Our Family: The Hapgood's: Family diet plan...

Now that Hunter is eating whatever we eat, I am constantly making sure that Hunter gets all of his essential food groups and drinking his milk (which he loves!). Hunter only gets milk and water. No juice. He doesn't need any extra sugar in him. Trust me! I feel as if I have become a part time nutritionist. This wasn’t by choice but literally on purpose. It all started one day when he had a little stomach virus and a cold after visiting my Great Grandma in Erie that I noticed his B.M’s were really different colors that I haven’t seen before (sorry TMI) but I did notice that he wasn't eating alot. Not that I wasn't offering. He was just drinking milk and having some yogurt every now and then. He does this when he’s teething and when this happens, all I care about is that he is actually eating something but this time it was different. It wasn't entirely due to teething and not really sure if it was because of the traveling or the fact that I wasn't really paying attention to what his diet (I know. I feel awful!) So this is when I realized that I need to start being more aware of what he needs to eat especially now that he is welcoming new foods to try. So I did my mommy research (google of course) and found this website called: http://www.toddlermealplan.com/, where they give simple meal plan ideas with simple recipes. Then on this other website: http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/feeding/recipes/ they have ideas for finger-like foods for the different stages depending on the age of your toddler. Hunter lately has been determined to feed himself so this was another reason for the finger foods. I am not really one to search and read through tons of recipes and then hand pick a few because I seriously do not have time. So since they're all right there in front of you, it was perfect. Lately, my laptop has been plugged into the kitchen and on the counter so that I can just open it up and pick something. I usually jot down the few ingredients that I will need to get at the store for the week (other than the usual stuff) so that I don't have to dig and find something. I liked these websites because it would give simple ideas without all that crazy stuff that I’ve never heard of, nothing expensive, just plain, simple and healthy. Then after some time of following these meal plans and hitting the grocery store, I realized that I not only giving this to Hunter but to Sean and I too! Lately, I’ve been making finger like foods and foods that do not contain any salt and eating a lot more organic like foods. Which yes, has become pricey. It has been somewhat of a challenge because I do have to worry about what he is going to eat every night and luckily I only have to worry about what he eats throughout the day on the weekends because I have day care to feed him during the week.

Here are some of our favorites from the toddler meal plan website:

Applesauce pancakes (super easy btw)

Mini Meatballs

Toddler friendly meatloaf

Toddler friendly lasagna

The other night, I made sliders and little nachos that had the meat and goodies on top on their own individual chip (I had some extra time to make these for Sean and I when Hunter was in bed) so this was our dinner:

They didn't look this pretty but you get the idea.

It's now been about a month of educating myself on easy, simple, nutritious ideas for Hunter so I'm starting to not worry so much about his nutrtion but this has been fun. I am always up for new ideas if you have any! BTW, the crockpot has been my BFF also. I'll save this one for another post!