About 6 weeks ago, I started a new series on my Instagram account (@considertheleafturned) called What Does Isabelle Eat? (#WhatDoesIsabelleEat). I get questions all of the time about how we are choosing to feed our daughter and I thought it would be helpful to share some of her everyday meals. 

I did write a post (Paleo Baby: Teaching My Daughter the Love of Real Food) back in the fall about our approach to feeding Isabelle real, whole foods and none of the traditional processed baby foods, but thought it may also be helpful to do a recap of what Isabelle is enjoying these days for my blog readers. If you're a parent, you already know that what your child may enjoy one day, she may hate the next, so I'd like to keep a journal of sorts here as we progress through Isabelle's eating habits. My plan is to also share a little more of the why behind our meal choices and provide a weekly round up of Whole30/Paleo meal ideas for toddlers and kids that my fellow mamas and dadas can apply in their every day lives.

For the most part, Isabelle eats whatever we are eating. Since we eat a Whole30/Paleo based diet, it's all nutrient dense food. I try to give Isabelle a fruit/veggie, protein, and fat at every meal. At 15 months old, her current favorites are raspberries and scrambled eggs - she never turns those down! 

Here's a recap of some meals she has enjoyed over the last week or so:

 

Roasted spaghetti squash with a veggie filled organic ground beef sauce

 

Scrambled eggs cooked in ghee (clarified butter) and an apple 

 

Here's another repeat of spaghetti squash and veggie meat sauce. As you can tell, she likes this meal!

 

Sweet potato rounds and mini burgers. Also homemade ranch to dip. 

 

Raspberries, sweet potato rounds, and almond flour crusted chicken thighs that I cut into little cubes

 

Avocado, baked chicken wings, and orange slices 

 

Strawberries and coconut cream 

 

Strawberries and avocado pictured. Not pictured: chicken, coconut butter, and bone broth

 They say you're supposed to analyze a toddler's diet by week, instead of by day. While she has her favorites and staples almost daily, I try to vary the foods she's exposed to throughout the week. Based on my memory, below is a summary of the different foods she's consumed in the last week:

Fruits: Raspberries, Bananas, Strawberries, Oranges, Apples

Vegetables: Sweet Potatoes, Spaghetti Squash, Peppers, Onions, Zucchini, Cauliflower, Carrots

Protein: Eggs, Chicken, Beef, Bison, Tuna 

Fats: Avocado, Coconut, Ghee, Almond Flour

Liquids: Breast Milk, Bone Broth, Coconut Milk, Water 

I think my little Paleo Baby is doing pretty well! 

Hope these toddler meal ideas are helpful to other mamas and dadas looking for healthy food choices for their little ones.

Questions? Thoughts? Leave a comment below!

From 4-6 months I kept things very simple and only introduced sweet potato, avocado, and banana. I would often puree these items with breast milk to aid in digestion. I also made sure that everything she consumed was organic or locally grown/raised. 

At around 6 months, I started introducing her to more purees including butternut squash, applesauce, zucchini, and blueberries. She loved them all.

At around 7 months, I started incorporating some "babyled weaning" ideas and started giving her chunks of real food and letting her self feed. I found this to really help her motor skills and food became a fun, learning experience for everyone. Up until now, we barely spoon feed her anything. We put food on her high-chair tray and let her go to town! It gets messy, but I love watching her discover new foods. I think that most of my pictures of Isabelle are of her in her high-chair, covered in food. 

At almost 11 months old, Isabelle pretty much eats whatever we eat. I no longer spend time making "baby food" as I did in the earlier months. Whatever I am eating, which typically follows a paleo template, is what Isabelle gets to eat as well. Some of her favorites include: