Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Feeding the Boy. And Us Too.

The first year of feeding the Boy was easy (minus the first week when I didn't have any milk yet). He nursed like a champion, and it was heaven-sent for me since having to nurse Nicholas was the only way I was okay with leaving the hospital when Mark was there. Funnily, there was one physician who never had a conversation with me that I wasn't nursing N. The doc must have thought N nursed 24 hours a day.

Even the second and third years were pretty easy, the Boy wasn't very picky and loved fruits and veggies. I didn't worry too much that he was getting all the good calories he needed.

Fast forward to now, to my sweet Boy who is going to be 4 soon. He still likes broccoli, and will usually eat a couple of bites of veggies without too much fight. But, the kid would live on pizza, doughnuts, and hot dogs if it were allowed. I'm not completely freaked out, and I know he's getting a fairly balanced menu since I know what he has for breakfast and dinner and what we pack for lunch.

Dinner is a different story. I am not a big cook. I am trying to cut out stopping for fast food for everyone. I really am, but it's been harder than I thought it would be. So I'm looking for quick, nutritious ways to feed my Boy and my Fella. Oh, and me.

I heard a great interview on NPR yesterday from the author of Hungry Monkey and I just bought the book. I can't wait to get it, if nothing else, I think it will be fun read. It has more than 50 recipes from the author that he and his 5 year old both like. I'll let you know how it is!

The Type-A Mom site also has a ton of great advice, and I just read a helpful article about to the caloric intake a toddler should be getting.

I have the tools, and the knowledge, and a beautiful family who needs the nutritious food. My husband and I now have to get off our duffs and get all those things working together to make it happen!

How do you get nutritious, good-tasting food into your family? I need a plan people!

*yummy doughnut photo by me...because someone brought them to the office last week and I was playing with the "food" setting on my new camera.

1 comment:

Kami Huyse said...

Boil curly noodles,
cut one flat hamsteak cut into cubes
microwave steam broccoli and baby carrots cut in half.

Put milk in bottom of glass dish, just enough to cover the bottom

Add boiled noodles and veggies (we also like to add a can of mushrooms, but I know some people find that to yucky)

Cover the top with 1/2 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until cheese is melted and just starting to brown

The preschooler, the toddler and the parents all love this dish.

For snacks we buy Dora and Diego yogurt, portions are small, sugar level is low and they are yummy.

You can also buy my friend (and former client's cookbook). She has a lot of toddler tested recipes:

http://fizzymeals.com/index.cfm?page_id=76