Fresh Fruit

Miss Mega is 1 yr. and 4 mo. old

I love that the kids consider fresh fruit to be an important part of their breakfast!

Miss Mega starts her day with 4 signs usually: berry, grape, banana and milk.  I give her a cup of mixes fruits and a banana to start her meal but if I don't eat my cereal quick enough she will have her hands in my bowl trying to pick the fruit topping my cereal! What a messy way to start the day...

Unit On Food

Miss Mega is 1 year 2 months old

Zilla is 4 years 0 months old

As a segway between the growing food topic of the past few weeks and the upcoming pumpkin carving, pie making of this week, we have spent some time talking about food.  We've read books such as the B-Bears "Go out to Eat" and "Forget Their Manners."

Miss Mega enjoyed some cooking time while Zilla napped and Daddy made supper.

Zilla and I worked on his first collage!   We started with making 2 place mats with food pictures on the back.

We had so many pictures left over from the collage that we went large scale and made a poster of healthy foods for the kitchen/dining wall.  Zilla really enjoyed laying things out, cutting pieces to the right size to fill up spaces and especially using glue!
I really had a tough time letting go of the instinct to cover every inch of the paper with pictures.  He kept saying "But I like that white spot..."  If I'm not careful I could be one of those parents who takes over making the kid's science project for school some day!!!

 Here is something I learned/noticed while on vacation this summer:
It is much easier to feed a baby pasta with chopsticks than with a fork!  
I asked for chopsticks, out of habit, while on vacation in the US/Canada.  It wasn't until I saw the waiter's questioning look that I remembered most people don't eat spaghetti with chopsticks...

 As we were studying food we also talked about balancing our meals and eating enough veggies.

And last... a new favorite recipe!
Turkey Noodle Salad
(not sure what to call it... "Clean Out the Fridge" doesn't sound yummy)

1 small zucchini
1 carrot
1 cup of baked turkey cut into 1 cm cubes
2-3 cups of cooked pasta
A handful of cheese which melts easily
Cesar Salad dressing

In a big bowl:
Use peeler to peel carrot and zucchini strips about 3 inches long
Put in turkey and cheese
Boil noodles, drain
Dump hot noodles on top of other things in the bowl and mix
Add in the dressing to taste - since I was making this for the kids I used just a bit and then the adults added more at the table to their own serving

I was very surprised to see how quickly the kids ate this up!  Miss Mega love it.  Even the leftovers are good after being in the fridge for a day.

Toddler Size

Toddlers really do like things that are their size. Tonight the Little Guy and I ate supper at his table (he set it) and we enjoyed mini hamburgers with edamame and salad. He declaired it was like having an indoor picnic!

About half way through the meal he realized that the chair I was sitting on was a bit small for me and offered to bring me one from the dining table. I love the way he is noticing things and becomes so concerned!

Earting with a Toddler

Eating with a toddler can be tough. I think we are really blessed because the Little Guy will eat most anything we serve. He does have his favorites though!

So, here is some of what we eat. Each day, every meal is different. The only way to define it is that we eat what the cook makes!

As you can see, it's celery, cucumbers, mini tomatos and carrot sticks. I love English muffin pizza toast because it is easy to make and just the right size for toddler hands.
Here's my real secret joy of the meal... ranch dressing. Half a pack of Hidden Valley ranch herbs mixed into a container of fat-free yogurt and you get a great dip/dressing.

We all like ranch so this is one meal that the whole family can enjoy!

In Class This Week...

Last week was the off week for classes and this week we have bad weather + colds (sickness) = only a few students were able to make it.

However, the occasional small class day is a great chance to hang out before/after class. I really think the off-topic conversations are just as important as the learning planned for the day. This week the big concern for a number of mothers is going back to work. Since the start back date is April 1st we are going into the last month at home for many mums.

In today's Baby Signing Time class learned about bugs. The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Itsy Bitsy Spider. I was hoping that today we could finally get outside but it was just too cold and wet. Since New Year's we've had either rain or snow on every day I teach!!!

In English class we talked about food for toddlers. It can be a real challenge to come up with healthy food that they will eat!

The first thing we looked at was the Preschooler Food Pyramid from http://www.mypyramid.gov. We also looked at the Canadian Food Guide which has the serving sizes in metric.

I also brought my favorite children's cookbook - Annabel Karmel's First Meals. I love that the recipes she has are mostly made from scratch so I don't have to worry about not being able to find key ingredients. And, as one of the students pointed out, the books has recipes from weaning foods up to 7 yrs. old. Most other books are either for babies and toddlers or for bigger kids. Other features that we all find helpful is the example week-long menus in the back the list of things to keep in your pantry.

Next week is thefinal week for the Mommies English class. Maybe we'll have to try out some of the toddler recipes?

Rice for Babies

This nifty gadget is for making okayu (watered down rice) for babies.
The glass jar goes in your automatic rice maker when you make normal rice. The rice to water proportion is different from the regular rice making for a softer cooked rice which babies can eat. You start out at 10/1 at 6 months and by age one the babies should be able to eat regular rice. The various measurements are written right on the jar.
The other pieces in the picture include a strainer, measuring spoon and a little rubber "pot holder" for taking the jar out of the rice maker as it is very, very hot after cooking. I'm sure I'll misplace the instructions at some time too so I took a picture of them.
While we don't eat rice every day we have found this to be a very helpful tool. I often would make a jar full and then divide it into smaller containers to have on hand for quick meals. The little guy liked rice mixed in with just about every fruit or veggie mush that we gave him.

Baby/Toddler/Child Food Cookbook

On one of the yahoo groups I'm a part of there was an American book suggested as a "must have". I want just one good baby food book and after looking at this one online I had to get it... and am I ever so glad I did!
The book is called "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel.

The first thing that caught my attention about he book is that most of the recipes are the make from scratch kind. Since we often don't have the same products in grocery stores here as the ones offered in the US I'm often frustrated when I see a recipe that includes pudding, jello or some other hard to find ingredient.
I love that the book is not just a bunch of recipes. It includes nutritional information and guidelines for each stage of eating from first solids to 7 yrs old. There are example week-long meal plans in the back which are so helpful! I'm keeping one on the fridge to help me make sure I give the little guy a balanced diet.
I'm a "learn by seeing" person and the book has plenty of pictures! They were especially helpful in the beginning when making mushy baby food have the right consistency of mushiness.
A helpful thing for busy parents is that each recipe has details such as preparation time, suitability for freezing and various tips for preparation and presentation.
Some of the recipes look so yummy. It's great to find healthy things the whole family can enjoy!