Food & True Love

Carter & Lydia in the car:

Funny, they do this ALL THE TIME!!

Food:

I posted the recipe for Carter's pasta dish, and I thought I should update it, now that he eats it on a regular basis and I have tweaked it a little. I also make a spaghetti version that I would like to share. He loves them both, and even though they are still rather mushy.

Chicken Pasta:

One package (12 oz) Barilla Stelline (Stars) cooked to be fairly mushy.

One package (12 oz) frozen Peas and Carrots

One can (15 oz) Corn drained

One lb chicken - shredded

Yams or Sweet Potatoes - peeled, cut, baked, and pureed

Mix all ingredients together. Add more or less yams depending on your child's ability to eat solids. When Carter was younger, I put more yams/sweet potatoes than I do now. I freeze this mixture in ice cube trays and it works great. I freeze the pasta mix separately from the yams and combine them during re-heating. That way I can adjust the ratio of pasta to yams. You can also add any more vegetables that your child will eat. I tried a can of Veg-All once. It was hit and miss as to his disdain of that batch. I decided to be on the safe side and give you what always works for us.

Turkey Spaghetti:

One package (12 oz) Barilla Stelline (Stars) cooked to be fairly mushy.

Two packages (26 oz each) of Pomi tomatoes - strained

One to Two lbs of peeled baby carrots - steamed and pureed

Spinach - sauteed in olive oil to taste

Welch's White Grape Juice frozen concentrate (11.5 oz)

One lb ground turkey - browned and broken into small chunks

Mix all ingredients together. I choose the Pomi tomatoes because it is pure tomatoes, NOTHING added, not even water. I usually get the organic carrots because they are not any more expensive, and it can't hurt right? The juice that I use does not contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. The White Grape Juice Cocktail does contain HFCS - unsure what the difference is. I stood at the frozen juice section for too long in the search for a juice that does not contain HFCS. There aren't very many of them. I have tried ground beef, but he does not like it as much as the turkey. You can also use Venison.

I found that I can feed him more of the pasta and spaghetti because it contains more vegetables. I was feeding him a meat, a vegetable, and a fruit at each meal. Then I realized that there are already a lot of veggies in his meats. So, he just eats more of the meats now.

Carter is content to eat his mush. Some days he wants to try something I'm eating, and other days he absolutely will not!! It is hit and miss, but these are usually winners in our house. Hope that helps you.