Scout's recipes

It is interesting to listen to "adults" complaining about the diet (or worse not worried about the diet) of their young children. We are in control of how our children are introduced to "eating". How we present it and what is presented will shape their future habits. Are they healthy eaters, are they picky eaters.

Today I spoke with a friend who talked about her nephew's eating habits...hot dogs only!! He is 2 years old!!! Do parents think processed food is easier, quicker, more convenient? Maybe. Is it easier when you are fighting with your child at mealtimes or restaurants because the foods they eat are not available? Is it easier when they have developed diabetes? is it easier when they are overweight?

I guess the first problem may be the diet of the parents needs to be improved. We make all of Scouts food. It does take a little longer then opening a jar or a package. But the few extra seconds to cut here pieces smaller then ours or to blend it smooth hardly seems reason to condemn her to a life of processed food. We don't each much processed food ourselves, we rarely walk down the aisles at the grocery store. We shop around the outside edges, where the fresh foods (and the ice cream) are found.

We offer Scout everything we eat (except the no no's like cow's milk, peanut butter, honey and citrus). We don't cut the crust off her bread, we don't make her special "kids food", we almost never give her food with added sugar (she does like fig newton's and ice cream). She looks at our plates at each meal to make sure we don't have something she is missing!

She drinks from a sippy cup and a straw cup. She nurses at night before bed or has a breast milk bottle when Michelle is working. We give her water most of the time. Every few days she gets 100% grape juice (25% juice and 75% water) or we make fresh juice with the juicer and mix it 50% with water.

Some Mom's from her play group have asked about her diet. Here are some of her favorite recipes.

Breakfast: we normally give her baby oatmeal with acai and a banana. We give her the processed oatmeal because it is fortified with vitamins. We do also give her our homemade oatmeal with added flax, cinnamon, blackstrap molases, walnuts and dried fruits which she loves.

Wholewheat blueberry pancakes with flax. This is a great feed myself breakfast! No syrup.

Omelet with cheese and fresh spinach, whole wheat dry toast, banana.


Lunch:
Choibani greek yogurt (plain) has 24 g of protien. We mix in a little vanilla and fresh fruit.

Avacado mixed with banana.

grilled cheese on whole wheat bread.

humus with soft whole wheat pita.

Beans.

Egg salad and spinach on soft whole wheat tortilla.

Tuna with chopped craisons and apples with spinach on whole wheat.


Snacks:

apples with cinnimon heated untill soft.

Peaches, pears, mango, blueberries, kiwi, banana

Cheerios

homemade teething biscuits


Dinner:

Broccolli, spinach, kale, bok choy mixed with eithe qinoui or wheat pasta and fresh grated parmasan cheese.

sweet potato with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Green beans, asparagas, peas, carrots.

Veggie burger with cheese.

Salmon, talapia, sea bass and tuna.

She tries everything. Some days we can't get the food in fast enough. Some days she has clear preferences. Either way is okay. We try to always offer a finger food, usually 2 or 3 in addition to anything she may be getting with a spoon (from us). She clearly communicates when she wants a drink, another spoonful or gets her own from her plate.

I can't imagine, when a child is fed this way, that she will suddenly insist on "hot dogs only" or need a special meal cooked for her because she "doesn't eat" what the adults are eating.

New treasure

I found this car being thrown out yesterday. Of course i brought it home. As soon as Scout spotted it she tried to jump out of my arms! She thinks she is big stuff riding around the yard in her car. She can reach the dogs and the chickens and stuff on the ground...all out of reach in the stroller. We even make it down the hill to feed the horses together, no more waiting at the top!!

It is amazing how wasteful people are.

9 month check up

Scout had her 9 month check up a few days ago. She is still a perfect peanut!! 16 pounds 3 ounces and 27 1/4 inches. She is a powerhouse packed in that tiny body...she picked up, and held, a quart of paint at the hardware store the other day!

Our sad day

Yesterday afternoon Scout was sitting on the floor playing with her toys while I worked on the computer. Lizzie came up and lied down against her...this is unusual since Lizzie usually avoided Scout. Scout pet her and talked to her for several minutes before Lizzie got up and walked away.



Lizzie turned 16 years old last April. I hardly remember my life before she came. I remember what an awesome frisbee player she was. She always caught it and no matter how fast she seemed to run she could always turn on the after burners if she needed them. She loved cats. She loved the water, as soon as the kayak was on the water she was the first one in. She would swim all day, even diving under to retrieve a stick that didn't float. She visited nursing homes, marched in parades, performed demos at schools, touched more hearts then I could possibly count.

Of course she was a search dog. She earned that title while she was young but spent most of her life playing second string to Barkley. She didn't seem to mind. She finally got her day, at the age of 10, to get a mission of her own. She went to Katrina. She ran circles around the dogs half her age in the 100 degree heat. After the end of the work day she helped distribute supplies to the survivors, visited with the other rescue workers and anyone else that needed a little "dog therapy". She was accepting of little Stennis, who survived the hurricane and returned home with us. She gave closure to the family of the missing woman she located. She only had one mission but she gave every ounce of herself all day, everyday and couldn't have made me prouder.

She retired to the life of Ski Patrol. Riding the lift up the mountain and running down alongside me. There is nothing more enjoyable then taking the first run of the day, in fresh snow, all alone on the mountain with your partner. She loved this job. She loved all the kids and people that she met everyday while skiing.

Eventually she couldn't run the mountain anymore. She mostly stayed home with rides in the Jeep and walks on the beach her favorite activities. The past couple years she lost her hearing and her eyesight was pretty bad....but her spirit was never changed. She never complained, never showed signs of pain. Her daily mission was to keep track of me and be at my side where ever that was. No matter how many times we went in and out of the house, up and down the stairs or back and fourth in the yard she was always right there. We always new when it was 7 am and 5 pm...feeding time...she would not let us forget.

Lizzie had more heart then any dog I have ever known. Her loyalty was amazing.

She is free again, free from the old body that held her amazing spirit....

Lizzie April 1, 1993 - October 8 2009

We've got eggs!!

The girls finally came through!! They are around 9 months old now...we were told they would start laying at 5 months. They are buff Orphingtons, a large breed, and from what we have read the larger breeds take longer to start. We found a dozen eggs under one of the sheds, one of the chickens was sitting on them. We don't know if there are other caches anywhere but so far we haven't found any. We leave them in the coop now until later in the morning in hopes they will leave them there. We are going to try to give them bigger nesting boxes. We have't built the hen house yet so they are still spending there nights in Ace's old kennel. They are also becoming very friendly, enjoying being pet. They especially like a scratch at the base of their tail!

Her first cold

Our little Scouty girl has her first cold :( Mommy had to work on Sunday so Daddy took care of her all day. She was all stuffy, tired and just feeling yucky. She seems to have a little temp. She still manages to have her smiley happy attitude though! It is Monday and Mommy and Scout will spend the day together. She is drinking lots of fluids, eating some and we are sucking out the snots with the elephant snot sucking device.

Starting to walk

Scout is starting to walk. She can walk when holding our hands and she is starting to practice with her push toys. Her first day trying it she let go with both hands, held her position for a few seconds, held back on with one hand and then raised the other for a high-five!!