Man, I am falling behind on my posts. Every day juggling four kids and a business gets easier or at least more efficient so maybe I can start working on blog posts again. We will see. This opportunity may just be a fluke.
This last week has been quite the learning experience with introducing two new kids into our paleo world. When Levi and I got the phone call we kind of freaked out because we were prepared for a baby not two toddlers. We had the formula and the bottles and the crib. We ran to Walmart and bought two different sizes of diapers because we were told the two year old was not potty-trained (which we are doing now...say a prayer) and a gallon of whole organic milk and a box of Cheerios cereal. I really didn't want to buy the Cheerios but we were afraid they wouldn't eat our scrambled eggs in the morning. I am so glad to say that the Cheerios have not even been needed!
These little ones initially say no (over and over again) to every single food put in front of them...but then they start to eat it. So far they have not turned down any protein. In fact, they usually eat a second helping of whatever meat we are having. Pretty much every veggie we have introduced has been a completely foreign food to them but despite their adamant "no" they have tried and usually really liked it all. They have eaten Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, kale, sweet potato, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, spinach, broccoli, avocados, summer squash, zucchini, onions, sun dried tomatoes, and snap peas.
We have a rule in our home that you must try a bite of everything or you will not get a snack. This has always been a great encourager to all of our kids to give everything a shot and nine times out of ten they really like it. We have to pretty much enforce this rule over and over again with the same foods because they seem to forget the taste and only see the green color or funky texture. I can't tell you how many times we have had to require "no thank you" bites for broccoli before Jack and Addie figured out they loved it. I read or heard somewhere that you have to introduce a food 10 times to a child before he or she will enjoy the taste and texture. I have found that to really be true.
And I think when encouraging veggies it is important to try all veggies cooked or not cooked in as many ways possible. My kids don't really like kale when it has been cooked down over the stove top and is soft but they beg for kale chips. It is our favorite movie snack...which makes our family sound like hippy weirdos or something but it is what it is. Jack only likes raw carrots but not cooked carrots. That's okay. I just keep some carrots uncooked for him. Even as adults we prefer certain things cooked (or not cooked) a certain way. It is okay to honor your kiddo's preferences as long as they are nutritionally beneficial. Now I'm sure my kids prefer cake to meatloaf but I'm not going to give into to that one.
Feeding 6 people on paleo has be quite the challenge. Just having enough food is the biggest issue. I know you think it is just two more little kids but all four of our kids eat as much as Levi and I do. We took all four kids to Costco on a Saturday (because obviously we must have been desperate) and stocked up on fruit and veggies. We filled our buggy full and once we got to our pretty large SUV and had all the kids buckled up we realized there was no room left for the huge buggy of food we had just spent the last two hours purchasing. We had to stuff food under seats, feet and on the dashboard. It was pretty funny and made a great picture with all four kids passed out from the long day with broccoli as pillows and sweet potatoes as foot rests. I wish I could post that pic because it is super cute but I can't share my new babies' pretty faces online.
Storing the food at home was another issue too! We had to spend an extra $200 to get the smaller counter-width fridge when we built our house so it doesn't hold nearly enough...even for a family of 4. I am always rearranging trying to make everything fit. After our Costco trip trying to fit all those groceries into that tiny little fridge was like doing one of those wooden puzzles where all the pieces fit together in one specific way to form a cube but once you have taken it apart you just have to put all the pieces in a baggie because it just isn't possible to get back together. Thanks to Levi's genius mind we got it all in there with the door shut all the way. (I was ready to just cram the last thing in and shut the door real quick and seal with duct tape.)
I have kept all of our meals very simple this last week...basically a meat and veggies. I have had to come up with a few condiment recipes this week because my two new little ones. I think they turned out really good.
Ketchup
6 oz. tomato paste
3/4 cup water
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 pinch allspice
Simmer in a saucepan for 20 minutes. Let cool. Refrigerate. (Or if you forgot to make this ahead of time just mix everything together and serve. My kids didn't complain one bit about the flavors not being melded.)
Pizza Sauce
8 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
2 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Simmer in saucepan for 20 minutes. Spread over crust. YUMMMM!
I like to make the kids little pizza skewers. On a skewer stick I add a meatball, applegate farm pepperoni that has been folded twice, sauteed button mushroom (if your kid is weird like Addie and begs for mushrooms), large black olive, and cherry tomato and repeat. We sometimes do a small cube of goats milk cheese too. I serve the pizza sauce to dip. This makes a great packable lunch for school age kiddos too! And the husbands love it too!
No comments:
Post a Comment