Toddler and Baby Approved Meals - Week #2 of February

I take great pride in the fact that my 3 year old is not picky at all and will basically eat anything I put in front of him. He loves an assortment of raw and cooked vegetables and he will eat any kind of fruit. It is not hard for me to get him to eat more than his daily limit of fruits and veggies. He also loves breads, cheese, yogurt, pasta, rice, most forms of chicken, and many forms of meatless meats. He also has no problem eating vegan yogurts and cheeses and I try to give him a combination because I prefer to eat vegan a few times of the week but we always have both because I do still eat some meat and dairy and my husband is not interested in eating vegan at all. I feel like Jaxson would be more than happy to eat vegan or vegetarian at the very least if I was 100% committed, however that’s not always the situation. But I do believe that every little bit counts.

Ash has recently started eating anything and everything. It took him a fair amount of time to be interested in food. Jaxson started eating almost everything by the time he was 4.5 months. He wanted food at an early age so I assumed Asher would be the same. But not until about month 7 was he really interested, before then he would stick the food out of his mouth with his tongue, or else not even open his mouth for the spoon. But in the past few weeks especially he wants to eat everything!! It’s amazing. The kid is just like his brother, and I hope that introducing foods the way I have will help him to be as open minded about food as his brother is.

I do a combo of baby lead weaning and purées with both of the boys. Obviously Jaxson eats 3 meals a day and multiple snacks now, but Ash eats about 1 pouch of Love Child Organic purées along with multiple types of food that are soft and small enough to eat on his own. Bread, puffs, baby Cheetos, shredded cheese, mushy and cut up pieces of fruits and veggies. Anything small and soft enough I will give him to eat. I also just recently introduced vegan yogurt and will also introduce regular yogurt soon as well. Asher was mostly on bottles and now he is down 1 bottle since introducing more and more foods.

I do take pride in feeding my little guys and the fact that they always enjoy moms home cooking. I would like to show off some of my meals but not every day, as some days we eat leftovers or have take out. But once a week I would like to dedicate a blog to some of my favourite meals that I make for the boys.

Today Jaxson had toast and strawberries for breakfast. He had cereal with vanilla soy milk as a second breakfast (yes he normally eats two breakfasts lol). He then had a banana and some goldfish.

Ash drinks bottles still so he had a bottle, some cut up strawberries and some oat puffs for breakfast.

I decided I would make all of us vegan grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I used Daiya Cheddar Style slices on City Rye Bread with vegan butter. I’ve tried Daiya’s stuff before and they must have changed the formula because it is SO good! I definitely could make a switch with these slices. They melt just like regular cheese and tastes very similarly to real cheddar. I definitely recommend these slices if you’re trying to make a little change or transition fully. Both of my kids loved the grilled cheese, yes the baby even ate 1/4 of a piece in bite sized pieces. I paired it with grape tomatoes and greek style vegan yogurt with chia seeds for added protein.

Look at that melty vegan cheese! Daiya Cheddar Style slices I bought from Safeway.

Jaxson usually will either snack on veggie straws or goldfish all through out the day. Asher had a bottle after his nap. For dinner I decided to make some vegan smoked sausage, curly fries, roasted broccoli and broccoli tots. I knew Jaxson would love everything as he’s eaten all of these things numerous times and I knew the French Fries and broccoli tots would be soft and easy enough for Asher to try out. So I made a plate full for Jaxson and he ate everything except some straggling French Fries. Asher had a few little bites of the tots and fries and absolutely loved it! he also finished his purée pouch and had a couple bites of avocado and mango. After eating he ate 3/4 of a bottle before bed. The kid likes to eat. None of his clothing fits him suddenly. He is definitely going through a growth spurt.

McCain’s Curly Fries, Green Giant Broccoli tots, roasted broccoli with garlic, smoked paprika and all purpose seasoning, Tofurky smoked “turkey” sausages

Small pieces of tots and fries, Love Child Organics apples, spinach, kiwi and broccoli purée, frozen avocado and mango pieces thawed from fridge

Asher went to sleep after finishing his last bottle for the day and Jaxson and I stayed up and watched Finding Nemo. He had grapes, a gingersnap cookie and the rest of his goldfish. He also drank several ounces of water. That kid loves and drinks water just as much as me. And that’s just a couple of ideas of what you would like to feed your baby or toddler. Especially if you are looking for ideas for a more plant based lifestyle because we ate 100% vegan today which is usually a weekly goal of mine to do a couple times a week. Hope you enjoy my suggestions!

xoxo,

Kari

Date Night on the Ice: RAW Almond with JC Poirier

Last night Jesse and I had the pleasure of being invited by SYSCO reps to enjoy a night on the ice for one of Winnipeg’s best winter events, RAW Almond. Jesse has cooked for this event for the past 6 years and I have been a couple times, in the first couple years and also for the brunch that they have on weekends. The event is pretty exclusive and the tickets usually sell out very quickly, so I was very excited to be invited to go this year as the last time I went was when Jaxson was a baby for the brunch.

RAW Almond is always situated at The Forks on the river where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet. If anyone knows anything about Winnipeg they know that this is the ultimate winter location, being one of Winnipeg’s biggest tourism spots and their emphasis on winter fun. It was a gorgeous, clear night and we stopped at The Common for a glass of wine beforehand. Our seating was at 5:30 so it was perfect for us parents to enjoy a night out without being out too late.

Another thing to know about RAW Almond is that there are different chefs for different seatings. Some are local Winnipeg chefs who have been doing the event for years and in recent years there have been more chefs from around North America. Canadian and American. Our chef for the night was JC Poirier. He is Montreal born but now resides in Vancouver where he owns his own restaurant.

The menu was simple but decadent. Duck, duck. duck. duck was all that was on the menu. I did try every course but because i’m not much of a meat eater I struggled a bit. My favourite dish was the tourtière and the simple cake with maple syrup. But it was nice to just get out for the night and do something a little different, especially since Jesse always works this event and we’ve never been able to go together. Because Jesse has worked with/friends with the creator of this event, Mandel Hitzer, we got to get a tour of the kitchen which was pretty cool. I guess him and Mandel had also talked about my situation during Kelowna and he gave me the biggest, most comforting bear hug which was very much appreciated. At the end of the dinner we enjoyed a beautiful clear view of the waxing gibbous moon in Taurus. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed our evening and we were able to meet some great, new people and try some delicious food and wine. Date night was a success.

Green Smoothie to heal the Heart Chakra

Leafy greens and chia seeds are the ultimate superfoods but did you know they can also heal a literal broken heart. I’ve been trying to focus on being more mindful and putting healing foods into my body considering everything i’ve been through in the last several months and more recently few weeks.

The heart chakra is at the centre of the body where the heart is located. It is the energy centre that radiates love, joy and happiness. it also allows us to feel sorrow, mourning , sadness and anger. It connects to all our other chakras and usually the one we notice most easily when it is out of whack. Having an out of whack heart chakra allows for the more negative emotions we feel to manifest, sadness and anger.

If you can feel your heart is broken there are several things you can do, step outside for some fresh air (depending on where you’re located this might not be ideal), spend time amongst green foliage, or take care of plant. Enjoy lots of green foods, like leafy greens, broccoli and Brussel sprouts. A green smoothie is the perfect way to treat your heart.

My green smoothie is relatively simple, I sometimes switch it up but it’s usually very similar. You will need.

1 cup of green Kale

1 cup of spinach

3 tablespoons chia seeds

1 cup of frozen blueberries

1 banana

1 cup of water or dairy free milk

I sometimes will add peanut butter and hemp hearts depending how I'm feeling. I usually like to use water just because I find that the milk doesn’t necessarily go with a green smoothie the best. I don’t have the greatest blender and even it does the job for this simple smoothie. I will usually have a smoothie at least 3 times a week but until I feel I have healed I am going to make it more of a daily thing. So cheers to happy healthy hearts.

Heart Chakra Healing Green Smoothie
It may not look that good but it is actually so refreshing and delicious. Sweet enough that you don’t get all that bitter, green, leafy taste.