(Disclaimer for pregnant women: You might not want to view the photo below unless you are ok with some vomiting and heaving that could ensue...)
What doesn't sound more appetizing than pureed lasagna and carrot smoothies? Really, I don't know. Ok, a lot. You see, Gabby has not been fond of vegetables recently and we all know how she won't eat meat unless it comes in the form of a McDonald's hamburger, hot dog, or chicken nugget. I made a great lasagna the other night (which she normally would have eaten since anything with marinara sauce is ok in her world), but it had too much meat in it which made it taboo. She refused it, but tonight I thought, "Hmm, maybe if I break down the meat a bit by putting it in my mini chopper (compliments of Grandma Wilson), she will eat it." Sure enough, she ate it. What does pureed lasagna look like you ask? Something like this:
Back to the vegtables. For a while, Gabby was eating very small, early peas, but no other vegetables. I think a lot of it has to do with the texture of the skin on the veggies. Anyway, this week she stopped eating my "go to" vegetable: the pea. I freaked out. What was I going to do? She only ate one vegetable and now she wasn't eating any! After a short prayer for her molars to come in, I decided I needed to redesign how I was feeding her. I thought about Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious, and how I might be able to "hide" the vegetables in her food. With this, I will continue to offer her a side of them on her plate, but not many because she most likely won't eat them (for now at least). I created a few of my own deceptively delicious recipes for now.
Recipe #1: Sweet Potato Applesauce
Warm up some canned yams in a bowl and throw into the food processor. Add applesauce to the yams along with some apple pie spice and process until smooth. Serve warm. Even I liked it and I hate sweet potatoes.
Recipe #2: Carrot Smoothies
Cook some sliced frozen carrots and puree in food processor. Add water if needed to smooth them out. Into a blender, throw some carrot puree (about 1/4 cup or however much you like), vanilla yogurt, frozen banana, mandarin oranges, scoop of vanilla ice cream (if you are feeling naughty...go ahead, you know you are), and milk. I ended up adding ice to thicken it up since I put in too much milk. Blend it up and voila! A carrot smoothie that tastes like banana and orange, and that's really how we like it. Gabby loved it and it was nice to have something cold on her protruding molars (the prayer must have worked because little peaks are beginning to come through). Oh, and don't worry, the smoothie looks MUCH better than the lasagna.
Ryan kissing "cousin" Gabby
