el Jedi (one of the slew of nicknames we call our lil man) is becoming quite the connoisseur of solid foods these days. and with that comes a serving of finicky with a side of attitude.
how is a new mom to make sure her bouncing baby boy gets the right nutrients he needs when he outright refuses to eat certain foods? it's called a little creativity in the kitchen (though i'm sure some would call it trickery or the like).
first, you gotta to know what the man likes. what would that be, you ask? bananas, sweet potato, and avocado. all good stuff in my book. and how do i know he prefers these? well, it could be the fact that at 9 1/2 months old he outright asks for banana ("nananana!")--cute, i know. and when he eats the others he makes the "mmmm-mmmm" sound as he eats. oh, and he bangs on the tray for more.
second, you've gotta figure out what he doesn't like--that's not hard to tell at all...just wait for the nose wrinkle of disgust...and then the food so lovingly prepared and delicately spooned into his mouth will come sliding back out and down the chin onto the bib. lovely.
third, you've gotta try to figure out what combinations of "yummy", acceptable food will work to hide the "yucky" completely detestable food. oh...and you've gotta be willing to try it yourself. just in case.
the only problem is that the intolerable food list far outweighs the acceptable food list. and, out of the 3 yummy foods, there's really only one that seems to be great as a "hide-all" mix-in. that's avocado. i mean, am i wrong or does the idea of banana and broccoli just sound too appalling? guacamole to the rescue. well, really just the avocado.
- 1st up to the plate was broccoli. it definitely did NOT pass the Jax test. honestly, my first thought was, "Great. I made all that broccoli. What the hell am I going to do with it now? There's no way I'm eating pureed broccoli!" (don't you love the irony, here?)
- introducing broccomole! he eats it every time. well, most times. as long as the taste of broccoli is appropriately masked by the avocado. i'd say the mixture's about 1/2 and 1/2.
- 2nd up to bat, carrot. i was really hoping the little bug would like carrot. i mean, i LOVE carrot. seriously. it's one of my all time favs (i know--it's a vegetable, not a song or a band or anything). but, alas...it was not meant to be.
- carrotamole... i'm still not sold on the name, though. this one was a little tougher to get past the lil man. i honestly can't see that the taste of carrot is stronger than that of broccoli. i really think the problem was the texture. so this one had to be mixed REALLY well. in fact, it seems it would better just to puree the two together than to mix it in later. it's still about 1/2 carrot and 1/2 avocado--though sometimes it's more like 3/4 avocado. what can i say? he's become a bit picky lately.
- 3rd, zucchini. i had already figured out the summer squash was not to the Jedi's taste and had mixed that in with sweet potato to much success. but i didn't think zucchini would work the same way. maybe it was the coloring. i don't know.
- zucchinamole was born. it's definitely not his favorite, and i use it pretty sparingly. i'm lucky if i can get him to eat the whole serving. but, that's more than he ate when it was just zucchini.
- 4th, kale. oh kale, you are a tricky one...even for me. i find the taste of raw kale to be very bitter. and the taste of cooked kale? well, it's still a little bitter (all greens are, really...to me at least) but it's not as bad. of course, i like mine with a little soy sauce, onions, garlic and maybe some red pepper and sesame seeds. hey, they're good for you, right? but Jax can't eat all that stuff yet, so he gets his plain.
- kaleamole. it's 1/2 and 1/2 on this one too. i honestly didn't even start with the kale plain and by itself. i just knew i was gonna have to "amole" it up. he seems to kinda dig this mixture. i tried it myself and i kind of like it to. might have to start eating my own kale this way. maybe.
- 5th? i'm not sure yet. we tried beets today. from the moment it hit his tongue, i knew they were a resounding "No". it was the trifecta. i got the infamous nose wrinkle and he gagged. and then it came dribbling down the chin. great. somehow, though i just don't think "beetamole" is going to become my next culinary creation. maybe sweet beets or beet potato. or beetanana?
First of all, I love the new picture of ya'll! It is WAY too cute!!! Second, you're so cute! I commend you for making Jax's baby food. Alex was a Gerber baby. He ate most of it. He's pickier now at almost 8 years old than he was as a baby. Anyway, very cute way to disguise the food! Love ya!
ReplyDeleteI love the scientific method behind your madness here. That's the way my mom fed us, more or less. Leftover veggies from dinner were blended, put into ice cube trays, and frozen until needed. Then *zap* and go when the girls' lunchtime came around. Kudos on the homemade goodness.
ReplyDeleteEvery name I read became my new favorite, but I really think "broccomole" has an outstanding ring to it. "Holy broccomole, Batman!"