Cherrytinis

Morning snack: Blueberries and vanilla greek yogurt

Lunch: Chicken quesadillas, avocado slices and cherrytinis (aka cherry tomatoes)

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I know you saw the title and thought to yourself....isn't her blog about kid's food?  I know, I know, it was deceiving but based on a true and somewhat story.

So LQ (little Queen) is a fan of all fruits and vegetables except for potatoes, tomatoes and kiwi.  Now kiwi, I get.  She and I have a slight allergic reaction when we eat too much of it so she just won't eat it at all.  I, on the other hand, love it and eat it anyway!  But potatoes and tomatoes, I have no idea.  I mean, what kid doesn't like french fries and potato chips?  She won't eat potato chips if you call them such but will eat them if you call them chips.  And she'll eat sweet potatoes if I call them yams (and she doesn't see me prepare them).  What's funny is that if you call marinara "tomato sauce", as many restaurants do, she won't eat it.  She'll even get a bit annoyed by the fact that they even offer her tomato sauce.  But if you call it "spaghetti sauce" she's cool with it.  

So, the other day we were at the grocery store and I thought, what the heck let's see if this same concept can be applied to tomatoes.  So I picked up a box of cherry tomatoes and talked about how cute they were and how delicious they tasted, blah, blah, blah.  Then she asked what they were.  I nearly called them cherry tomatoes, but because I'm such a smooth mama, who wasn't at all panicking (yeah right) I instead called them cherrytinis. Of course afterwards I thought to myself, really....that's the best you could do?  So there you go, the nonalcoholic, nonbeverage related cherrytini was born.  Of course, it will only take one kid in her classroom pointing out that they are in fact tomatoes to completely derail my plan but I'll keep my fingers crossed that this does not happen.  Cross your fingers too!

Do your kids avoid any food?  Do you have creative ideas on how to get around these avoidances? (Yes, I think I made up that word.)

Black Bean Won-ton Mini Tostadas

Morning snack:  cinammon coco pop with almond butter, cinnamon and a drizzle of honey and clemenite

Lunch: black bean and cheese wonton mini tostadas, avocado and blueberries 

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These mini tostadas were the easiest thing I've made yet.  I had a stock of black beans which made it extremely easy.  I wet the won-ton wraps, placed them in a silicon muffin cup added black beans, sprinkled it with cheese and baked at 350 until the won-ton was a golden brown.  By the time I put everything else together the mini tostadas were done.  Voila!

I can imagine these being awesome for parties.  If I were having a party I'd make some with chicken, some with beef and some with black beans.  To pretty them up I'd top them with guacamole, sour cream, chopped lettuce and tomato.  

**I also made these with turkey once.

Turkey Avocado Hummus and Cheese Stuffed Pita

Morning snack - pumpkin pancakes and a tad of syrup

Lunch - 1/2 pita stuffed with hummus, avocado, turkey and shredded cheese, pretzel sticks and apples

Afternoon snack - clementines and pistachios

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I recently read an article that I found really interesting.  It's an article about preschool obesity and how we can change how much a child eats by feeding him/her carbohydrates that have a slow digestion rate.  Hypothetically this advice doesn't just apply to those who are obese, but it would likely be most useful in weight management for those children.  (Citation: Alviña, M., & Araya, H. (2003). Rapid carbohydrate digestion rate produced lesser short-term satiety in obese preschool children. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 637-642.)

So I thought, what the heck is a slow digestion rate carbohydrate?  (I'm sure you're wondering too ;-p)  Well surely you've all heard of the glycemic index.  Foods that have a slow digestion rate are those that have a low glycemic number.  This basically means that the sugars found in the food will be absorbed and digested more slowly. To find and compare foods check out this website.  If you just want examples then check out this website.

Easy peasy 5 minute meal

Morning snack: Raspberries and pistachios

Lunch: Steamed vegetables with vegetarian ground beef, avocado and cucumbers

Afternoon snack: Cheese stick, grapes and almonds

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This is really just a conglomerate of what is left in my refrigerator right now.  I usually go to the grocery store on Wednesdays.  I'm not sure how I ended up on that routine but I have found that the grocery store ends up less crowded on Wednesday afternoons.  (Well except for Thanksgiving week.  I completely avoid the grocery store that week.) 

It definitely has become a routine.  I usually pick LQ up early from school.  She actually gets excited about the grocery store.  It's the cutest thing!  She likes to point out all the fruits and vegetables that she know, which are a lot considering she's only 3.  Then we hit up the deli where she always asks for a "circle cheese".  Its a colby jack, I think.  But all the deli workers know her and she even has a favorite, Ron.  They give each other a stare down before he finally breaks down with a laugh.  She calls him her guy. Like I said, very cute.  

So anyway, I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store yesterday so this is really all I had left in my fridge.  Lucky for me LQ likes all of these...score!