Nugget-Hitting the Extra Picky Stage

Well it’s here. Nugget is starting to majorly skip meals, snub her nose at past favorites, and basically drive her mama crazy with worry.  Yes she’s energetic, happy, active, etc but when she goes days without eating much except a few raw truffles I lose my mind.   I try to give a variety of food but realistically I know only about 3 of the same types of foods will be eaten everyday which makes me feel crappy about her nutrient intake.

She doesn’t even like pancakes anymore and that includes chocolate pancakes with peach sauce. Enough said!

Nugget no longer likes milkshakes either so there goes getting greens in her. She is finally on a big hemp milk kick (plain-no extras) so that’s a nice change but veggies-forget it. If its not date sweetened, fruit, or cinnamon raisin bread it lands on our adopted cockapoo’s head while he hangs out under the table. She is crazy about kalamata olives which is interesting since they’re so salty and very different from all her other favs.

So I’ve found myself making a lot of desserts to get fat into her at least. The first image shows chocolate cookies made from almonds, cashews, dates, cacao powder and a pinch of Himalayan salt. I fashion them into thumbprint cookies and then in the middle I used Rawmazing.com’s Cashew Orange Cream filling from her Transitional Foods e-book. I replaced the agave/honey option with dates. This has been a big hit for breakfast especially.

The second image is a banana cream pie which was lunch another day. The base is cashews, dates, cinnamon, and a pinch of Himalayan salt. The center is the incredibly delicious Coconut Banana Butter from Chocolate Covered Katie. Using her freezer tip I also made this on its own as a fudge snack one day for Nugget which she enjoyed.

I blame myself for Nuggets dessert addiction. When I was pregnant I started everyday with a whole batch of chocolate pancakes and maple syrup. One hour after that I would eat a second breakfast which was always a bowl of pretzels and a bowl of chocolate ganache to dip them in. I’ve created a monster.

Nuggets Nutters for Butters

I’m very lucky Nugget was given the green light to start nuts at 12 months and even luckier that she didn’t have a bad reaction to them. Nuts are a huge part of my diet and being able to include them in Nuggets was a huge relief to me.

My main way of serving them up-I like to use raw (when possible), organic, unsalted nuts and grind them into butter myself so I can control the consistency. I like to leave them thick rather than very smooth and spreadable so that I can roll them into tiny balls and pop them in the nibble tray for snacking throughout the day since Nugget can’t handle chewing an actual nut yet. So far she goes crazy for them-in particular walnut butter.  I like to have a different nut butter in her nibble tray every two days depending on what’s in my fridge and lack of time to go shopping for new nuts when I run out of different kinds. I’ll also mix some into her morning oatmeal or add them to various bean burger recipes.

Nuts offer a whole range of health benefits (according to the American Dietetic Association):

• Almonds-Fiber and calcium
• Almonds, Hazelnuts & Sunflower Seeds-Vitamin E
• Pecans & Walnuts-full of ellagic acid which may help fight cancer
• Walnuts-Omega-3 fatty acids
• Cashews & Pistachios-Potassium

Nuts contain more unsaturated fats than animal proteins but are low in cholesterol.  According to Dr. Sears toddlers should get 30-40% of their calories from healthy fats. Dr. Sears considers nut butters one of the best fat options for babies and toddlers since they pack a lot of punch in small amounts for those picky eaters with small tummies.

We tend to naturally eat a low fat/high fiber diet with the exception of nuts. Without incorporating them into Nugget’s world I think it would have been hard for me to get enough fat in her each day without relying too much on oils to do the trick. She’s not an avocado fan (I know-the only toddler who doesn’t like avocado) so when I give that to her I have to sneak it. No need for me to hide nuts in her food which is nice.

Your little Nuggets and fiber

It is recommended that vegan children not have high fiber diets but it seems so hard to avoid it. Fiber is in a lot of staples in my home such as dried beans, peas, fruit (the skin is where it’s hanging out), sunflower seeds, almonds, lentils, sweet potatoes, apples, etc. Nugget eats at least one if not two of these foods a day.

Fiber fills up tummies making them feel more full which may make the kiddos eat less throughout the day. It also can inhibit the absorption of fat into the body. Two reasons it’s not very good for little ones growth.

However, fiber is important to the body to ease elimination (have you ever dealt with a constipated little one? I have-definitely hard to watch them go through that). According to HealthyChildren.org fiber also has been shown to prevent heart disease.

Soluble fiber helps to slow the rate of glucose digestion and absorption in the body. This type of fiber can be found in dried beans.

Insoluble fiber comes from plant leaves and peels that soak up water in the body and help clean house.

Talk about a rollercoaster ride of what to give your little ones-on the one hand vegan diets involve most if not all of these foods (in my house all of them) and they provide a fantastic amount of nutrients but on the other hand you have to watch out for too much of a good thing or you could have a baby whose growth rate is not where it should be. A parent can’t win.

I’ll admit-Nugget has a lot of #2 diapers in a day lately which is leading me to believe it’s time to monitor more closely the amount of fiber she’s taking in. Of course her favorite foods involve seed butter, nut butter and sweet potatoes. This is going to be a major exercise in self control (for me!) to not fall back on the tried and trusted menu items too often in a single day.

*Resources:

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Childhood-Nutrition.aspx

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t041500.asp

http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/kids.htm

*image courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons/ little blue hen (I need to get my own camera fixed. Boo.)