Foodin' our Food

Foodin'?*

So we have been having much fun with the little boy as of late.  He's a hoot and a half and keeps us moving.  One thing that hasn't been as much fun lately is that he isn't as fond of dinner time.

This is fine, really.  We had been doing something that worked for us and that he enjoyed and now with a new layer of independence unveiled we have to figure out something new.

Until now, he has many been spoon-fed.  Judge us, if you please.  It worked for us.  He was never keen on eating by himself and would help sometimes, but usually preferred to be a passive participant.  He would eat some finger foods, but didn't really go for our food.  At breakfast, he's fine.  Lunch is all him, but dinner was the time he took it easy.

In the last week, he has indicated that now all he wants is our food.  And he wants to do it himself.  Hooray!  And boo, as now we have to figure out what he will eat that we want to.

We've been thinking about different finger foods - in the sense that he likes to pick up off the same plate  that we are eating from and eat that.  This doesn't work with say, soup.  Or risotto.  Arancini, probably!

This all came about when he was balking at his food, which for that week was part of the normal.  We'd put food on his tray to pick up and eat, but what he wanted was the freedom to choose his own food.  We were eating pink snapper that night, battered in a simple Jamie Oliver recipe of breadcrumbs, olive oil, lemon juice/zest and s&p.  The little fellow is not normally a fan of fish.  He indicated that he wanted the plate.  He got the plate.  He ate 2 or 3 good sized chunks of fish.  We stared at each other with woo-hoo glimmers crackling through the air at each other.

The next day he went for mini-quiches.  Again, not something he'd normally go for and one that he chose was so hot that he pulled it out of his mouth and waited for it to cool.  Too hot of food is normally a "oh yeah, I'm done" sort of deal.

The chicken enchiladas were completely ignored.  To be fair, they weren't the best ones I've made (not spicy enough).

The salmon and potato patties were the bees knees! Even as leftovers he was okay with it, but the potato soup that went with it was anathema.  (Without having touched honey, because he's not 2 and we're strict about things like that.  He does love his peanut butter, which is recommended from 12 months down here but not 'til what, 2 or 3 in Canada?)

But now we have to know, what is pick-up-able? And can I make it before 5:30? Because that is a magical time called dinner.  If dinner starts too late we don't want to eat anything at all, but rather be grumpy.

As we planned this week's dinners, we went for easy to reach and grab.  Here's hoping it all goes well. We've had a good start tonight with homemade chicken nuggets, lots of raw veggies and (later in the meal when he was almost full), tater-tots.  I grown-upped the dinner with a lemon-garlic-mayo dip for the nuggets.  Yum! (If you're wondering, it's the juice of a lemon, a clove of garlic and some mayo with a dash o' s&p).  Little fellow wasn't fond of the dip.  Loved the avocado and lime dip tho...

How will homemade veggie packed sausage rolls, pasta and meat sauce, rissoles and fish go?  I don't know.  We'll keep trying.  And stock up on napkins.  This finger food thing can get messy.

*Corner Gas Season 6