Let's Talk Dinner...+ a Recipe!

Luci eats breakfast and lunch during the week at daycare, and we all sit together around the table for dinner. Dinner usually happens between 6 and 6:30. If I did a complete crock pot meal, we may eat a little earlier.

I try to typically provide a semi-balanced dinner for her each night; now, whether she eats a balanced meal is a different story. Some nights she may clean her plate and request seconds, other nights she just picks at her food or really doesn't eat anything.

What is Luci eating these days?
Her absolute favorite foods are cheese, cottage cheese, and "fishies" (gold fish crackers).

Foods she likes include applesauce (no sugar added and a variety of flavors), chicken, blueberries, salad (which is surprising since I REALLY do not like salad), pasta, mac and cheese, peas and carrots, corn, cereal (she is on a fruit loops kick right now), cheeze-its, pizza, chips and salsa, ham, turkey, hamburger, rice, and fruit snacks.

Foods she doesn't like include eggs, mashed potatoes, a lot of fruits, broccoli, and whatever she chooses not to eat on a particular night just because.

What does she drink? Her absolute favorite is milk. At home, it is hard to get her to drink anything but milk. I offer her (very diluted so she gets more water) different fruit juices and she will occasionally drink those. Water is offered as well, but is typically turned down. During the hot summer, she had no options. If we were going to be outside it was water...and honestly she would happily drink it then. She always drinks water at daycare (besides breakfast and lunch) so I know that she likes it...she just likes to be stubborn and drink milk at home! Honestly, if she isn't eating that great, at least I know she is getting some nutrients from milk.

I try to provide her with whatever we are eating and then a few things that I know she will eat. Some nights she will eat what we are eating and some nights she will stick to old faithful (cottage cheese & applesauce).

Here is a typical dinner...

Cherry Applesauce, peas/carrots, shredded Mozzarella and Montery Jack cheese, and the "main course" (Lasagna Soup(broth drained) - Recipe will be at the bottom of post).

What did she eat of this? She ate most of the applesauce, most of the peas/carrots, some of the Lasagna Soup, and ALL of the cheese + seconds of the cheese. This was a pretty good "eating night" for her.

As Luci got older and began actually eating with us at the table, it really surprised me how often she would choose not to eat...even if we had foods she liked. I just had to realize that as long as I provided her food that she liked (as well as offering her what we were eating so she could try new things) she would eat if she was hungry. I had to stop sweating it so much.

Now for the recipe!! I made a new soup last night and it was simple and tasty!!!

Lasagna Soup

Ingredients:
1lb of ground chuck
chopped onions
2 cans of beef broth
1 can of diced tomatoes (undrained)
1/4 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 1/2 cups of mafalde pasta (or any other short noodle pasta- I had Penne on hand)
Shredded Parmesan cheese (I had mozzarella and Montery Jack on hand)
Salt/pepper to taste

Directions:
Brown meat with 1/4 of tsp of garlic powder and chopped onions and salt/pepper to taste. Meanwhile, bring the broth, tomatoes (undrained), and Italian seasoning to a boil. Add pasta and meat. Salt/pepper to taste. Cook until pasta is desired tenderness. Serve with shredded cheese.

This is super simple, but has a really good flavor! It will definitely go into our fall/winter soup rotation! I've had a few people ask me about the crock pot Chicken Tortilla Soup...you can go here to see how to make it!