Fun with Food!

Welcome to Fun with Food! This site was designed to help parents and caregivers find, share and ask about fun foods for your selective toddler!

As a speech-language pathologist specializing in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders, I encounter many children who have experienced negative associations surrounding food. These children often have accompanying oral motor feeding difficulties and sensory processing difficulties--making eating a very stressful experience instead of an enjoyable one.

This website will hopefully serve as an "idea place" for meals as well as questions and support from other parents and caregivers. Enjoy!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Power packed cookie dough bites

 These were delish!

What I used:

1 cup granola cereal with raisins
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 can chickpeas, puréed

Mix the above ingredients together then grind another 1/4 cup cereal into powder to thicken as needed.  Roll into balls and enjoy!

I'm going to try this with bananas and cinnamon mixed in next time! 




Monday, April 9, 2012

Ch ch ch Chia Chicken Bites!

 This is my first food creation with chia seeds and I must say it is delicious, healthy and pretty simple!



What you will need:

2 ounces of cooked boneless skinless chicken breast
2 large pear slices, soft
1 slice of toasted bread. I used Rudis brand multigrain, gluten free
1 tablespoon chia seeds soaked in 2 tbsp water
Magic bullet or processor

Spoon out the tbsp of chia seeds and add the water in a small bowl The chia seeds will turn into a gelatinous interesting concoction.

Blend the pear slices and chicken with a little water or pear juice if needed. Consistency should be similar to a slightly thick biscuit dough or chicken salad...pretty obvious huh?

Use day old bread or a toasted slice and blend into find crumbs.  Form patties and roll into the crumbs and place on a cookie sheet.  I lined mine with parchment paper the first time and mashed with a fork for a aesthetic design :)  The second time I made them I used a mini muffin tin and they turned out great.  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  These are soft enough to break apart and form into smaller pieces for exploring, which I recommend!


Crumbs made in a magic bullet 

chicken mixture with chia seeds shown (pre crazy gelatinous)




Patties formed and fork mashed
Nugget from mini muffin tin and bite sizes for first tastes 






"Hmm, it looks like a little ball, i think ill try it!"

"This is where the other pieces came from..not so sure though"

"Here I gooo!"



 

"I like it!"
 


Friday, February 3, 2012

Toaster Stamps!



Dollar Tree.  Word.  Perfect for a special 'note' in a lunch, pancakes, sandwiches, toast, or cheese!  Any other suggestions or cool affordable finds?  Do share!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

"Feeding Disorder Hell"

http://lovingamiracle.blogspot.com/2011/11/feeding-disorder-hell-our-narrow-escape.html

What a wonderful post, written so open and honestly!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Food Play!



Another Trader Joe's snack find--"Fruity Flakes". These are similar to "fruitaboo" roll ups in taste. Here is Adalyn eating "fruity flake leaves" off of our picture! To help your child become familiar with a new food---Play! Today he may feel o.k. with placing the leaves on the tree, tomorrow he may bring one up to his nose or mouth!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

"Sensory Processing Issues Explained"

Here is a wonderful article explaining the complexity of children with Sensory Processing Disorder. 

http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2011-10-26-sensory-processing-issues-explained


"It's like a traffic jam in your head, with conflicting signals quickly coming from all directions, so that you don't know how to make sense of it all."

"What parents often notice first is odd behaviors and wild mood swings, strange at best, upsetting at worst. Often it's an outsized reaction to a change in environment—a radical, inexplicable shift in the child's behavior."

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Feeding Issues in the Schools

http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/Article/Feeding-Issues-in-the-Schools-2.aspx