Eleanor's top ten for travelling with toddlers

We have just returned yet another overseas trip with the toddler (yep, I know that sounds smug but it's probably not as glamourous as multiple overseas trips without a toddler). From previous experiences I've certainly learnt a few things about how to manage the whole situation but also how to relax a bit and let some unhealthy meals/snacks through to the keeper.

It's not all about tricks and tips though so I thought it would be worth recapping the pros and cons of travelling and feeding kids in my one-off ,top ten findings from travelling with toddlers and their tummies. First five good things:

1. If you pack some good healthy snacks, they are often super keen to eat them (we went a lot of places with chopped apple, dried apricots, rice cakes, and wholegrain muesli bars).
2. You never know when you might stumble over a new food that they are surprisingly prepared to try. For this trip there were egg sandwiches, naan bread, scampi (like prawns) and banana bread in the new food favourites.
3. You don't have to do the cooking all of the time, so if food is rejected it's not as personal (except maybe for poor Grandma Jeanne who slaved over the hot stove).
4. There may be occasional opportunities to utilise peer pressure "Look, Charlie loves eating that nutritious wholegrain cereal - would you like some as well?"
5. Whatever happens you can always use the justification that you're on holidays to ease your guilt over any bad food days. For example, it is totally normal to eat chocolate pastries for breakfast in France and I'm sure they are supportive of multiple ice creams as well.

And then there are five not so good things...
6. You will never be able to predict how a slight difference in foods overseas will lead to rejection. For example weetbix and apples don't taste the same in the UK and therefore cannot be tolerated by a toddler.
7. No matter how hard you try, sometimes a toddler is just going to want hot chips for dinner over the gourmet pot of mussels (pommes frites anyone?)
8. Your best intentions in bringing healthy snacks can sometimes lead to toddler obsession with looking in your bag "what you got in your bag Mummy?"
9. You can't always stop well meaning friends/relatives from feeding the toddler biscuits 10 minutes before you were going to serve them a bowl of vegie laden pasta.
10. No matter how much of a pep talk you have given yourself not to worry about what the toddler is eating while you're away, you may find yourself jet-lagged at 5am documenting everything that they have consumed for the past three weeks and trying to identify how many of these could be considered a plant-food, let alone a vegetable.

So there you have it. It's not all bad but it also won't be perfect. If all else fails, I still recommend falling back on whatever healthy food it is that they will eat. One of ours is this super easy and quick gnocchi that only requires two saucepans!

Eleanor's Hidden Vegie Gnocchi

Ingredients
500 gms gnocchi
1 onion, finely sliced
1 zucchini, finely grated
1 handful spinach finely chopped
Half a jar of pesto

Recipe
Boil a large pot of water and cook the gnocchi according to the packet instructions
Meanwhile in a separate pan, fry the onions over a medium heat in a teaspoon or so of olive oil until softened. Add the zucchini and spinach and stir until wilted and softened.
When the gnocchi is cooked, add it to the vegies and stir through the pesto.
Serve with parmesan cheese

Yum cha - a parent's best friend

Today I have a hankering for dumplings and it inspired me to reflect on a very successful visit to the Shark Fin Inn in Little Bourke St last week. I think it is one of the best dining options when dealing with a toddler or even smaller little people! Or do I just tell myself that because I like to go to yum cha regardless?

A friend had proposed an 11am Sunday yum cha sitting following his going away party on the Saturday night. For him, this turned out to be a bad decision as he was out on the town until 6am but for us it was perfect! Kids seem to be pretty much ready for lunch by 11.30am (which it was closer to by the time we all got in there and seated).

There are a few aspects that make yum cha perfect kid food. Firstly, the food is there instantly which is an important first step for feeding kids (it's the same reason that all my handbags now have boxes of sultanas in them). Secondly, kids can pick whatever takes their fancy which for Leo is mostly prawn dumplings. Thirdly, you don't get any weird looks if you bring you're own kids food in as well. I tend to bring some chopped up fruit so when there is a slow patch where nothing is taking the toddler's fancy we can keep his interest going. Finally, if it all seems to be wearing thin, you can easily pack up and go at any point and it doesn't really affect anyone else - others can keep grazing or hang around for dessert without it feeling weird.

So if you're organising a lunch with multiple kiddies or just looking for an easy outing with a smaller group, (oor like me you are jjust crazy for dumplings) I would strongly recommend hitting Chinatown!

The confessional...

I have to come clean - today I took Leo to get a happy meal from McDonalds. I can't even pretend I didn't have any food in the house. I had dinner planned with ingredients in the fridge but a playdate with cousin Frankie went overtime and I just couldn't face racing around trying to get the cooking done before Leo got too hungry and went crazy.



To make matters worse, Leo was soaking wet from an afternoon where he was not only in the pouring rain but also in a wading pool. Consequently he was just wearing the only dry pair of shorts available and some sandles and looked like a drowned rat.



So wouldn't you know it, as we trudged back home - me with a giant bag of Maccas and Leo carrying his happy meal - I ran into an old school friend. I was super embarassed because this is the first time she had met Leo and he couldn't stop talking about his burger and had his shorts half-way down his bottom and I just didn't feel like the model of good parenting in the circumstances. My friend kindly texted me afterwards to let me know that she was actually on her way to get KFC and hoped that no judgement would be passed in either direction!



It's bizarre that I feel this level of guilt about feeding my child a burger - especially as those canny people from McDonalds will now package it up with some juice and apple slices. When I was young, my parents took me to get a cheeseburger once a week so I would eat some red meat and I see this as a totally acceptable thing to do.



So I can only hope that my guilty admission will make others feel ok about resorting to fast food now and then. Gaz and I have decided that once a month is totally fine and I would definitely totally recommend choosing the apple slices in the happy meal - it makes it much easier to sooth your conscience later!

Sweet, sweet bribery...

High up in the long list of "things I would never do when I was a parent" was bribing a child with food. As has happened with most other items on this list, I have had to cross it off this week!

After a significant period of bath refusal, I finally caved and told Leo he could have an icy-pole (or in his words 'a big one') if he would get in the bath. On the first evening it worked and I rejoiced in my cunning succcess. On the second evening it failed and resulted in an almighty tantrum "I want a big one...I want a big one".

Admittedly the only reason I caved on the bribery issue was that I recently read Joshua Gans' "Parentonomics" in which he has moderate success using what he describes as incentives: jellybeans helped the kids get toilet trained and the promise of dessert helped kids get through their vegies. Clearly Joshua's children are more receptive to the food rewards or the tasks are not so terrifying as Leo finds the bath.

In good news, Mr Williams managed to talk Leo into having a shower tonight with no icypoles involved at all. Phew!

Reading food labels - fat, sugar, salt yum!

I've never been a great interpreter of food labels but I found this handy guide in a British book called Annabel Karmel's Complete Family Meal Planner which explains what they actually mean by low fat, low sugar and low salt. The recipes in this book were pretty lame (chicken rissoles shaped like teddy bears anyone??) but I think this will stick with me.

So looking at the per 100gm serving

low fat is 2gms or less

low sugar is 2gms or less

low sodium (salt) is .1gms or less

high fat is 20gms or more

high sugar is 10gms or more

high salt is .5gms or more

I thought I'd road test some things that Leo likes to eat to see how they stack up and it's an interesting result:

Sultana Bran Buds (aka cereal with tanis) - per 100gms

1.5 gms fat - tick

25.1 gms sugar - big cross eek

.13gms sodium -little tick

Cruskits - per 100gms

12.6gms fat - little cross

3.3gms sugar - little cross

.7gms sodium - cross

Mother Earth Baked Fruit Sticks - per 100gms

2.6gms fat - little tick

33.6gms sugar - big cross

.2gms sodium - little tick

Ok, I've got to hunt down some better snack foods...damn!

Antonia feeds vegies to toddlers!

So I know I probably should have worked out the joy of libraries many years ago but I have only recently discovered the joy of borrowing cookbooks. What a boon! Considering I’m only ever taken with a cookbook for approximately 3 weeks, this seems to be an ideal, not to mention affordable, arrangement.

So my first selection has been “Feeding Fussy Kids” by Antonia Kidman and a lovely nutritionist (two thumbs up) and the CSIRO Wellbeing Plan for Kids (lots of general info but not so handy for recipes).

I think I am pretty innovative when it comes to hiding vegies but Antonia takes it to another level.* The best thing about this book is that it is genuinely aimed at toddlers. I’ve seen a lot of other cookbooks for littlies which are really about school age kids who might even consider eating a salad if pushed.

The best thing in Antonia’s book is the “vegie laden pasta sauce” – what a Nigella-style title! I’ve thrown a slightly adjusted recipe below – as well as being great on pasta with cheese it’s really good as a pizza topping, as a base for Bolognese sauce and I’ve even used it in a shepherd’s pie with great success.

There were also a lot of clever looking smoothies, many of which include some silken tofu. I haven’t tried any of these yet so I will reserve my judgement.

Eleanor’s vegie pasta sauce
- One tablespoon olive oil
- One small onion finely chopped
- Two cloves of garlic
- One teaspoon of dried rosemary
- One teaspoon of dried oregano
- One cup grated or finely diced pumpkin
- 700ml salt reduced pasta sauce
- 2 cups V8 juice
- Half a cup of red lentils
- Half a cup of water

Fry onion garlic and herbs in olive oil over low-medium heat until softened. Add the pumpkin and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add all other ingredients and increase the heat to high. When the sauce comes to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 mins.

If your little one is brave with green stuff, stir through a cup of chopped baby spinach at the end.

* Please note that I’m more than aware that Antonia probably didn’t actually contribute to the writing of this book but I like to imagine of her lying back on a white couch in her designer gear wondering how best to get nutrients to my child.

Great new website - Hey Bambini

One of the main reasons I was keen to start a blog is that I feel there is not enough info available on where you can take your kids out to eat. Problem solved!

A playgroup contact recently sent me the link to Hey Bambini - http://www.heybambini.com.au/

Hey Bambini reviews cafes and restaurants across Melbourne, ratine them from one baby face to five baby faces based on atmosphere, changing facilities and things for kids to do. How convenient! I think it would be handy to add 'quality of babycinos' as that is Leo's main concern when selecting a cafe.

Speaking of which, El Mirage (349 Lygon St, East Brunswick) serves theirs with hundreds and thousands - fabulous!

Hidden vegies, how many does your crouching child need?

With most of the nutrition advice that I've found being pretty general, I often get to wondering how many vegies little kids actually need in a day. The advice for adults is pretty clear - five a day full stop. No blurry lines. Eat five vegies or something very bad will happen to you. For school age kids there are some specific guidelines too but for toddlers...nothing.

I've got a few child nutrition books and I've looked at a lot of online resources and I think the general answer is "some". I found one source that said you should go with one cup of vegies a day. Another says serve at least one vegie at each meal (I don't know where I'm going to put them between porridge and some slices of pear - maybe some steamed sprouts for entree??). Most articles/books/blogs seem to say as long as toddlers get some vegies in their diet at some time each day, you're doing ok. The key thing is that little ones get a range of vitamins and minerals and plenty of fibre rich foods.

I should note that I swore that I would never be one of those people who hides vegies for their kids (also noting that I had never in my life tried preparing a meal for a toddler before). I thought that I would go with the Maternal and Child Health Nurse's advice that Leo should eat whatever we ate. As it turns out he does not like Thai red curries (too spicy), lamb and chickpea salad (too chunky) or pumpkin tagine with cous cous (who knows what the problem is here??).

So I have joined the league of vegie hiders and have learnt a few tricks from a cohort of other toddler feeding parents. One told me that white sauce is the key - this led me to developing macaroni cheese with peas, broccoli and spinach. Consequently I have decided that pasta is the key, you can sneak anything into a sauce a la Bolognese with carrot, zucchini and spinach.

Leo also had a period that he preferred his food in pancake form which is when I developed my corn cake recipe (see below). If you are a grown up, I would strongly recommend serving these with bacon, relish and sour cream to cancel out the health benefits ;)

Eleanor's super quick corn cakes

Ingredients

1 small tin of creamed corn

1 cup of wholemeal self raising flour

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

chopped spring onion and coriander optional

Recipe

Mix all ingredients in a bowl to a pancake batter consistency (you may need to adjust the amount of milk to get it thin enough.

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat.

Melt some butter in the pan - it should bubble lightly.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the pan and wait for small bubbles to appear on the surface (approx 1-2 minutes).

Flip corncakes and cook briefly on the other side.

Toddlers will happily eat these as they are and you can also pack up leftovers for a snack later. They are good for a day or so in the fridge.

Enjoy! If your toddler is also going through a pancake phase, I would recommend risotto balls as another excellent option.

Kids in the pub - playing fair

In December, I came across an article in the Age that basically argued that people who take their kids to the pub are ruining it for everybody - http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/hey-parents-leave-your-kids-at-home-20091212-kpmc.html.

This was pretty confronting for me, as Gaz and I like to take Leo to local bars and beer gardens to meet up with friends and generally think it works pretty well. Let me say up front that I still think you can definitely take young people out without upsetting anyone. However, I did take Jill Stark's point on a couple of things and I guess it led me to the conclusion that there are three key tips when taking little ones out and about in adult places so that you are being fair to everyone involved:

1. Go at a kid friendly time - I reckon Sunday afternoons and early weekday evenings are totally in but probably leave Friday and Saturday nights for the growns ups. It seems to me that you probably don't want to take small kids out around bedtime anyway as you are asking for trouble (for yourself and everyone around you). It's always best to have an exit strategy if things turn pear-shaped as well - Gaz and I tend to whisper "abort mission" across the table if it looks like Leo is about to blow.

2. Go to kid friendly places - beers gardens and massive noisy rooms are ideal as you really can't expect a kid to sit nicely on a bar stool. It's a good sign if you can see a couple of other people bringing their kids too. Anywhere where people seem to be enjoying a nice glass of red to a soothing background of Nina Simone is probably not the best place to try. I think it's fairest for everyone if you choose places where there is reasonable scope for running around and making a bit of noise (for adults and children).

3. Bring stuff - toddlers generally can't sit still for too long without attention and entertainment so you pretty much have to bring some books and toys for it to work. I can make some exceptions to this rule, as I know a couple of little girls who will happily sit in their pram and sip on a drink for an hour or so - what angels! Leo, however, will never do this and it always seems to go best when we bring a ball or some Thomas the Tank Engine books to keep him going.

Reading back, this all seems pretty preachy but while I took offence to being told that kids shouldn't be where grown-ups like to go out, with some thought I agree that sometimes I would also like to have a fancy cocktail in a quiet bar with no reminders of Yo Gabba Gabba.

I really believe that there are plenty of opportunties for parents to still be part of normal society and for us to be able to catch up with friends without spoiling anyone's day.

If anyone is looking for kid/toddler friendly bars in Brunswick - you are in luck! Here are my top 5 places to take your little one on a Sunday afternoon:

1. The Retreat Hotel, 280 Sydney Rd, Brunswick - http://www.melbournepubs.com/venue/624/

2. The Brunswick Green, 313 Sydney Rd, Brunswick - http://www.melbournepubs.com/venues/search/brunswick-green/

3. The Sporting Club Hotel, 27 Weston St, Brunswick - http://www.melbournepubs.com/venue/3086/

4. Penny Black, 420 Sydney Rd, Brunswick - http://www.melbournepubs.com/venues/search/penny-black/

5. The Comfortable Chair, 98 Lygon St, Brunswick East - http://www.melbournepubs.com/venues/search/comfortable-chair/

I hope to see you there soon!

Welcome to crouching child!

Thanks for coming to check out Crouching Child Hidden Vegies. In summary it is a going to be a blog about all my research into children's nutrition that would otherwise go only into my head.

I am Eleanor, mother of one toddler, Leo, and I have been struck by the lack of really useful information about what a person needs in terms of nutrients to really grow and develop into a healthy, clever, active grown up. I am also a passionate cook and have some ideas to share about some of the things that have worked for me in making sure Leo gets a reasonable spread of different types of food. If he had his way, I reckon he would live on sultanas, cruskits and milk!

Gaz, Leo and I also love to go out and I'm keen to share my experiences of what does and doesn't work when heading out with babies and toddlers.

Despite my general view that there isn't enough advice about healthy eating for toddlers, I would like to recommend the following trusted sources if you are after something more definitive than my thoughts:

http://www.health.vic.gov.au/nutrition/child_nutrition/child_nutrition.htm

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Healthy_eating_for_kids?OpenDocument

Look out for future posts on the best restaurants and cafes in Melbourne for babies and toddlers, my research into how much milk and how many vegies toddlers need every day, and my links to the best recipe sites when cooking for little ones.

Enjoy!