Lucas, age 3
One of Lucas's favorite forms of sustenance are his beloved snack plates. They are served before nap and before bedtime in his bedroom. And because of the snack plates, I rarely have trouble starting his nap/bedtime routines.
A friend of mine from Japan, Rumiko, stressed the importance of presentation when preparing food. Everything should be beautiful. And these simple plates always put a smile on Lucas's face. He eats foods he would normally shy away from like raisins and walnuts because they are packaged with an organic granola bar or yummy dried mango.
Lucas has several guidelines that we must follow when preparing his snack plate:
1) It must include three or more foods.
2) Rarely will he let a plate slip by without a yummy carbohydrate.
3) Sometimes a bowl of cereal will be accepted as a substitute.
My own guidelines:
1) If it's bedtime I go easy on the fruit. Too hydrating.
2) Everything is usually healthy in some regard.
Ideas include:
Dried fruit
Nuts
Pretzels
A granola bar cut into bite-sized pieces
Cheese
Apple slices (can act as a toothbrush if necessary :)
I like the idea of beautiful presentation, but I'm not so good at it. I know Kate will be AWESOME at this. :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, at what age would you say you started the fancy snack plate with Lucas?
I also really enjoyed the thought on presentation. I need to work on that.
ReplyDeleteI'd say around 18 months. I think even before then he was excited about having a plate of banana bread chunks at his own little table. We do a lot of snacks outside of the kitchen. Seems to keep them special.
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