Around this 14 month mark, I start to feel like we get stuck in a rut with foods. It can be a tricky time between wanting to feed themselves or pick up food, wanting some foods fed to them, liking some foods and not others, and then there’s the novelty of attempting to hold the fork or spoon themselves.Keep reading to see what Isaac has been eating lately.
Isaac has a big love for all things meat, dairy, and bread. And he happens to be the first Julian child here that hasn’t loved all fruits. He likes to hang his head over to the side and cry in protest to most fruits and vegetables. This is definitely new territory here!
BREAKFAST:
This meal is the easiest given his current preferences.
I almost always make a double batch of THIS oatmeal once a week. I’ll reheat individual bowls with a little almond milk and set out various toppings and everyone puts what they like in their bowls. Because the oatmeal base in this recipe is already sweetened and has cinnamon, he loves it reheated. And it’s one of the few things he’ll let me continuously feed him with a spoon.
Pancakes: Tom makes a batch of these on the weekends and he gobbles these up.
Waffles: usually once a week the boys will have Kidfresh waffles. We like the blueberry variety.
Eggs: He’ll eat bites of egg off of a fork but won’t touch it if it’s on his tray for him to pick up.
Muffins & baked breads: really any kind of homemade baked good he loves (again the love of bread is strong)
Chicken sausage: A few times a week we’ll cook sausage to have with whatever we’re having for breakfast. We love the Applegate brand and this maple one is our favorite of all the varieties we’ve tried. They cook fast and there’s not a big mess. And it’s a good way to get in some extra protein. I break these up into small pieces, and he eats them faster than I can keep up.
I get this at Kroger, but I’ve seen a bigger package at Walmart that would probably be worthwhile to get given how much we eat these.
LUNCH:
This meal can get pretty boring around here. Once we discovered that he’s thankfully not allergic to peanut butter and introduced him to PB&J, he will devour an entire sandwich. And he’d eat that every day!
Grilled ham and cheese: For a while he was in a spurt of loving pieces of ham or turkey and he’d pick that up on his tray. We’ve started making him a grilled sandwich if the older boys have one, and he’s a big fan!
Quesadillas: This is a staple lunch for everyone here, mainly because it’s easy to customize the toppings and everyone likes them. We’ll usually grill them on the stove with refried beans and shredded cheese.
Leftovers: If we have a dinner that he especially loves, I will always save a small portion for lunch the next day to make things easier.
Whole apples peeled (he likes to hold the whole thing and take bites)
Bananas (I still get a small bite on the spoon and give it to him instead of letting him hold the whole banana)
Pouches: We mostly use the Happy Baby or Plum Organics brands. I almost only buy the green ones at this point to get some extra veggies. He actually loves them! And it’s a good distraction while I’m still getting lunch or dinner ready.
DINNER:
For dinner we usually give him what we’re having, sometimes in a deconstructed form. We’ve never accommodated making something separate for the kids if they don’t love what we’re having for dinner. That being said, at this stage it’s a lot easier to plan dinners that I know he’ll be more likely to eat such as:
Spaghetti (LOVES IT) or any pasta dish.
Soups: Any soups that I can mash the ingredients together well he’s likely to eat.
Meats: Shrimp, Pork Tenderloin, chicken, basically any meat he loves.
SNACKS:
Pouches
String cheese in small pieces
Baby size Goldfish
Cheerios
Yogurts
Date Bars: Hands down favorite! I break these up in small pieces on his tray. This variety has some nuts I pull out. They used to have several flavor varieties that I also love for myself, but lately I’ve only seen these.
DRINKS:
Milk: LOVES some milk.
Water
We started using THIS Pura cup with THIS spout for John Lloyd a few years ago and still love it! I’ve found it to be a really easy transition from the bottle. I have the 5 ounce and 11 ounce sizes.
THINGS I THINK I CAN ADD:
Dips: Ketchup, Honey Mustard, BBQ sauce, the novelty of a dip goes a long way. And I remember this being the same for the other boys, still is matter of fact! I got him to eat roasted potatoes the other day only by adding some ketchup.
Sweet Potatoes: I remember the other boys really liking baked sweet potatoes at this age. I need to give this a try again. They’re a good things to have on hand for lunches for all of us. And so good with butter and cinnamon.
Melon: I’m really looking forward to cantaloupes and watermelons being in season soon! We’re planting some in the garden and, I hope we have good luck with them again this year. I hope he’ll love them!
JL about the same age loving some cantaloupe!
Smoothies: We make smoothies all the time in the afternoon for snack time. I think I can start incorporating these in his sippy cup. Great way to get sneak in some good things!
