Menu Planning - January 27 - and Dining with an "Emergent Eater"

Here is this week's menu plan:

Sunday - Toor Dal - loosely followed in this recipe - with lentils and naan

Monday - Sicilian Cauliflower with Black Olive Gratin (NY Times recipe)

Tuesday - Kale/Chickpea  (another NY Times recipe "semi-vegan" by Mark Bittman, who, incidentally, I once ran part of a group long training run with during his very short stint as a NY Flyer) along with wild rice, yogurt, and some kind of herb (parsley?)

Wednesday - I'll be away so I can't say what's for dinner this night. 

Thursday - fish en pappilotte (salmon, hopefully, with lemon, olives, capers, onion), leftover wild rice with crispy onions

Friday - dinner out! c/o my brother who gave us a restaurant gift certificate for Christmas - thx, M!

I am sincerely enjoying this menu planning challenge! I think it came into my life at exactly the right time. I had been menu planning for some time, but now it's become more regular and everything seems to flow. Speaking of flowing, that's one of the things we've been trying to focus on - using ingredients in a way that makes meals seamlessly flow throughout the week with minimal waste. For example, my little one loves miso soup with rice and extra tofu. I usually buy a whole block of tofu but only end up using half of it for her. At times, it's gone to waste. But we've wizened up - yesterday the extra tofu became Vegetarian Ma Po Tofu with her leftover rice. Another easy way we've found to use up extra veggies and herbs at the end of the week is to make an omelet, so we're trying include eggs as part of our weekend brunch. Even tonight's meal - the dal - is primarily on the menu because we have extra broccoli to use up. It's kind of like putting together a puzzle; the puzzle pieces are the leftover ingredients and we need to find a place for them.

Having a toddler adds to the challenge. I like to refer to her as an "emergent eater," since she is basically learning about eating and the world of food. She's only been eating solid food for about a year - she's a novice!

(politely) asking for more fruit (ie. get me more fruit, mommy!) 

A lot of her meals consist of brand new (to her) foods, so she's not only eating for health, but she's also exploring and discovering. It's my job to help her learn and expose her to a variety of healthy foods.

investigating thanksgiving dinner

Among her current favorites are: oats (steel cut as well as rolled oats), fruit (berries, bananas, and apples top the chart), pancakes, ham (applegate farm) and cheese, scrambled eggs, wheat toast, miso soup, chicken noodle soup, triscuit crackers, cherry pie lara bars, dried fruit, peanut butter on graham crackers, mashed avocado with lemon and a dash of salt, dried peas and corn, buttered noodles or rice, and baby mum mums (her guilty pleasure). She drinks milk and water daily.

oats - a fave!

apple!!

Her willingness to try new foods can vary, but if you catch her at the right time, she will ask for "more" which I consider a success.

she tried a brat at the christmas mkt in december - and signed for "more"

Other times, it's "no" along with a definitive headshake. She's a girl who knows what she wants (and doesn't want)! At almost 22 months, I'd say she is doing fabulous with her eating. I can hardly call her picky - there are so many foods she enjoys. I think the real challenge lies with my ability to be patient and allow her to discover the joys of eating on her own time. It can take 10 - 20 tries before a child will eat something, and possibly more before it becomes a favorite.  One step at a time.

dining out at a local restaurant