munchkin meals

Munchkin Meals 10.4.12

by Lisa on October 3, 2012

It’s been awhile since I’ve linked up for Munchkin Meals! How did over a month go by??? Here’s what Caroline has been eating lately, as seen through Instagram.

munchkin meals

Breakfast:

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I made my 12 minute pancakes with 0% Blueberry {instead of Vanilla} Chobani. Caroline ate one and a half with a touch of maple syrup and a banana. She ate it so fast I was hardly able to take a picture!

Lunch:

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I packed this for Caroline to eat with our nanny. A Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger, two Dr. Praeger’s Littles Sweet Potato cakes, peas, a cheese stick and a tangerine. She will probably eat all of this over two days.

Dinner:

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For dinner I made this stir fry that Jeromy and I love. The good news? Caroline loved it too!

Each of these meals took place on a different day but they are pretty representative of what she eats. A few convenient foods, a lot of what we eat and all of it is helping her to grow.

What’s your little munchkin eating? Don’t forget to link up with Brittany!

To read more about how we feed Caroline, check out how we started solids, our approach to feeding her before she turned one and Munchkin Meals here , here, here and here!

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Munchkin Meals {Quick and Easy}

by Lisa on August 22, 2012

munchkin meals

This week, Brittany asked us to share our quick and easy go to meals for our little munchkins. Now that Caroline is a year old, we let her eat anything and everything. For us, the key to having a good meal on the table for her three times a day is preparing food ahead. That way, when I get home from work, we can play for a little while and all I have to do is warm her food instead of cook it from scratch.

Here’s what I keep on hand:

fresh fruit—all I have to do is cut it up and serve
cheese sticks—open and serve
frozen peas—boil in water in the microwave for a few minutes
English muffins—toast and top with almond butter or cheese
frozen ravioli—can cook a few at a time and serve
tomatoes—cut and serve
cucumbers—cut and serve
avocado—cut and serve
hummus—spread on bread and serve
organic whole milk yogurt—mix with fresh fruit and serve
sliced roasted turkey—Whole Foods roasts turkey breasts and slices it to order. I pick up about 1/4-1/2 pound per week for lunch for us and for Caroline.

A few more things in the freezer:

Applegate Naturals Chicken Nuggets—so. I wasn’t going to give Caroline chicken nuggets. But, they’re quick and easy if I didn’t have a chance to defrost and cook an organic chicken breast ahead of time.
Dr. Praeger’s Kids Littles—I LOVE these! They’re basically little potato patties with other veggies mixed in. So far Caroline has tried broccoli and spinach and I have the sweet potato version in the freezer.
Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burgers—A great alternative to meat!
Applegate Naturals Turkey sausage—these come frozen and fully cooked—they only need to be heated in the microwave for 90 seconds. Perfect!
Van’s frozen waffles—a great breakfast topped with almond butter and served with fresh fruit.

As a working mom, I have no choice but to keep things quick and easy during the week, but on the weekends we can slow down a bit and make eggs in the morning and serve Caroline the food that we’re eating for lunch and dinner.

What are your go to meals for your kids?

To read more about how we feed Caroline, check out how we started solids, our approach to feeding her now and Munchkin Meals here , here and here!

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Munchkin Meals {Breakfast Edition}

by Lisa on July 12, 2012

It’s Thursday! Time for another edition of Munchkin Meals!

munchkin meals

This week, Brittany gave Munchkin Meals a theme: breakfast! Breakfast food is my favorite type of food so naturally I’m loving making it for Caroline. Here’s a shot of what she had for breakfast on Sunday:

Mango, organic blueberries, two organic mini waffles and one farm fresh egg {bought the day before at the farmer’s market} scrambled with a touch of water, organic baby spinach {that I first sautéed in olive oil until wilted} and 1/4 slice of cheddar cheese.

During the week, Caroline ordinarily eats waffles or oatmeal, both of which are always accompanied by fruit. Sometimes two types of fruit if she is particularly hungry. During the week she will also have a little snack of puffs while watching me pack my lunch for the day. My time in the morning is limited so I normally save scrambled eggs for the weekend. If I’m feeling particularly industrious I’ll make them for her the night before so she can have them during the week.

Caroline’s breakfast foods:

scrambled eggs {usually scrambled with a vegetable and some cheese}
organic mini waffles with organic applesauce
organic baby oatmeal {we’re going to be switching to regular oatmeal as soon as this box is gone}
whole milk organic yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in
cherries
organic blueberries
mango
bananas
watermelon

To read more about how we feed Caroline, check out how we started solids, our approach to feeding her now and Munchkin Meals here and here!

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Munchkin Meals

by Lisa on July 5, 2012

If you missed my first installment of Munchkin Meals, you can find it here.

Thanks, of course, to Brittany for hosting!

As a working mom, I pack two of the three meals that Caroline eats every day. So when I have time off, it’s a special treat to be able to have all of our meals together. Here’s a day of what Caroline ate while we were visiting my parents!

Breakfast

Blueberries, organic applesauce, organic mini waffles and scrambled eggs {Caroline is now eating the whole egg, not just yolks}.

Lunch

Turkey, cheddar cheese, cucumber and cherries. Chased by water.

Dinner

Mini organic cheese ravioli, organic chicken and apple sausage, green beans, mashed potatoes, organic whole milk yogurt and cherries. Also chased by water.

I swear Caroline has a hollow leg because she can really put away the food, although I don’t think she ever finished a full plate pictured above. One thing I need to work on is preparing just as much food as she eats, not more that then goes to waste.

To read more about how we feed Caroline, check out how we started solids, our approach to feeding her now and our first installment of munchkin meals!

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Munchkin Meals {Link Up!}

by Lisa on June 20, 2012

A Day of Baby Eats

Brittany had a great idea to round up the food that bloggers are feeding their babies in order to give ideas to other mamas. Feeding Caroline is one of my favorite activities and I am having a lot of fun coming up with new and fun food combinations for her to try. So far I’ve told you about how we started Caroline on solids and our approach to feeding her now. I also gave you my recipe for a frozen smoothie for babies. Here’s a look at what Caroline eats in a day!

Since I’m a working mom, I pack Caroline’s breakfast and lunch for her nanny to feed to her every day. The picture below is what I sent for two days.

Breakfast

The lower container on the right contains frozen peaches that I pureed to be mixed in with oatmeal for breakfast {not pictured}. She also eats some yogurt melts.

Lunch

For lunch, I packed frozen mashed blueberries to be mixed with Greek yogurt as well as roasted butternut squash and frozen vegetable medley that I boiled in the microwave. Caroline usually has some puffs with her lunch.

Dinner

I typically cook large {large for a baby} batches of food at the beginning of the week for Caroline to eat throughout the week—this week it was roasted butternut squash and frozen mixed vegetables. So she had these for lunch and dinner as well as puffs, some shredded deli turkey, cheddar cheese and organic grape tomatoes. It seems like a lot of food but sometimes she’s still hungry, in which case I’ll give her some fruit to finish off her meal.

Caroline drinks water with all meals.

I try to keep a lot of food on hand that can be made quickly for Caroline’s meals. This list does not include everything, but it covers a good amount:

sweet potatoes
yogurt
frozen mixed vegetables
frozen organic berries
sliced turkey
shredded chicken
sliced cheddar cheese
pickles {she loves them—just like her mama!}
frozen peas
black beans
lentils
chickpeas
tomatoes
frozen broccoli
frozen green beans
bananas
puffs
vegetable rice cakes
freeze dried yogurt bites
carrots
egg yolks {hard boiled or scrambled}

Now that Caroline is approaching 11 months, I’m more comfortable introducing different foods at a faster rate. We have been waiting three days between new foods but we’ve started to relax a bit on that. Especially when we go out to eat, we’ll often let Caroline taste some of the things we’ve ordered {within reason—she’s not ready for buffalo wings just yet }.