Skip to main content

About us

Food is a frequent topic of discussion at our house, and it seems like we’re not the only ones. As our son neared six months of age, I started to give a lot of thought to how to introduce him to solid foods and then how to encourage him to become “a good eater.” Now that Henry is in preschool, the focus of the blog has shifted to our experience with school lunches.

My intention with this blog is to document our family’s experience with food and what we learn along the way.

Food goals for Henry

A child who enjoys eating a wide variety of foods
A child who grows up healthy and strong
A child who knows where food comes from
A family that loves cooking and eating together

Our family

We live in the Pacific Northwest. We did a lot of dining out before Henry was born, but with a child around we are eating at home much more often. We buy our groceries from both supermarkets and farmer’s markets, and we receive a delivery of organic produce each week. We don’t mind spending a little more for quality food.  

Mama: After taking a year off to be a stay-at-home mom to Henry, I re-entered the workforce as the program manager at a local history museum -- organizing field trips for elementary school students, coordinating volunteers, and planning special events. I love growing, cooking, and eating delicious food. I have an ongoing interest in local agriculture, slow food, nutrition, and food politics. I am not interested in dieting or health fads. I enjoy trying out new recipes, even when they are not always a success. I believe in enjoying real food and some of my favorite memories are of sharing meals with my family.
Favorite vegetable - Cauliflower                   Favorite fruit - Coconut
Favorite seafood - Mussels, Clam chowder     Favorite meat - Duck
Favorite breakfast - Scones                         Favorite dairy - Cheese                
Favorite condiment - Marmalade                  Favorite dessert - Ice cream
Food allergies - None

Dada: He works in the energy conservation field. Dada loves canoeing, camping and grilling on the barbecue. He is a ketchup addict, but his affection for sauce has broadened in the recent years to include sweet and sour, barbecue, teriyaki, tzatziki and hoisin. Sometimes it seems like our fridge is filled with condiments but no actual food. Dada wants to make sure Henry learns good eating habits to avoid preventable health issues that run in the family.
Favorite vegetable - Potato                    Favorite fruit - Pear
Favorite seafood - Cod fish and chips       Favorite meat - Pork                   
Favorite breakfast - Bacon and Eggs        Favorite dairy - Sour cream
Favorite condiment - Ketchup                 Favorite dessert - Chocolate chip cookies
Food allergies - Shrimp, lactose intolerance, mild peanut allergy

Henry: At the start of this blog, Henry was six months old and just starting his adventure with food. He is a very friendly, mellow boy who loves animals (real and imaginary), reading books, playing in the kitchen, and exploring the world.

Favorite foods at 1 year old
Favorite vegetable - Mushrooms, squash       Favorite fruit - Pear, pineapple
Favorite seafood - Salmon, halibut                Favorite meat - Sausage
Favorite breakfast - Pancakes, oatmeal         Favorite dairy - Cheese 
More favorite foods - Crackers, Hummus

Favorite foods at 2 years old 
Favorite vegetable - Nori                            Favorite fruit - Berries, Bananas
Favorite seafood - Salmon, clam chowder    Favorite meat - Chicken
Favorite breakfast - Pancakes, oatmeal        Favorite dairy - Yogurt
Favorite condiment - Ketchup, salsa            Favorite dessert - Chocolate cake
More favorite foods - Noodles, quesadillas, chickpeas, baked beans, corn bread, cashews, peanut butter, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin seeds, grapes, raisins, pineapple, pears, apricots
Food allergies - None 

Favorite foods at 3 years old
Favorite vegetable - Carrots                   Favorite fruit - Berries, Bananas
Favorite seafood - Calamari                    Favorite meat - Chicken
Favorite breakfast - Pancakes                 Favorite dairy - Yogurt
Favorite condiment - Ketchup, teriyaki     Favorite dessert - Birthday cake
More favorite foods - California rolls, noodles, quesadillas, chickpea curry, barbecue ribs, corn bread, peanut butter, cinnamon rolls, raisins, pears, nectarines
Food allergies - None

Favorite foods at 4 years old
Favorite vegetable - Carrots                 Favorite fruit - Bananas
Favorite seafood - Steamer clams         Favorite meat - Salami
Favorite breakfast - Pancakes               Favorite dairy - Yogurt
Favorite condiment - Ketchup               Favorite dessert - Nutella banana crepes
More favorite foods - Spaghetti, peanut butter, calamari, teriyaki, corn bread, cinnamon rolls, blueberries, raisins, pears, apricots, plums, lemonade, hot cocoa
Food allergies - None 

Favorite foods at 5 years old
Favorite vegetable - Carrots                 Favorite fruit - Bananas
Favorite seafood - Steamer clams         Favorite meat - Salami
Favorite breakfast - Pancakes               Favorite dairy - Yogurt
Favorite condiment - Ketchup               Favorite dessert - Nutella banana crepes
More favorite foods - Seaweed, spaghetti, peanut butter, teriyaki, corn bread, cinnamon rolls, raisins, apricots, lemonade, hot cocoa
Food allergies - None

Thank you to Tania for providing the beautiful photos of dinner time at our family table: http://taniakristyphotography.squarespace.com/

Comments

  1. Lovely blog! Much more inventive name than mine Janine : ))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Janine. I wanted to explore a broader range of food topics than just baby led weaning, but reading your blog was helpful when I was thinking about starting this one.

      Delete
  2. A very nice blog. I'll be back. Regards

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook

UPDATE (10/2/12): Unfortunately, I did not hear back from our original winner. Congratulations to our alternate winner for "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook" -- Robin Pfefer. UPDATE (9/29/12): I am happy to announce that Kashia Clopper is the winner of "The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook". When I was first thinking about using the Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) model for Henry, I was unsure about whether it would really work. I was excited about BLW’s claims of less stressful meals that the whole family could share together. Plus, I was all for encouraging Henry to gain new skills by learning about the shapes, textures, colors, smells and flavors of food. This sounded ideal in theory, but would it work in practice? After some fun but ineffective attempts at letting Henry feed himself, I went in search of resources to learn more about BLW. I needed to learn how to prepare meals for our family in which Henry could participate. That’s when I found “ The Baby-Led

Do Your Kids Eat Everything?

UPDATE (3/15/2013): Congratulations to Kia as the random drawing winner in this giveaway! Thank you to all those who entered this contest.  Before we began our food adventure with Henry, Daddy and I had many conversations about how to encourage Henry to become “a good eater.” After watching other parents constantly struggle with their toddlers, we wanted to know if there was anything we could do from the start to prevent picky eating. That’s when we read “ French Kids Eat Everything ” by Karen Le Billon . The book is an easy and enjoyable read about the year that Karen’s family spent in France and how it changed the way her family eats. The heart of the book explores the 10 French Food Rules for raising happy, healthy eaters. “French Kids Eat Everything” sparked numerous discussions at our dinner table about how our family eats. We have become more conscious of our assumptions about food and how that will influence Henry’s understanding of mealtimes. In addition, the

Simple Vegetable Soup

As I wrote in my last post , I decided to introduce Henry to new flavors through soup as inspired by “French Kids Eat Everything” by Karen Billon . After two weeks, Henry has tried out several flavors of vegetable soup by bottle. So far, the list includes spinach, leek, pea, celery and zucchini. He has been receiving about three ounces of soup each day divided into morning and afternoon servings. Each time we test out a new flavor, he takes a few sips, then pauses for a moment, and then keeps drinking until it’s all gone.  Henry reaching for a bottle of creamy pea soup. Here’s the basic recipe: Slice two cups of vegetables. You can also include a handful of chopped fresh herbs such as mint, sage, parsley or basil. Boil vegetables in two cups of water for about 7 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. Blend until there are no large chunks of vegetable remaining. The soup can be served in this form to older children and adults. Daddy and I enjoyed the leek soup; it was