Feeding a toddler

While most toddlers don't get fussy till closer to age two, mine decided to start being picky by the time he turned a year old! We did mostly soft foods from the start instead of purees, so I can't blame it on a texture change. He is a complete vegetarian, refuses any meat, chicken or fish. He's highly allergic to cow milk and mildly allergic to goat's milk so that's one more sorce of protein that's out. And he's not a big fan of veggies. Thank God he's still breastfeeding like a champ so he get's his nutrition that way, but I have also been working on some creative recipe to add protein and vegetables into his diet. Here's a few of his favorites:

Carrot-Apple Leather
unsweetened organic applesauce
cooked and pureed organic carrots
spices to taste (we use cinnamon and nutmeg)

Whatever amount of applesauce I use I put 1/3rd as much carrot puree. Grease a baking sheet well and mix applesauce,carrots and spices. spread on baking sheet so it's evenly 1/4 to 1/2 " thick. bake in a oven set on it's lowest setting with the door slightly ajar until applesauce is dry to touch. Let cool slightly and peel off baking sheet. Tear into whatever sizes you'd like and store in fridge. Little Man LOVES these it's just like candy to him! The drying concentrates the sweetness of the applesauce so there's no need to use sweetened. Using a conventional oven is not the energy-friendly solution, you could also use a dehydrator if you have one, mine came with a fruit leather tray just for this purpose and it works great!

Apple-Quinoa Pancakes
1/4 c quinoa flour (pronounced keen-wah)I just process quinoa grain in the coffee grinder
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c whole-wheat or graham flour
1/4 c oatbran (I've also used baby oatmeal cereal or rolled oats that I make into a flour in my coffee grinder)
1 tbs wheat germ
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk (rice milk, soy milk or regular milk whatever is best for you)
1 egg (if you want to eliminate the egg you can just add a full cup of milk (your pancakes will be more crepe-like but still delish!)
Mix together and cook in greased frypan or griddle. We pour a little organic maple syrup on top to serve!! (yumm) The quinoa you can get at your local natural grocery store, you could substitute extra flour if you don't have it but it gives an excellent nutty flavor to the pancakes and is one of the healthiest grains out their (lots of protein and iron) These pankcakes are so excellent that they are the only kind we eat anymore!! And so much more healthy than regular pancakes.

Fruit Chewies
This recipe is from an awesome cookbook called "Baby Let's Eat!" Very tasty cookies with no refined sugar and still nutritious!
1c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves (I used a 1/4 tsp.)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 c. apple juice concentrate
3/4 c raisins
3/4 c dried apples
1/3 c fruit sweetned strawberry preserves

1. Oil and lightly flour an 18" long piece of aluminum foil.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Stir in butter and juice concentrate. Mix thouroughly.
3.Roll dough onto prepared foil 1/4 " thick. Put on baking sheet in refridgerator for 20 minutes. 4. To prepare filling, chop raisins in a food processor, until they form a coarse paste, add dried apples process briefly, add preserves, proces till well combine and smooth. Set aside
5.Preheat oven to 350 Oil and lightly flour a baking sheet.
6. Remove dough from fridge. Cut into three regtangular strips about 2" wide (mine were wider) Spread filling down 1" of each strip. With the aid of the foilclose the dough over the filling, Press slightly to seal. Transfer to baking sheet.
7. Bake till crust is golden, about 25 min. Let cool 10 min. Cut 1 1/2" pieces.