Lunches and big snack ideas

[reborin]

Please help me find some new and creative lunch/snack ideas.

Ori does not eat:

fresh fruit (I keep trying tho - maybe he'll see things my way eventually?)
any wheat (whole or mixed or anything with any wheat in it)
straight up dairy, tho he's eating cheese and yogurt now and seems to be ok - maybe. Not 100% on that yet.

He does eat -

steamed veggies
eggs
hummous
rice crackers
soy crackers
rice cakes (the little ones are yummier)
baked chips and cheetos (blame his father)
beans and lentils
rice noodles
soy/quinoa/spelt pasta
tomatoes
avocados (lots of these )
plainville farms deli meat
cheese (mostly goat/sheep but a little cow too)
yogurt
applesauce
squashes and potatoes

If I think of more I'll add it ...tat's what I

[annie]

Does he like smoothies?

We usually keep Violet's snacks pretty straight up....a few cheerios here, or a slice of fruit or veggies. Nothing too exciting, so I'm probably no help

[annie]

Oh, she does like canned beans, drained and rinsed. We also do quesadillas for lunch quite often.

[lisa]

Woah, that's more than Lauren eats (variety wise, she eats a lot!)

Hmm.. we do things like

protein, starch, fruit/veggie for most lunches.

Chicken, beef, turkey, deli turkey, veggie soup w/o broth, noodles and whatever,

Is it that you are bored? Or is he bored? I tend to make myself something "Lauren safe" and then give her a portion.

She totally loves french fries and any other taters, latke, sweet pot fries, etc.

Hmm... will he do a smoothie if you want to get fruits in?

[annie]

Yeah, I second the potatoes, especially roasted as in home fry/wedgy type things. Those are always a hit.

Ok...um

Udon noodles/ get the rice kind...don't use buckwheat soba or anything
Latkes w/ applesauce
thick hearty stews
brown rice balls with nori

I dunno! He eats more than Violet does!

[reborin]

He does, I guess I'm just bored. Seems like the same old things over and over, but really, we do corn tortillas w/black beans or refrieds, latkes, I love fresh applesauce, so I make it about once a week.

The smoothies are a great idea! I was doing them for a bit and then kinda stopped. Not sure why. I think because the rice milk was getting $$.

Protein is hard because he only has front chompers. Even the ones next door haven't broken through. Geesh.

[paquerette]

Something I do for myself a lot is bake extras when I bake potatoes, and the next morning toss them in the frying pan with butter, chop em up good with the spatula, throw in salt pepper parsley, sometimes garlic and paprika, and fry till crispy. Then crack a few eggs in and scramble it all together. When the eggs are mostly cooked, sprinkle some shredded cheese on so it just melts. It's quick, easy, interesting, goes well with ketchup.

[lisa]

Andy, Lauren is up to 10 teeth now and still doesn't chew meat. I just shred it into tiny little swallowable bites, beef the smallest, chicken and turkey a bit bigger because they are a little softer.

[TigerPurring]

Papas con huevo, Scranton-style! I love it!

Another way to make meat really soft is to crock pot it overnight (like 12-16 hours). Even something lean and tough like elk or buffalo will be like butter after a long, slow cook. A little wine or beer helps soften it up, too . . .

And instead of rice milk as a base for a smoothie, juice and a banana works, too. My favorite smoothies don't have milk or yogurt or anything at all, just fruit. If some of the fruit is frozen first, bonus! For extra creamy-ness, coconut milk is a divine addition and a little goes a long way. I haven't tried to give the babies smoothies, though. How do y'all normally give it? With a spoon? In a cup? Even if they knew how to drink from a straw, drinking a smoothie might be more tricky because it's so thick?

I like Michelle's idea of a banana rolled in wheat germ. That sounds pretty darn good.

[annie]

Elk and buffalo? Is this a texas thing?

What about soy yogurt w/ small blueberries, and wheat germ.

Oatmeal cookies made with applesauce instead of sugar, and spelt instead of wheat. You could add a bit of blackstrap molasses for extra iron.

[lisa]

Lauren just totally started digging the straws the last few weeks, and using them mostly the right way, so a really thin smoothie would work I think. Or a straw. Or a glass, who knows. We haven't tried yet. She loves chunked up fruit - fresh or canned or frozen, it's all good to her.

Mmmmm I need to go to the store today, I want some eggs and taters now.

[TigerPurring]

Annie, Matt and I don't really dig factory meat (and until I got pregnant didn't really eat it at all), so when we want it we find it free-range/wild-harvested, or at least organic free range from Whole Foods and Central Market (when they ahve it). We can often find happy chickens, turkeys, and pork from local sources, and take advantage of that when we can. We don't do local fish (water is kind of polluted to enjoy the fish ona regular basis), but we do eat local crawfish now and then (and they're in season!). There are a few ranches in the state that produce decent, more-humane-than-typical beef & buffalo, and even though it's more $$, since the babies are really the only ones that eat it I don't mind the cost too much. I also sometimes get buffalo & elk in the mail from a ranch in Colorado. Some people say they're gamey, but the babes don't mind the stronger taste.

My aunt just divorced my favorite uncle. He loved to hunt and was a great source of venison and wild hog (both of which we actually have a population problem with down here, so I was doing my civic duty to eat it! ), but, no more of that, I guess.

[TigerPurring]

Annie . . . you made me think of MUFFINS! The babies love muffins. Blueberry muffins would put them in orbit, they'd be so happy.

[avivaelona]

[paquerette]

I've been stirring up some kinda quirky leftover jumbles for lunch the last few days that came out pretty good.

Yesterday:
Brown rice
Stewed tomatoes
Mushrooms
Salt, pepper, sesame oil

Today:
Navy beans
Stewed tomatoes
Frozen chopped spinach
salt, pepper, olive oil.

Of course, I think there are various ways they could be improved (oregano, hamburger, cheese).