Monday, April 9, 2018

#MealPlanMonday: April 7-13 & More on Toddler Eating

I have to admit that we finally had a weekend with no plans and I had plenty of time to meal prep... but I didn't.  It would have been so easy too because 2 of the meals require no real prep.

I'll prep the Beef Bourguignon tonight and will probably meal prep the Chicken Francese Tuesday night.









Chicken Francese
Beef Bourguignon
Cat's Mac & Cheese
Jarred spaghetti sauce w/meatballs

You'll notice that my jarred spaghetti sauce with meatballs cost me nothing this week - I already had sauce in a jar, as well as frozen meatballs and I always have angel hair pasta on hand.  Pantry dinners can be the best for that reason.  I don't get that fun feeling of trying something new, but I save money which is always a plus.  My mac & cheese is also low in cost.  It'll probably cost a little more next time because I used the last of some of my pantry items to make it; No more tomato juice, and no more Cheez Whiz (I put just a tablespoon or two).

Sami's eating habits still aren't where I wish they were.  I put "new" foods on her plate every week and she hardly ever touches them.  If she takes a bite of something she doesn't like, or doesn't think she likes, she'll gag.  She's even made herself throw up a couple times which makes getting her to try new foods all that much more challenging.

I read something interesting over the weekend.  How it might be beneficial to have your children explore new foods rather than stressing about them trying it.  If they "explore" they'll eventually taste.  So I'm giving that a shot.  I made a cucumber salad this weekend, so I placed 1 slice of cucumber on her plate.  I didn't pressure her to try it, just left it there.  A few minutes into the meal I asked her if anything on her plate was red.  I asked if anything was green and she pointed to the cucumber.  We asked her how it felt.  Next time, I might ask her what it smells like.  This food exploration seems worthy of a trial anyway!

I made mac & cheese last night and Sami's had it before, but has also refused it.  I showed it to her as I was making it.  She seemed interested at first but when it was ready she said she didn't want any.  I warmed up some chicken, placed that on her plate with bbq sauce, a slice of cucumber, some raspberries and some mac & cheese.  At first she didn't want any, but she asked for help taking a bite and after that she ate the whole portion I had on her plate and even asked for more.  Woohoo!  There's another one for the win column!

Also, she loved her chocolate Easter bunny.


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