Day 9: "More crunchy bites?"

Breakfast

The meal:  Cereal with milk, fresh pineapple, blueberry yogurt

What they ate:

Little A had one small bowl of cereal, Big R had two bowls.  They both had lots of fresh pineapple, and split a 6 oz. container of organic blueberry yogurt.

Lunch

The meal:  PB&J sandwiches, clementines

What they ate:  Same as yesterday…they both ate every bite of the PB&J, crusts and all.  Big R had 2 clementines and Little A ate one, chopped up.  They also each had a few tortilla chips, stolen from my lunch.

Dinner

  

The meal:  Baked ziti, green salad, fresh pear

What they ate:  Two helpings of baked ziti plus salad, sliced pear and milk for Big R; a small helping of ziti plus diced pear and a few bites of cucumber and crouton from the salad for Little A.

My notes: I was really pleased that they both tried and ate the ziti.  I know they like pasta, but baked pasta is usually not a favorite.  Also pleased that Little A ate some cucumber and asked for more; that’s a first.  He also asked for "more crunchy bites" and it took a few minutes to figure out he meant croutons.  :)

Snacks:  Big R had graham crackers and juice.  Little A had a chocolate chip cookie.

Day 8: You'd think I never feed them...

Breakfast

The meal:  Oatmeal with dried cranberries, dried apples and almonds, fresh pineapple, milk, dry cereal

What they ate:

I made 2 servings of the oatmeal.  Big R ate 1 ½ and Little A ate the other ½ serving.  Both ate large amounts of pineapple and drank their milk, and both asked for cereal after their “first breakfast” was gone.

Lunch

The meal:  PB&J sandwiches, clementines

What they ate:  Both ate every bite of the PB&J, crusts and all.  Big R had 2 clementines and Little A ate one, chopped up.

Dinner

  

The meal:  Stir-fry w/ carrots, peppers, pineapple, and pan-fried tofu cubes; homemade sweet & sour sauce; jasmine rice; milk.  Small scoop of vanilla ice cream after dinner.

What they ate: EVERYTHING!  They both ate everything!  I made the stir-fry plain and served the sweet & sour sauce on the side.  Little A didn’t try his sauce, but Big R loved it.  They both ate the veggies, pineapple, tofu and rice.

My notes: Wow, what a great meal.  Easy to make, loved by all.  Not a leftover bite in sight for anyone.  Big R said he likes this dinner more than pizza.  But he may still have pizza fatigue from earlier in the week...

Snacks:  Teddy grahams for both.    

Daily thoughts:  I had some hungry boys today!  Stir-fry seems like a great way to expand their tastes in veggies a bit.  I think the crisp-tender texture of stir-fried vegetables is appealing, and you can mix familiar, favorite vegetables with some new ones.

Day 7: More parfaits, and pasta pasta pasta

Breakfast

The meal:  Fruit and yogurt parfaits, Eggo Nutrigrain blueberry waffles, water 

What they ate:

Big R ate a large parfait and half a waffle (plain, no syrup)

Little R ate a small parfait and a whole waffle (plain)

My notes: This time the parfaits had yogurt, blueberries, and granola.  Ryan didn’t want any bananas.

Lunch

The meal:  Chicken noodle soup, the last of the leftover BBQ chicken pizza, Cara Cara orange wedges.  Some black beans for Little A.

What they ate:

Big R ate a serving of soup and two small pieces of pizza, plus ¾ of an orange.

Little A ate one small piece of pizza, a few bites of orange, and a few tablespoons of beans.  Not sure how much soup he ate because he spilled it on the floor (on purpose) and the dog slurped it up before I got there.

My notes: This was the first time I offered Little A oranges cut into super-thin wedges with the rind still on.  I showed him how to eat the flesh and leave the rind, but he didn’t get it at all.  I’ll go back to dicing them up for him for a while.

Dinner

The meal:  Cavatelli with broccoli, spinach, and garlic; green salad; applesauce

What they ate:

Big R ate several servings of pasta, including the veggies, his applesauce, a serving of salad w/ cucumber and tomato, and milk.

Little A ate about ½ cup of pasta but left the veggies behind, applesauce, milk, and several pinches of grated parmesan cheese.

Snacks:  Oops- I forgot to write down the snacks! 

Day 6: Stop making us eat pizza!

Breakfast

The meal:  Fruit and yogurt parfaits, peanut butter toast on whole-wheat bread. 

What they ate:

Big R ate a large parfait and a half piece of peanut butter toast

Little R ate a small parfait and half a piece of peanut butter toast

My notes: Okay, so I bought a big tub of plain lowfat yogurt yesterday.  Yay me!  I scooped some into a bowl and added a little vanilla extract to flavor it.  I layered yogurt with frozen organic wild blueberries, diced banana, and some plain granola (no nuts or other stuff in it that would be a choking hazard for Little A).  They loved it!

Lunch

The meal:  PB&J on whole wheat, clementines, leftover pizza

What they ate:

Big R ate 2/3 of a PB&J and two clementines.

Little A ate a 1/3 of a PB&J minus the crusts, a small slice of cheese pizza minus the crust, and a whole clementine, diced up.

My notes: At first I suggested leftover pizza for lunch and Big R said “No more pizza!”  Wow, even kids get pizza fatigue.  Who knew?  So I made some PB&J.  When I served it, Little A said “I want pizza!”  So after he ate most of his sandwich, I gave him a small slice of cheese pizza.

Dinner

The meal:  Black beans and rice, your way.  Topping choices included roasted sweet potatoes, diced avocado, toasted chopped almonds, chopped onion and cilantro, and crumbled feta cheese.  Also applesauce and milk.

What they ate:

Big R had a large serving of brown rice topped with toasted almonds, about ½ cup of roasted sweet potato cubes, about 3 black beans, applesauce, and milk.

Little A ate ¼ cup black beans, ¼ cup brown rice, no sweet potatoes, applesauce, and milk.

My notes: This is one of my favorite dinners.  It includes delicious smoky black beans served over brown rice, and topped in any way that strikes your fancy.  I always make the roasted sweet potatoes mentioned in the recipe- they are SO GOOD.  I thought I’d try this one out on the boys since Little A really likes black beans.

Snacks:  No morning snack- we were so busy playing, we forgot all about it!  Afternoon snack was pretzel rods and a small number of mini m-n-ms.  Little A may have an m-n-m addiction. 

Daily thoughts:  A pretty good food day! 

Day 5: Pizza again!

Breakfast

The meal:  Eggo Nutrigrain blueberry waffles with a drizzle of real maple syrup, bananas, dry cereal with a little milk

What they ate:

Big R ate one waffle, half a banana, and about ½ cup of dry cereal with milk (Life and Quaker Oatmeal Squares).

Little A ate ½ a waffle, about ¼ of a banana, and ¼ cup of dry cereal with a splash of milk.

My notes: Normally I’d offer yogurt too but we’re out…the snowstorm prevented me from getting out to the store!  Little A was asking for it and cried when I told him I didn’t have any.  Frozen waffles are not my first choice for breakfast, but I don’t mind putting them in the mix every once in a while.

Lunch

The meal:  Chicken noodle soup, leftover pizza, sliced apples

What they ate:

Big R ate a bowl of soup, one small slice of BBQ chicken pizza, and half a green apple.

Little A ate a few bites of soup, no pizza, and about ¼ of a green apple

Dinner

The meal:  Pizza (Again?! Yes…earlier in the week, I invited our neighbors over for pizza tonight, forgetting that we were also planning to go out for pizza last Friday night.  Oh well.)  Also green salad, milk, cookies.

What they ate:

Big R ate 2 pieces of homemade pepperoni pizza and a serving of salad, plus applesauce, 2 chocolate cookies for dessert and a cup of milk.

Little A ate ½ piece of cheese pizza, plus the cheese and sauce off another half-slice.  Also milk, a few bites of applesauce, and 1 ½ chocolate cookies.

Snacks:  Big R had a mini vanilla bean scone from Starbucks.  Little A ate a few bites of a scone.  Little A also had a Nutrigrain bar, and Big R had an Odwalla bar.

Daily thoughts:  Not a big food day for Little A.  I should note that in addition to the meals I list each day, he is also still drinking 16 oz. of milk per day- one cup first thing in the morning, and one cup right before bed.

I was pleased that Big R ate the soup.  Usually he’s not big on soup, but he picked this one out himself and promised he’d eat it.  It had carrots, peas, chicken, and alphabet noodles.  And too much sodium.  If he decides he likes soup enough to eat it more often, I’ll find a recipe and make my own.

Day 5: Out to dinner

Breakfast

The meal:  Eggo Nutrigrain blueberry waffles with a drizzle of real maple syrup, pineapple

What they ate:

Big R ate two waffles and about ¾ cup of pineapple.

Little A ate ¾ of a waffle and about ¼ cup of pineapple.

My notes: Normally I’d offer yogurt too but we’re out…the snowstorm prevented me from getting out to the store!  Little A was asking for it and cried when I told him I didn’t have any.  Frozen waffles are not my first choice for breakfast, but I don’t mind putting them in the mix every once in a while.

Lunch

The meal:  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, clementines, water

What they ate:

Big R ate the 2/3 of a sandwich I served him minus a few smidges of crust, 2 clementines, and water

Little A ate bits and pieces of the sandwich I served him, a chopped up clementine, and water.

My notes:  Another typical lunch!

Dinner

The meal:  Out to dinner at Cosi.  Flatbread pizza (BBQ chicken and Margherita), water to drink, tableside s’mores for dessert (oh, yum!)

What they ate:

Big R ate one slice of pizza and two s’mores, plus he drank a ton of water.

Little A may or may not have eaten a single glob of cheese from a piece of pizza, and a half s’more.  He was a bit out of sorts, having not taken an afternoon nap.

My notes:  Not the most successful dinner out.  They were not on their best behavior and they didn’t eat much!

Snacks:  Morning snack was one Nutrigrain bar each.  In the afternoon, Ryan asked for a clementine and half a soft pretzel.  Aiden had a few bites of soft pretzel and about 10 mini m-n-ms.

Daily thoughts:  Grocery shopping in the morning.  Going to give some thought to better snack options and am going to buy a big tub of plain yogurt instead of lots of single-serve containers.

Day 4: Snow day!

Breakfast

The meal:  Baked oatmeal, vanilla yogurt, banana (Little A), clementine (Big R).

What they ate:

Big R ate a square of baked oatmeal, about ¼ c. of the yogurt, and a clementine.

Little A ate a small square of the oatmeal, about ¼ c. of yogurt, and about ¼ of a banana.

My notes: So they both happily ate the last of the baked oatmeal…I’ll count that recipe as a success but maybe wait a few weeks before making it again.

Lunch

The meal:  Grilled cheese sandwiches (cheddar on whole wheat bread), pickles, sliced pear.

What they ate:

Big R ate the 2/3 of a sandwich I served him, several wedges of dill pickle, 2/3 of a pear, and a few potato chips cribbed from his dad.

Little A ate the cheese off the 1/3 sandwich I served him plus a few bites of bread, no pickles, the other 1/3 of the pear, and a few potato chips.

My notes:  Kind of a typical lunch!

Dinner

The meal:  Black bean enchilada casserole (tortillas, beans, cheese are the main ingredients), green salad, carrots, applesauce.

What they ate:

Big R ate a pile of baby carrots, a large serving of salad, all of his applesauce, and a grudging bite of the enchilada casserole.

Little A ate about 2 tablespoons of plain black beans that I’d saved out for him,  a small amount of applesauce, and about ¼ cup of the casserole.

My notes:  Little A was upset that his applesauce came from a jar instead of in a single-serve cup.  Yikes!  I was amazed that he ate the casserole.  He ate all of the plain beans first and asked for more.  I showed him that there were beans in the casserole and he started eating it!

Big R made the salad himself and was so proud to tell his father how he prepared it.

Snacks:  No morning snack; we forgot about it while out in the snow!  Both boys had hot cocoa when we came inside (I make one 8 oz. serving, divide it between 2 cups, and top off each with a little milk to cool it off).  Snack was soft pretzels (that we baked yesterday- Little A ate a small piece and Big R ate about half a pretzel).  They each ate about 10 mini m-n-ms as well.

Daily summary: Well, I can already see from reviewing the past few days that snacks are one area I’m going to want to work on.  I’d like to offer fewer carbs, less sugar, fewer empty calories.  I’ll have to give some thought to how I want to accomplish that!