Adventures in Feeding a Toddler

The good thing about doing baby-led weaning is that my son just ate whatever we ate, and I didn't have to spend time (or money) making (or buying) baby food.

The other good thing is, this has made for a not-picky child. He will eat just about anything we put in front of him. There are some things he refuses to eat (or won't eat very much of) but for the most part, he's not picky, which is great.

Except.

He's two (just about). He's a toddler. And he has these days where he wants none of it. Thankfully, we know that if he skips a meal, it won't kill him (and he will get hungry later on and eat something) but it's still frustrating (and wasteful) trying to figure out what (if anything) he will eat in those moments of "i'm going to throw anything they give me on the floor because I'm a toddler" that he has.

We do admittedly give him more fish sticks and chicken strips and KD with hot dogs than we probably should. However,  he eats more fruit and veggies than we do, and we try to make sure he gets as much of a balance as possible. We cook most things from scratch, which means we spend a decent amount of time in the kitchen preparing meals every day.

It can be upsetting when we spend time making a delicious meal and all he'll do with it is throw it on the floor. We try not to take it personally, but it's HARD. A happy day is when we make something and he devours it like it's the best thing ever.

And these days, those times are kind of few and far between. But that's the joy of trying to feed a toddler.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

I got a craving for chocolate cake...and this recipe definitely satisfied it! I think I might have mixed it too much, as it didn't turn out quite as light and fluffy as it was supposed to, but it's still very yummy. Alex thinks it needed some canola oil or more butter, to make it moister. And it makes a huge amount. the recipe says it makes 1 two-layer 9" round cake. I put most of it in my casserole dish and then made nine cupcakes...and I should have made more cupcakes instead of putting so much in for the cake. The picture shows six of the cupcakes and the cake. I used store bought vanilla frosting and mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet) to decorate the cake/cupcakes.

2 cups boiling water
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour whatever pan(s) you plan on using for the cake.

In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the cocoa powder. Mix until it's smooth. Set aside and allow it to cool to room temperature. (To avoid lumps, pour a bit of the water over the cocoa and mix until it's a thick paste. Once it's smooth, add the rest of the water and whisk.)

In a large bowl, cream the butter until it's soft enough to beat easily. Gradually add the sugar, beating the mixture between each addition until it's light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mixture thoroughly each time. Incorporate the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three steps, alternating with the cocoa mixture. Mix until the batter is just smooth.

Transfer to pan(s) and bake the cake in the preheated oven until a tooth pick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

*The cupcakes took 20 minutes. The cake, because it was so deep, took 45 minutes. The recipe says if you use two 9" round pans, it should take 25-30 minutes.