How Much Sugar is in Your Kid's Food?

Sugar.  We know our kids shouldn't have a lot of it.  We know cookies, cake, and soda are loaded with it.  If we only give our kids those high-sugar special foods in moderation, then we are moderating their sugar, right... Sadly, the answer is no!  Many of the everyday foods we feed our kids are loaded with sugar, even the food that seem to be "healthy".  So what am I referring to?  Well, nearly every single kid yogurt on the market has 3-4 teaspoons of sugar in a single serving.  Think about that for a minute.  Imagine taking the little teaspoon you measure with in recipes, and dipping it into the sugar bowl 4 times.  Then imagine placing all that sugar on your kid's yogurt before they take a bite.  It is kind of staggering when you start to think about it.  So what do you do about it?  What other foods are hiding sugar?  How do you know how much sugar is really in the foods you feed to your family?  It is a lot to think about!  Read on for answers to all these questions and more...

How Much Sugar is Hiding in Our Food?

That nutrition label on the back of food containers gives you the amount of sugar in grams.  Great, what does that mean?  Exactly how much is 11 grams, that doesn't sound too bad?  Well, every 4 grams of sugar is equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar. Generally speaking less than 5 grams is good.  However, it is important to keep in mind that fruits and some vegetables have sugar that are occurring in them naturally.  Homemade, unsweetened applesauce has 11 grams of sugar.  The foods that really raise the red flag are the ones that add sugar into their products and it seems like just about every product on our grocery shelves does.

So you also need to take a look at the list of ingredients in your food.  Does it say sugar or corn syrup? Obviously, it has been added into the food! There are a few other names for sugar that you may not recognize so quickly though:

• Syrup
• Honey
• Molasses
• Fruit Juice Concentrate
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Dextrose, Fructose, Glucose, etc. (sugar names ending in "ose")

One other thing to keep in mind when you are looking at the label is serving size.  Sometimes these are really small and your kid may be eating two servings at one sitting, then doubling the sugar on the label.

Surprise Sugar Offenders

Three teaspoons of sugar (or more) in kid's yogurt.

I remember when my older son was transitioning to table foods and I wanted to start him on yogurt.  I stood in the the store looking for something organic, staying far from the popular brands with brightly colored yogurt.  I brought home a yogurt with all natural ingredients and my baby gladly gobbled it up, it was very tasty.  At the same time I was reading My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus: Raising Children Who Love to Eat Everything. In that book I learned the 4 gram rule and immediately began checking the little bits of food I was giving my pure little 9 month old.  I was SHOCKED that his healthy, expensive, organic, natural yogurt had 16 grams, or should I say, 4 whole teaspoons of sugar in it!  What else had tons of sugar in it?  Here are some foods I have surprisingly found to have a lot of sugar in them.

Jarred Mandarin Oranges (1/2 cup)-- 18 grams or 4 and 1/2 tsp
Instant Oatmeal-- 13 grams or 3 tsp

Graham Crackers (2 sheets)-- 8 grams or 2 tsp

Cereal Bars-- up to 18 grams or 4 and 1/2 tsp

Applesauce (1/2 cup)-- 14 grams or 3 and 1/2 tsp

Apple Juice (1 cup) -- 28 grams or 7 tsp

Jelly (1 tsp)-- 6 grams or 1 and 1/2 tsp

These numbers may vary by brand. This is by no means a complete list, I find surprising high sugar foods all the time!

What You Can Do About It

Read the label!  I can't stress this enough.  Now you know what to look for, and although it is a teeny bit of a pain to read labels when you are trying new products, it is the best way to ensure you know what is going into your kids mouth.  Remember, look at the amount of grams and the list of ingredients for added sugars.

You can also try making some of the foods you buy.  For instance, I started buying plain yogurt and putting fresh fruit with a little bit of honey on top.  I will admit that my son doesn't eat quite as much and it was a little of a transition.  

Another tip is to look for foods that are unsweetened, just be careful they haven't added in a diet sugar substitute like saccharin or sucralose (splenda).  It is pretty easy to find applesauce that is unsweetened.  The ingredient list reads: pureed apples.

Lastly, remember all things in moderation.  If you know you are going to give a favorite cereal bar that is high in sugar, try to keep the sugar intake low with other foods that day.  Keep those high sugar favorites for once-in-a-while treats.

Daily Recommended Sugar Intake for Kids

The American Heart Association recommended that preschoolers not have more than 3 teaspoons of sugar a day and kids 5-7 should not have more than 4 teaspoons.  Most kids are doubling or tripling these numbers in a day.  

Although, there is a lot of research showing that sugar doesn't effect behavior, hyperactivity, or attention, it does have strong links to heart disease, diabetes, and tooth decay!

Want to Know More

I used a few really great resources to fact check some of the information that I shared.  Check out these links if you want more on sugar and healthy living:

American Heart Association

Family Education

The Dr. Oz Show

National Institute of Health

Do you read labels when you shop?  Have you found any surprising high sugar foods? Please share or let me know what you think! I would love to hear from you!!!

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Transitioning Your Baby (or Toddler) to Table Foods {Part 2}

This is part 2 of transitioning your baby to table foods, since I had so much to say on the subject!  In the last post, I reviewed starting off with puffs and moving to soft cubed foods like bananas and cooked vegetables, if you missed it, check it out here. In this post,  I will lay out how to completely make the transition off of baby food, avoid choking hazards, and what to do when it isn't going well.  

Bye Bye to Baby Food

After your baby has had some practice eating, in most cases a few days, start to regularly serve at least one crunchy but meltable food, like puffs or towne house crackers during meals.  Encourage your baby to feed themselves these finger foods, but certainly give help as needed.  If they are managing these types of food well, it is time to move onto some softer foods that require a little more chewing.  How do you know they are managing foods well?  When they are chewing it with little to no coughing, choking, or  gagging, and swallowing easily (not hard gulps), consistently, for a week or two.

Some examples of softer foods to move onto are (increasing in difficulty): avocado, banana, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, muffins, pasta, deli meat, cheese.

At this point you can also try pairing crackers and other crunchy foods with spreads like jelly, hummus, and cream cheese to maximize exposure to table foods and different textures.  Spread right on the cracker or show them how to dip it into a glob on their tray.  Then, start giving them these foods first at a meal and allow them to eat as much as they want.  If you feel they haven't eaten enough of the actual table food then give them some of the baby food.  Keep presenting more table foods slowly and as they eat enough of them give less and less baby food.  There will come a meal when you will say, "I think they ate enough of the toast, eggs, and strawberries.  I don't think they need the baby food."  Once you reach this point, it is okay to dip back into baby foods for a meal here and there, but ultimately you have to take a leap into letting go of the security baby food gives.  Keep trying different table foods.  If you are looking for inspiration, see my Mega List of Table Foods. 

I have been mostly focusing on actual cubed food that babies can easily feed themselves, but as they eat those softer foods and the spreads well, you can start to slowly experiment with mixed textures like soups and casseroles.  Again, you will want to keep this slow, maybe starting off with macaroni and cheese, and then moving to spaghetti and meatballs and then chicken noodle soup.  The latter has a lot more changes in consistency in one bite of food.  You can give baby a couple of pieces on the tray of these types of food, but will probably be mostly feeding by spoon.    

Helpful Tips

• The best way to present most of these foods is in a small cube shape.  This will make it easier for them to pick up and control the size of the bites they are eating.  Babies will often choke as they are learning to eat, it is normal, but we can minimize risk by giving them smaller pieces until they are ready to manage more.  

• Puffs have next to no calories.  They are great to use when they are just starting on table foods, but as you pull away from baby food they don't offer enough to fill their little bellies.  

• I am using the word "transition" intentionally.  Getting your baby onto table foods is a  process that is a little like a dance, taking a few steps forward and then one back.  Many parents find this to be a challenging time.

• Hot dogs, grapes, marshmallows, large dollops of nut-butters, nuts, lettuce, popcorn, hard candy are all potential choking hazards.  Hot dogs, grapes, and marshmallows can be cut into small pieces.  Spread nut-butters thinly on foods.  Food larger than a pea could get lodged in the airway.

If You are Having Difficulty Making this Transition

Some children have a hard time moving onto table foods.  Often these babes were pros at baby food, but turn their noses up and refuse many or all table foods.  It is common for this to be related to sensory defensiveness and/or difficulty chewing.  Generally speaking, as every child has specific instances and circumstances, it would be helpful to encourage play with food.  If there is sensory defensiveness, this will help break it down.  Try bins of dry foods like rice, beans, and birdseed first.  As they tolerate this, move onto wet bins such as cooked noodles (Check out Sensory Bin ideas here).  Depending on the age of your child, this will require close supervision.  Also, try playing with their food during a meal. Take the pressure off of eating and make a game out of those bananas they won't touch. See Exploring New Foods for more help on this.

Lastly, your baby watches you closely and will be motivated to imitate.  Show them how to chew by leaving your mouth open and dramatically chewing for them to see.  Be positive about foods they try, even if they refuse or spit it out. Keep presenting it over and over, at least 12 times.  

If you continue to struggle with moving forward with this process, consider my consulting services.

Do you feel like your ready to tackle table foods?  Need any more specifics or have questions? Let me know!  

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How to Transition Your Baby (or Toddler) to Table Foods {Part 1}

Recently, I have been getting a lot of emails about how to transition your baby or toddler onto table foods. These questions usually come from parents that are struggling through the process with a baby (under 12 months old) or from parents that now have toddlers and are still stuck on baby foods.  I am going to try and address this post for both groups of parents, although with the latter, the approach may need to be tweaked and adjusted for your child.  As we saw with Milo in last week's post, his difficulty with transitioning to table foods was a red flag for sensory sensitivity.  

There is so much to cover here, I am breaking this post down into two.  In this post, I will cover when you should start introducing those table foods and how to begin the process.  In Part 2, I will discuss how to completely leave baby food behind and what your feeding schedule will probably look like around this age.
As a mom, each time I had to transition both my boys onto table foods I was frustrated and overwhelmed.  Hmm, maybe I shouldn't admit that, I am an OT, I know how to do this, right?  Well, yes I do, but it was still a challenging time as a mother.  (I have mentioned that I'm Type A, change is hard for me!) The little routine you had starts to shift, as they are also beginning to wean from breast or bottle and learn to drink from some type of cup.  As parents we worry, "Are they eating enough?". With jarred food you can really quantify how much they have eaten, but it gets a little blurry when half of the diced up food you give them is on the floor.  My point is, I have been there!  Okay, let's get going with the basics...

Getting Ready

A week or two before you begin to introduce solids, start to thicken their baby food.  Thicker foods require more movement of the tongue and muscles in the mouth, which helps lay a good foundation for moving a solid piece of food around in their mouth.

If you are making your own baby food (get the DIY here), then add less water or liquid when pureeing and be on stage 2 if you are using jarred food.  Some stage 3 type foods would be great as long as it doesn't have a mixed texture.  Many of the jarred variety have whole pieces of food mixed in with the puree, don't go there-- yet.  That is putting the cart before the horse.  For now, stick with smooth purees, gradually increasing their thickness.  You can also increase thickness by adding cereal or freshly pureed foods into jarred baby foods.

Also, begin to dramatically chew for your baby.  Show them how you put a small piece of food into your mouth using your hand and leave your mouth open so they can see what you're doing.  It may take finding the right moment to get their attention, but this will help peak their interest, as well as teach them what they should do when you hold that piece of food up to them for the first time.  

When to Get Started

Generally speaking, a good time to start for most babies is around 8-9 months.  However, it may be later for your child, especially if they were a preemie.  You will know they aren't quite ready if they refuse, gag, or cough a lot when you try.  That's okay, don't be discouraged, this just means you will need to take it slower and consistently offer safe foods they won't choke on.  

For other babies, it may be even earlier.  As an OT, I can't recommend starting earlier, but of course it is your choice if you feel they are ready.  It is likely that they will be mostly swallowing (not chewing) most of the food though.  

What the First Food Should Be



The best first table food to give your child is Gerber Puffs.  No, I am not getting any kickbacks for saying that!  I have tried a few other brands, but the texture of the Gerber variety is great for beginners. Puffs are perfect because they are hard and crunchy initially, which helps babies realize there is something in their mouth and how to keep track of it once it is in there.  Some people think to start soft with something like eggs or banana. Not bad logic, but because those foods are so soft, babies have a hard time feeling exactly where it is in their mouth.  The wonderful thing about puffs is that they dissolve in saliva in just a few seconds.  So, if your babe doesn't chew and just tries to swallow they aren't going to choke on it.  That is peace of mind.

Puffs are also great because they can be broken into really small pieces for those first attempts with nervous parents.  And, babies can pick them up easily!

Stick with these for a few days to a week, until you can see them munching up and down with their jaw.  Ideally, they should be feeding themselves the puffs, too, but don't let that be a deal breaker on moving forward.

Once they get the hang of puffs, try small pieces of other foods that dissolve really quickly.  Some examples are: Town House Crackers (not Ritz), Graham Crackers, Cheese Puffs, and Baby Mums Mums. I know these are not the healthiest of options, but in terms of safety and learning to chew they are the best.  If you aren't sure if something is safe, do a taste test yourself. How quickly does it dissolve compared to a puff?  How much do you need to chew it?

As your child manages these foods well, you can start with soft foods like bananas, noodles, cheese, breads, and overly cooked veggies in a cube shape.

Important Tips

• Once you begin introducing table foods, offer one at each meal.  Then, slowly increase the variety of foods they are eating as they are managing more foods.

• Continue to steadily increase the thickness of baby foods as you progress with table foods.  If you aren't making your own baby foods try pureeing what you are eating for dinner or mix this into the jarred baby food.  This will help get your child used to more textures and tastes.

• Carefully monitor all new foods.  Some coughing and an occasional gag is normal.  If you are seeing this frequently, the texture you are giving them may be too difficult for them.  Wait a week or so before introducing it again and then proceed slowly. Discuss persistent gagging and choking with your doctor.

Part 2 of Transitioning Your Baby to Table will be coming at you in a few weeks!  Have any questions, I want to hear them?  If you need more inspiration for Table Food ideas, check out my Mega List and follow me on Pinterest for lots of cute presentation ideas!

Click here for Part 2 in this series.

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Working Through Feeding Challenges with Your Child: A Consult

My hope when beginning this blog 4 months ago was that Your Kid's Table would be a place that parents could find reliable answers for feeding challenges they were facing with their children.  The posts I write are a good start, but a lot of the time you all have more questions and specific instances that need individual recommendations.   For the last two months I have been (slowly) putting together a plan to offer consultation services, so that I am able to provide this one-on-one support.  

I am very excited to announce that today that is possible!  I am now offering consulting services to address a wide range of feeding and sensory concerns you may have for your child.  

Milo and his mother Amanda were my first consult at Your Kid's Table.  Amanda contacted me a few weeks ago with concerns about Milo's (15 months old) eating.  I want to share with you Milo's story in hope's that you can apply some of the strategies I gave to Amanda with your own child.  


Milo was born 6 weeks early and struggled to eat enough from a bottle most of his first year.  He is growing, happy, and has a lot of energy, but is low on the growth chart for weight.  Currently, he is eating stage 2 and 3 baby foods and a few crunchy table foods.  He refuses to put most table foods into his mouth.  Milo also has several food allergies, including peanuts, wheat, and dairy.  As you can see, Amanda is facing some challenges.  Obviously, the main goal of the consult was to give Amanda strategies to, well, get Milo to eat more table foods.  

Skyping with Amanda and Milo

Amanda chose to have her consult over Skype and I was able to see the ridiculously adorable Milo eat a teething biscuit.  This was very helpful because it helped me narrow down why he may be refusing some of the foods he is eating.  I could see through our video chat that Milo was chewing his food quite well and using a rotary chew.  A rotary chew is the jaw moving in a circular motion to really grind up food, this is a mature chew that should develop by 12-24 months.  Prior to the rotary chew, babies use an up and down munching chew.  

After asking Amanda a few questions, I discovered that Milo gags at the sight of some foods, like bananas.  This, in addition to witnessing his rotary chew, is a strong indicator that he may be refusing foods due to sensory sensitivity.   Now that I had an idea of why Milo wasn't eating well, I could  give Amanda more specific strategies for Milo.  It would have been difficult for me to be certain of this without seeing him myself.

After watching Milo for a few minutes, Amanda and I spent the rest of the time talking about different strategies.  Here are a few : (And, I do mean a few, the written summary I gave her after the consult was nearly 3 pages long.)

• Give Milo lots of opportunity for messy play through sensory bins and creative play time, like painting.  (Click here for more sensory bin ideas and follow me on Pinterest to find all sorts of recipes and ideas for other messy play.)

• Try a vibrating toothbrush, as he tolerates.  Encourage, don’t force.  This will help break down some of the sensory sensitivity he is having in his mouth.  Vibration is strong sensory input.

• Start to get him to tolerate some of the textures he doesn't like by playing with those foods for a few minutes at the end of the meal.  For example, have him push the banana around like a car.  It may be necessary to play first with the banana inside of the peel.  While he is playing say something like, “Oh, we are going to open the doors (of the car),” and slowly pull back some of the peel.   The idea is to slowly make baby steps from wherever his current comfort level is with a food.  If Milo gags briefly, calmly and reassuringly say, “You’re ok,” and continue with play if he is able to.  If there is a lot of gagging, calmly remove the food and don’t make a big of a deal out of the gagging.  You may say, “You’re ok”, again and change the activity if need be. (Click here for more info on playing with food.)

• Use spreads to increase the variety of foods and his caloric intake on what ever foods you can.  Spread thin if you need to so the texture isn't overwhelming or alternate a plain piece and a piece of food with spread on it.

• Try to make as much food as possible and slowly transition away from store bought baby food.  Jarred food doesn't compare in terms of texture and taste. Also, try slowly making foods thicker and with seasonings.  Most table foods can go into a food processor.   As he tolerates thicker foods try giving him small pieces of those foods individually.  Think spaghetti, meatloaf/potatoes/veggie, and polenta/fish/veggie for meal ideas. (Click here for more first table food ideas.) 

• If he allows you, place very small pieces of new or non-preferred foods into his mouth shortly after he finishes chewing a bite of something he really likes. Slowly, increase size and frequency of the new food.

• Remember to stay consistent, keep mealtimes positive, and be patient.  Eating is a skill just like any other milestone in their development.  It takes time.

Milo with messy hands and face after eating. And, drinking from his straw cup !
Great job Milo and Amanda!

Okay, I am going to have to stop there, this post is getting really long!  I hope this gives you ideas for some of the challenges you may be having with your own child.  

Amanda reported that the consult was extremely helpful and shared some great feedback, "...  It was nice to have someone certified watch him eat and give me suggestions vs. me just grasping at different ideas (your blog is also very helpful with this). The written summary was great, very detailed..."  I am looking forward to hearing how Milo is doing and will share updates on his progress on facebook.

Maybe a consult would be right for you, too?  Not sure or have other questions about the process then contact me at YourKidsTable@gmail.com and be sure to check out my new consulting page by clicking here or in the top menu. 

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Not-Spicy Asian Peanut Sauce Recipe for Kids

For those of you following the blog, I am asking for a little patience.  We are in the process of moving and life is more than hectic right now, please forgive the short post, or any delay that may occur with next week's post.  Once we get settled into our temporary housing, (we will be moving again in 3 months), I have lots of wonderful posts and additions to the blog that I am really excited about!

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, I want to share a new recipe I tried and adapted for our family.  As I have mentioned previously, I have been having some difficulty with my now 1 year old's (Ahh, I can't believe he's one!) eating.  Although, I haven't had to deal with concerns about Isaac's weight gain, it has been very stressful for me as a mom.  I have had to give myself little occupational therapy pep talks every day.  Things like, "You can't feed him pizza every night for dinner."  I am very grateful and pleased to say that Isaac's eating has been steadily improving.  Not to keep harping on it, but the Basic Strategies I lay out really are my guide and what I kept relying on with Isaac on a daily basis.  


When I was at my wits end about a week or two ago, I knew I had to sit down and do a meal plan for the the whole family that would challenge Isaac just enough, but not too much that he would refuse to eat. I love to do meal plans, but with the all the chaos of moving, it just  hasn't been happening a lot lately.  I finally got it together but was nervous about one dinner in particular -- Asian night.  I had planned on making egg rolls (store-bought), brown rice, and shrimp stir-fry.  There wasn't any preferred food in this meal for Isaac and I wasn't sure how to incorporate one, especially since he only had a few foods I would consider preferred.  Then it dawned on me to make a sauce, separately.  I wasn't sure if he would respond better to the dry rice or a wet texture.  Isaac likes a lot of flavor and peanut butter (see my note below on feeding peanut butter to kids under 2) so I thought I would try an Asian peanut sauce, problem is they are virtually all spicy, really spicy. I adapted a recipe I found on Good Earth Peanuts.  This recipe is extremely forgiving, so feel free to experiment and use what you have on hand.

Asian Peanut Sauce


3/4 cups of peanut butter (I used Jiff, but I think natural would work well, too)
3 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil (I think you can skip this unless you use natural peanut butter)
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of hoisin sauce (optional)
1/3 cup of water


Whisk all ingredients together and then heat slowly over a low heat, stirring frequently.  Add more water or vinegar if you would like a thinner consistency.  Also, if you use a sugar free peanut butter, you may want to add 1-2 tbs of brown sugar.


Seriously, this is so easy and tasty.  As you may have realized, I am not providing you with sophisticated gourmet recipes (I wish I had time for those).  The recipes I share on this blog are easy to put together and hopefully get you thinking a little out of the box when it comes to what you are having for dinner.  I want to inspire you to try something new or different with your kids!


As for our dinner, Isaac devoured the sauce mixed in with his brown rice, and even ate some shrimp.  It was a good night for him (and me too)!  I do have to admit, Sam struggled through this dinner and didn't care for the peanut sauce very much, despite his love of peanut butter. He ate enough though, with a lot of encouragement.  You never know how it's going to go, until you try!


I know people might question me on giving Isaac peanut butter before the age of 2.  In a nutshell, (sorry, can't pass up the pun) I have given peanut butter to my boys before the age of 1 because we don't have a family history of food allergies.  I introduced it slowly and am careful to how thick it is when they are young because it can be a choking hazard.   Some research shows that there is no evidence of reduced risk to allergies by waiting to introduce foods when a child is older.  Of course, you should always discuss these concerns and any questions you may have with your child's doctor.  


If you are new to meal planning or looking for more inspiration Modern Parents Messy Kids has a whole series dedicated to the ins and outs of planning ahead. 


What do you think, going to give Asian Peanut Sauce a try?  Follow me on Facebook so you can keep track of other yummy recipes I share on my page!

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Cooking with Your Kid: Quiche, Made Your Way

Quiche is a perfect, light, summer dish that is very forgiving and versatile.  I love to cook anything that requires you to throw everything into one pot or bowl and stir.  Also, you can serve it up for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and it reheats well for leftovers.  We had it for dinner last night and I knew it was a bit risky for my kids.  Sam always needs some encouragement to eat some of his scrambled eggs (quiche is basically scrambled eggs in a pie shell) and Isaac has refused eggs several times all together.  I did serve it with fruit, so they would have a preferred food, and I knew they would gobble up the crust (who can blame them).  I added a seasonal ingredient, fresh from my mother's garden, swiss chard, alongside a diced tomato!  I know I may be losing some of you here, swiss chard, for kids?  Yes!  I really feel strongly that there doesn't have to be "kid foods".  Our little ones are capable of eating more than pizza, chicken nuggets, and fries...BUT only if we give them the opportunity to.  I will admit that I was really pushing the envelope with the swiss chard, but I took a few precautions to give the boys the best chance of eating and enjoying our quiche.  Read on to see how I approached success at our dinner table, as well as the recipe for this yummy dish!  

The first step was getting Sam to help me cook, which is never a problem.  As I have stated in previous posts, kids often feel invested in the meal when they help prepare it.  I had even more motivation last night though because I wanted him to interact with the swiss chard, so I had him help me chop it up.  Now, I have him touching this new food!  Next we smelled it, which also helps children feel more comfortable with new foods. Smelling a food also gets it up close to their face, you know by their mouth, where we ultimately want them to put it.  I made sure to chop it up very small.  No, not to hide the food in the quiche, but to keep the taste from being to overwhelming in one bite or risking a long stringy piece that the baby could choke on.  Also, Sam may have passed on the food altogether if he got a big piece because that texture can be overwhelming for him.  Not to say that I won't eventually use larger pieces, but I will work them up to this. Once all the food was chopped up, I asked Sam to scoop it up off the cutting board with his hands into the pot (little pieces of it got stuck all over his hands).  He made a few comments about his hands being dirty, which I acknowledged but didn't dwell on.  I gave him a wet paper towel to wash his own hands off.  Lastly, I sauteed the  greens in olive oil and chicken stock to mellow the flavor.

Sam helping me cut up the veggies.  Don't worry, he just has a butter knife!

While the quiche was cooking I turned the oven light on so he could occasionally take a peek and he stood at a safe distance while I pulled it out of the oven.  I was trying to keep him involved in the whole process.  I decided to give Sam a whole slice (as opposed to chopping it up in a bowl for him) and showed him how to use the side of his fork to cut it.  I was hoping this independence would spur his eating on even more.  He was excited, telling his Dad, "I made this quiche!"  He took 3-4 bites, eating well, and then stopped.  Sam asked, "Can I have more crust?"  He had eaten all of his off the top.  I told him, there was crust on the bottom of his quiche.  He calmly said, "I want more of the top part."  To which I replied, "Maybe once you have some more of the quiche."  Sam said nothing and started playing with his utensils.  I let this go on for a while, since I was dealing with Isaac (I'll get to him in a minute).  I realized Sam was stuck in a rut and may not eat any more quiche.  I wanted to change things up a little to get him interested again.  I looked at his plate and saw that I had given him too large of a piece.  I took some off and said, "I think we have too much on here."  Then I coarsely chopped the rest up for him and loaded up another bite onto his fork.  I laid it down so he could feed himself.  He took the bite and I gave him some praise, letting him know how happy I was that he was eating some more.  We took a few bites together and he ate what I felt was a good portion for him.  It wasn't his best, but he did okay.  I didn't encourage him to eat all of it because I want him to recognize his own hunger cues and respect that he had already pushed himself a little.

Now, Isaac is a whole different story.  He is having a lot of trouble eating a large quantity or variety of foods.  We are making progress, but it is slow.  I knew he would finger feed broken up pieces of the crust so I started with that. For Isaac, he needs to see and begin eating something he enjoys before he tries something foreign and non-preferred.  This is something I have learned through trial and error over the last few weeks.  Once he had started on that I tried to fork feed small bites of the bottom of the quiche to him.  My thought was he will get some crust and some egg.  Then, I would work up to bigger pieces of just egg.  That plan fell flat, despite my best efforts.  I tried to stay calm, but was getting very frustrated with the constant batting away of my hand approaching his mouth!  I put some small bite sized pieces right onto his tray in hopes he would start to finger feed them himself.  He wasn't.  Now, he was starting to get fussy and I was officially frustrated.  I took a breath and turned away to talk to Sam.  A minute later, my husband said, "Hey, he's eating the quiche."  I was elated that he was even trying it.  He continued on to eat a small portion, then allowing me to put small pieces into his mouth along with him feeding himself. My husband kept small pieces coming on his tray and I made sure to say "yeah" and clap for the bites he was taking.  He didn't eat what I would consider a lot, but he ate a lot for him!  That's all I can ask for.

The point here isn't to share every detail of my dinner, but to get you thinking about ways you can increase the variety of foods your kid eats.  Also, this isn't as cumbersome as it sounds.  Being aware of challenges you may face and being armed with small tricks will allow you to manage meals better.  Most of the interactions I described only took a few minutes.  I hope this gives you some food for thought.  Are you inspired to try something new with your kid?

Alright, on with the recipe!  You really have a lot of room to play around with quiche.  It can be made with 4-6 eggs and a large variety of veggies and proteins taste great.  I used swiss chard, tomato, and mozzarella/parmesan cheese (wish it had been goat cheese) because it is what I had on hand.  I really liked this combination and will definitely make it again.  Be creative and try some new combinations.

Quiche, Made Your Way

1 pie shell (I used store bought, but more power to you if you want to make from scratch!)
5 eggs
1 cup of milk (half and half or heavy cream will give a creamier texture)
1 cup of cheese (I used part-skim mozzarella and fresh grated parmesan)
2/3 cup of cooked swiss chard
1/2 cup of diced tomato
1 tsp of thyme
1 pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper

Whisk eggs, seasonings, and milk together.  Add cheese and veggies.  Mix well and pour into pie shell.  Bake at 425 for 30-40 minutes.  The cook time may vary depending on what you add to it.  It is that simple!

This quiche can be made with just cheese as well.  If you load in lots of extras you may need to add less cheese so that it all fits.

Here are some ideas if you need some inspiration: shrimp, ham, sausage, bacon, turkey, onion, spinach, mushroom, broccoli, sun-dried tomato, capers, and zucchini.

Overall, I think this was a success at my kid's table, I made sure to make something that was more preferred for both of them tonight for dinner.  Let me know what quiche you are going to try!

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Mega List of Table Foods for Your Baby or Toddler

It is time to talk about the first real-deal table foods you should give your baby.  Most of the ideas I am sharing are for babies 10 months and up, but it really depends on how well your baby or toddler is chewing up foods.  You could be introducing these a little earlier or later.  Also, as the parent, you know what's best, go with what makes you comfortable!  If you have questions or concerns about choking and foods that are safe to introduce, then discuss them with your child's pediatrician.  

Clockwise from top: Ripe honeydew melon, whole wheat tortilla, cottage cheese, whole wheat rotini noodles, zucchini bread, shredded cheddar cheese, banana pancakes, and black beans in the middle.

I am going to do this a little backwards and give you food ideas and some meal plans in this post and then follow-up soon in a second post on exactly how to begin making this transition (update: click here and here for those follow up posts).  To be honest, I wanted to have a resource for myself, since Isaac (10 months old) is right in the middle of this transition and I am struggling to make sure he has enough variety.  I do have to admit that Isaac isn't (hmm, need to choose my words carefully here,) the best eater.  He chews and manages food very well, but unless it's not extremely palatable to him he isn't very interested.  Of course, this is very frustrating!  To make sure I optimize my chances at success (aka: he actually eats something other than Gerber Puffs or Cheerios), I need a go to list with all of my ideas (plus some new ones) so I am not scrambling in the craziness of meal prep.  I will be going into more details on troubleshooting in the follow-up post, as well. Anyways, I am hoping some of you can benefit from this list, too!



I am organizing the list into three categories: fruits/vegetables, starches/carbs, and proteins. When putting together meals, plan for at least one food in each of these three groups.  Also, keep in mind that if you mash up a casserole or lasagna all three categories may be covered in one shot.  For example with the lasagna: spaghetti sauce= protein, noodles= carbs, and meat or cheese= protein.  

Important Tips

• Make sure everything you give your baby for the first time is closely monitored.  Chew a small piece in your mouth first and pay attention to how hard it is to chew.  If it doesn't break down easily and quickly, it probably isn't a good choice.
• Stay calm if your baby coughs or chokes a little, it will happen. If you freak out they will freak out. If they are coughing or choking on a food frequently, stop giving it to them and re-introduce at a later date.
• Cut food into small pieces so they can chew it easily.  Cut beans in half and make sure meats are soft and moist.  Help your baby with foods that are difficult to pick up, don't make the pieces bigger until you are sure they can manage them.
• This is a list of table foods, not finger foods, although many of them are.  For example, spread hummus on crackers or serve cottage cheese.  
• I nearly always use whole wheat or whole grain for noodles, crackers, and bread.  I would urge you to set the trend now and your child will not know any different.  Okay, I won't lecture on the benefits of whole grains, well not right now, anyways!

*Links are added throughout the post to Amazon so you can see what some of these foods actually are- I know not everyone has had quinoa before! There are also links to recipes!

Proteins

Tofu

Meatballs

Meatloaf

Cheese shredded from a hand grater (it is thicker and easier to grab this way)

Tilapia

Salmon

Chicken (make sure it is extra soft)

Turkey (ground or breast/cutlet)

Hard-boiled Egg

Scrambled Egg

Hummus

Black Beans

Cheese Spreads

Cottage Cheese

Ricotta Cheese

Crumbled Goat Cheese (or use as a spread)

Plain Pulled Pork (make sure it is extra soft)

Shreds of Pot Roast  (make sure it is extra soft)

Yogurt

Tzatziki Sauce (may need to puree if there are large pieces of cucumber in it)

Carbs

Toast

Plain or Buttered Bread

English Muffin

Bagel

Cheerios

Barley

Corn Grits/Polenta
Brown Rice

Short Pasta

Graham Crackers

Town House Crackers

Pancakes

Crepes

Waffles

French toast

Corn Grits/Polenta

Tortilla

Pita

Oatmeal
Quinoa

Cream Of  Wheat

Fruit and Vegetable Breads (i.e. zucchini, banana, etc.)

Muffins

Corn Bread

Fruits/Vegetables

Peaches

Watermelon

Plum

Mango

Banana

Avocado

Potato

Sweet Potato

Applesauce

Pears

Peas

Cooked Diced Apples

Cooked Diced Carrots (great to use pieces from soups)

Cooked Diced Celery

Pureed Soups (i.e. tomato, butternut squash)

Inside of Baked Potato

Mashed Potato

Mashed Sweet Potato

Broccoli (make sure this is extra soft)

Cauliflower (make sure this is extra soft)

Puree Fruits and use as a spread

Butternut Squash

Zucchini

Strawberries

Blackberries

Blueberries

Raspberries (many babies will find these too tart, but still give it a try)

Spinach (use in casseroles or foods you are mashing up)

Meal Plans

Below, I am outlining some various meal plans, just to give you some ideas.  Many of the meals would suit a toddler or big kid as well.  Again, depending on how your child is managing foods, you may need to dice or mash foods more.  I would encourage you to think of what you are eating and if you could modify it for your baby.  Ideally, you want your baby (soon to be toddler) to be eating what you are eating.  This may mean some planning ahead.  Mash up or chop what you are eating into small pieces.  Once you get into this frame of mind, you will be surprised to think of all the foods your baby can enjoy, too!

Also, I try to vary textures at each meal.  Meaning, I want one kind of food that needs to be eaten from a spoon and at least one that is finger-fed.  It doesn't always work out this way, but that's the goal, especially as they are transitioning off of all pureed foods.

I haven't provided snack suggestions in this post, as most babies aren't eating them.  

Breakfast

• English muffin with cream cheese and chopped strawberries
• Cottage cheese (depending on age may need to chop coarsely in food processor), diced pear, and graham crackers
• Diced hard-boiled egg, diced toast with butter, and applesauce
• Cream Of  Wheat with pureed berries and plain whole milk yogurt (yes, mix this all together)
• Pumpkin waffles and diced banana

Lunch

• Tortilla folded in half (quesadilla style) with a little melted cheese inside and mashed avocado
• No sugar added applesauce, zucchini bread, and shredded mozzarella pieces
• Tomato soup with black beans and blueberry cornbread
• Hummus spread on pita with diced fruit salad (or whatever fruit you have on hand)
• Shreds of pot roast in tzatziki sauce and pureed mango-banana sauce (blend pieces of mango and banana together, leaving it a little chunky). 

Dinner

• Ricotta or cottage cheese, spaghetti sauce, spinach, and whole wheat noodles chopped coarsely through a blender or food processor.  Also, give some pieces of noodles to finger feed
• Tilapia, steamed and slightly overcooked broccoli, and polenta
• Meatballs, barley, and diced carrots
• Mashed sweet potatoes, tender turkey breast or cutlet, and pieces of buttered bread
• Canned salmon (I always use wild Alaskan), quinoa, and diced apples/butternut squash

If you have more ideas, please share them!  I would love some new ideas, too! FYI, I used an idea or two from Parents and Babycenter.

Follow along on Pinterest, I am always pinning new, fun, and easy meal ideas. Don't miss any new content by signing up for email notifications (look for the box in the right sidebar)! I have lots more food ideas and developmental info for your babe!

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Blueberry Corn Bread

It is Memorial Day Weekend and while we pause to remember the brave men and women that have honored our country, we naturally want to eat that which symbolizes Americana.  Cornbread, is one of the first things that comes to mind.  Of course, I wanted to up the nutritional value, and with fresh blueberries purchased at the farmer's market, I was inspired!

Now that Isaac is nearly 10 months old, I am really starting to move him onto table foods and many of our meals are revolving around what he can eat with us.   Soft fruits and vegetables, and  breads and muffins (i.e. zucchini bread, banana muffins, etc.) are perfect transition foods for your baby, once they are chewing and managing  soft melt-able foods well.  I wanted Isaac to be able to eat small pieces of cornbread with us, so I pureed the blueberry's before mixing them in. By doing that, he wouldn't get any large unexpected chunks that he could potentially choke on.   If you aren't feeding a baby, you could place whole or chopped berries into the bread, but the puree makes the bread sweeter and also looks very pretty.

I'm happy to report that it worked wonderfully well as a recipe.  I had never heard of blueberry cornbread and thought naively that I had a novel idea. I can hear some of you laughing now, obviously, as my Google searched proved, this is not a novel idea.  However, I didn't see anything with a puree in it, which is perfect for a baby and is just as good for the big kids and adults. I do have to admit that this wasn't a big hit with Isaac, in fact it wasn't a hit at all.  He is just coming off of a bad stomach virus and is slowly getting back into eating.  Cornbread is a little coarse by nature and crumbles everywhere, so Isaac was a little overwhelmed by the texture  It was very frustrating to go through the trouble and have him not eat it, but I have to remind myself that teaching a child to eat is a process!  I still think cornbread is a great idea and I will try it with him again soon, maybe with some melted butter on it.   Yes, try and try at least 12 times applies to babies, too! 

As far as Sam was concerned I didn't want to "trick" him with the puree, which would have been hard to do anyways with the sharp contrast in colors.  He was busy in his sandbox and not interested in helping me make these, so I made sure to point out that the corn bread had blueberries in it, especially because blueberries are really hit or miss with him.   He loves most anything related to bread and gobbled them up.  Again, because he liked them so much I highlighted how good the blueberries were that were in the bread.  If you think your kid might pass on them definitely try to get them involved in cooking these with you.

Silicone Mold for Muffins

I made my cornbread in a mini-muffin tin and a  kid-tray of larger insect shaped muffins (see above).  I knew Sam would love eating a butterfly so I did this just for fun, don't feel like you need to purchase something like this.  Although, this could be a great hook to get your kid to try something they normally wouldn't.

I left some of my muffins plain.  The blueberry was an experiment after all.

Blueberry Cornbread

adapted from food.com

• Prep Time: 20-30 minutes
• Total Time: 35-45 minutes
• Serves: 10
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup honey 
• 1/2- 3/4 cup of pureed blueberries*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup applesauce or 1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise (I used the mayo)
• *Add as much or little blueberry as you want, there really is no rule.

Directions:

1. 1
   Combine dry ingrients and mix.
2. 2
   Combine wet ingredients and mix.*
3. 3
   Slowly pour wet ingredients into dry and fold in gently. Take care not to over-mix.
4. 4
   Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (adjust to your oven) if using an 8x8 pan.  15 minutes for muffins. 12 minutes for mini-muffins
5. 5
   Let cool and cut into 20 squares or remove from muffin tins.
   
   
   *If you want there to be a swirl in your cornbread pour blueberry puree in while almost done folding wet and dry ingredients.  If you want to pour puree on top of the bread and use a butter knife to swirl through.  If you are using a mini muffin pan pour a small dollop on top of each muffin and stir through with a toothpick.  

Some Tips on Improving Your Kid's Eating:

• Kids of all ages may have some difficulty with the texture of cornbread, as Isaac did. A different texture like this, can catch them off guard, and then they may refuse to eat it.  As you present cornbread to your kid, try to describe what it is going to feel like in their mouth, when they take a bite.  You might say something like, "This bread falls apart very easily so little pieces will go all over your mouth and might fall on your lips and chin.  The little crumbles melt quickly and are easy to chew."  If your kid seems nervous, you might say something like this first, "Let's try a little bite first, with some butter on it."  By taking a small bite, the texture won't be as overwhelming, initially.  Also, the butter will change the texture a little, making it less harsh.  This tactic can apply to any new or non-preferred food you are giving your kid.  

• As I have mentioned before, I am not a big fan of hiding food as purees in other highly desirable foods. It is necessary in some instances, and is appropriate in some recipes like the Blueberry Cornbread.  Since Sam liked the blueberry cornbread so much, I took the opportunity to use this as a door into eating fresh whole blueberries:
• I served Sam fresh blueberries the next morning along side his whole grain bagel, which he initially ignored.  It had been quite a while since he had them since they are so tart our of season.  I nonchalantly asked him to try a blueberry half way through our bagels.  He nonchalantly replied, "I am eating my bagel."  I gave him another reminder a few minutes later, to which he said, "I don't like blueberries."  I ignored this statement and calmly grabbed the cute little green carton of berries.  I looked in to the carton and acted like I was searching for something.  I knew I had his attention.  Then, I said, "Hmm, I wonder, if I can find a little baby blueberry in here?"  What a surprise (sarcasm), I did!  I pulled it out and put it on his plate, saying, "Oh, look at this cute little baby blueberry.  I am going to find one and eat one too!"  Next, I pulled one out for me and said, "Okay, let's eat this little baby blueberries." And, we did!  Notice, I didn't ask him if he wanted to eat it, I just set it up as an assumption (of course, he still might have said no). The blueberries were so sweet and ripe, I was fairly certain he was going to like them.  I then continued our little game, finding little boy, mommy, and daddy, blueberries.  In all he only ate 5 blueberries, but that was a success.  In fact, if he had only eaten one it would have been a success.  I will try and build on this the next time we have blueberries, trying to get him to eat more with less effort. However, he may very well refuse the next time, and if he does, I will try again. 

There were a few things that I think made this experience really successful:  I was giving him my full attention, we ate it together, and I remained calm.  I was prepared to be disappointed, but not discouraged!

The example above is just one example.  My hope is that you get the idea of what I was doing and adapt it to your situation with your kid!

Enjoy the grilling, swimming, and hopefully blueberry cornbread.  Happy Memorial Day! 

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