Breakfast

We finished our first week of school. Last week I knew I'd have to encourage my son to eat breakfast so I stocked up on eggs. Scrambled eggs take less than 5 minutes and he LOVES them. Two eggs scrambled or 1 egg and 1 sliced banana or 1 egg and some yogurt.

My son doesn't see cereal as breakfast and he'd never eat it covered with milk so I don't get to cop out at breakfast. I used to make pancakes, french toast and waffles in advance to re-heat in the toaster. It was wonderful. He however has decided he will only eat store waffles and won't touch French toast or re-heated pancakes anymore. I tried to get him to try home fries calling them breakfast french fries but he wouldn't go for it. Maybe if I just bake regular cut potato fries to serve with bacon and eggs he'd at least try it.

Will be hunting down breakfast recipes.

Summer winding down

I have been enjoying the last few weeks of summer with my family. Sure summer doesn't officially end until mid September but school starts next week. We done some fun things including going on a picnic with friends.

The heat has finally lifted so we were able to enjoy some hot meals like spaghetti - first my son rejected sauce and now noodles. He did however try meatloaf this week. My husband said it was my best meatloaf yet - full of veggies so I felt good feeding it to him. My son was not impressed.Although he was optimistic about trying it which is nice.This morning we discovered yogurt in a tube is awesome.

Next week I get to get back into making breakfast every day and having fun school snacks made and packed every morning. We've met his teacher [same as last year] and Pre-K 4 should be lots of fun. He'll be one of the 'big' kids this year. He'll also be joined by one of his best friends who's starting school. Miss fussy boots will be here with me for another couple of years. One of the perks of having fall babies - you get an extra year home with them. Wub.

Today as part of dinner we had Super Fries. Oven baked fries topped with bacon bits, minced onion, shredded Cheddar cheese while the fries are hot so the cheese melts and then some sour cream. I always salt and pepper my fries before building. You can also use green onion instead but I like them on top with the sour cream cold not warmed up by the hot fries. Yummy!

changes

Last week we finally took the plunge and moved our daughter, who will be 2 the end of September into her brother's room. My son was not as happy about this as Daddy and I were. He doesn't want to share. Funny since he complains about being alone.

* Edit 09-09-11 *

I didn't realize I didn't post this. The move went well and the children have made a nice transition into being room mates.

Muffins & Jam

So I had some blueberries past their prime - not good enough to eat fresh but not bad. I also cut up 2 apples and cooked them down with some sugar, mashed with the potato masher and called it jam. DS of course says "Where are the muffins?" as he always does.

I wanted my daughter to have muffins too. She's almost two now and she knows when someone gets to eat something and she can't. I looked online and found a recipe by Chef Bette. I had to make a lot of changes but it turned out well.

Here's the original recipe. http://www.your-vegetarian-kitchen.com/basic-eggless-muffin-recipe.html

My recipe

1\2 Cup vanilla rice milk
1 Cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons safflower oil
1 tablespoon real maple syrup
1\4 tsp salt


I mixed them using the muffin method. Mixed together dry then wet. Added wet to dry and mixed just enough. Baked them at 400. I did cut the batch in half but I got 9 little muffins out of it - some plain and some with mini chocolate chips for my son.

They did not taste very sweet to me but DD LOVED them. I will make a full batch next time and try some of the other ideas I had. Like using whole wheat flour or replacing some of the milk with fruit puree. I even thought about using jam as a fruit surprise.

You are what you read

Having a child with a feeding disorder brings with it challenges you never knew you'd face. When you are pregnant thinking of all your hopes and dreams or teething and diaper rash you never think your child will choose not to eat. Choose not to eat to the point of failure to thrive, dehydration, hospitalization. Our journey has been a long and difficult one. I think it has shown me a lot about myself and as a mother and I hope I remember all the things I have learned from this.

One thing about children's books is a lot of them have lots of fun ideas about food. Our first love is Peter Rabbit - thanks to Beatrix Potter we've been getting into mischief for years with Peter and Benjamin and eating the food they found in the garden. Beans and even trying peas because the mouse had a pea in her mouth.

One morning I made my son muffins and he turns to me and says "What about the jam?" and this started me on our "book food". Muffins and Jam or pancakes and maple syrup - a big deal for my son who is very against any type of sauce. Food from a garden or even making a herbivore lunch like The Pteranodon family does when Tank comes for lunch. Making green eggs to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday didn't work out so well I had to make him new eggs because "sparkly eggs are supposed to be yellow, Momma!".

It won't fix my son's feeding issues but it can make food more fun and connect what we're doing in feeding therapy and at dinner with the books we know and love. Now that he's almost five I have a funny feeling I will have to try and make some food that looks like energon cubes because he tells me this is what Transformers eat...you think I can sneak a serving of veggies into energon?


A feeding disorder - feeding\oral aversion etc goes way beyond a typical "picky" kid. This is a serious medical problem which involves needing help from doctors like a Gastroenterologist or Developmental Pediatrician and your child's pediatrician to help from speech and occupational therapists and a Pediatric Dietitian. It involves testing like blood work, feeding evaluations and even looking at your child's digestive system with a camera. Getting help from the right 'team' of people is amazing even more so when you see your child finally eat or drink and actually gain weight. The joy you feel when your kid eats pizza like the other kids or tries a liquid other than water.

I hope we will all learn healthy views on food, eating etc thanks to all of this and we'll be better for it.

Momma Food

While I have gotten my husband to try a lot of new foods over the years, some foods he just cannot handle. One of my new favorites is Hummus even more so once I began making it myself. I realized I am not a fan of cumin except when making fajitas. It reminds me of cloves. Have yet to find a way to like cloves.

Today it's another hot and muggy day so I was thinking hummus. Nom.

1 15.5oz can of chick peas, drained
6oz of drained roasted red peppers
1 big teaspoon of minced garlic [I use the jar kind]
enough olive oil to help it come together.
Fresh pepper and salt [I use McCormick Peppercorn Medley and sea salt]
squirt of honey

I blend the peppers and garlic with the pepper\salt and some oil first it helps it come together easier once you add the chick peas. Then it's blend and stir and keep adding olive oil a little at a time until it comes together. Taste and add more pepper & salt if it needs it.I added a squirt of honey - I like the taste it makes it more mellow and more likely my son will steal some. I think it would come together better if I had a food processor but my blender did the trick with lots of stopping to stir.

I found the jar of roasted red peppers, minced garlic and extra virgin olive oil at Aldi for a lot less than I have seen it elsewhere. We have also been able to find 'safe' packaged foods like chips, pretzels even canned soup that's soy\dairy free which is really rare.

I ate it with pita chips. Fresh veggies work well, veggie chips or even corn chips.