Foods and Snacks for Harry
Lately, a lot of people are asking me what I feed to Harry since he seems to grow so fast and is so big, so I decided to do a blog post about food and snacks that I prepare for Harry and a quick glance of his daily schedule in terms of his food and liquid intake. It's always hard to know what and how much to feed your one-year old! I found it hard too to find the right info out there online so I hope this is helpful for some of you mamas out there.
According to Harry's pediatrician; as a parent you decide when to feed the child throughout the day by creating a routine but then the child should decide what, from their plate, they are going to eat and how much. Generally as a rule of thumb, a one-year old should be eating 3-4 tablespoons at each meal. Harry mostly eats closer to 4 tablespoons at each meal. I keep an open mind when preparing his food and I never force him to eat anything that he doesn't want to. Remember their little taste buds are still developing and changing all the time so what tastes good to you may not taste so good for your little one. I'm also quite lenient when it comes to veggies, if he's not full from his stew full of veggies after the 4 spoon portion,I would add an extra spoon for him. I only restrict the carb and sweet stuff!
Harry loves this bowl the best for his cereal as he can sip up the milk afterwards. It's from an Australian brand called b.box baby and b.box for kids. He is also loving their sippy cup too for his apple juice!
Background. Harry loved his pureed fruit pouches and baby jar foods between 5-9months but after 9 months, only ate home-made, blended foods. This was actually great because he would literally eat whatever we were having ourselves for dinner just thrown in the nutribullet.
So on a given day, Harry usually eats at the following times:
9am Breakfast
12pm Lunch
3pm Afternoon snack
6pm Dinner
Typical Breakfast includes: a small bowl of cereal with milk (a wheatabix, cherrios or oatmeal) NO SUGAR
1/2 slice of toast with thin layer of butter cut into slices and dipped into mammy's boiled/scrambled egg.
Small shot-glass size of a fresh home-made smoothie with mixed fruit.
Apple juice and water mixed together in his sippy cup.
At Lunch he usually has a protein, veggie and carb mix so anything from a home-made chicken and veggie soup or beef stew / tofu and rice with broccoli/ Quinoa, egg and veggie mix / Couscous and salmon with sweetcorn / pasta and cheese sauce with peas
Salmon and veggie Couscous
1/2 cup of Milk in Sippy Cup
Afternoon snack is usually a probiotic yogurt/ Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce /Fruit Puree with some cheddar bites or crackers and cheese/ crackers with tuna & mayo & hummus/ Hummus and Cucumber / Hard boiled egg from fridge broken into pieces/ Homemade brown Irish soda bread as shared before in recipe below!
Crackers with tuna and mayo and hummus
Snack on the go with b.box baby lunch box. Cheddar bites on the right, berry smoothie mixed with natural yogurt on the left.
For Dinner he usually has whatever we are having in a small portion. He doesn't need it blended anymore and his favourite meals are; Home-made Pizzas with Pita bread / Spag Bol / Sheppard's Pie / Mash potatos with mushy peas, roasted carrots and chicken/fish or steak. He loves egg fried rice with all kinds of veggies too. Stuffed peppers with minced beef is another good option for Harry.
Here, Harry is eating his dinner of pasta and minced beef with peas, sweetcorn and carrots in a tomato homemade tomato and basil sauce sprinkled with parmesan cheese. He is using a safety fork and spoon from b.box baby and the bib is also from the same company and is so handy as it catches all the spills!! I will link them below! He's like a puppy and always roots out the spills for fear of missing anything! haha!!
1/2 cup of Milk in Sippy Cup.
If we are indulging in a dessert, Harry will usually have a Gerber Cookie and a piece of Melon or Watermelon.
As for his milk intake he usually has just 10-15 oz milk in total a day. He loves apple juice mixed with water in his straw sippy the best! I find adding the little bit of apple juice makes him drink more fluids. Currently drinking the Trader Joe's organic Apple Juice with 40% less sugar. See below.
Hope this gives you a good insight and some ideas of what to feed your toddler. Harry will literally eat anything that won't eat him and I put it down to just being relaxed and not too fussy. He often eats of my plate too and i just let him try everything. He even loves olives from picking out of my salads! I think the key is to relax and be positive and create a family meal happy time every morning and evening. Please share your ideas below too if you have any go-to snack or lunch ideas as I am always looking to broaden Harry's tastebud horizons!
Enjoy & Bon Appetit
Alison xoxo
