It’s been a while since I’ve updated on our primal baby, now 15 months. Wow, time really does fly by! She is walking/running everywhere and developing the sassiest, cutest little personality. She would live outside if we’d let her. She constantly has a “tick” (aka stick) in her hands (both of them) at all times. I love watching her learn new things. The newest is that I realized she can kind of hold a pen, so I finally got some crayons to let her express her “artistic side”. Seeing her draw her first picture/lines was such a proud mommy moment (I know, so cheesy).

Because I love this little one so much, I do not accept the conventional way of the “kid’s menu”. Who decided that a kid’s menu should include grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken fingers, french fries, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hot dogs. That is a list of straight processed carbohydrates! Where are the vegetables? How did our current thoughts about what “kid” food is stray so far from our ancestors (our grandmothers even!)?

Feeding ourselves, and our children, the traditional way is against the grain of our culture, but I’ve found that it’s really not that hard once you develop the right mindset, priorities, take a few breaths and slow down. There’s no reason why one in three children born in the U.S. should develop type II diabetes in their lifetime. That is astonishing and certainly not something our grandparents had to deal with. So, what has changed in America in the past 50 years? The way we eat. The way we feed our children. Convenience and cost has become the number driver in the American market. While I understand the motivation behind this, I think it’s time to step back and re-prioritize. What’s more important, saving a few dollars or saving yourself or your child an illness down the road? So many of the “foods” that are “FDA approved” haven’t even been on the market long enough for us to know the chronic effects on our health and our children. As I’ve mentioned before, eating real, whole foods costs more. You will be in the kitchen more (you may even enjoy it). So, here’s what I’ve been doing in the kitchen for our little 15 month old…

She has gotten a little more picky when it comes to food. I say picky, but she still eats real, whole food. However, I have learned that trying, trying and trying again will pay off. I have an abundance of whole food options for her and after going through several, or ten, we are bound to come to happy ground. It is so fascinating to watch her eat because one day she will love peas and a few days later she will have nothing to do with them, but gobbles up the broccoli. Recently, she has been loving beef. Ground beef, stew beef, chuck roast – it doesn’t matter. She shovels it in like someone is going to steal it if she doesn’t get it in her mouth immediately. Her favorite is when I make Beef Stew with Homemade Bone Broth.

I would give you a list of foods that she is eating, but she really just eats whatever we eat. It makes it simple and she learns to love her vegetables as she watches mommy and daddy eat them. I will give you some ideas of her snacks since I’m always looking for more ideas there!

Dried Fruit (She would eat this constantly if I let her. Not that I’m against dried fruit, but it is packed with sugar in concentrated form, so I at least try to limit her intake to once a day)

• Apricots
• Dates
• Raisins
• Apples
• Berries
• Prunes

Avocado

Banana with Almond Butter

Buttercup Bars - I don’t usually give her the top chocolate part as it’s a little too hard, but I will break a piece off the almond butter/coconut oil part and she LOVES this. It’s one of my favorite snacks as well .

Nourishing Protein Bars 

Frozen peas or mixed veggies – Sometimes, she just wants the comfort of a snack so I started offering her frozen sweet peas or frozen veggie mix (that I’ve thawed) and she loves it. I especially do this if this is her second snack and don’t really want to give her a whole box of dried fruit. We all know what that does to diapers too, yikes.

Green Smoothie 

Homemade Popsicles or Frozen Real Yogurt – During the hot summer months, these are great. Post coming soon about how to make these and our favorite recipes!

Baby Food Vegetable and Fruit Pouches – When time is of the essence, but I still want her to eat real foods, these are a lifesaver.

Real Cheese (although my little one doesn’t seem to be interested in this anymore – right now anyway)

I’m sure there are many more real foods you could add to this list and I’d love to hear your suggestions. And as always, primal living is a lifestyle. There will be times when you are running out the door and to be a good mommy or daddy in that moment is to just give your child something to eat. I’ve had those times when I ran through Chick-fil-a for some nuggets to give her for lunch because I realized I forgot to get it together (although I try to limit to once a month, if that. Makes me more accountable for my own nutrition that way too). Our goal is to think before we eat and before our kids eat. Some questions I ask whether on the road or at the grocery store: “Where did this come from?” “How natural is it really (because we all know the word “natural” means nothing on labeling)?” “How will this food nourish my child’s body?” Doing this takes time but who knows, you might find out that you actually enjoy being in the kitchen – that was a surprise for me!

What does your tiny tot love to eat right now? What are some of your favorite snack ideas?