Guest Writer Julie Belman Shares her Amazing Toddler Meals

We are so happy to have a dear friend and guest writer this go 'round!  I met Julie Belman in college and remember her as a beautiful young woman and gorgeous dancer with an amazing spirit and a true kindness!  The awesome about it is SHE IS STILL EXACTLY THE SAME WAY and has become a wonderful Methodist minister.  I'm surely sure her congregation treasures her for all the reasons I did.  

I was drawn to Julie's lunches she prepared for James, her one-year-old son.  They were so balanced and kid-friendly!!  I couldn't wait to share it with you!  I'm happy to introduce you to my friend, REV. JULIE BELMAN and her sweet son, James (aka, BB (Baby Belman))!  Thank you so much, Julie, for doing this for us!!!

  

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We have been super lucky with James, because he hasn’t hit a “picky” phase yet, and pretty much gobbles up everything we offer to him! We’s also lucky that Daddy Travis is an amazing chef and enjoys cooking healthy meals for our family. I am not a great cook, but I can make simple things and fortunately most babies like simple! :) 

For breakfast, James always gets some Cheerios & milk while I slurp down coffee and pack his bag. They serve sugar-packed foods like pop-tarts and frozen french toast sticks for breakfast at his preschool, so I pack an alternative (healthier) option. Usually it’s blueberry pancakes with sliced banana. The fruits are organic, the pancake mix is not. Win some, lose some.  I make a big batch of the pancakes on the weekend and then freeze them, so it’s super easy for those early mornings. I occasionally mix it up with waffles (the Greenwise organic & gluten-free blueberry waffles are so delicious!) Nutrigrain bars, a Plum Organics fruit & grain pouch, and the occasional quiche.

My goal with his lunch is to always offer a colorful, appealing variety.  I use the “Yumbox” brand of lunch boxes and they are great! They have these adorable compartments that are labeled: protein, dairy, grains, vegetables, fruit, and “treat”, which serve as a reminder to me about balance and portion size. Each day, I try to include at least one food James loves and one food he’s still learning to like.

Lunch favorites include: spaghetti (or any kind of pasta!), berries, scrambled eggs with cheese, yogurt, Ritz crackers, green peas, and all the Plum Organics Mighty Veggie pouches.  Even though he's a good eater, I do still try to sneak in veggies as much as possible (grated carrot in the blueberry muffins, zucchini in spaghetti sauce, etc.)

I always buy organic dairy, eggs, and meats. Breads and crackers are almost never organic. I watch the Environmental Working Group‘s “Dirty Dozen” and buy those fruits & veggies organic whenever possible.  I also pay attention to the “Clean Fifteen” because if I don’t have to buy organic, I won’t.  I try to be realistic and buying only organic produce is expensive! Plus, we live out in the country — the nearest Whole Foods is an hour away! I make use of canned veggies because I can stock up. I buy the Publix Greenwise organic kind because they usually contain less sodium than other canned organic brands. 

I love the Weelcious & Tiny Grazers blogs for ideas, but I try not to spend too much time on Pinterest because some of those super-moms make me feel really inadequate! That’s NEVER been the goal of my sharing lunch photos. I would never want to make another mom feel bad. We are all just doing the best we can. A bunch of friends kept asking me about what I was sending, so that inspired the Facebook album of BB’s lunchbox photos!

One final thought: I think children develop a taste for healthy, wholesome foods early on. As an adult, I’ve had to re-learn and re-teach myself a lot about eating better (not instantly salting food, immediately buttering bread, drowning a pancake in syrup, etc.) and so I’ve made a conscientious effort to avoid that with my son. I exclusively breast-fed until he was 6 months and then started making most of his pureed baby food at home in our Vitamix. This was a way I could ensure he was eating only plain, organic fruits and veggies, without added sugar, salt, or preservatives. I DID add herbs and spices early on to hopefully develop a diverse palate.  We never did rice cereal and still very rarely drink any juice. We don’t do “dessert” on a regular basis. I have such a personal addiction to sugar that I am trying to prevent that with James.