Bars of goodness

Almost since his birth, we've had issues with our younger son and food.  First we had our newborn nursing issues, then he got teeth early and was quite the biter, then he lost interest in nursing completely around 6 months.  We had a brief respite once he started drinking formula, then around or before his first birthday, he became the pickiest eater known to man and by 15 months old, he had fallen off the weight-percentile chart completely, thus alarming our pediatrician, who is generally unflappable. 
We have tried man, many, MANY things in the hopes of getting him to eat more, eat healthy and gain weight.  He seems to have very different taste from our other son, so it has been a challenge to "think outside of the box."
We are seeing success!  At our last doctor's appointment, two months later, he is back on the weight-chart in the whopping 8th percentile!  (Hey, we'll take it.)
We have accomplished a small amount of weight gain mainly with two foods, well, drinks: whole milk spiked with whipping cream and Trader Joe's vanilla protein powder mixed with orange juice.  Since we were concerned that he prefers to *drink* rather than *eat*, we keep trying to find new things he will eat.  Our doctor told us to offer him good foods that we want him to eat, but in the end, feed him whatever he wants.  He won't eat meat, he doesn't even like french fries, so we can't even fatten him up the traditional American way: with junk food (and I won't buy chips, etc.).  My latest and greatest discovery, which he LOVES, are Larabars.  If you've never seen these, they are quite amazing.  They have only 4-9 ingredients and seem to be made with a base of dried dates and various kinds of nuts.  It's amazing how varied the flavors are, and how much they taste like what they are described as.  They are gluten free, and most are dairy free.  Because they are basically pressed, dried fruit and nuts they are absolutely crammed full of good nutrition and unsaturated fats.  It's a win-win situation for us!  I am not a fan of traditional granola bars because the mainstream ones are just full of junk and sugar, but these are a great substitution.  The only draw-back is that they are a bit pricey, but I have seen them at Costco.
So, if you're looking for a snack, or a healthy addition to a lunchbox, give these a try!

Bug Noodles

Is it just me or are these gross?
I was at Safeway awhile ago (a store I rarely visit) looking for foods that my three-year-old might *MIGHT* eat.  Every so often I have these panics that he's not eating enough and I need to try harder or be more creative.  I saw these noodles, made with whole wheat and with a serving of vegetables and thought surely they would speak to a little boy.  I was very wrong.  He won't touch them and is very weirded-out by them.  I don't blame him.  I have a hard time eating them too.
He will, however, eat the Trader Joe's radiatore that is colored with vegetables.  He LOVES those and eats them as fast as he can get them into his mouth, so his lack of interest in these definitely must be related to the bug-shapes. 
It's funny that even a three-year-old finds the concept of eating bugs very unappetizing.

Bring on the Pesto

More food. Hope that's okay. At least it's dinner this time.
There are a few things I always keep on hand in the kitchen besides the usual flour, sugar, rice, etc. I always keep Trader Joe's chicken sausages in the freezer in varying varieties. I always seem to have a package of tortellini or raviolis. I also buy a little tub of pesto at the grocery store pretty much every time I go (you really can't make it from scratch for the $3 it costs to buy it). These ingredients, combined with fresh sauteed veggies tend to become my last-minute quick-fix dinner. It's one of my favorites and I make it every couple of weeks. It takes less than 30 minutes including all the chopping.
I have been making a variation of this since I discovered how easy it is to saute vegetables back in high school, I just recently discovered how much a little pesto improves the meal. By the way, my non-stick saute pan of choice is Analon professional. I have 4 sizes. They are very heavy and even after 6 years, mine are hardly flaking at all. Plastic spatulas and hand-washing only.
Here you go, my one-bowl dinner (and the toddler-variation that I now inevitably must make to accompany it):



Danielle's Italian Pesto Pasta One-Bowl Dinner
1 medium onion (yellow or white) diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
2 chicken sausage links sliced, casings removed (chicken sausage because it is lean and won't add extra saturated fat to the meal thus causing it to congeal a bit...eww...)
1 head broccoli cut into approximately 1 inch pieces
1 zucchini sliced and then cut into half-moons
10-12 white mushrooms sliced
2-3 roma tomatoes diced
1 tub store-bought pesto (in the refrigerated pasta/sauce section)
9oz tortellini of your choice (fresh or frozen, either work fine)

Saute onion in about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil until almost tender. Add garlic, saute one more minute. Add chicken sausage and saute until warmed through (a couple minutes). Add broccoli and zucchini, saute a couple more minutes. Then add mushrooms, saute a couple more minutes. Add tomatoes and saute until broccoli is tender (yes, a couple more minutes). Add cooked tortellini and pesto. Stir until all ingredients are well coated. Top with fresh shredded parmesan (is there any other kind?) and serve. Makes about 4 servings.
The sausage can be left, out for the veggie-only people out there, and it still tastes great!

The trick with sauteing veggies is to keep them at a steady heat (somewhere around medium), to add the ingredients by the length of time it takes them to cook (so not necessarily all at once) and to not move the food in the pan very much (as in, do not obsessively stir). If you stir it too much, the veggies turn out mushy. The idea is to cook things thoroughly but fast. The trick to tortellini and ravioli is to only boil them until they begin to float. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop them from cooking further.

...and now, the toddler variation. My nearly-three-year-old is a fairly picky eater. For a long time we felt like we were beating our heads against a wall trying to get him to eat anything green. Then, through having him help me prepare dinner and watching him sample everything I was cutting up fearlessly, I realized that he does not like cooked vegetables and he does not like his food mixed up. In fact, he is much more comfortable with very straight-forward meals of ingredients that do not touch. I found these fabulous plates with separate compartments at Target and it has made all the difference. Now when I make things like the above, I start by pulling out one of his plates and adding the vegetables to his plate while I am cutting them. Since he likes his broccoli cooked, I remove it before adding the pesto - same with the sausage and tortellini. Since making this effort, we have noticed a huge difference in his attitude towards dinner. He now willingly eats most vegetables and often asks for seconds. Tonight he ate everything except the tortellinis and since they are the least-healthy ingredient, I was quite satisfied. I was exactly like this as a child (freaked out at the thought of casserole and didn't like my foods to touch) so I *understand* my son and am therefore willing to humor his neurosis.