babies on strike!

our babies have decided to go on a spoon strike

they want to be independent and feed themselves,

but can't quite use utensils on their own yet

so finger foods it is!

except, we've had a heck of a time finding finger foods for them

(try saying that last part ten times fast!)

i mean, there are some finger foods that are tried and true

(cheerios and cheese are current favorites of theirs) 

but they're not exactly what i'd call a balanced diet on their own

the other hiccup is that the pediatrician wants us to up their protein and calories

but our girlies are not terribly interested in meat...or anything, really, outside of fruits and veggies

so we've been brainstorming

and trying all kinds of foods

we've had some progress, 

but mostly we end up with scrunched up faces, 

the dreaded "lock jaw" 

and more food on the floor, in their seats and in their hair

than in their mouths and tummies 

but last night we had a big breakthrough!

i had some roasted acorn squash and yogurt that the girls were refusing to eat

(no surprise there - too much spoon involvement!)

plus some ground turkey that also made the reject list 

i wanted to put all the random odds and ends to use

rather than just chuck them or eat them myself

and that's when it hit me: 

baby "mac n cheese" with turkey bits

1/2 an acorn squash (baked and cooled)

1/2 - 1 cup(ish) full fat plain yogurt

pasta (preferably whole wheat; cooked within an inch of its life)

1 cup (ish) cooked ground turkey 

(I cooked mine in some olive oil with some chopped up onion for flavor)

romano + parmesan cheese blend (we get ours from TJs)

- scoop cooked squash out of it's skin

- blend / mix it with the yogurt to make the "sauce" part, then set aside

- cut pasta into bite sized pieces (we had some fusilli with our supper so i just chopped up some of that)

- mix pasta and turkey with enough of the sauce so everything's just coated nicely(you don't want too much on - it gets super messy)

- sprinkle cheese on, to taste

- serve directly on baby trays

made enough for two decent sized bowls - we had enough for both dinner and lunch the next day.

the one caveat is that it makes a bit of a mess, 

but they loved it PLUS it was protein-rich and relatively balanced *double bonus*

who needs utensils anyway, right? 

p.s. any of you moms out there with finger food ideas, feel free to pipe up and share your ideas, successes, stories, etc! 

p.p.s. i was just thinking, you could totally serve this up as a healthier mac n cheese to adults too...just skip the pasta chopping (and just cook it to al dente) and use nonfat greek yogurt instead