Mom to Mom: From My Kitchen to Yours

My friend Jessica is hosting a blog carnival for moms to share food ideas for little kiddos and I've decided to join in on the fun! I sure could use some more creativity in our snack department!

As a family we do try to eat pretty healthy, but we are sure not above eatting out or having wonderful homemade desserts. That being said, I usually make Isaac eat more healthy than Blake and I. :)

When Isaac was just starting to eat solids I did a lot of mashed avacado and purees that I would freeze. That was easy and more economical for us, plus I felt good about what we were feeding our child. I hope to do this with our future kids but you throw a couple of more kids in the mix who knows what I'll do! So just know, if you don't make your own food, I won't "judge" you ;)

My two favorite cook books for kids food right now are Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld and So Easy by Ellie Krieger (which is not for kids, but is healthy and Isaac loves a lot of stuff in there)

This is what we typically eat:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal mostly because that's what fills Isaac the best. I used to do oatmeal, apple juice, and prunes mixed together and microwaved but lately I've been using a recipe from Ellie Krieger's book.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/vanilla-spice-oatmeal-recipe/index.html This is Isaac's FAVORITE breakfast right now, the boy downs it!
Sometimes I make bran muffins with dates, or pancakes. Usually we try to make breakfast pretty heavy.

Lunch: Leftovers from dinner the night before, or a sandwich (peanut butter and jelly or honey, grilled cheese, or tuna sandwich) Usually we also have some kind of fruit (usually banana, apple, or clementine) I can't wait for summer fruit!!!! That will be a nice change. And if Isaac happens to see my baked potato chips I will give him some of those too.

Dinner: That could be a million different things, but I'll just list our latest ruts.
Lemon pepper chicken, cooked carrots and cabbage (without water), and a starch (rice or potato).
Italian (spaghetti and salad, chicken Parmesan, manacotti and salad)
For Isaac, the mac and cheese from Deceptively Delicious is his favorite.http://www.oprah.com/food/Macaroni-and-Cheese-1-with-Butternut-Squash-or-Cauliflower We usually pair that with some frozen sweet peas. That recipe also freezes well if you make it one night for the kids and then put it in snack baggies for a single portion.

Snacks: We are definitely in a rut on this one! Goldfish, goldfish, goldfish!!! And toasted wheat chexs (generic kind) :), I've tried raisins, but they usually end up ALL over the house instead of Isaac's mouth. When we have the opportunity to be home during snack time I'll put him in his high chair and give him Yo-Baby yogurt or apple sauce. Also, I did find another good recipe this week in the Ellie Krieger book called Walnut and Dried Cherry Bars.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/walnut-and-dried-cherry-bars-recipe/index.html In this recipe you could sub the dried cherries with cranberries to curb the expense, and for the preserves I just used what we had on hand (raspberry preserves).
Lastly, at night before Isaac goes to bed we give him a bottle of organic Vitamin D milk. I know, I know, he probably should be done with the bottle by now, but we all choose our battles. Hey, I said earlier I didn't judge you! ;)

That's pretty much what we eat on a daily basis. Hope some of the recipes help. I can't wait to get more ideas from other moms!