Haven’t done one of these posts in a while…
We hit a little rough patch with food last/this month. She’s only ever been sick maybe once before… and that was while breast-fed only, so it didn’t (couldn’t really) change her eating habits. But after being sick last month, it got a bit iffy for a while. She only wanted rice, bananas, avocado, tofu, and snacks— nothing else. It took a week or two, but after a bit of effort, she was right back on track for nutrition-filled eating. I’m still not sure if its luck, genetics, or my insistent “we’re only good crap around here!” ways, but man oh man, I am happy and lucky to have such a good eater.
tofu scramble and avocado, still in a bathing suit, after a long beach day.
grilled cheese with avocado and sliced apples
ginger garlic fried tofu, thinly sliced brussels sprouts, diced mushrooms, over whole wheat pearl couscous. (the tofu is cooked much like the tofu found HERE, but I didn’t marinade it very long, if at all. Just grate ginger and garlic, mix with soy and agave, and cook)
first failed attempt to make her like cauliflower: cauliflower rice, quinoa with corn and peas, cooked kale.
second failed attempt to make her like cauliflower: cauliflower mash (she ate SOME), peas, and the much loved chickpea patty.
so far, the only way to make her eat cauliflower: aloo gobi with red lentils and peas, with white rice.
getting over a stomach bug easy meals: white rice, black peas, add peas.
avocado toast, of course.
vegan yum yums: eggplants lasagna (we always add mushrooms and garlic, obviously)
pinto bean and veggie (mushroom, onion, and peppers) rice, with a corn, avocado, tomato salsa.
honestfare’s tomato, squash, and coconut milk soup, with couscous (to make the soup a bit more baby spoon-to-mouth friendly)
a messy vegan mac and cheese with broccoli.
yuca quesadillas, guacamole, and a tiny bit of heirloom tomato salsa.
Yeah… cauliflower isn’t a hit around here. Which I guess is fine, because I don’t really care for it either. I do love a good bowl of aloo gobi though…. so I’m happy this kid will eat that. For indian dishes I tend to make a big, spicy pot for me and a small, no hot-spices pot for her. I’d really love to add more things to her diet (and mine), but I’m not really sure what. I’m hoping to head down to my favorite Miami market this month and maybe find some new, exciting things there.
Recommendations for new foods or favorite (veg*n friendly) recipes are welcome and greatly appreciated!
42 Comments
I have a recipe recommendation! If you like brussel sprouts, try this:
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2011/04/quinoa-with-roasted-brussels-sprouts.html
You could definitely sub the sprouts for something you like better.
Most of the recipes on this blog are dairy and egg-free in addition to gluten free. I have yet to make something that wasn't amazing. Nom.
Im in love with your food ideas!! I try and feed ardo as healthy has I can. I love vegan recipes because it incorporates sooo many fruits and veggies. Do you have any recipes for any of these?? I want to make my son EVERY.SINGLE.DISH
cook for ME
sure thing.!
wow..so inspiring…love this series of post!
we are not vegetarian but i have been cutting red meat and chicken from our diet (slowly but surely :-). i am indonesian, but my husband is belgian, so our kids eat mostly asian (by default, lots of vegetables) and 'belgian' dishes (which mostly consist of french fries..and…french fries, hehe). one thing that always works with my older daughter is any vegetable soup (clear soup, not blended/added with cream). just sautee garlic/shallots and any veggies of ur choice/seasonal produce, and pour stock/water, dont simmer too long so that the veggies retain nutrition. another hit is of course tofu (and i steal ur tofu recipes hehe). tempe also works great (fried in olive oil or grilled or stir fry w/ green beans and shallots).
btw, do you hv any recipes to introduce avocados? somehow my kids wont accept them (though i can eat 5 at a time if i can!! love them so much).
wow..so inspiring…love this series of post!
we are not vegetarian but i have been cutting red meat and chicken from our diet (slowly but surely :-). i am indonesian, but my husband is belgian, so our kids eat mostly asian (by default, lots of vegetables) and 'belgian' dishes (which mostly consist of french fries..and…french fries, hehe). one thing that always works with my older daughter is any vegetable soup (clear soup, not blended/added with cream). just sautee garlic/shallots and any veggies of ur choice/seasonal produce, and pour stock/water, dont simmer too long so that the veggies retain nutrition. another hit is of course tofu (and i steal ur tofu recipes hehe). tempe also works great (fried in olive oil or grilled or stir fry w/ green beans and shallots).
btw, do you hv any recipes to introduce avocados? somehow my kids wont accept them (though i can eat 5 at a time if i can!! love them so much).
M has always loved avocados. Especially in guacamole form. One thing is putting them in smoothies it works rest as a thickener 🙂
Man, I would eat what you are feeding her myself, quite happily. No "baby" food there. Even what she ate when she was not feeling herself was pretty darn good!
I forgot my usual go-to when trying to incorporate veggies – you eat Indian so you must have heard or naan or paratha's…I usually cook cauliflower and potato with little oil, turmeric and garam masala and then mash it real well. Make small balls of the veggies and stuff in indian bread to get really good cauliflower paratha's.
mmmmm. I will do this. I love indian so much. I wish it wasn't almost midnight so I could make some now!
you are way more organized about toddler food than I am (actually so is my husband). You are super lucky that Marlowe will usually eat whatever you eat. I think that is rare… Simon is the same way but I am bad about getting lunch together when I watch him and my husband makes the dinner.
Question: do you use nutritional yeast in your mac & 'cheese'? I've tried that and I just don't like the taste, but I love mac & cheese and wish I could find a vegan recipe that I like.
I do! But we LOVE it here. But the base of the "sauce" is cashews, potatoes, carrots, onion, and sweet potato or butternut squash. 🙂
Haha..just saw someone else recommended the vegan stoner blog. Oops:)
Check out veganstoner.blogspot.com.
I'm not vegan but man do the recipes look good, and easy! There's a potato soup recipe that has cauliflower and cabbage in it. The cabbage and cauliflower are boiled then blended and then added to the potato mixture…looks delicious.
I'm so happy to see another one of these posts – love them! You can never have enough meal inspiration. We're not vegan, but I bet many of our meals could be adapted to be vegan-friendly. I do a weekly post called 'Toddler Food' at http://mamapapabubba.com/category/toddler-food/. 🙂
nice!
Sigh…can you come cook for me? 😉 I posted my "green monster" smoothie recipe yesterday, which can be made vegan easily – you could try adding cauliflower in there – I bet you wouldn't be able to taste it. 🙂
You could also do an asian stir fry – I made one last night with: tofu, rice, broccoli, cauliflower, and red and green peppers – it was delish – with a ginger sesame sauce – which may help hide the flavor Marlowe is not keen on. I think the best bet would be the smoothie though, because all ingredients are blended together 🙂
My recipe is here: http://decorgreat.blogspot.com/2012/04/green-monster-smoothie-recipe.html
i love every recipe i've tried of this site. and it is cute!
http://theveganstoner.blogspot.com/
We've tried a very similar green smoothie, but I hadn't thought to add chia! That's a great idea. I'll have to add some to tomorrow's concoction. 🙂
We recently whipped up a green smoothie that's more on the fruity / tart side and the whole family loved it. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a shot: http://mamapapabubba.com/2012/03/17/spinach-green-fruit-smoothie/.
Enjoy. 🙂
Best cauliflower – boil in salted water until very soft but not mushy. In a separate dish melt butter(or olive oil) and add breadcrumbs. Cook until breadcrumbs turn light/medium brown. Pour breadcrumb mixture over the cauliflower and enjoy. My 1 yr old loves it and so do I.
simple enough! will try! Thanks!
There is a great recipe for a marinated cauliflower salad from the Mollie Katzen Moosewood Salads cookbook. I already like cauliflower, so maybe I am biased, but it's really flavorful. Here's adaption of it from another blog: http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/marinated-cauliflower-salad.html
I'm jealous your kid eats alu gobi! I'm Indian and my kid (20 months) won't touch Indian food…but I still keep trying. What works best (and are very healthy) are dal makhni (I make it w/o dollops of cream and all that you get outside – basically a good hearty lentil stew), bhindi masala (you can get frozen of fresh-from Indian stores okra – google the recipe – its yummy and healthy), spinach with potatoes (I make palak paneer but I know you are vegan), chole masala (garbanzo beans) and if I run out of ideas a nice veggie pilaf with all the fresh veggies I can find – that my kid eats, and my marinated Indian chicken 🙂 Love this series of posts…I'm always trying to add variety to my daughter's food and so far all she loves is American (mac-n-cheese, home made nuggets, veggie patties etc), Italian and a little bit of mexican…does not enjoy anything form the Asian continent yet…but we are working on that 🙂
I'm jealous your kid eats alu gobi! I'm Indian and my kid (20 months) won't touch Indian food…but I still keep trying. What works best (and are very healthy) are dal makhni (I make it w/o dollops of cream and all that you get outside – basically a good hearty lentil stew), bhindi masala (you can get frozen of fresh-from Indian stores okra – google the recipe – its yummy and healthy), spinach with potatoes (I make palak paneer but I know you are vegan), chole masala (garbanzo beans) and if I run out of ideas a nice veggie pilaf with all the fresh veggies I can find – that my kid eats, and my marinated Indian chicken 🙂 Love this series of posts…I'm always trying to add variety to my daughter's food and so far all she loves is American (mac-n-cheese, home made nuggets, veggie patties etc), Italian and a little bit of mexican…does not enjoy anything form the Asian continent yet…but we are working on that 🙂
I was beyond impressed… we had it for dinner again tonight (leftovers). She ate two HUGE bowls. Whenever I make it I put extra garam masala in hers… I think the sweetness of it helps for her.
I LOVE bhindi masala. The place down the street makes it and it is so sos so good.
I'm sure your little one will grow to love indian and all asian food. she HAS to.
Wow! This toddler food is impressive. Marlowe is definitely growing up on some amazing eats.
i just wanted to let you know that i made your chickpea patty recipe and it was delicious!! even my picky husband loved them!
This makes me happy 🙂
Food is my number one battle with my toddler. How I wish he was as good of an eater as Marlowe!
I second roasting cauliflower. The oven caramelizes it and brings out the sweetness.
I bet Miami markets have tons of Cuban inspired food! Sauteed plantains are a big hit with my little guy. Here's a recipe [I omit the sugar – the really black ripe ones are sweet enough – and sub olive oil for butter]:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/maduros-sauted-sweet-plantains-10000001227865/
Arroz Moro (rice and cuban black beans) has goes over well in our house [you can use veggie broth]:
http://www.tasteofcuba.com/arrozmoro.html
http://noahbabyblog.com/
Food is my number one battle with my toddler. I so wish he was as good of an eater as Marlowe!
I second roasting cauliflower. It caramelizes in the oven and ends up tasting a bit sweet.
I bet Miami markets have tons of Cuban inspired food! Sauteed plantains are a big hit with my little one (I omit the sugar and sub olive oil for the butter – the really ripe ones are sweet enough). Here's a recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/maduros-sauted-sweet-plantains-10000001227865/
And Arroz Moro (rice with cuban beans) goes over well in our household too (you can use veggie broth) –
http://www.tasteofcuba.com/arrozmoro.html
I guess I'm going to have to try roasting it!
Marlowe is no stranger to plantains. She's give or take depending on her mood but usually loves them.
And plus also: loves rice and beans. My mom is Colombian and Alex's dad is cuban. M would be crazy to not love rice and beans 🙂
I will DEF. check out the recipes though! 🙂 Thanks!
nom.
come here. bring bread and wine.
Roasted cauliflower is soooo yummy! Toss bite size pieces in olive oil, salt, garlic, and lots of lemon juice. Roast on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. YUM!
I am so incredibly jealous you do such an amazing job feeding Marlow! This is truly my dream situation for my kids. Frankly, I WOULD like to eat this way too. Alas, hubby is meat and potatoes and DS thinks he's a God…so I've been failing ever since ::sigh:: I respect so very much your careful creations! Love love!
Suggestions? Please… I think you're doing FANTASTIC!!!
It's always nice to get ideas from other people! You never know what you might discover!
i love how you focus on giving your daughter healthy food. of course it is more expensive and takes more time, but WOW is it worth it and so important. my little lady, stella vivienne, is just starting to eat solids and like marlow, she loves just about everything…especially avocados 🙂
i think the key is to experiment and make trying new foods fun for kiddos. you are doing great, mama!
xo, amanda
http://mamawatters.blogspot.com
I think that if you're making everything yourself, its actually LESS expensive … I certainly find that to be the case!
Amber is right! Much LESS expensive to make everything at home from scratch. When you are buying pre-made or processed foods you're paying the extra money for:
– the fact that it is a "convenience" food
-manufacturing
-any and all extra additives/chemicals added to your food
-packaging/advertising
It of course does take more time… but like you aid its worth it 🙂
Love healthy eating babies! We've been successful with cauliflower two ways.. First tossed in garlic, lemon juice and olive oil then roasted. And then dipped in a mix of almond milk, chickpea flour, and curry powder then fried. The second is SO good. I'm going to post a recipe for the rest of the meal that goes with that soon and I'll send you a link when I dooo!
I had a friend years ago who would make cauliflower the second way. It was delicious. I've never actually done it that way… but i think of it often. It might be time I give it a try!
Please do send me a link!