Urban Babies Enjoy Fine Dining

Eating dinner with a little bit on her face.

Anna never ceases to amaze me with the foods she likes. I probably should have known she would like adult tastes when we were living in Philadelphia and loved the minestrone soup from Olive Garden then ate practically her weight in hummus. Oddly, I was still surprised when I didn't have anything to feed her so I thew something together with what we had. It was couscous with canned tomatoes and fresh mint and basil. She loved it. I can't say I blame her, as I was feeding it to her I thought it looked yummy and later made it for myself but added some chicken, olives and feta cheese (it was quite good).

She has also quite enjoyed whole wheat pasta with kale, fontina and bacon. This is a dish that we quite like (Martha Stewart, everyday food) and I just chopped up the left overs. Since there wasn't much cheese in it, I cubed the left over cheese and few it to her that way. I think the cheese was her favorite part! Since then, she has been a bit of a cheese fiend. She loves the fontina, has enjoyed some mozzarella and quite likes edam. I have to be careful that that isn't all I give her because she will contentedly eat just cheese for a meal.

Toad in the Hole, it was pretty bland but I have some ideas to make it better. I'll have to try it again.

Oddly enough, things that we didn't like so much, she doesn't either. I made something called toad in the hole. It was kind of bland because the batter didn't have any salt or pepper, if I make it again I will add that. Well, I groud it up but she didn't like it. I tried adding mustard (there was already some in the batter) and while that helped a bit, it wasn't enough. She liked it when I then added some peas that had been cooked in sesame oil.

She has also decided that she doesn't like her food ground up anymore. She would rather have it chopped up and eat it off the tray. She good about picking things up (although slippery fruit can be tricky) and doesn't throw them around too much. She's also really good about not choking or putting too much in her mouth at a time. Funny thing, last night, I was making her green beans and while I was getting them ready, she wanted a raw one. She chewed on it until the rest of the food was ready.

Feeding her is becoming a lot of fun and part easier but part harder as she eats more and more real food. I have to actually plan what she is going to have and make sure she has enough, especially in the way of snacks. (Funny side note, yesterday she and Jason were having morning snacks together. They need to eat about the same frequency.)