An attempt to document my progress in bringing up a healthy eater! Tyler is now a 2 year old but I will try to go back and document the entire progress of his diet. I will try to include recipes, meal ideas, and how to incorporate a child's diet into a family's lifestyle.
Tyler was “prescribed” juice by his doctor on a few occasions. When he was little it was for constipation and a SMALL amount of apple juice or stewed prune juice (made by me, see recipe below) was used.
Now that Ty is older he NEVER gets normal juice. Your typical juice from a bottle is nothing more than sugar water. Even if you are getting “100% fruit juice” it is still the sugars and flavoring cooked out of the fruit with very little of the good stuff left over.
We do however give Tyler “juice” which is a fruit puree watered down to 1/3 strength. This is made by taking soft fruit (melon, berries, whatever we have laying around) and blending the entire fruit (peel and all, unless it is an un-eatable rind) with water. Tomatoes also work well in this kind of juice. This is then strained, frozen and watered down when he needs a little treat.
We used juice a lot when I had my surgery and Ty was grumpy. We also use it when he is teething, has intestinal problems, and when we just want to spoil him a little. By serving “juice” in this way we keep the fiber, vitamins, and “good” stuff in the juice but take out the fake and processed crap.
Jello!
Tyler recently had his first experience with “Jello.” Now I will be honest, this was pretty much junk food. I realize that I could have made it healthier, and I plan to next time, but this was kind of a spur of the moment idea on my part.
I did not use regular Jello when I made Ty’s gelatin treat. I did not want the fake flavor, chemicals and tons of sugar/fake sugar in the Jello so I bought WHITE grape juice, boiled it and followed the directions on a pack of PLAIN gelatin. I made a denser Jello and cooled it in an ice cube tray. I then cut the chunks into smaller pieces and let Ty play with it.
Plain gelatin comes from cows unless you get a Kosher gelatin, in which case it comes from fish. I have yet to find a “good” vegetarian Jello (I used to be a vegetarian and tried a few types) because they all seemed too soft or had an odd flavor.
Next time I will use Ty’s fruit puree and water to make the Jello. I will also probably put in a few berries or chunks to make it a little more fun!
The blog is back for real this time! After a request from my cousin and a friend I am starting it back up. It was down while I was recovering from my surgery, but since I am feeling much better I am going to start it back up again. So this week is pretty much going to be a catch up week and then I will resume normal entries (themed).
The Tyler Food Update:
Tyler is still eating many of the same foods as he had been before. Below is a typical day for Ty. Much of this information is what I gave my family as a guideline during my recent surgery.
Pre-Breakfast
½ a sippy cup of milk when he wakes up.
Tyler does not really have a "comfort" object (like a blanket or a binkie). Instead he likes to have a sippy cup around for whenever he wants a drink. We provide him with milk or water throughout the entire day.
Breakfast
Ty eats a bread, protein, fruit (1 handful or ½ a banana, no more), sometimes dairy, and sometimes vegetable. He always gets water along with his milk with breakfast.
Favorite breakfast foods:
Tyler’s French toast (bread soaked in egg and cinnamon cooked in a little EVOO)
Ty’s pancake (baby cereal, important up to 18 months, egg, and cinnamon)
Cereal: Toddler cereal, iron enriched and organic, served dry
Granola balls (cream cheese with baby safe homemade granola around it)
Toast (whole wheat (ww) or sprouted grain (sg) and organic) with sunflower butter or cream cheese and cinnamon
Egg, hardboiled and cut up or scrambled
Egg with cheese and vegetables
Typical meals
·½ pancake or French toast, handful of fruit, cream cheese pieces
·Handful of cereal, ½ banana, cheese cubes (1/2 a cheese stick), handful of frozen peas
·Hardboiled egg, thawed carrots (carrots cooked and then frozen), cream cheese, handful of cut fruit.
Lunch
Please give Ty a bread, protein, vegetable, fruit, and if he seems really hungry dairy
Typical Foods
·½ tortilla (ww or sg and organic) or 1 piece of bread with melted cheese, tofu, and tomato
·½ tortilla or 1 piece of bread with sunflower butter
·Leftover breakfast
·Steamed peas, broccoli, carrots, other veggie with a little salt and pepper or some cheese
·Tofu cubes with tofu seasoning (cinnamon, stevia, ginger)
·½ an organic cheese stick in cubes
·Granola balls
·Frozen peas (still frozen), he loves this when he is teething
·½ Serving (or more) of a casserole from the freezer warmed up to just above room temp
·½ banana
·½ small apple cut into pea sized chunks
·handful of strawberries cut up into small pieces or other berries
·small serving of plain yogurt (with smashed fruit) or cottage cheese
·pasta with parmesan cheese and EVOO
·Cut up chicken with BBQ spice
·Crackers (broken up into small pieces)
Dinner
For dinner we serve Ty similar to what he eats for lunch or he eats what we are eating. Ty usually does not eat a lot of food for dinner, reserving his larger meals for earlier in the day.
Peanut butter, nut pieces, popcorn, hot dogs, processed meats
Juice-See more information on juice in the next blog
Non organic and non whole milk.
We try to give Ty only organic dairy products.
We also try to stick to organic bread and WHOLE wheat or grain products or sprouted grain. It is important to read labels when picking out bread products.
Ty LOVED and still loves eggplant from an early age. For baby food I would not cut and salt the eggplant, instead I would jut slice it and steam it. After cool I would puree it and wahlah! Babyfood! For first finger food stage I would cut it into little cubes and steam it. Although it would turn a pretty nasty color, and really have no taste, Ty would scarf down the soft little cubes in no time flat.
Garden Vegetable and Turkey Ratatouille
This is not really Ratatouille (a vegetable stew), well the top is, but come on, what kid does not eating it after watching one of the best animated films ever made? This is great food for toddlers and adults! Feel free to change up the vegetables to your favorites as well as the meat choice (or you can leave the meat out vegetarians).
1 medium summer squash
1 large zucchini
1 medium eggplant
1 large onion
2 large tomatoes
1lg green/red/yellow pepper, sliced
(All the above should be sliced into very thin rounds)
1lb cooked ground turkey
2c cooked brown rice (you can use brown rice pasta if you would like or any of your other favorite rice/pasta) cooked in your favorite sodium free broth
handful of fresh or dried herbs (think Italian herbs, rosemary, basil, oregano)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 jar of your favorite tomato based pasta sauce
salt and pepper to taste
EVOO
Put a thin layer of pasta sauce on bottom of large glass oven safe pan and top with rice
Top with turkey, salted and peppered, mix garlic in to turkey first
Top turkey with more pasta sauce
Take all your vegetables and put them in a large bowl.
Salt, pepper, and toss vegetables with a little EVOO and mix in herbs
I know, I know, I have not been posting. But I am back and ready to pick up the normal pace.
This week is going to focus on the delicious eggplant (make sure you check back for dishes that use eggplant). Yep, you read that right, delicious EGGPLANT. Ok, so eggplant is not that delicious and pretty much tastes like what ever you cook it with, but if you have been afraid of eggplant in the past (mostly because everyone says “yuck”) or if you have had some bad eggplant dish that turned you off, it is time to give it another try. Trust me, eggplant can rock if you cook it right.
Eggplant nutrition Eggplant is a low calorie food that is great source of fiber. It is also a great source of vitamins K and B6 as well as Thiamin, Folate, Potassium and Manganese. You can fatten up your eggplant in a hurry with many traditional fried recipes or those full of cheese so this week I will try to show you how to make those recipes still delicious but also healthier for you!
Picking out an eggplant at the grocery Look for eggplants that are size appropriate (for their kind, like a mini eggplant should be small). Don’t buy the huge ones because they will be tough and have lots of seeds. Make sure it is firm and still has a little bit of stem on it (leaves are good too).
Eggplant prep Wash outside of eggplant well (you are eating the skin here so try to buy organic if you can) Cut off the stem, top of eggplant, and bottom (just to make it flat) and then slice the plant in slices 1/2 to 1 inch rounds. You can also go with long slices, but make sure they are still 1/2 to 1 inch thick. Sprinkle the eggplant with kosher salt and leave in a strainer for at least 20min to draw out the moisture. Eggplant will turn brown if not salted, and still may turn brown, don't worry about it! Blot eggplant with a paper towel (or better yet a clean lint free towel) and remove any excess salt. Cook!
Growing an eggplant We grew them this year because I got some plants for free. We only got one eggplant per plant (probably because of where I placed them) but they were great! It takes about 75 days for an eggplant to mature and bear fruit. You want to pick them when they are firm and not at all spongy (poke it with your finger, you should not leave an imprint and if it does the skin should bounce back right away). The skin should be taunt and not turning brown (if it is brown, you need to pick it ASAP). Don’t wait for your eggplant to get huge or you are going to end up with some crunchy seeds in your food. When you pick your eggplant use garden shears and leave a little stem on it. They will keep in the fridge for a week or so.
I am a little behind because I am still catching up at work from vacation (as well as around the house). Here are some thoughts on feeding Ty on the road and our trip.
We took a 2 hour plane flight to Boston (from Ohio) to start our journey. Before we left I gave Ty a big breakfast/snack/smoothie to keep him full for the car ride to the airport (about an hour) and in the airport until we could get through security. After getting through security I bought Ty some milk at Starbucks. Now I know though that you can bring more than three ounces of milk through security without a problem, so next time we will bring our own organic milk.
The best thing I brought for the trip (which Ty consumed on the plane and throughout the car rides, etc.) was baby trail mix. This was a combination of organic Teddy Puffs, organic banana toddler cereal, organic raisins, and organic cheerios. I also brought along two different kinds of Mum Mum crackers (rice husk dissolving crackers). Ty ate these on the plane and was pretty well satisfied.
I also packed Ty a few meals of peas (he likes them raw and cold), steamed carrots, cucumber, banana, pear, Ty’s French toast, sunflower butter sandwich and cheese. He ate this at the airport in Boston, on the plane, and at the beginning of the car ride.
After landing in Boston we drove a few hours to Concord, NH. Thank goodness Ty slept most of the time. Once arriving in Concord and meeting SJ’s parents we ate at Panera. Ty shared my pepper sandwich and enjoyed pickles, onions, bread, and part of his lunch.
On the road to Beecher Falls, VT (which took at least 400 hours), Ty mostly ate his trail mix, although I am sure most of it ended up on the floor.
At SJ’s parent’s house Ty ate mostly bread (as a cheese sandwich, French toast, with tofu and cheese, or plain), fruit (a few cups everyday because his grandma likes to spoil him), tomatoes, raw green beans (he wont eat them cooked!), cinnamon tofu, and parts of what ever we were eating. I tried not to push new foods on him because he was already acting a little unsure of where he was.
We did manage to find (after going for a drive and going to a few stores) organic tofu, milk, cream cheese (not organic though) and smoothie making materials. Along with the organic baby oatmeal cereal that I brought along Ty had enough smoothies and food to last him the first week of the trip.
After another 600 hour drive to Lake Shore Farm Inn (check it out! Link below) Ty actually ate the food they served there. My guess is because it has a very high sodium content. Ty enjoyed everything from eggs to a giant slice of watermelon to a concoction of cream of celery soup, beef, vegetables and rice. Ty also tried a number of desserts, his first time, other than is birthday, of having sweets. With the smoothies I had brought from Vermont (and stored in leftover water bottles) Ty ate well!
The trip home was easy. We brought our own milk, Ty ate some muffin and bagel that was purchased at the airport and plenty of trail mix. Once home Ty had a little rebellion, probably because he had much less grandma time, and would only eat frozen peas and smoothies for 3 days. But now things are back to normal and I am about to go poach him an egg for breakfast!
Growing up we had a vegetable garden. When my parents moved into their current house they inherited a garden from the previous owners. Although I have little memory of this vegetable garden I know it had asparagus for a year, some very low producing grapes, and some other vegetables that they planted. They also had an entire hedge of raspberries!
This garden was pushed aside for a few tomato plants when their deck was built, and gardening was pushed to the side. The berries still existed but the gardening time was replaced by raising kids and other duties of running a family and household.
When I was in my early teen years I asked my parents if I could dig up a patch of the lawn and plant some vegetables. They funded everything! I dug up an “L” shaped plot and planted a few veggies with the help of my brother. I have no idea what we planted but I remember the joy of having my family eat the produce I had grown.
Present:
My father is now OBSESSED with his vegetable garden. I find myself on the phone with him frequently talking about pests, disease, and the newest techniques. As a family we talk about preserving, drying, and recipes when ever we are together.
I have my own vegetable garden. With the help of my husband we put in a raised box garden the first summer we lived in our house. We buried a few posts, used some wood, and created a box that contains a pretty large amount of food (see pics below).
Steve carried over a ton of soil to the back yard and I have spent countless hours researching what to grow, when to plant it, and how to make it as organic as possible. In this garden we place our herbs, because it is close to our patio, for easy access, along with tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, and a number of other items.
This year we created another garden, which will be expanded a bit next spring, along the back of our patio. I have found that this garden is great for squash of all kinds and lettuce/spinach in the spring. I do have a “dead zone” in this garden where the dogs run through. I also have planted cabbage in this garden recently to grow in the fall and will be putting in my second crop of lettuce/spinach soon!
Click pics to see larger versions!
This is our main box garden. This is from earlier in the year when we had lettuce growing
Cabbage (ok cauliflower) patch baby
Jackson eating tomatoes, he picks them himself
This is our new garden this year and Cameron
Future?:
I love my vegetable gardens but have recently come to the realization that gardening is one of the biggest things that brings joy to my life. To grow and provide my family with healthy, organic, and someday cost effective food (there is so cost in building a garden) that gives me pride unlike I have known before.
My husband and I have talked about buying some land in the past but recently with friends buying a small farm and enjoying the taste of absolutely fresh produce that we know is organically grown, we have started talking seriously about this.
I would love to have a garden like the one you see below. A completely boxed “lasagna” garden (more on this to come, but google it if you want to know now!). This kind of gardening has few weeds, upkeep, and pests. I would love to have a small orchard, berry bushes, strawberry patch, a few chickens (layers and fryers), possibly some meat rabbits (for sale), and a steer.
I know those of you who have known me in the past will find some of those ideas to be odd, after all I was a vegetarian for over 15 years, but this would allow our family to pretty much stop eating overly processed, chemical/antibiotic, food which has been shipped thousands of miles.
The truth is, we will always buy some food: flour, sugar, bananas, citrus, and other staples. I would love to bake all our bread, make our pasta, and make most of our food, I realize that it is not realistic to be making everything
!
Obviously this homestead is in a different part of the country but the way it is laid out is wonderful!
Pic from http://susty.com/path-to-freedom-dot-com-urban-homestead-farm-internet/
I am awife, mother, and Daycare Director who lives in Delaware, Ohio. I love all kinds of animals (dogs, chickens, turtles, fish, goats...pretty much everything), music, crafting and reading.
