Sneaky

From the time Kaden was born, I’ve always been somewhat obsessive about his nutrition. I think this stemmed from reading so many “What to Expect…” type books while I was pregnant that stress the need for nutrition. But whatever the reason, it led to a complete nutritional overhaul for both Stu and I and from day one, for Kaden. I made his baby food, which was more out of necessity at first than nutrition. Stu and I didn’t have a lot of extra money at the time and it made sense for me to make his food than to buy the jar which were at least a dollar per jar.

Eventually this became a way for me to be sneaky and add things into his diet that he might reject otherwise. He was eating ginger root and green peppers by 8 months. Now, he’ll eat green and red peppers raw! So, now that he has moved on to feeding himself, I feel like his diet is lacking the vast array of nutrients he was getting when I made his food. Let’s face it, peanut butter and jelly doesn’t leave a lot of room for sneaky veggies in…. or does it?

Yesterday as I was going to steam some apples for him to make applesauce it occurred to me that even though he’s moved beyond the pureed food point, I can still make “jams” so to speak, so I got out the carrots and added them to the steamer. A little ginger, some olive oil, half an avocado… basically all of the “power foods” I could think of and tada! New peanut butter and jelly! So I feel better about the lack of foods he’s eating now since I can sneak!

I do think I am blessed with a good eater though. There is pretty much nothing he won’t eat. At first with new foods he may make a face, but he always ends up eating them anyway. I don’t know why he is so good at eating, but I’d like to think it was because we fed him such a variety of foods at such a young age so he expects them.

Anyway, just wanted to share my new way to fool my kid! Haha.