Monday, May 24, 2010

It is all about the fat

Really, my life is consumed by fat. Not because I like focusing on every morsel of food that goes into my kids mouth but because that is what life has been forcing me into lately. Near 16 mos old and still not 18 lbs. That is my Slobber Rocket. A peanut.  I keep taking him for weight checks and doctors keep telling me he is too small and to put him on sugar laced nutrition drinks and take him off of wonderful fattening breast milk (minus the sugar and side effects and health effects that go with too much). So in an effort to keep my otherwise healthy child off of these nutrition drinks (please, if your child had a known medical condition and can not otherwise gain weight, use these drinks per your doctors instructions... I just don't think they should be a first choice for a child whom doctors believe to be generally healthy). The babe does have some sensory problems with food so I also don't want to replace eaten calories with liquid calories if I don't have to since he desperately needs to be learning to eat a wide array of solids. So, I am diving into a world of healthy fats to add calories to his diet. And lucky you! I am going to be posting some of my favorite recipes here and there that I am using with him. These are also good if your child maybe has just had a very slim eating day and you just don't feel like they have gotten enough. Both Avocado and Coconut milk have a wide array of health benefits!

YoBaby Yogurt and Avocado
1 container of YoBaby yogurt/ or other whole milk yogurt (110 calories)
1/2 avocado (about 135 cals)

You can dice the avocado and put it in the yogurt. Your baby will probably gobble it up. My toddler, however, has some mega texture issues so I put them in the blender and make it completely smooth, thickening as he tolerates. close to 250 calories for a snack... not bad.

Oatmeal made with coconut milk
1 packet or serving of oatmeal (160 cals for what I generally use)
1/3 cup of coconut milk (184ish cals)
1/4 cup milk to thin it... coconut milk is VERY thick (31 cals)

I just add it together and nuke it. If it seems to thick I add milk. You can add other thinners such as water but my goal is to get calories into the little guy with as little sugar as possible. This dish packs a whopping 375 calories per bowl. Slobber Rocket seems to really enjoy it too. He can't eat a whole bowl but neither could I if I tried. If your kid has a nut allergy you may want to be aware that the FDA classifies this as a tree nut so please use caution!



If you have other recipes, feel free to share them. I will post up more ideas as I get them.

2 comments:

SunnyD said...

Think he'd go for some kind of tiny bits of salmon cake? I know some kids cookbooks have them using canned salmon... I might even have a recipe downstairs. :-)

Rudy said...

He might! I am to the point of trying pretty much anything and everything with him just to get calories into him. He will eat chicken nuggets which is pretty much the only meat I have successfully gotten into him. I imagine that is because it is so unmeat like and soft on the inside but bready on the outside.