The Toddler and Eating Healthy

Have you heard? We now have a TODDLER. Not only did Jack decide to turn a whole year old last week, but he has decided that because now he's a big boy, he's going to walk.

For me, this means not it is time to revisit his diet.

I loved making his baby food back when purees were sufficient, and he still occasionally has some veggies and meats pureed because it seems to be a better way to introduce him to new flavors (we grownup types easily forget that our little ones are experiencing not just the tastes of new foods but also their textures for the first time). For the most part though, Jack has transitioned to eating what mom and dad eat, just in smaller bites. He needs more than just three meals a day though. He needs healthy snacks as well. We've bought him some of the toddler finger foods - organic fruit flavored cereal Os - but he needs more than that. And he deserves to eat food that comes from someplace other than a box on Target's shelf. He needs fruits and veggies and meats and grains.

Remember Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - when the elementary school children couldn't recognize tomatoes or cauliflower, but they sure knew their McNuggets and ketchup? Horrifying. It was that show that inspired me to reevaluate what I eat on a daily basis.



And that show alone was enough reason for me to find some wholesome snacks for my little boy. In my searching, I found a fantastic website with some great nutritional recipes for toddler meals and snacks, including some that can be premade and frozen. Wholesome Toddler Foods is my new go-to site for cooking for Jack. I love some of their recipes - veggie pancakes, stuffed apples, stuffed pitas - all great ideas, reduced to toddler-sized portions.

Plus, I can't lie: I was sold at their definition of "toddler:"

A child who is between the age of 12 months and 48 months old (1 year and 4 years old)

One who loves to eat food one day and then dislikes that very same food the next day

One who requires a lot of clean laundry, tidying-up after, and lots of attention, and constant amusement and stimulation

One who is methodical and focused in his or her attempts at launching a spoonful of mashed potatoes as easily as a robotic arm assembles a car!

One who's innocence and wonder inspires us to do better

One who possesses an abundance of love to share

One who is unconditional in the giving, and delightful in the receiving of that love, along with showering hugs, kisses and smiles to those around him or her; a true joy and a true blessing to treasure

Yeah, I have a toddler. He's all of those things. And he's going to know his tomatoes from his carrots, and hopefully he'll like them all, because he deserves that.

One year. One beautiful, beautiful year.

A year ago today, it was snowing hard.  I was in the hospital, admitted the night before.  Our brand new Jeep was the only vehicle making it easily up the steep hill to Waukesha Memorial.  The on-call doctor had told us to come in and see if it was time for Jack to make his appearance.  I wanted to go to Denny's first, but my husband insisted that we just trek through the snow and get to the doctor.

We should have gone to Denny's first.  They don't let you eat anything once they admit you.  Lunch was long ago, and I was starving.

The night was hard, and when morning finally came my husband had to leave to make sure the snow was plowed from the driveway and the front walk.  I wasn't going anywhere - I was in a lot of pain from the pitocin but we were a long way from seeing our baby.  When he came back he said he stopped at our favorite diner for breakfast.  Everyone there had wished us luck, and the cook prepared his order ahead of everyone else waiting for their meals because he knew my husband was in a special kind of a hurry.

We had bought the movie White Christmas and brought it to the hospital to watch, but one station was running a marathon of it all day, so we had our movie on replay.  I felt like I was going to be there forever, as each nurse reported such little progress.  Dan said Jack would be born in time for lunch.  It was 10:00 a.m.  I was highly doubtful.

It was my turn to be wrong.  Jack was born at 11:20 a.m. on Christmas Eve day.  Everyone marveled at his beautiful dark hair.  We marveled at everything about him.

We spent our first Christmas as a family of three in the hospital, with no visitors because of the bad weather.  We watched A Christmas Story and ate the surprisingly delicious hospital food and enjoyed our little boy.  It was the best Christmas ever.


And since then?  Every day is better than the one before it.


Happy First Birthday, Jack Donovan. 

High Fructose Corn Syrup

For awhile now I have been troubled by those ads from the Corn Refiners Association regarding High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). You know the ads - the ones that make you feel like an idiot if you question the inclusion of HFCS in the foods you and your family eats.



Without knowing anything about the HFCS debate, my initial reaction was: if this stuff is so safe, why do we need these ads? Shouldn't the research speak for itself? And why do they qualify their position by saying that it is "safe in moderation"?

Even if HFCS is safe in moderation, that's the problem in itself: how do you moderate something that is in nearly everything that we eat? I expected to find HFCS in sodas and sweets, but I wouldn't have guessed that it would be lurking in ketchup, Stove-Top Stuffing, bread and cottage cheese. Read the labels - it is everywhere.

A friend shared this great, succinct article on HFCS, and it is worth a read. The link between HFCS and obesity is particularly disturbing. For those who won't click the link, if all you read is the following excerpt, you should be convinced: The syrup interferes with the body's metabolism so that a person can't stop eating. It's truly hard to control cravings because high fructose corn syrup slows down the secretion of leptin in the body. Leptin is a crucial hormone in the body that tells you that you're full and to stop eating.

After seeing that article, I'm inclined to stay away from HFCS altogether. But how do you avoid something that's everywhere?

1. Read the labels. Certified organic foods are great alternatives. Look for the organic label (but be wary of the word "natural." The FDA has strict guidelines for what can be called organic, but that's not true for foods labeled "natural").

2. Grow your own. Instead of buying a bottle of ketchup, try making your own. Making and canning various foods and condiments can be a lot of fun, and if you have young children you can turn the whole experience into an educational opportunity. The best part about making your own food is that you can customize it to your tastes - have a little fun with some herbs and spices and see what you can create.

3. Get creative in looking for alternatives. If you can't live without your soda, try shopping at an ethnic grocery store: many sodas from Mexico still use sugar instead of HFCS. Similarly, groceries that carry separate items for Passover may sell sodas without corn syrup. Coca-cola kosher for Passover has a yellow cap marked with an OU-P.