I was just chatting with a Mom in the grocery store about toddlers being picky eaters and I realized that my little Avie actually eats very well! Grocery Mom was bemoaning the fact that she can't get her 18 month old son to eat any veggies. At all!
I'm shocked! How does your kid survive without veggies?! I was whining because Avie will only eat broccoli, purple cauliflower and carrots- but never the same vegetable more than 3-4 times in a row.... how obnoxious am I???
So I shared some veggie wisdom with her and I'll share it here, too:
Chicken stock steam cheat
I steam Avalyn's veggies in chicken stock, typically. I started this practice in order to get more sodium in her diet and the added flavor was just a bonus. I use Better than Bouillon, so I don't need to worry about the half can of stock that's usually left over after making... oh, ANYTHING. Better than Bouillon is like a paste that you mix with water. Boom, chicken stock. Think of a bouillon cube in squishy form.
Here's the catch with this stock-steaming trick though: it might be addicting. Meaning your kiddo won't want any veggies unless they are steamed in chicken stock. Goodbye, restaurant broccoli side dish. The best way I have found to counter this problem is to slowly wean your baby from stock-steamed to just regular steamed (if they are eating the stock-steamed veggies, that is). The next time you steam, just cut the stock with more water. Increasing the ratio of water to stock with each steam. Hopefully your child will still like veggies when they're BORING again!
Veggie patties - Homemade of course
You can totally buy the frozen kind too.... it's just not as fun for me to blog about. This is the easiest recipe EVER and it's all mine!! Grab a bag of Up Sides in the freezer section ( I used the red quinoa, couscous and vegetables but I might experiment with one of their others next time), 1/2 can of black beans, a 1/2 can of white beans and an egg.
1. Heat the Up Sides as directed, then let it cool enough to handle
2. Meanwhile mash up your beans in a bowl. They don't have to be completely mashy- it's ok to have some full beans
3. Mix your mashed beans and the Up Sides in a bowl with a potato masher to squish some of the bigger Up Side chunks (ha!). I added some corn here, but it's totally optional.
4. Taste for seasoning and add what you think it needs- I added a bit of garlic powder and some ground cumin
5. Crack and egg in and mix some more!
6. "Form" patties. DO NOT GET FRUSTRATED. This mixture will not stick together like your ground beef does. Just do the best you can to form a circle-like blob...
7. Plop those blobs on a foil-lined baking dish and stick it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes a side.
Voila! Their so pretty!
