I understand that I have a food obsession and that this isn’t what normal looks like for a lot of people who make food for their kid. I love cooking and having a small child who enjoys my cooking to some extent is a true joy. Albeit he doesn’t eat everything I send him to daycare with, most days he does. And there is something that feels good in my conscience about feeding him whole foods.

What I always make sure to include in his menu:

Smoothie containing:

• At least 5% fat yogurt (whole fat greek yogurt works, I use the 5% Fage brand)
• Fruits (usually from frozen) such as mango, bananas, peaches, whatever is in season)
• Some type of enricher such as: hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, or any other seeds because our daycare is nut free, wheat germ (I want to make sure he doesn’t grow up with a gluten allergy so early exposure is helpful)
• Ginger: daycare is a breeding ground for viral infections. whatever. I try to always give him ginger cause it helps.

Died fruit

• Texture exposure is important as much as flavor! That’s It fruit bars are great.

Main meal: Enriched Carbs with Protein and Tons of Veggies

These meals usually look like enriched fried rice or enriched pasta 99.9% of the time.

For the carbs:

• Enriched pasta has more fiber and protein and is overall healthier for growing kids.
• You can find the “enriched” versions of pasta in the pasta aisle of your local supermarket. I often get the chickpea, or the red or yellow lentil version.
• Enriched rice: there is a multigrain rice mix I add to white rice. I do a 1:1 cup ration or white rice and multigrain rice mix because it gives my kid more exposure to different grains and overall more nutrition!

Protein options:

• Beans: navy, lima beans, butter beans, black beans, edamame, lentils.
• Meat: chicken chunks, minced beef, minced lamb
• Fish: cut up shrimp, canned tuna, smoked salmon, or canned salmon

Flavoring is paramount, kids don’t like bland food!

• Coconut aminos or low sodium soy sauce (about a tablespoon)
• Sesame oil (we are working on sesame exposure here)
• Black pepper.

Tons of Veggies:

I have a nifty hand pulled food processor that I use to shred veggies and I always add it my kid’s foods. I always make sure to keep at least 1/4 of a pint at ready.

Snacks

• Fruit in Season: right now melon is incredibly sweet and delicious. Always get fruit in season because it’ll be sweeter and crisper.
• Annie’s Organic Crackers: it’s like cheeseitz but for kids and my kid loves it
• Once Upon a Farm: wheel barrel cookies are super healthy and honestly I like this brand because it has the least controversy surrounding cross contamination and inclusion of heavy metals. Reader, I’m just a girl and I can’t really keep up lol.
• Veggie Nuggets: I’m always trying to find ways to get my kid to eat more veggies. Dr. Praeger’s has delicious dinosaur veggie nuggets that are broccoli, cauliflower based that are not full of fillers or weird emulsifiers or gums.
• Organic pancakes and seed butter: carbs and fat, what more can I say? I’m not making pancakes from scratch, trying to semi home make as much as I can.
• Applesauce + veggies: pouches are great fillers for odd hour hunger pangs. Always keep them at hand!