Menu for 1

Crossing 1 is a big milestone when it comes to dietary needs. There is this arbitrary line drawn between 11 months 29 days and 12months on the dot- before 1 milk is main, after 1 food is main. And after 1, a child supposedly can indulge in salty/oily/msg laden food, imagine how their little kidneys suddenly grow turbo engines to break down the additional "seasoning".

^^joking. the kidneys don't really grow turbines.

Anyway, i attended yet another nutrition course but for toddlers this time. A few cool things i learnt so i thought i'd share.

1. Swear to not fight about food with your child. Read properly, not fight for food, but fight about food. The bigger the deal you make about your child's lack of appetite the bigger a deal eating becomes. A parent should respect their child when they say enough is enough.
2. No short order cooking. When your child does not want what is being served, don't offer alternatives. Because these smart little alecks will soon learn that if they don't like the food they can always have something else. Tough luck you clever tots!
3. It's not about that last bite. It's very asian to wipe our plates clean, but our plates is not the same size as our stomach. Very often our plate serving is 30% more than what our stomachs can take. So again, listen to the child. Don't do the... "come on, last one..."
4. It's important to build a healthy relationship with food. Food is just food. It's not for comfort.
5. Don't use food as rewards. Often we hear parents say, "you finish your porridge u can have chocolate". This will have 2 side effects- you elevate the importance of chocolate in your child's mind(see point 4), and you open the door for endless negotiation with your child. But rewarding food can be used in rare circumstances like after a vaccination, or finishing passing an exam.
6. Healthy eating habits starts in-utero. So pregnant ladies better eat healthy!
7. Don't feed when they are off the high-chair. Or rather, don't chase them around with a bowl. You'll never get your child to sit on a table for the next 5 yrs!
8. Give them a multivitamin if it puts ur mind at ease. Some parents worry their kids are not eating well enough.

I am definitely guilty of breaking some of the cardinal rules above. I always let Mountain Boy eat a bunch of snacks if he finishes his milk. Whoops it's time to undo those habits. But those points above does make me relax abit about Mountain Boy's diet. I'm always worried if he's eating enough, drinking enough, and i'm always wondering why he doesn't drink as much milk as he used to.

Just going back to adult food. Today i made dinner for the three of us for first time in a long long time. I hardly cook these days, even when i do it goes straight into the mouths of a hungry husband and child so i never get to take pictures anymore.

So here's my creation for today. The mouthwatering Beef Gumbo- a fancy south american name for a very watery stew mixed with rice. I first had it at a New Orleans restaurant called NOLA, and i've been wanting to make it since. I just love a good stew.

Papa and Mama's Dinner. Full of extra seasoning.

Baby's dinner. I blended the stew before adding the rice.