Kaitlyn is a sweet little peanut. She is always on the lighter side of the weight percentiles. She does eat, but is very particular about what she eats. She loses interest fast (she would rather run around). This has made me more focused on packing as many nutrients as possible into every bite. In this month’s Munchkin Meals, I want to share with you some of my tactics for maximizing calories.
I have noticed that certain things affect how much Kaitlyn eats at a meal. To this end, I try to maintain consistency with the following:
- Sit with her and eat together. Hailey ate happily in my kitchen while I was working on the dishes when she was a little girl, but Kaitlyn is much happier if we eat the same food at the same time. It’s not always easy but it’s important.
- Give meal times proper attention. It’s not always easy, as we’re often busy playing or running around errands. But I try to make sure that breakfast, lunches, and dinners happen at home. I time it so that she doesn’t feel too full after nursing.
Some of the other basic food preparation techniques that I enjoy are:
- Use her favorite flavors. She is following in Papa John’s (and mine) footsteps. and loves marinara sauce. It is almost as good as sweet flavors in terms of ensuring that a dish will be eaten.
- Add healthy fats when I can. I stir in chia seed to full-fat yogurt, add olive oil to sauces and spread cream cheese over her toast. You get the picture.
- All dairy products, including milk, yogurt, and cheeses should be full-fat.