Omelette

Recently I made breakfast for dinner: omelettes with egg, mushrooms, spinach, green onions and cheese, leaving Buttercup's portion salt-free. I cut the omelette into little squares for easier pick-up-ability. 


Buttercup liked it. It wasn't her favorite meal of all time, but she ate it happily enough.


We used to limit Buttercup's intake of egg whites, due to family history of egg allergies and also eczema that was worsened by egg consumption (both via breastmilk and eaten directly). I am happy to report that Buttercup's eczema has drastically improved. I know most babies outgrow this annoying skin condition eventually, but it makes me happy not to have to factor a skin reaction into my meal decisions.


PROS: protein + veggies = healthy combo
CONS: Buttercup prefers other dishes

French Toast

Because Mommy and Daddy generally have more free time on Saturday mornings it provides great occasions for Buttercup to try breakfast foods that actually require preparation. We've recently been making quite the tradition of the family Saturday morning breakfasts, in fact. I'm so glad Buttercup is able to join us in these meals, since they just don't make scrambled eggs, pancakes, brown cheese, or french toast in pureed baby food versions. 


This particular morning we made french toast, which was my favorite Saturday treat as a girl. It actually makes a great breakfast food for baby if you leave off the sugary syrup and other toppings. Because of the egg and milk, french toast is high in protein. Depending on what kind of bread you use it could become even healthier. I like flax seed breads, myself. Yummy! I cut a slice of french toast into one-inch squares for Buttercup and gave them to her when they were slightly cooled. She ate about half of the slice. 


Because I consider french toast to be a special treat I always forget how easy it actually is to make. There's really no reason to limit Buttercup's french toast eating to Saturday mornings. This would make a good lunch option, too, especially when my pantry is starting to look like Mother Hubbard's. 


PROS: easy, high in protein
CONS: not as easy as a pile of fruit or dry cereal

Hard boiled egg

One of the Top 10 Things To Love About Baby Led Solids? Cute baby photos! Ok, now that I have that out of my system:

Buttercup has had scrambled egg yolks before, but I decided to try hard boiled eggs for a little something different. I just gave her the yolk for several reasons: egg whites contain allergens (Buttercup has a family history of allergies to egg), most of an egg's nutrition are in the yolk, and the whites are rubbery in texture, thus difficult for little toothless mouths.

Buttercup did enjoy the egg, consuming over half of it. The rest was left in drooly crumbly puddles on her tray.

PROS: good protein

*CONS: messier than the average BLS meal

*UPDATE: Although Buttercup likes hard boiled eggs, apparently the eggs do not like her. Twice I've given them to her at lunch. Both of those afternoons she puked a lot and cried through her third nap. Guess we will give eggs a rest. Tragic! Ya live and ya learn...

Scrambled egg

It had been awhile since Buttercup had had a new food. So, this morning she had her first taste of eggs. I scrambled two egg yolks into a little patty then cut it into strips. The reason I only did egg yolks is because she has a family history of reactions to hard-boiled eggs, and I've noticed that her eczema gets worse when I've eaten hard-boiled eggs. Even though I was giving her scrambled eggs I decided to leave out the whites, which is the part of the egg that contain allergens.

It could be because it was morning and Buttercup isn't used to eating in the morning, but she didn't seem all that impressed. She nibbled on all the pieces, but eventually started playing with them, and kept begging for her water. I definitely plan to try this food again with her in a week or so, though, because it is so nutritious.

PROS: high nutritional value (including iron), not messy, easy to eat

CONS: I wish she liked it more...