Cheese ground beef avocado roll up

Morning snack: Triscuits topped with peanut butter and raisins and blueberries

Lunch: honeydew melon, cantaloupe and cheese ground beef avocado roll up

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I'm generally reluctant to send foods that will be very messy, falling apart, etc., which is why I don't send soup.  And until today, why I never sent burritos.  But I think I figured out who to keep it from unrolling and falling apart.  I placed the tortilla on a griddle and spread a thin layer of cheese.  Then I spread the ground beef on one half of the tortilla and avocado in a straight line across, on top of the ground beef.  Once the cheese was melted I rolled it up, ground beef side first.  The cheese that wasn't covered with ground beef acted as my adhesive to keep it all together.  Success!

LA's meal:  pineapple, honeydew melon, steamed peas and turkey

For the love of avocado

LA's meal: Avocado, breaded chicken and skinned clementine 

LA has had avocado before but he wasn't crazy about it.  If you know me, you know that this broke my heart a little.  So I thought I'd give it a couple of month and try again.  Well, the perfect time presented itself last night.  I was having some avocado and he kept reaching for it.  And YES, he loved it!  So much so that I ended up giving him some chunks on a plate and when he was done with them, he literally licked the plate!  (And I have the video to prove it.)

Breakfast cookies

Morning snack:  Blueberries and breakfast cookies (yes, I said cookies!)

Lunch:  Turkey and white cheddar grilled cheese on wheat, apple slices and steamed broccoli

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This weekend we were invited to have dinner at a friend's house.  Of course, in usual form, I asked what we could bring.  Knowing my love for low sugar treats she suggested that I bring dessert.  I had full intentions of making a different dessert but Lauren wanted to make cookies, so we did.  Only after everything was said and done, they weren't quite sweet enough for others to like.  Ultimately I ended up making another batch.  But I saved this batch because LQ liked them.  She and I tried them today and they are better the next day, somehow sweeter.  Anywho, they are made with oatmeal so why not have them for breakfast!

Oatmeal breakfast cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup raw oatmeal

1/2 cup almond butter

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup pecans

1 TBS honey (add more if you want them sweeter, I think 3 TBS would be great)

Methods

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Dump everything in a bowl and mix well.  Put down parchment paper and put down little cookie patties.  Bake for 8 minutes then enjoy!  And remember, they taste better the next day!

LA's meal: Turkey, steamed broccoli and blueberries

A New Strategy for Picky Eaters

Morning snack: Whole wheat English muffin topped with cream cheese and raisins and honeydew melon

Lunch: grilled chicken, brown rice, shredded cheddar cheese, whole wheat English muffin topped with avocado

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Last night LQ helped me make dinner. I like including her not just because she's learning about measurements and what goes into every meal but also because she (and likely most children) is more inclined to eat and enjoy food that she has helped prepare or has grown.  This even applies when the meal includes things that, according to her, she doesn't like.  I've mentioned before that she's been reluctant lately to eat chicken, so we'll see how this strategy works.

When she helps me in the kitchen I'll create extra tasks for her by measuring out things that I don't normally measure, like rice.  She also helped season the chicken prepared for her and her brother with garlic and onion powder.  Then she got to sprinkle Mommy's special spicy seasoning on Daddy's chicken.  There's something about preparing Daddy's food that makes her feel especially proud.  It's very cute how she announces, "I made that for you Daddy".

 LA on the other hand devoured almost half a chick breast last night, so I'm sure he won't have any issues eating his chicken.

LA's meal: grilled chicken, honeydew melon and Triscuits.

Pita pizza

Morning snack: Apple slices and pretzels

Lunch: Pita pizza with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, apple slices and peas

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Want a sneaky way of adding vegetables to your kiddo's diet?  Check out this pizza!

Ingredients

Pita

Grated Parmesan

Stop light bell peppers

1/2 white onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1/2 zucchini

1 can crushed tomato

1 TBS Italian seasoning

pepper and salt to taste

Methods

Saute onions, garlic and chopped vegetables until tender.  Once tender, put in food processor and pulse to liquefy.  Return to pan and cook until it thickens.  Add crushed tomato, Italian seasoning, pepper and salt.  Brush pita bread with olive oil and spread sauce.  Bake at 350 degrees until the ends start to brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan. (You can always add cheese before and allow it to melt.  Tomorrow is grocery day and I didn't have any to melt.)

LA's lunch: turkey, peas, pineapple and clementines

Open-faced cracker sandwich

Morning snack: Whole wheat rice cake with peanut butter and raisins and clementines

Lunch: cottage cheese, wheat pretzels and open-faced cracker sandwiches (cream cheese, turkey and avocado)

One of our new favorite shows is Stella and Sam.  It's the cutest show about a girl and her little brother.  They go on all kinds of adventures.  It's a sweet reminder of the imagination of children.  I can only hope that my children will get along as they get along on the show.  I know it's fictitious, but a mommy can dream!  Anyway, on one of their adventures they had cracker sandwiches.  So of course, LQ asked me to make some for lunch.  I found cracker sandwiches to be too thick for LQ's mouth, so I chose to make them open-faced instead.  We'll see how it goes!

                           

LA's meal: Turkey, peeled clementines and wheat pretzels

Turkey and chicken make very frequent appearances in LA's meals.  Protein is essential to everyone, but is most needed by little growing bodies.  Turkey and chicken are an easy way for him to get it especially since he refuses to let me feed him so some other protein sources are out of the question.  I can only imagine the HUGE mess he'd make if I gave him quinoa.

Guess who else gets lunch packed

Morning snack: plums and Greek yogurt

Lunch: Whole wheat pita filled with avocado, turkey and sharp cheddar and a side of black olives and plums

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LQ's baby brother now gets his very own lunch!  

Ok, so he's been eating solids for a while but he's just started daycare so now it gets packed each night along with hers.  So I'll be including his meals here too.  If you have small children I hope this helps you get ideas.  His meals will be completely uncomplicated and not as diverse as his sister's but I will slowly add variety. 

LA is 10 months old and he already loves all things green, just like his big sister!  His favorite food seems to be blueberries.  He'll drop any food,  no, anything he's holding if you put blueberries in front of him.  And....he literally gets upset if he runs out too soon.  Very cute!!

Turkey, skinned plums, blueberries (cut in half) and whole wheat Triscuits (scratches his little gums)