October 11, 2018
Ugh! This is not easy. I try so hard to be optimistic. I told my mother-in-law tonight I feel like I am in a game of “Whack-a-Mole.” I get focused on one thing with Barclay such as working on his communication skills or social skills and the minute that happens and we start to see success another mole rears it’s ugly head. That is how this restrictive eating showed up. I was so focused on dealing with other “moles” I didn’t see it coming. So here we are.
The past few days we were enjoying a nice stay-cation in Orlando with friends at Disney. I made life easy and packed all of Barclay’s preferred foods. So he was back on the Nursing Home Diet of mac and cheese, oatmeal and yogurt.
We were back home today and I knew I needed to get my head back in the game of getting this kid to eat a wider variety of foods. I decided to get creative.
A group of my friends suggested I capitalize on what Barclay will eat and start from there. He likes pasta with white sauce. So I looked up different ways to add more nutritional value. I saw multiple varieties of white sauce containing white bean puree in my search so I decided to give it a go.
I blended about four different recipes and came up with this. I call it “White Bean Alfredo.”
Ingredients
- 1 cup pureed Great White Northern beans
- 1 pint (16 ounces) heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1-2 cloves garlic pressed or chopped garlic depending on preference
- 1 tbsp. parsley
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- salt/pepper to taste
Directions
- Melt the butter in a deep skillet and sauté the garlic and parsley.
- Add flour to make a roux.
- Slowly whisk in whipping cream.
- Slowly whisk in pureed beans and nutrional yeast.
- Heat to boil and continue to whisk.
- Reduce and simmer to desired thickness.
- Stir in cheese.
- Season with salt/pepper to taste.
- Serve over protein enriched pasta.
The Results
Well, to my pleasant surprise Barclay loved it! The bean puree added protein and antioxidants and the flavor was outstanding. The heavy whipping cream added much needed fat and calories for this growing little guy. Adding the nutritional yeast was also something I had never thought to add to his foods. It gave him an extra dose of benefits such as amino acids, protein and vitamins and minerals. Then serving the sauce over protein enriched pasta added even more protein and for my child who struggles eating meat I try to squeeze it in wherever I can.
We are continuing to try to encourage Barclay to eat foods outside of his highly preferred, but it is very slow going. I will continue to look for ways to take foods he does prefer and prepare them in ways to vary and improve the nutritional content.
Please feel free to share any input, suggestions or success stories you have had with restrictive eating challenges.
Amy
Big Abilities 