When Alena was a young toddler I was so overwhelmed and wondering WHAT I was going to cook, let alone make something a toddler would like. Alena is 5 now and it is so much easier than I ever thought. Actually it is no different than before. Well, there is one major adjustment I needed to make. It is simple, I try to plan the meals for the entire week ahead of time. This is probably something I would have made anyway going from two adults to a family with small children. But I probably would use more convenience food, and include a lot of cheese. To plan ahead I look through my cook books, recepies I cut out from the newspaper, etc. I do not discount anything just b/c it has a milk product in it. If something sounds good and it has milk/cheese/butter in it I try to figure out a way to get around it. This is not possible for some recepies, but for a lot it works and still tastes great. I swap items milk = soy/rice milk, creamer/half&half = Silk creamer, breadcrumbs = Panko breadcrumbs, buter = margarine, etc.
I admit that there are weeks when I do not plan, and those are the weeks I am more crabby :) This week so I planned, and everybody is happy at least so far....So what do we eat. Yesterday we had Veggie Stew. Great way to add all the veggies to the diet and the girls actually loved it.
Today we had oven baked Tilapia, mashed potatos, and sauteed greens w/garlic (kale). Alena loved the fish, and kale. Mia Rosie on the other hand was more of a mashed person today...
The fish really was yummy I adopted it from a recepie I found at www.makedinnereasy.com
Baked Tilapia
- Panko bread crumbs
- Paprika, pepper, salt, italian seasoning
- Olive Oil
- Tilapia filet (we had two)
* Preheat oven to 400F
* Mix Panko bread crumbs w/spices - and put on a large shallow plate
* Brush fish with olive oil (I actually poured some on a plate and put the fish through it)
* Place fish in Panko crumbs and cover each side with crumbs
* Line a baking dish with aluminum foil add a little olive oil to it so entire surface is coated
* Put coated fish in baking dish and bake at 400 for 15 - 20 minutes
Alena LOVED it. I served it with Trader Joe's Tarter Sauce
Mashed Potato
- Cook potatoes
- Mash w/masher
- Add silk creamer, salt, bit of olive oil
Kale
- Garlic
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- 1 bunch of Kale
* Chop garlic coarsely
* Heat Olive Oil in pan
* Add garlic and a pinch of salt
* Chop Kale (I used Lacinato Kale)
* Add Kale to garlic/Oil mixture. I start from the bottom up - once they get lighter green I add
the rest of the kale. Put lid on kale
--> It is done when it is lighter in color. We still like it a little crunchy...
Tomorrow it'll be chicken with yams...I will let you know if it turns out good...
