Bear’s 12 Favorite Foods
Bear is 18 months now, and he loves eating superhero foods! Here are twelve of his favorite foods right now:
1. Beans - Bear loves them plain – no salt. He also loves tofu.
2. Mochi - Oh my god, Bear goes crazy for mochi! Like a crazy lunatic. wrapped in nori or drizzled with brown rice syrup.
3. Greens - He loves any kind: kale, bok choy, Swiss chard, you name it. If I have greens on my plate, he will lose it until I give him some.
4. Green peas – If you use the frozen kind, you can give them to your baby to keep him calm while the rest are cooking. Of course, as long as your baby has teeth and isn’t going to swallow the peas whole and choke. Use your best judgment. We don’t have this worry with Bear as he is 1.5 with lots of teeth and a good little chewer.
5. Corn – Bear likes corn, but he likes peas a lot better I think.
6. Nori - Not the snacky, salty kind – I give Bear a regular strip of roasted seaweed and he loves it. He freaks if he sees it! Wants it soooo bad.
7. Rice Pasta – Bear loves it.
8. Miso Soup - We put 2-3 tablespoons mixed with water in a bottle and he really enjoys that. and very good for him.
9. Mama’s milk – Bear still nurses and gets lots of important nutrients from my milk. He just loves his babies…what he calls boobies.
10. Blueberries – Bear loves blueberries. I probably shouldn’t even say the word in front of him. If there are blueberries around, he will eat them until there are none left.
11. Juice - Bear loves his juice! We give him a little bit of organic apple juice and diluted with water, or we’ll give him a tiny bit of soy or rice milk with the diluted with water, usually around 1 part juice or soy milk to 4-8 parts water, but not more than that.
12. Avocado – Bear loves it! i also try to go easy on this...a few times a week. the more fruit they have the less interested in veggies they are.
A Word About Fruit
Bear also loves blackberries, raspberries, and apples. His new favorite word is apple. He says it a million times a day. He also likes to say “nana” for banana. In desperate situations when there is nothing for him to eat, we will give him a banana, if he finds one. I try not to have him eat them often. Bananas are a tropical fruit. They don’t grow anywhere near us, so they’re not ideal for my little superhero. But boy, does Bear love them! He ate three whole banana the other day. How can someone so little fit three bananas inside his body? Crazy. Let’s just say the poop situation is not so awesome after three bananas. That said, bananas were better than what the other kids and people around us were eating that day, believe me.
The good news is, Bear thinks any fruit is basically candy. We try to limit his fruit intake to one cup a day. That’s his "treat." It’s special, and we plan to keep it that way as long as possible.
That’s it for now! What are your kids’ favorite foods?
Tell me in the comments below.
Photo source: flickr.com/brx0, flickr.com/Stevendepolo, flickr.com/Tillwe, wikipedia.org
34 comments
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My daughter is 10 months, so far her favorite foods are peas, broccoli, seaweed, beans, apples, and of course mommy milk. -
Bear sure has a healthy appitite, Alicia, he'll eat you out of house and home, lol! I like bananas, but one a day max. I know tennis players eat them on breaks. All in all, fruits and greens are of course good for you in healthy portions. Have a great day, Alicia! X. -
How awesome! My Mina will be 2 in March and she is in loooove with kale and beans! If she sees me in the kitchen, she goes straight to a cabinet door and starts chanting "bean bean bean!" She is also a huge fan of almonds and dried fruit... Makes me so happy to watch my little girl snack on food that enhances her health and development... Another one of her favorite snacks are carrots... If she sees something orange, she is reminded of carrots and starts asking for them! -
We are brand new to the vegan lifestyle. We watched a movie and it scared all of us so bad we gave it up the same day, that was almost a week ago. Since then I got the Kind Diet book and read it all in 1 days.
I have 3 children and a husband that jumped in with both feet with me. My kids are crazy about all kinds of fruits, veggies and grains. My middle child seemed to fit the vegan lifestyle from birth. He loves anything that grows from the ground, his all time favorite is salad. My baby girl is in love with mac and cheese so she is having a few issues, but we are getting her there. My oldest boy is having fun trying all the new food, we made the "Clean, Mean Burritos" for dinner and he had 2... what can i say, he's my growing boy. -
Beth - your daughter does need Iron, and at this point is probably just starting solid foods.... The best and easiest source at this age is fortified cereals - most infant rice cereals are enriched eith iron - just mix a few tablespoons of the cereal with breast milk, formula, or water until the consistance is right for her. Cream of wheat is also a great cereal to try - there are instructions on the box to tell you how to prepare it for infants and toddlers.
Next time you see the doctor tell him that you are vegitarian - my pediatritian always reminded me to use iron-fortified cereals when my boy was small(er). -
Hey Alicia,
I live on the island of Maui, and our grandson, Elijah, after weaning from breastmilk has lived on raw, fresh coconut water for most of his two years.
He won't drink regular, filtered water unless it's really cold.
His mother is a raw foodist, I'm evolving to vegan. Elijah also loves nori.
He'll shove the whole sheet of it in his mouth then dance around while chewing.
The local raw food hangout wants to do a video of him and another local toddler eating nori. It's great. -
Beth, Nutritional Yeast is basically like the vegan shake cheeze, little yellow flakes that we sprinkle on many different dishes. It is loaded with vitamins & minerals, and like Dee said it can even contain B12 if the right variety is chosen. Some brands have it, some don't, even Red Star has some varieties that don't contain it, so you have to make certain. We personally order it online where it's quite reasonable compared to most retail store prices, here's the link...
https://www.bulkfoods.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamCat=24&txtsearchParamType=ALL&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&txtsearchParamTxt=4742
That's the Red Star VSF variety, top notch, and only around 8 bucks per pound for a 5lb bag including shipping.
Also, that Blackstrap Molasses we mentioned is a great source of iron (and calcium), we usually drizzle some into our sons OJ once a day and shake it up well, he loves it ! Just have to make certain it's "Blackstrap" molasses, as the other varieties are not the same. We also drizzle it into out veg baked beans, veg sloppy joes, as well as on pancakes & waffles with syrup, delicious and highly nutritious !
Other good veg iron sources are green peas, tofu, peanut butter, figs, whole wheat pasta, as well as nutritional yeast for that as well :-) -
Hi Beth!
It doesn't look like Alicia repies to comments, so maybe others here can? I strongly recommend reading up on eating plant-based asap. You're not going to become iron- or b12-deficient in a week so don't worry about delaying your new lifestyle choice, but it'll give you a lot more confidence about what to serve at mealtimes for everyone's health and enjoyment. When I first started eating vegan, I was afraid I might miss out on essential minerals/vitamins because I didn't know a lot, so I took a supplement to cover me while I was in the learning stage (then kept it up anyway). For Vitamin D, just take a supplement during the months when you can't get un-protected sun on your face & hands for 15 mins/day (I take a drop a day, and live in Ottawa, Canada). Nutritional yeast CAN be a source of b12, but not all are (Red Star is). So read the package, and if you're buying bulk, ask the store for nutritional info. As for iron, here's some (current) info and a chart of top iron foods: http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/iron. You don't need meat, and you're right that spinach isn't a great source...but soybeans are! An AMAZING book that's easy to read and FULL of info on all things health-related for vegans is Jack Norris' Vegan for Life: http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Life-Everything-Healthy-Plant-Based/dp/0738214930. That would be my Buy-It-Now advice. Since I'm about to be a mom too and will be raising our babe vegan, I plan on buying this book: http://www.amazon.com/Vive-Vegan-Delectable-Recipes-Everyday/dp/1551521695/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357489462&sr=1-1&keywords=vive+le+vegan. I also found Spork Online to be helpful (cooking videos of fab food by fun hosts).
However you do this, have FUN and don't worry about 'slipping'. You're doing a great thing for yourself, your family, the environment and animals. Every vegan worldwide thanks you, and welcomes you. -
We are just getting started late in the game with vegetarian/ vegan lifestyle choices. My daughter is 6 months and since I've always been a meat eater it's proving to be a difficult transition. I've decided I'll go slowly and do the best I can with the knowledge I have but I LOVE the ideas. Tom of Maine: love your food choices. I'm not sure what all of them are but I'll be looking them up. We went to a peds appointment recently and were asked to get her into beef and chicken (beef most especially) for Iron. I know Spinach isn't a great choice to help with this because it doesn't absorb well...any other suggestions to help with this? Also interested in Vit D foods since we life in the East and it's pretty dreary here for about 6 months. What does the nutritional yeast do?
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Since becoming vegan, it is like our tastebuds have changed! Our "okay" eater had become and amazing eater! He loves peas, corn and edamame- all frozen from the bag. He loves hummus, your Moroccan style couscous, quinoa, most fruit, soy yogurt. He steals my veggie wraps (salad in a tortilla). The thing he requests most often is tomatoes with a tiny drizzle of olive oil and he cracks his own salt and pepper and adds some cumin. And he just turned 5! My favorite part, though, is when he throws his cupcake/cake away at birthday parties because he does not like the taste of all the processed ingredients!!!
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Please post more on raising Bear vegan! I'm about to be a first-time mom, and we will be raising our babe vegan. I'm looking for resources, and loved this post. Thanks, and keep up the fantastic work and beautiful perspective!
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In addition to lots of nutritional yeast (Nooch) on many foods, as we mentioned in the earlier comment, some other ideas we utilize with our 4&1/2 year old is adding a drizzle of blackstrap molasses ( great source of calcium & iron) to his OJ once every day or two, as well as alternately adding a small drizzle of flax oil ( important omega fatty acids) to some of his juices as well. We always use iodized sea salt so as to provide a steady iodine source for him and us, as we are not big on seaweeds & such. Whole wheat or regular pasta tossed with Earth Balance veggie butter (lots of good fats), nutritional yeast and iodized sea salt are one of his favorite dishes for years now. He especially loves the ditali pasta, we call it "baby tubes" :-) But also enjoys most of the other pasta shapes and varieties as well. He will eat rice if we have it with melted Earth Balance & nutritional yeast, but is not crazy about other styles. Apples, oranges, grapes, watermelon, raspberries and strawberries are all big hits, bananas now and then. He always loved picking fresh raspberries from a bush in the backyard of our home in Maine, and would eat hundreds of them every summer, but we're currently living in NYC for a bit so they're all store-bought right now. Tofu scramble with Nooch & turmeric is a big hit, he calls it " yellow tofu" :-) Fresh organic baby spinach is another favorite, he will eat 15-20 leaves in a sitting at times. Trader Joe's strawberry bars are high on the likes list right now, as well as hickory smoked Tofurky slices, both of which he loves. Pb&j is a regular, with either raspberry or strawberry jelly. Homemade pizzas with cheddar or mozz Daiya are the only pizzas he will eat ! Relatives & friends try to give him traditional pizza with cowmilk cheese and he dislikes it, without us even having to say anything. Rice cracker sandwiches with Tofutti American cheese slices in between are a current favorite, that's basically the only sliced cheese of any type he will eat. At restaurants, he always asks for warm Italian bread with a bowl of olive oil for dipping into, we sometimes add a little salt & Nooch to the oil, he absolutely loves his bread and oil.
It's so nice reading everyone's posts, and the various veg foods that their children enjoy ! -
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You described in a good way. Its really nice. Keep updating new things.
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My youngest is also 18 months. He loves peas, broccoli, green beans, bananas, melon, whole wheat pastas, beans, and "melp", which is usually breast milk but can also mean almond milk if he wants a cup. The kid eats like he's in a contest of some kind. He's so tiny, only in 12 month clothes still, but he fits so much food into that tiny frame! My four year old could live on tofu, broccoli, beans,cucumbers, and watermelon. Both of my boys eat a large variety of veggies, grains, and fruit. People marvel at how much they eat and how healthy the food they get excited over is. Thanks for this great site and your amazing support for parents who are trying to do the right thing for their kids and the planet :)
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My biggest regret in life is that I did not become vegan sooner when my children were very young. They were well into their teenage years when I read "The Kind Life" and became vegan. Although I tried, they never became vegan. For anyone reading this comment, please consider my opinion that the greatest gift you could ever give your children is a love of a healthy, plant-based diet! Alicia, keep up the great work with Bear! Wish I could have a do over!
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Oh that is too cute! I wish my parents would have fed me this stuff when I was his age, maybe I wouldn't have been such a picky little kidlet.
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Thank you SO much for sharing this! I love seeing that you really can get kids excited about eating healthy! We are fairly new vegans. I hope to one day have kids and raise them in this lifestyle. I always hear people saying they have to fight with their kids to eat vegetables and I thought that if I started mine off that way to begin with that it would be an easier route, but I really was not sure. This gives me so much hope! :) Thank you! :) -
Mine loves broccoli, carrots, edamame, miso soup, bananas (his favorite are the mini "ice cream" ones), blueberries, apples, sweet potatoes, and brown rice he can eat constantly. Throw a bit of toasted nori into the brown rice with mixed veggies and a bit of shoyu and its inhaled at an alarming rate! -
Fionn's favorite meal is whole wheat pasta, nutritional yeast, Earth Balance and some kind of green vegetable. He eats off of our plates for the most part now so anything he can chew is fair game!
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I'm so envious of Bear's eating habits. I have only been vegan for a year and really only started eating healthy around the time my son was born. It's been quite the learning process for me and I've tried really hard to pass on healthy eating habits to my kids.
My son is now four and absolutely REFUSES to eat anything other than Annie's macaroni, pizza, fruit, yogurt, milk, and crackers. It's processed but I always try whenever possible to buy organic, just so it's not "as bad". I know that doesn't necessarily mean healthy, though, especially if it's coming out of a box. If I try to feed him any kind of vegetable, he acts like I am trying to poison him. I used to have success with smoothies but he is on to me now and refuses them. I worry about forcing him to eat because I don't want to turn it into a power struggle or give him issues with food. It's crazy because his two-year-old sister will eat anything! Could any two children be more different??
Any advice on how to convert a picky eater into a superhero?? -
que lindp Bear ya tiene 18 meses tiene que estar hermOSO preciOSO un gran besito para ti y el saludos a tus papas -
my 3 years old boy loves papaya, broccoli, cherry tomatos, grapes and rice! he could eat any of these all day long :)
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