C MONSTER NEW FOOD GUIDE

One of my biggest challenges as a parent is to get C Monster to eat fruits and vegetables. To make it less arbitrary to him when I say "you can not have more bread until you eat vegetables", I decided to make him an interactive food guide.   I used the canadian food guide as my example. They have a section where one can create a personal food guide.  I used this to determine how much food a 4-year-old boy should be eating. 

For the interactive guide I just drew and coloured a chart on a piece of paper and then printed pictures of the food groups off the internet.  I cut each one out and attached a magnet to each. Voila: a food guide simple enough a 4-year-old gets it.

The house rules for the food guide are:

• No dessert until all other categories are filled up.
• Once you are done your bread products, that is it for that category.
• Once you have filled up all 4 food group categories, you get a sticker.

GROWING GREEN ONIONS INSIDE

I read a post on apartment therapy about 3 weeks ago about re-growing green onions inside your home. I decided to try it.  Here is the final results after I transplanted my newly sprouted green onions to there more permanent  home - a planter from purchased from Urban Pot. 

On a side note I have to say I was very pleased with the customer service and product from Urban Pot and will definitely look at them again in the future for my potting needs.

I also added some green onion seeds to the pot in hopes to increase my yield of onions, here they are just 5 days later sprouting.

Next indoor gardening project will be sunflower sprouts.

iF it's wiseman mOnster apprOved...

I have a new blog I just started. This blog will concentrated on food and recipes that are toddler friendly....

Check it out and please do tell me what you think.

http://wisemanmonsterapproved.blogspot.com/

I feel like I am ignoring you

I feel so guilty, that I have not posted in almost a week (I think).  Life's been busy - so I guess that is good for us.

Back Yard

We have been spending pretty much all our spare time working on the back yard.  Today I picked up some patio stones to set up an area for our BBQ.  The last 2 weekends were spent building a box around the garden.  Next step after the bbq area will the the walkway - or if the weather is still behaving planing the garden.

Here is a picture of our littlest helper pounding away with his hammer.

My Seedlings

My seedlings are growing like mad - they are ready for the garden but the garden is not ready for them.  C Monster loves watering them almost every morning for me.  He is perticularly proud of teh edamame since he planted them himself.

Family

On the weekend we visited Tara and her kids (Geoff's sister) C Monster had so much fun and I think B and S Monster also really enjoyed his visit. Tara and her family are so great they keep pretty much everything from their kids for us - she is the reason we almost do not have to buy any clothing.  This weekend we got to take home a tricycle for C Monster - he loves it.  This time we booked our next visit with them right away we often go almost 6 months without seeing each other - I can't let that happen again.

Cat Food

C Monster loves feeding the cats. We turned our head away from him for a minute and he had one dish packed to the brim;  when I told him to put some in the other bowl - he did ; but it was the water bowl.  Note the nice mess he also made... However if it was not for C Monster I think many days the cats would not eat as I am always forgetting to feed them.  Every day when C Monster sees their bowls he says "Bo num num".  Bo is one of our cats.

Looking Forward To

The peanut butter cupcakes I am baking for my moms group that is meeting at my house on Friday.  If they turn out to be yummy I will post the recipe.

Last food diary

Monday April 5th - C Monster's food diary

Breakfast

Almond Milk

Left Over Waffle with Pure Maple Syrup

Breastmilk

Morning Snack

Rest of His Easter Chocolate (not very much)

Lunch

Soy Beans with Butter and Hemp Seeds

Almond Milk

Cashews

Breastmilk

Afternoon Snack (at the mall)

Juice Box - Mango

Peanut Butter Crepe with a Few Chocolate Chips

Supper

Papadums

Almond Milk

Roasted Chicken

Crackers

Breastmilk

To conclude; C Monster does not eat a perfect diet.  We try to sneak vegetables in because otherwise he would not eat them; I can't get fresh fruit in him unless it's blended in a smoothie. 

I want to mention that my bread machine is on the fritz otherwise you would have probably seen fresh bread in C Monster food diary.

Lots done

I feel like I got tones done today - I love days like this.  I picked up the last piece of edging I needed; I picked up a bike lock for C Monster's wagon, I gave plant food to all my seedlings, washed dishes, made iced tea, swept the floors, vacuumed, changed the bed linens, blogged, chopped up some kale to freeze, watched True Blood (yes this is an important part of Monday for me - it's my treat to myself during C Monster's nap), rotated C Monster's toys, changed the shower curtain... I am sure I forgot something.

Looking Forward

Going to the AGO.

Menu planning? / art / and a bit more

Menu Planning - What's that?

I was asked by a reader a few weeks back -  "What does a meal plan look like in the wiseman house??How do you find the time to make everything??"

Lets start by answering the first question.  I will address the second half in tomorrow's post. We don't have a menu plan.  I used to plan all the meals every second Friday; then make sure the groceries were all bought and so on.  I found that I was spending too much time researching what to cook and then things would happen and the planned meals were not mad; then food would be wasted.  So sometime over this last winter I stopped pre-planning my meals.  I like it better this way - some of my best cooking comes from just opening the fridge and getting inspired but what's in there.

To give you an idea of what C Monster eats (he does not always eat what we do - he is 2 and 2 year olds are picky - at least mine is) I decided for the next 3 days I will post a diary of everything that goes in his mouth plus recipes if applicable.  As you will notice as you read C Monster food intact we are not perfect he also eats a lot of crap - well sometimes.

Saturday April 3rd - C Monster's Food Diary

Breakfast: 

Organic Spelt Waffles with Organic Maple Syrup 

Strawberry & Kale Smoothie

Breastmilk

Morning Snack:

12-14 Organic Raw Unsalted Cashews

1 PCO Toddler Berry Granola Bar

Strawberry & Kale Smoothie (left over from breakfast)

Lunch:  

He refused to eat

Glass of Organic Almond Milk

Breastmilk

Afternoon Snack:

Kiju Organic Apple/Grape Juice (%50 juice / %50 water)

Supper:

1/2 Slice of Cheese Pizza from Amato

Glass of Organic Almond Milk

Breastmilk

Evening Snack:

1 Square of Chocolate

1/2 Box PCO Raisins

4-6 Organic Unsalted Raw Pistachios

Homemade Herbal Iced Tea

Breastmilk

 

 Strawberry & Kale Smoothie Recipe

300g frozen strawberries (1 bag)
5 curly kale leafs vines removed
1 banana peeled
3/4 cups yogurt
1 cup apple juice
2 tbsp maple syrup

Place Strawberries in blender and crush using your blender's ice crushing mode. Once all large chunks are gone add Kale and half of the apple juice blends scraping sides occasionally until kale is mostly chopped. Add all remaining ingredient and process until smooth. Makes 3 - 4 smoothies.

I place C Monster in his sippy cup with a few ice cubes; when he done I put it in the fridge - he knows to ask for it when he wants it back.

Organic Spelt Waffles Recipe

1/3 cup Spelt flour

1/4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup milk

1 tbsp melted butter

2 egg whites

1/4  cup plain yogurt

1/2 zuchinni, shredded 

1 1/2 tbsp mixed seeds

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl beat the egg whites until they are just stiff peaks (it’s better that they are a little soft than over beaten). Mix all wet ingredients (minus eggs) into the dry ingredients until just combined. Preheat the waffle iron.

Add the egg whites to the bowl and fold together quickly.  Brush or spray the hot iron with a little canola oil and then cook the waffles per your iron’s instructions.

Serve with butter, and maple syrup.

Makes 5 waffles.

Art - crocodile

Yesterday C Monster did some painting; I am particularly proud of this one.  He told me it was a crocodile. I see it do you?

Coxwell &  Fairford 

After some residents in our are complained about too much trew trafic the city temporarly blocked off one section of Fairford at Coxwell - to see if it would improve things.  The youth of the neighborhood did not waste time to take over this section of pavement that is now safe for them to play in.

 

Looking Forward To

Seeing Christophe reaction to his easter egg hunt and finally building a box around our vegetable garden tomorrow.

Cheaters Lunch / Doc / Bottled Water

Cheaters Lunch

Even the beast mothers in the world sometimes "cheat" when it comes to lunch. I would like to say that I always make elaborate meals and never feed my son food from a box (I can however honestly say he never gets lunch out of can) but life gets in the way and sometimes you just don't feel like cooking.

On the menu today for lunch was Annies's Organic Whole Wheat Shells & Cheddar. If I am going to buy something pre-made I try to get items that have all real ingredients (no dyes or chemicals added). We have a few pre-package foods that we like to keep on hand in the house the above is one and the other is Amy's Organic Frozen Cheese Pizza.

Both of those are not cheep; and I like that because it's makes me think twice before opening the box and serving it for lunch. We don't get these to cut cost; cutting cost is done by making our own breads, sauces and all sorts of stuff - We truly just get these for convenience. I feel like I can justify it by making sure that all the ingrediants on the list are similar to stuff I have in my pantry - am I just kidding myself who know?

Is there anything you buy for shear convenience?

Doc

C Monster had his 2 year check up today. We had a good visit; a good discussion about vaccination and what vaccines he would get this year. When we bring him to see the doctor it's never a one way conversation; the doctor can not just tell me to do something and I will - it's a partnership he tells me what he wants and I tell him what I am willing to do and we come to an understanding.

So, the Monster will be getting 4 vaccines this year; his last combo for Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis/Polio/Hib and 3 for Pneumo conjugate. One vaccine every 3 months.

The C Monster weighted in at 33.5 lbs and is an incredible 35.25" tall.

The Story of Bottled Water

A good reminder to all to fill up a reusable bottle with water before leaving the house... Thanks for sharing this with me Geoff

Looking Forward To

Attending my LLLC meeting Tomorow

Trying to get food into C Monster

Time 5:20pm - I am officially the most creative chef on the planet. No, not really, I just have an extra picky toddler. All toddlers are fussy in their own way but C Monster is in a class of his own. I like to think his palate is so refined that the my common grub is just not good enough for him; who am I kidding?

Tonight we are having mac and cheese with secret healthy treasures. It's your basic run-of-the-mill homemade mac-and-cheese but I have added about 2 tablespoons of puréed swiss chard and hemp seeds along with one tablespoon of flax oil. Here's praying it goes off well with the C monster.

Time 6:01pm - Christophe actually ate more then one bite of food; I call it success.

Christophe journey in discovering solid foods

One of the questions for my La Leche League Leader application was how and when was Christophe introduced to solid foods - below is the questions and answers...

For the healthy, full-term baby breast milk is the only food necessary until baby shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after birth.
When and how did you introduce solids and a cup?

We decided as couple to introduce solids to Christophe right around 6 months (I think it was slightly pass that.) his “first” food was sweet potatoes that I prepared myself. I placed “food” in brackets because he did not any and still refuses to eat sweet potatoes. We were determined to make all his food and follow the guidelines that we would introduce one food at a time; however after 2 months of him not eating anything I turn to my mom friends and asked what they were doing and took the advice that seemed to suit me and went with it. So when Christophe was about 7 1/2 months old we decided since there are no major allergies in our family out with rules...

We started giving him little bit of everything we were eating; generally speaking we eat pretty healthy so we figured it was ok. By this time Christophe had already mastered saying no by shaking his head (thanks to my dad - I do not say this with any enthusiasm my father thinks its funny I hate it as we had worked so hard to that point to never use the word no around Christophe) so each time we approached his face with food he would shake it and say no; however sometimes he could be convinced to put food in his mouth himself. So out with the muchy food... We would give him large chunks of soft fruits and veggies (he had not yet mastered the pincer grasp) and small bits of food so he could practice his pincer grasp. We quickly realizes we had a very picky eater on our hands. Christophe (still to this day) will not eat anything that is too soft, too slimy, liquidy, leafy, sticky (that is not to drink), orange, purple, yellow, as a matter a fact any colour that is not red, beige (bread colour), brown, white or green (he likes green that is so weird). - Thank God for my milk I think he might have of malnutrition by now if he still did not nurse 8 to 14 times a day. Oh I forgot he still wont eat anything that he can’t feed himself, I am so happy he is learning to master the fork and spoon these days.

A cup? hum I think we started at the same time as solids - however i really can’t remember. We started by offering water with his meals only, this seemed to encourage him to eat more - some days. (Actually we tried cup feeding him milk when he was less then a month old but he never took to it so we stuck with tub feeding.) Introducing a cup and other liquids was a long process it seemed... he was very interested in liquids to drink but had a hard time with a cup, could not master the sippy cup (I think we tried 2 or 3 different ones) then one day when he was about 14 months or so we were at a restaurant and he was interested in my straw so I let him try it; he mastered it in 3 seconds flat. That day we bought him a sippy cup that had a straw in it and a pack of straws and since then he will try almost anything that comes with a straw. We have to watch ourselves in restaurants because he will steel our drink that are not always “approved for Christophe consumption” and try them. One of my favorite things to make for him is smoothy with all real fruit (no juices) and a bit of soy or cows milk whatever we have on had; this is actually the only way I can get him to eat fruit that is not dried.

What signs of readiness did you look for?

Unlike a lot of parents start because they are told to we made sure of the following:
He could sit unsupported
He could hold his head up
Seems interested in what we are eating
He is at least 6 months old
He seemed to have lost his tongue-thrusting reflex
He increased his nursing sessions

Christophe had not mastered his pincer grasp yet and did not do so until he was around 9 months sometimes I wonder if we had waited till then if we would have a less picky eater.

If you have used bottles, please describe when and how?

Like I mentioned in the past we tube fed for about a month at the beginning - here we used a bottle to hold the milk or formula depending on the feeding. I will go in greater details when I talk about starting breast feeding.

I also tried a bottle once with him that night I mentioned that he would not take to the breast and kept on crying. But like I said he though it was a toy.

We have 4 practically unused premium glass baby bottles (2 in the packages) that I hope will never have to be used by me again.

Cheddar Crackers

Christophe has been eating cheddar crackers lately; like 'goldfish', but duck-shaped, and organic. I thought I'd do a quick search and see if I could find a good recipe for cheese crackers that we could make. A little digging turned up 'Cheddar Goldfishbear Crackers' on 52 Weeks of Baking.

I modified the recipe slightly for my own circumstances. I used 1/3rd whole wheat flour to increase the whole-grain side, and swapped out some of the cheddar for mozarella and asiago, as Christophe doesn't always like cheddar cheese. I also used organic ingredients except for the pepper and salt.

I did briefly try to put these through the pasta machine, but the dough was too moist and sticky, so I rolled it by hand. In so doing, I ended up with some different thicknesses, and discovered that the thinner ones came out a lot like goldfish crackers, where the thicker ones puffed up a little and became like crispy cheese puff crackers, which I also liked.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour; I used:


• 1/3 cup stone ground organic hard wheat wholegrain flour
• 2/3 cups unbleached organic all-purpose flour


• 1/4 cup cold salted organic butter, cubed
  
• 8 oz cheese (I used a mix of organic cheeses: asiago, cheddar, mozzarella), grated or cubed
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 3-4 tsp water, ideally icy-cold
  

Instructions
The dough goes together as pie crust does:

1. Assemble the flour, butter, salt and cheese and seasoning in a food processor.
2. Pulse until the dough assembles crumbs, or coarse meal.
3. Add water one teaspoon at a time, or use an atomizer to distribute well. Pulse between each addition, and stop when the dough can be pressed together in a coherent ball.
4. Chill for at least twenty minutes (or up to a day), 'til the dough/butter stiffens somewhat. Prevent the dough from drying out by wrapping in plastic or a lightly damp cloth.
5. Before removing the dough from the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
   
6. Roll the dough thinly, about 1/8th inch for crackers, or 1/4" for something more like 'cheese puffs'.
7. Cut. Squares, fish, cookie cutter, pizza cutter, knife -- the possibilities are endless.
8. Lay cut crackers on a cookie sheet. The dough is fatty, so you shouldn't need to grease it, but feel free to grease it or use parchment paper. They shouldn't be touching, but they don't spread much, so the distance doesn't matter terribly.
9. Bake 15-20 minutes. Cool. Eat.
   

President Choice Organics

I love PC organics. (For those of you that live outside Canada, PC is a grocery store brand that has an organics line). When you are trying to buy only organic food for your household, the grocery bill can go up fast. Taking a quick walk to the No Frills located at Gerrard and Coxwell in our neighborhood to pick up some staples every week helps a lot. Below is a comparison list of the items bought at No Frills vs. buying them with Front Door Organics (this is where we get the most of the rest of our groceries).

No Frills
Bag of carrots - $2.29
Cheese (they have cheddar and mozzarella) - $3.99
Butter - $3.99
Apple Sauce - $2.33
Jam (they have raspberry and blueberry) - $2.69
Maple syrup - $11.99
Bag of apples - $3.49
Baby Carrots - $1.99
Celery - $2.99

Total - $35.75

Front Door Organics
Bag of carrots - $3.94
Cheese cheddar - $6.50
Butter - $4.75
Apple Sauce - $4.99
Jam - $3.50
Maple syrup - $12.00
Bag of apples - $6.99
Baby Carrots - $3.00
Celery - $3.94

Total - $49.61

That is a difference of $13.86. Yay for PC Organics.

More About Toum

As Pierrette implied, I was making some toum this morning. This isn't the first time, and won't be the last. One of the shwarma places I go to regularly serves a garlic sauce with its shwarmas that is excellent, albeit incredibly strong, so I decided that I needed to learn how.

The first time I tried, I was able to find out that the sauce is called toum, and find a few contradictory recipes. Like many traditional recipes, there are lots of ways to make it, and very few precise instructions. Unfortunately, toum is also a bit of a pain; it's sort of like a garlic and oil emulsion, and so the oil has to be added a bit a time. Meanwhile, garlic is very difficult to macerate in mortar and pestle, although it is doable.

If you're going to try a food processor, make a big batch - a few cloves of garlic is just enough for the food processor to throw around, but not enough to really latch on to, so there's not enough to really kick-start the emulsion with a teaspoon of oil.

Some people add a little mustard powder to help emulsify, others add some egg white to increase the creamy whiteness. I've tried the mustard, but not the egg white. I think that next time I might start by using a garlic press on the garlic to get it smaller with limited effort.

We'll see; when I feel like I've mastered it, perhaps I'll post more tips.

I can't believe my eyes

Now that I blogging this, I am sure he is going to stop.  Christophe just ate 3 pieces of banana and half a dozen grapes. Who is this, and what did you do with my son?

Dining in Toronto with Baby

Restaurant: Joy Bistro
Address: 884 Queen St. E.
Meal: Saturday Brunch

Stroller Friendly: Yes both patio and inside - The staff were great at choosing a table were the stroller was out of the way and easy for us to reach.

Change Table: No - We had to place some paper towels on the floor then a blanket and make our own change table. The floor in the barrier free washroom are cleaner and more spacious.

Breastfeeding: The booths are very comfy for breast-feeding. While I was nursing the staff left us alone, I found it amusing that as soon as I was done nursing the waiter came by and filled my water glass; it was like he was waiting for the green light that is was ok to approach us. All in all I felt comfortable nursing.

Server: Good without being exceptional.

Food: Average.

Dining in Toronto with Baby

Geoff and I have always enjoyed eating out at restaurants; however since Christophe has been born we have not attempted too many outings until recently. Anyone who knows me well; will tell you I am not to fond of most "family restaurants". Being a vegetarian there is usually only a veggie burger or veggie wrap to chose from.

That been said I have decided to blog about the various places we test out with Baby and rate different aspects.

Restaurant: Casa Di Giorgio
Address: 1646 Queen St. E.
Meal: Friday Supper

Stroller Friendly: Patio yes; Inside no - The inside of the restaurant is very tiny which makes it hard to find a spot to park your wheels; we chose to eat on the patio. They were great at helping us chose the perfect spot for our stroller.

Change Table: No - We made sure to be seated on the wooden benches outside; these are long enough to use as a change table in a discreet way. Make sure to bring a plastic bag to hide the dirty diaper in.

Breastfeeding: The benches on the patio are very comfy for breast feeding; I am not sure I would have been able to breast-feed on the patio chairs due to the chair arms. The staff and patrons did not make any comments or treat us differently while I was feeding. While I was nursing him the waitress came up and took our order just like any other table.

Server: Our waitress was extra great with Christophe stopping to talk to him each time she was at our table.

Food: As always the food here is great; they have probably been one of my favorite Italian spot in the city for a while now.

Culinarium

I have been on the hunt to find a shop in Toronto that sells Organic Flour in large quantities and stumbled upon this website for Culinarium a local store that only carries foods from Ontario. Sound interesting, nice and expensive.

Wanted: Artificially Manufactured Potatoes?

Agriculture Canada has unveiled some new cross-bred potato varieties. It was the comment from the producer that stood out for me:

Jeremy Rood, a producer from Grand Bend, Ont., said companies like his are always looking for potatoes that have a nice appearance and a high yield.

“We look for a potato that has no marks on it and almost looks artificially manufactured,” Mr. Rood said.

Dreamming about the big day

I started having the prenatal dreams that you hear about were you go over the birth or getting ready for the birth at night in your dreams. Last night I dreamt that we were getting ready by grocery shopping. We were making sure the fridge was stocked with all sorts of great foods and that the house had enough junk food to feed an army. Our shopping list was a bit like this: cookies, cookies, cookies, juice, strawberries, raspberries, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, pancake, more strawberries and cookies and for some strange reason quiche. This list is not 100% accurate but does include many of the items we will actually by to have in the house during the birth. i think I was also in labour while we were shopping I think we will make sure that in real life the groceries are done well in advance.

I also dreamt that the baby was here and Geoff, the baby and me were all on our bed resting and celebrating with a glass of champagne. That one I want to do right after baby's born I would like to pop open the bottle of champagne our friends Stacey and Brendan gave us for our wedding that we were going to open on our first anniversary but did not because I was pregnant. It's seems to be a meaningful bottle to share with people at the birth.