POE’S DAILY DIET: ONE YEAR OLD

POE’S DAILY DIET ONE YEAR OLD

A few weeks back, Poe and I had a very public breastfeeding breakup  – me, cool as a cucumber with my shirt hiked up and ready to go, him, flailing like a rabid hyena, wanting absolutely nothing to do with me. After fourteen months and two weeks of exclusive togetherness, with all of Andrew’s closest extended family there and bearing witness. I wasn’t ready, I didn’t see it coming (I did – his weaning was wonderfully slow, progressive, and on his own terms- something I couldn’t be more proud of), and I’ll never let him forget it.

Now on a cyclic mealtime schedule, three larger meals and a snack or two throughout his day, at fourteen months old Poe is a good, enthusiastic, and ferocious eater, with preferences and peculiarities when it comes to his plate. With no teeth to his name, but a fierce independence and fearlessness when it comes to tasting, below you’ll find a little outline – noting his typical day of eating, mealtime proclivities, packaged snacks I always keep handy, and dining accoutrement. Like most seasons of childhood, I’m sure these notes will render themselves outdated within the next few weeks, but from our highchair to yours- a (my) one year old’s typical diet.

A (MY) ONE YEAR OLD’S TYPICAL DIET

Breakfast • for the past few weeks, we’ve been beginning Poe’s mornings with pancakes – utilizing Simple Mills’ almond flour based pancake mix and making it as nutrient dense and filling as possible with plain and whole fat Greek yogurt, mashed ripe banana or defrosted frozen blueberries, and farmers market eggs. Each box makes about 20-25 pancakes (depending on how much yogurt or fruit we stir in) – for ease, we prepare all pancakes on a weekend afternoon, then keep them stored in an airtight bag in our freezer. Each morning we lightly toast, then dice them up for Poe to munch. Poe typically has three ‘silver dollar’ sized pancakes, and half a banana. When Poe isn’t have pancakes, he also loves plain and whole fat Greek yogurt, stirred with unsweetened nut butter and fresh (or defrosted from frozen) berries – about a quarter of a cup of yogurt with a tablespoon of nut butter – or some of my morning smoothie, about half a cup with an additional tablespoon of nut butter. 

Lunch & Dinner • Poe’s lunches and dinners are typically interchangeable, meaning he usually has some variation of the three-four meals lingering in our fridge, on repeat, throughout the course of his week. Conscious of keeping his meals well spiced and texturally and palatably diverse to increase his exposure and nutrition, these options range from, but are not limited to (1) two of his Green Egg Donuts (or some loose variation of the recipe – we blend in whatever roasted or steamed vegetables, or stew we have handy), (2) a bowl of pulse based noodles with a leftover stew or blended sweet potato ‘sauce,’ (3) an ounce of roasted salmon with quinoa/rice and diced roasted vegetables, (4) a thick slice of my grain free bread or a tortilla with either a quarter of an avocado and hummus or a tablespoon of unsweetened nut butter. Poe loves my weeknight shakshuka, as a sauce or stirred into his eggs, but we’ve found he’s fond of most stews and curries we’re eating. Fiercely independent, Poe likes to be able to feed himself – meaning his meals need to either be finger friendly, or we need to be sitting with him and helping him get bites onto his little spoon. Utensils are still a very new development – he can get the spoon to his mouth, but can’t get food onto the spoon. Below you’ll find a collection of some of our favorite packaged products that supplement Poe’s diet.

Snacks • snacking once or twice a day, usually after waking up from his naps, I always stock finger friendly, minimally processed, and diaper bag accessible options for Poe to grab and munch by himself. We’ve had the most success with diced up granola bars – they him keep full and are also well contained within their individual packing. Poe also loves his puffed cereal (the little pieces also helped develop his dexterity). I’ve included individual nut butter packets as an ’emergency’ option. Poe can’t handle when we eat around him, unless he’s eating too. The nut butter is an amazing last resort option, if we’re out and he’s devastated, to spread on a usually accessible slice of bread. In addition to these snacks, Poe also loves diced grapes and strawberries, ripe banana, and blueberries.

Accoutrement • below you’ll find a collection of Poe’s dining accoutrement – the this and that’s that make his mealtime experience as clean and seamless as possible. From his ‘high chair’ (we don’t have a table, so this option clips right onto our kitchen’s island) to his little spoons (we’ve found these are the perfect size for him to maneuver them with ease), and silicone placemat (that doesn’t slide, magic!), and troth-like rubber bib (that catches everything and cleans right off in our sink), we’ve had personal successes with each and I wholly give my unendorsed thumbs up.