I fed little Squally Muffin butt Sautéed mushrooms and tomatoes mixed with scrambled eggs this morning. (I’m not that great at scrambling eggs, but that’s beside the point.) The point is, we know that she likes eggs so I sought to introduce new foods to her diet by combining them with something I was sure she’d eat. Lo and behold, when I picked out chunks of mushroom meat to push into her greedy little mouth, she ate them without complaint. She didn’t spit them out, roll them around on the floor to season them with dirt, or step on them. Imagine my surprise! So I gave her a couple more mushroom chunks, which she also ate without incident, before I searched out a chunk of tomato and tomato skin to offer her (When cooked for a while, tomatoes tend to liquify leaving little to see but tomato skins.)
I also added onions to this concoction which I certainly did not expect her to eat. But when I plucked one from the scrambled eggs and put it in her mouth, she ate it. She did narrow one of her eyes and squint at me, but she kept chewing and didn’t spit it out.
Now, this is one example of how I’ve been giving her healthier foods. Another thing Squally really enjoys is rice. So, with the same idea in mind, I add avocado to a blend of rice and veggies. Sometimes, she won’t eat the veggies, BUT, when you prepare this meal, stirring the avocado into the rice will more or less smash it, coating all of the rice with avocado. The rice then acts as a carrier vehicle for this very healthy fat, which you can then feed to your child. You can read more about how I prepare the rice here.
From time to time, I also share smoothies with Squally. Smoothies are an excellent way to really sneak in those foods that your kids love to hate. You can follow my smoothie experiments here. But I believe smoothies are the easiest way to pump up your child’s nutrition. By using fruits like mango, banana, and strawberry which are all sweet and are popular in many baby foods and pairing your smoothie with a fruit juice, you are free to add lots of veggies to your blender, as long as your smoothie stays smooth (Some children will protest chunky smoothies so it might be best to avoid things that don’t blend too well, like carrots.)
The gist of this is: you know what your baby likes, use those foods to introduce new foods to your child’s diet. Children may not be so open-minded to trying new things, but you can help them along by baby-stepping them with familiar foods.
A quick update, I cooked again to feed the squally muffin some breakfast. More mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. This time I made it without eggs. She hasn’t eaten it without complaint. This is a great achievement to me, because so many children grow up hating vegetables. So it’s good to introduce different foods to our baby at this tender age.
I’m totally open for questions as I will be doing more food experiments with the baby. You can follow all of my cooking adventures by signing up below. 🙂
