Helloooooooo Wednesday!
It’s been a few weeks since I let the chickpea in on the What I Ate Wednesday fun, so let’s jazz up today’s post with the best of both worlds!
What I Ate Wednesday
[breakfast] black coffee, a slice of zucchini-walnut-banana bread and a few slices of fresh watermelon [lunch] spicy miso rice noodle bowl with green onion, baby bok choy, tofu, and lots of Sriracha [dinner] P and I munched on a Hawaiian Roll from the grocery store sushi counter while unloading groceries, then whipped up Elk burgers for dinner! Delish!
That soup though…
My slurp-worthy soup was an impromptu “toss everything in the crisper” sort of ordeal. I used store bought miso soup packets and a bunch of random ingredients from the fridge and pantry along with a few heads of baby bok choy that I’ve been eyeing at the grocery store forever — it was magical! I’ll be whipping this up again super soon so I’ll jot down the measurements next time around so I can post the recipe here!
As for the chickpea, here’s what meals look like for my almost-2 year old lately:
affiliate: plates via
meal #1:
All-Natural Additive-Free Bacon, GF Sweet Potato Pancake, Scrambled Egg, Leftover Pesto Pasta, Watermelon
meal #2:
Watermelon [tis the season!], Popcorn, Organic Blueberries, Avocado, Low-Sugar Icelandic-Style Strawberry Yogurt
meal #3:
Organic grapes, Kale Chips, Cheddar Bunnies, Corn on the Cob [she licked the butter and sea salt off the corn and then ignored it… because, toddlers] and another Watermelon fix
How much she eats will vary on a number of factors, so instead of pushing for induction into the clean plate club, I insist she knows how much to eat and let her set the pace each time.
Veggies have been snubbed more often than not lately so, in an attempt to not freak out, I still offer them throughout the day and sneak them into breads, muffins, pancakes, and sauces and just hope she falls back into her veggie-loving ways. Thankfully avocado is ALWAYS a team favorite, especially in guacamole form!
Letting chicken little help me in the kitchen has also helped tremendously.
While spiralizing carrots and cucumbers for one of my favorite salads, I watched happily as she snacked on both like they were the most delicious thing she had eaten that day. Little successes act as a not-so-subtle reminder for me to calm the eff down and keep things fun.
i cant believe shes already almost 2! did you make the sweet potato pancakes? and love siggis <3
RIGHT!? She needs to stop growing! The pancakes were made with Pamela’s GF pancake mix [SO GOOD!] AND I replaced the water the recipe calls for with sweet potato and coconut milk then added cinnamon – so easy and she loves helping me make/eat them! <3
Love the toddler bites – please do more! I have a 20 month old and always love new ideas for meals. You never know what they will eat or won’t eat so all we can do is keep trying to offer different things.
the soup looks delish! it’s like Canh chua (sour soup) in Vietnam.
I coud seriously eat it every day! <3 Thanks Minh!
Oh man, that soup looks incredible! I am such a miso lover. Great ideas for those toddler meals, I have twin boys who will be one in August and they are such their mommies babies…they love broccoli, blueberries, beans…(lots of B’s I know) veggie loving boys for sure!
Thanks for the great tips!
Strive to thrive,
Em
Haha my kiddo would live off of blueberries and black beans if I let her! Love it!
Watermelon is a great summertime favorite 🙂
That soup? It makes the Asian in me sigh with delight. 🙂 It looks absolutely delicious. 🙂
Gosh I wish my mom fed me that well when I was growing up! So balanced and fresh!
Drooling over the wonderful soup and sushi! Also, can you adopt me as another toddler? I promise to act and eat like one 😉 those meals are so adorable yet nutritious and well balanced. Thank you for letting us link-up!
bahahahaha! Of course 😉 Considering my husband acts like one too half the time.. what’s one more? 😉
A while back our pediatrician told us to focus on the “macro” versus the “micro” view when assessing his food intake (quantity, variety, veggies, etc.). If we just looked at a day or two sometimes we’d get a little obsessive, but if we looked at what he ate over the course of a whole week we saw that, overall, he was eating pretty well. Probably good advice for grown-ups, too. 😉
Lol YES! That’s the outlook I’ve had going into this! When I worked at WIC on nutrition for little ones we had a super awesome RD who gave me the same advice and I’ve held on tight to it ever since. You’re totally right, we should probably think of that for ourselves too 🙂 Thanks for the wise words Laura! <3
It’s so nice to see your toddler’s meals as well. Sometimes I freak out when my daughter doesn’t eat her veggies but when we were at the doctor the other day, he mentioned that kids are very in tune with what their bodies need and if she doesn’t eat certain things for a few days its okay!! That was so reassuring to me 😉
Yes! It’s totally okay! I keep offering them regardless because I want her to see they’re part of a balanced meal but if she doesn’t touch certain things we don’t push it past asking her to try it. It also helps to think of a balanced diet for them as a weekly affair vs worrying about each meal or even worrying about an entire day. We offer the options; they make the choice =) You’ve got this mama!
That Zucchini bread looks amazing and watermelon has been a regular thing lately for me, just can’t seem to get enough!
Yum!! I can’t decide who’s eats look better haha, I’ll take both!
Love these ideas for little hands! And that tray … LOVE!
That soup looks incredible! Seriously. I need some. Also, your toddler eats look just as magical. I’d be happy with any one of chick pea’s meals. YUM!
Your little one is a lucky gal to have such beautiful food delivered to her! 🙂 Thanks for hosting the party, as always. I have my eye on that zucchini bread!
Love that plate! I may have to pick up one for my sister, who’s expecting her first 🙂 I’m joining in WIAW for the first time today-thanks for putting this whole thing together!
The zucchini bread looks delicious! I am a little jealous of the chickpeas meals. 🙂
I mean, the corn IS just there for the butter and salt, right? 😉
I love it when impromptu meals turn out wonderfully! That soup looks and sounds amazing.
Watermelon is so so good this time of year! We have been enjoying it almost weekly! As well, as cherries, strawberries, blueberries…basically ALL the fruit! Thanks for hosting!
Oooo, that zucchini bread looks fantastic! I should start sharing more of E’s eats, even if for no other reason I can look back at them later for my own inspiration. 🙂 ha
Love these kids lunch ideas, and I always need them with 3 to pack for! Thanks!
Is it weird that I want one of those little plates with the different compartments for food? LOL So fun!
Wow…I wish I was a toddler who got those kinds of meals! The chickpea is a lucky little. Actually, I’d take those watermelon and grapes right now…