creamed spinach and the birthday party circuit

Add creamed spinach to the list of rejected veggies. I thought the creamy texture and addition of parmesan would make it edible. Plus I served it alongside safety choices: roasted chicken and sweet potato fries (which are really just roasted strips of sweet potato that I call French fries to make them sound more badass). But it was totally rejected by B. and T. In fact, DH wouldn't even fake a bite to set a good example. Which only makes me more determined. So I'm gonna slip it into lasagna or baked ziti and serve it with a smile!
Totally unrelated but we're officially joining the birthday party circuit and I'm oddly giddy about it. We've gotten two invites this week alone (including an adorable one which is a custom job from tinyprints.com that makes me feel like I've got to step it up this year). And I know more are coming. The thing is, it takes all pressure off making plans for the weekend. I always feel like I should be scheduling more playdates and this takes care of that without any initiative on my part other than showing up with a gift. Everyone with older kids seems to complain about the weekend shuffle between birthday parties but I say bring it on. If you invite us, we'll be there.

new tastes

Add mustard, honey and maple syrup to the list of condiments B. has tried and liked so far. Sadly that didn't extend to this roasted cauliflower dish from Food52 I tried this weekend. So good. So simple. So not appealing to a toddler. But on the positive side, he did eat a major helping of scrambled eggs this weekend while my mom was here. Apparently B. is a social scrambler and will only eat eggs when he has more than an audience of one.

not the best pic but you get the idea

happy v-day!

Making sugar cookies while B. naps so he can decorate them when he wakes up. (Found this Martha recipe, natch, that has less butter than the others so I'm giving it a try.) Beyond giddy myself since I went out to buy pink sprinkles, sparkling sugar and sparkle gel. Pretty! Some people do arts n crafts - we're gonna decorate cookies. Yay! Will post results later.
UPDATE: I found this recipe made sugar cookies that were too fluffy. I happen to like thinner, crispy sugar cookies myself. So for our next cookie decorating party (Easter?) I'll use this one from Epicurious. Way more butter but a better cookie.

peanut butter...meh

B. had his first taste about six months ago and has remained unimpressed ever since. The recommendations on feeding your kids peanut butter keep changing but there are no food allergies in the family so we felt pretty comfortable trying around 1.5 thinking he was gonna get hooked but he's never been interested. So today I tried giving him a PB&J sandwich, thinking the jelly would seal the deal. (The fridge is pretty bare but I couldn't take him grocery shopping because he refused to nap and I knew he'd pass out the minute we got in the car.) Anyway, I couldn't even get close to him. So the ease/affordability/convenience/deliciousness of PB&J will have to wait for another day. Instead he had a quesedilla topped with mashed avocado and I ate the PB&J. Yum.

mmm...pizza!

We got a pizza stone at Williams Sonoma last night. I've been making in the oven lately and even once on the BBQ but it needs a little help and I'm hoping this will help save the crust from burning.
Except B. got so excited by all the talk of pizza that he wanted some immediately. It's really hard to explain to a toddler that actually making pizza is also gonna require a trip to the grocery store for cheese & sauce and to Abbot's Pizza shop (which will sell you dough balls to make your own - love this!).
So we stopped by a mediocre pizza joint to get him a slice on the way home. I don't think he cared (or could tell the difference? The only time he's objected to pizza is when I made a BBQ chicken pizza. He was outraged that someone had dared mess with his classic tomato sauce/mozarella combo.) but I'll definitely be making up some pies tonight because mommy wants some good margharita!

ketchup makes everything better

Fish sticks worked. Sort of. I got a box of Dr. Praeger's fish sticks and served some up Monday. Dipped in ketchup. B. ate about 5 bites. Not a bad start. And then we switched over to hummus and pita chips. Today comes helping number two of fish sticks. For the record, I'd prefer he ate fish fillets but he won't so this seems like a good gateway food to get him hooked. Fingers crossed it goes well. We've also had some banana, cinnamon french toast and bagel n cream cheese today. Sometimes it seems like the whole day is spent fixing food, convincing him to actually put the food in his mouth, cleaning up the kitchen and then starting all over again. Making me qualified to be one extremely competent...lunch lady?!
UPDATE: He ate one bite. And only when bribed with the promise of a bottle of milk. Except he did chew and swallow said bite so it can't have been that bad. Operation Fish Sticks continues!

what's for lunch?

Lately, it feels like we're in a lunch rut. If it's not pasta, it's quesedillas/grilled cheese or hummus and pita. Over and over again. B. would probably be just fine with mac and cheese at every meal -- and two years ago I probably would have agreed with him but now I feel like it's my mom duty to make sure he's eating from the food pyramid. So I texted some friends to see what their kids were eating that day and got some interesting ideas:
Swedish meatballs made with chicken, shallots, nutmeg and parsley. This sounds so good, it makes me hungry!
Veggie corn dogs. I'm alternately repulsed and fascinated. Probably delicious and obviously way healthier than real corn dogs so it's an option.
Rice and beans. Note to self: learn how to make rice.
Fish sticks. We've tried them before but as D. pointed out if I offered up a dipping sauce alongside B. would probably go for it. Ketchup is my friend.
Tofu. I got some sesame marinated sticks the other day but they were sort of spicy so I didn't end up offering them to B. because that would have turned him off completely. Kid does not like spicy food. But if I can find some other version that would be great. (I'm not really a huge fan so I don't want to make the commitment to learning how to do it myself.)
Most of all I think the world needs some sort of giant message board where everyone could log in their menus everyday (no judgments made!) just to give moms more ideas!

bananas are back!

B. is obsessed with the Yo Gabba Gabba "Banana" song. But stopped eating the actual fruit a couple of months ago. Seriously. We sing about loving bananas EVERY day even though they're on the banned list. Then randomly this morning he asked for my banana at breakfast and ate the entire thing, along with his bagel. Bummer for me it was the last banana but I wasn't about to fight him for it. Finally, one more food to put back on the "like" list!
UPDATE: I knew it was too good to be true. We've regained bananas but lost raisins and yogurt today. "No like it," said B.