Alice has gotten a bit picky over what she will and will not eat. One day bananas are all the rage! The next? She turns her nose up at them. The same goes for pretty much everything we've ever fed her. When meal time arrives, who knows if she'll eat what we're feeding her or not. It's a bit frustrating, to say the least.
I'd been racking my brain on what she might possibly eat when Julie who blogs at Cinnamon Girl sent me a detailed email with a wealth of information on what she fed her now toddler son when he was Alice's age. As I skimmed through the information, I saw that her son loved toast with sunflower seed butter. Alice loves toast, but I'd been giving it to her dry or with a tiny bit of butter so I figured I'd give sunflower seed butter a go. One thing she never turns her nose up at is toast!
A year or so ago I started making almond butter so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to use a similar recipe using sunflower seeds. And it turned out! Here's how you make it.
Sunflower Seed + Coconut Butter:
- 2 cups roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 to 1 tbs sugar (totally optional)
- 1/4 tsp salt
When I first gave Alice the toast with sunflower seed butter, I held my breath as she turned it over and passed it back and forth between her little hands. Then she took a bite! And immediately reached for more. Miraculously she is still gobbling up those little pieces of toast and it's been just over a week since we introduced the toast + sunflower butter combo.
And hopefully this picky eating thing will run its course. Like really soon!
Sunflower Butter + Washi Tape.
And one more thing... Julie just published a beautiful recipe-and-photo filled quarterly magazine called Seasoned: Whole Food for Thought & Consumption. I bought a copy and have already dog-eared a few recipes that I can't wait to make. Do yourself (and your meal planning!) a favor and pick one up.
Did you experience picky eating with your kid(s)? Some days she'll eat everything I put in front of her (chicken, beans, avocado, tofu). Other days, it's bananas and pears only! And then there are days she will eat nothing I offer her and then will look at me and squeal like Feed me what I want! But I have no idea what that is...
And one more thing... Julie just published a beautiful recipe-and-photo filled quarterly magazine called Seasoned: Whole Food for Thought & Consumption. I bought a copy and have already dog-eared a few recipes that I can't wait to make. Do yourself (and your meal planning!) a favor and pick one up.
I've never made my own nut or seed butter, looks pretty easy and sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteI know the picky eater thing is maddening. It's much harder before they turn one when you still have restrictions on certain foods because the temptation to make them their own special food is much greater, particularly when you want to entice them to eat something nutritious. Now we really just feed Wyatt whatever we are eating so if he doesn't go for it, it's not like I went through a bunch of extra effort. I actually think they eat better when no one cares if they eat... kids are funny that way. Don't worry, if she just keeps getting exposed to lots of yummy tastes and textures she will come around!
I'm going to echo Lilly and say I've never made my own nut butter. I kind of can't believe I've never tried! I wonder if it's cheaper... That's pretty much all I need to hear to try something. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the mention, Briana! Did you know one of your pictures is the first picture on Lilly's piece? I SO badly wanted to use the ski lift picture...I love it! But it just didn't fit in anywhere. I kept showing Craig though and saying,"Look at this awesome picture!!!" You should frame it...it makes winter look like the best time of year. xo
yum, I will have to try those recipes, thanks!
ReplyDeleteNolan hasn't ever been a huge solids eater. We have exposed him to everything we have been eating since six months, in the hopes he would NOT be picky. I didn't want a kid that needed kids meals, or would only eat gross foods (like fries and nuggets).
In the past month, the picky has begun, though. He never was into chicken, but will eat ground turkey and ground beef. He lives off plain greek yogurt and hummus. Which is great, they are awesome protein sources, but I don't know how to get more veggies in him! That is what I need help with. He will do spinach in eggs and smoothies but that is about it.
I don't remember you being a picky eater... but your sister was pretty picky. I remember you loving meals made with any kind of noodle, spagetti, mac and cheese, lots of soups. You basically ate everything... or at least you tried everything.
ReplyDeleteSince I'm not the best cook, I do remember when you were a bit older, you would tell me not to make certain things (like if I experimented with a new recipe, which didn't turn out very good). You made your point that it wasn't tasty.
Have fun. xo
I've yet to try making my own sunflower seed butter - or any nut or seed butter!
ReplyDeleteAt the boy I nanny's school they have so many "nut-free zones" (same with his Summer camp - nuts of any kind aren't allowed) that the school district has switched from peanut butter to "Sunbutter" for their PB&Js. I'm all for it if it means exposing a bunch of kids to something healthful that they likely wouldn't have come across otherwise.