Thanksgiving is just around the corner and many of you are looking forward to sharing this family holiday with your children. Some of you may even be planning a few special kid-friendly recipes in the hopes that your child might sit through the whole meal.
There are many foods at the Thanksgiving table that your children will be able to eat. Even the youngest eaters can enjoy mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, applesauce, turnips and bread. So try to include all children, no matter what their age, in the meal. If, however, your toddler does not want to sit through the meal or seems to be completely uninterested in eating at all, don’t put pressure on him to join in.
For many kids, a large gathering of people can be overwhelming. They might feel out of their element and may not be comfortable or feel much like themselves. Because of this, a child at any large gathering may not want to eat much or even eat at all. Don’t worry about it. I believe that all little kids should be given a free pass during these large holiday meals. If your child doesn’t seem to want to eat dinner with the group, try not to force her - simply make a plate for her and set it aside for later when she is ready to eat.
To help make it easier and more comfortable for your child to be a part of the Thanksgiving table, there are many things that you can do to prepare her for the meal:
· Talk to your child ahead of time about what Thanksgiving will be like and who will be there.
· Read books about Thanksgiving.
· Get your child involved in the cooking and/or grocery shopping.
· Ask your child to make a picture or place cards for the Thanksgiving table.
· Let your older child (two years and up) dish out his own food from the main serving dishes.
· Ask your child if she’d like to say something (a story, song, prayer, etc.) at the opening of the meal.
· Most of all, have fun!
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
November 26th, 2008 • Filed under Family Meals, Feeding Your Baby, Feeding Your Toddler, Food • No Comments »
Tags: holidays
I just found a Thanksgiving recipe in The New York Times online that is perfect for kids, even the youngest eaters.
Make sure you leave out the honey if your baby is under a year old. And feel free to use whole-fat yogurt if you are making this recipe solely for a child under the age of two.
Sweet Potato Puree With Apples
November 21st, 2008 • Filed under Family Meals, Feeding Your Baby, Feeding Your Toddler, Food • No Comments »
Tags: Recipes, Thanksgiving
This is a direct quote from my 5-year-old daughter when I told her we were having Brussels sprouts for dinner last night. I kid you not. And, during the course of the dinner she said, “can someone give me more Brussels sprouts please?”. Again, I am not kidding.
Now if I can just get my 2-year-old to eat anything, it would be a success.
November 19th, 2008 • Filed under Family Meals, Food, Pickiness • No Comments »
The Food Section has written about this, and because their pictures are so great, I’m just going to point you to their story directly…
Teeny Tiny Broccoli People, Part Deux.
Funny and creepy.
November 14th, 2008 • Filed under Food, Products • No Comments »
Homemaker Barbi is giving away a breastfeeding book and BPA-free bottle by Medela.
Visit the giveaway here and enter to win by midnight PST on November 14, 2008.
November 10th, 2008 • Filed under Feeding Your Baby, Products • No Comments »
Tags: giveaways
Pumpkins are a great food to feed your young child. For starters, they are loaded with beta-carotene (this is what gives them their brilliant orange color). Studies show that foods rich in beta-carotene help prevent certain cancers and protect against heart disease.But the real nutritional value in the pumpkin comes from its seeds, also known as pepitas. Pumpkin seeds are a good source of iron, copper, zinc and protein, One-quarter cup of pumpkin seeds will give you 28.7% of your daily value of iron and 16.9% of your daily value of protein!The New York Times has just dedicated a whole section to cooking with pumpkin, just in time for the season.Check it out here: Pumpkin Recipes
October 20th, 2008 • Filed under Feeding Your Baby, Feeding Your Toddler, Food, Local Food • No Comments »
This is an incredibly important article from The New York Times that I hope you get a chance to read:
6 Food Mistakes Parents Make
September 17th, 2008 • Filed under Feeding Your Baby, Feeding Your Toddler, Pickiness • No Comments »
Cool Mom Picks has a great post today about a feature on Peapod by Stop&Shop that allows you to filter out grocery items based on your kids’ allergies. Or your husband’s shellfish allergy, if you have one of those like I do!
Check out the full post here:
Big Brands Doing Cool Things: Peapod Makes Shopping Easy for Parents with Allergic Kids
August 6th, 2008 • Filed under Food, Food Allergies • No Comments »
There’s a nice article on Epicurious called Back to School Lunches that goes along with today’s release of a new cookbook titled Real Food for Healthy Kids.
The article includes tips for packing lunches and offers recipes from the new book. My favorite tips are the ones called “Give Jr. Power” and “Vary the Menu” in the section of the article called tips for keeping picky eaters happy.
The cookbook itself contains over 200 recipes for kids, all of which are said to have been taste-tested by children.
August 5th, 2008 • Filed under Food, Products • No Comments »
Tags: cookbooks
