Great snack food in my opinion!

For lunch we usually eat some leftovers, or a few things that we have around. Mommy usually makes me a batch of chicken baked with Kerrygold Irish butter and Borisari seasoning then freezes some. That butter comes from cows that were treated nice who eat grass, not corn and soy, no added hormones. That means it’s also loaded with CLA. That’s something real healthy for me I think. It sounds fancy.

My favorite vegetables are broccoli and cauliflower. Well, I love asparagus too. And roasted Brussels sprouts. And carrots and peas. Oh, and sweet potatoes. I could eat those out the wah-zoo! Spinach salad is great depending on the dressing. I surprised mommy when I stole half of hers one day. What she has to understand is I just want what she has! And I will eat what I’m exposed to. If she thinks something it super yummy, then I want to try it too! Mommy never makes a big deal out of it, and she never tried to bribe me to eat one food to get another.

(broccoli sauteed in garlic is the best thing ever.)

I love when mommy gives me choices. My new favorite game is when she makes me a lunch with a variety of things and asks me which one I want next. I’m pretty smart and will pick it in a rotation. Well, sometimes I grab for broccoli twice in a row. Garlic with my trees is my favorite.

(*mommy here-cheese is also Kerrygold, or we buy local organic raw block cheddar,  a few months ago we introduced grass-fed pasture raised cheese and butter. She’s done great and after tons of research we decided to stay away from the cows milk but stick with cheese and butter—easier to digest and when from the right sources have some excellent health benefits!)

After my nap I like to get another little snack.

Mommy and I will share a big organic apple. She makes me apple sandwiches with sun butter and chia seeds (<-loaded with calcium and healthy fat!).

Her trick is mixing the chia and the sunbutter together before she spreads it. This way I get all the seeds and it all mixes nice and smooth.

This goes really well with my second sippy cup of hemp milk.

I am usually covered in it all.

I love when mommy washes my hands in the sink. I love my sunbutter when I am eating it but boy when I’m done I HATE being all dirty. I want it off right away!

For dinner we usually have a protein and two veggies. This week we had a treat. Filet Mignon. Mommy doesn’t buy it often because she only buys it from local farms where the cows only eat grass. This way it’s much higher in Omega-3 fats and has less saturated fat, and safer to eat. Cows are supposed to eat grass, not grains. Grains hurt cows stomachs and make them go on antibiotics and do other bad stuff. Those grains too can be loaded with GMO’s too which are also not good. We’re good with eating it less often, as long as it comes the way it is meant to come.

My sweet potatoes and roasted in coconut oil and my cauliflower is steamed (I usually love it roasted in olive oil with garlic…yumm..but this mushy was was good too). If I had to pick, I mean, if I HAD to –I think those two are maybe my favorite to eat. I don’t always finish all of the food on my plate, but I know best how hungry I am, and I usually do a pretty good job of eating a portion that’s best for my little tummy. Mommy doesn’t question me, she just asks to make sure I’m finished before she puts it away. Sometimes I just need a little break then may take a bite or two more when Daddy and I are finished making funny faces each other.

After my bath mommy nurses me before bed. I still nurse before naps too. I think mommy was going to ask you all about tips on weaning but I won’t have it. I love it and have not given mommy any inkling that I’m done. So do me a solid and give her bad advice

So there’s my Munchkin Meals! Thanks so much to Hailey’s mommy for hosting this on her website” A Healthy Slice of Life! Hope to share with you again next month

 

What was  your favorite food when you were my age? What does your baby like to eat?

 

Love,

Ella

 

Mommy recommends this for her mommy friends who asked her tips she read about picky eaters:

8 Things Picky Eaters Wished Their Parents Knew

10 Pitfalls to Avoid when Feeding Picky Eaters

In Child of Mine, Ellyn Satter discusses how kids really do want to eat like their parents, even when it seems otherwise. “Because he thinks that you are great and have all the answers, when he sees you eating green beans he reasons that eating green beans must be the thing to do. You don’t have to say another word. All you have to do is enjoy your green beans. Observing that, your child will assume that someday he, too, will eat green beans.”