Food War Teachings

Ultimatley getting Annabelle to eat nothing but real food was easier than I thought it would be. It’s been about 2 weeks since I started the food wars  and although I haven’t gotten Annabelle to eat plain fruit or veggies she has been drinking yogurt and fruit smoothies and eating veggie filled chicken and turkey meatballs. A few weeks ago I was worried she wouldn’t eat enough and now I wonder if she eats more than she needs to because she loves her food so much. Don’t get me wrong some days she still doesn’t eat much, and she has gone a night or two without eating anything at all for dinner but now I’m not worried. Toddler eating really is an ebb and flow  and you have to look at the big picture rather than at an individual meal or even a single day.

Since Day 7  Annabelle has had a few whole grain crackers and that’s fine. Last night we were at a friends house after swimming and after Annabelle gulped te smoothie I brought for her she was still hungry and she chowed down on some saltine crackers and I was more than happy to give them to my hungry baby. I”ve learned that I’m not going to stress about a snack every now and then if I know she’s getting the best I can possibly give her 90% of the time. So an emergency kids cliff bar is back in my diaper bag because you never know when you’re going to need it and it’s better than having nothing.

Annabelle loves rice, quinoa and couscous and sometimes that’s all she’ll eat but now whenever I make it there’s chopped up veggies in it so at least she gets a few bites of veggies. It makes for a very, very messy table when a toddler is learning to use utensils, but it’s well worth it.

I’ve discovered that if I mix some spinach and almond flour into ground protein (except beef) and shape it into a ball Annabelle will love it. We’ve done lots of variations of this recipe and Annabelle has eaten it every single time.

Surely the toddler wars will continue, especially during our trip to Casa de Campo to visit nonno and nonna (grandma and grandpa). Annabelle knows how to get what she wants and since she is the first grandchild to grace my parents life chances are she will always get that cookie that she wants, even if mommy said no.