Eighteen NYTCooking Meals for My 18-Month-Old (with gift links, baby’s ratings, and a goodbye for now)!
Phases. We all have them; parenting encourages us to embrace them. For us, we’re in the throes of a “MO!” phase — one in which my daughter shouts “MO!” every time she sees Elmo. It’s not just Elmo she can identify now; while our sweet daughter is a vibrant ball of positivity and joy, we’ve recently entered the “no.” (period added for emphasis) phase. After offering my daughter an orange slice, she shook her head and matter-of-factly said no. Helpful feedback as her personal chef! Even though we’ve just embarked on this phase — and it is the literal embodiment of rejection — I already know that I’m going to miss it when it’s gone. The thing that makes phases tricky as a parent is that you never know when it’s the last time; if you did, you’d truly savor the moment.
Summer is a beautiful phase for me — as a teacher, it affords me the opportunity to maximize every possible moment with my family. It also leaves me with a pool of extra creative energy that I can funnel into other outlets (like, for example, verbose Reddit posts about little kid food). But, like all phases, it inevitably comes to an end. As a new school year dawns, I plan to step away from these posts for a while in order to devote all of my creative energy (and food-based puns) to my daughter and my students. But, before I go, let me share a few last recipes that may be able to transcend the increasingly present “no” and have them asking for “MO”!
Eli Zabar’s Egg Salad Sandwich
Baby Rating: 9! Nothing more classic than an egg salad sandwich and a glass of milk. And, as folks on the east coast, the fact that it was modeled after Zabar’s recipe made it extra sweet (or should I say creamy). The only reason it doesn’t get a ten is because she didn’t eat it as a sandwich, she ripped the bread off and went to town on the egg salad. We’ve all been there.
Turkey Chili
Baby Rating: 9! Have you ever added 3 tablespoons of cumin instead of 2 teaspoons because you misread a recipe? Haha me neither. But let’s say you did, rest assured, it would still be perfectly edible to an 18-month old (despite a panicky google search saying it would come out “dusty”).
Tofu and Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Curry
Baby Rating: 8! Peanut butter, but make it soup. Thinking that would be tantalizing for my daughter, I whipped this up. She was hesitant, but then got into it and eventually started washing her hands in the peanut butter sauce. Great meal, excellent moisturizer!
Scallion-Miso Mac and Cheese
Baby Rating: 10! You know those glam shots of food on commercials? Consider this one of those because right after I took the picture, I dug my hands through it, prying every shell open and mumbling “you’re not going to burn my daughter”! Shells have historically harbored molten sauce in their core like lava in a volcano. But thankfully, we avoided that and, with that threat extinguished, she ERUPTED with joy. She ate the whole bowl. And then another bowl-ful. Mac and cheese is always a hot commodity — just make sure it’s not too hot!
Baked Coconut Red Lentils and Greens
Baby Rating: 10! There is one thing that toddler chefs dread more than anything in the world — the reject pile. Typically located in the corner of her tray, this is where my little angel relegates food she doesn’t approve of. But fear not, my fellow baby chefs — there is redemption! After putting it in the reject pile, she gave it a try and ADORED it. She cleared her plate and demanded more. We both overcame a fear that day.
Paneer Fried Rice
Baby Rating: 9! It’s got rice. It’s got dairy. It’s got veggies. You can dump it all over yourself with a spoon. What’s not to love?
Chicken-Zucchini Meatballs With Feta
Baby Rating: 7! Speaking of phases, she’s currently in this phase where she goes “mmm!” when she puts food in her mouth. Perhaps replicating all the times we tried to persuade her that she loved what she was eating. This time, she did love the meatball, but even our most enthusiastic “mmm!” couldn’t get her to embrace the zucchini.
San Francisco-Style Vietnamese American Garlic Noodles
Baby Rating: 9! Stinky baby’s breath is tolerable when it’s escaping from behind a smile. She loved this one and, when partnered with Elmo’s tooth brushing song (which is a certified bop, by the way), it helps to balance out the stinky remnants. Big hit!
Ginger-Mint Grilled Shrimp
Baby Rating: 9! Nobody loves shrimp more than my lil’ shrimp. Ginger and mint are bold flavors, but we’ve got a bold little girl!
Brothy Spinach and Peas Pasta
Baby Rating: 8! My daughter has begun instinctively saying “hot” as soon as food is presented to her. Turns out she’s better at identifying temperatures than I am — nothing says summer like soup-adjacent pasta! Despite its off-kilter temp, this veggietastic dish allowed her to chow down while also practicing her pincer grasp to eat the ditalini and peas. As an added bonus, she strengthened her throwing arm by flinging the spinach. Comin’ in hot!
One-Pan Creamed Spinach With Eggs
Baby Rating: 8! To quote Dr. Seuss “Schlopp, schlopp beautiful schlopp! Beautiful schlopp with an [egg] on top!”. She loved this pile of schlopp. Lots of iron too! And cream cheese. The two major food groups.
Mayo-Marinated Chicken With Chimichurri
Baby Rating: 7! It’s the question on everyone’s mind — do babies like Chimichurri? The answer is kind of. She put each piece of chicken in her mouth and then spit it out like a machine; she liked the taste, but the texture freaked her out. She eventually ate the pieces of chicken without chimichurri on them. Little did she know it was in the marinade all along. 😈
Spaghetti and Drop Meatballs
Baby Rating: 9! There’s a reason it’s a go-to on kids menus everywhere.
Egg and Cheese Quesadilla
Baby Rating: 9! The inspiration for this one came from an unexpected place — a walk in the park. My wife and I picked up breakfast burritos before embarking on the walk. Our daughter showed interest…and then proceeded to scarf down half the burrito. So this one seemed like an easy win. Just like the time that she commandeered that burrito, this meal was a real walk in the park!
One-Pot Rice and Beans
Baby Rating: 10! Some may find this plating subpar. But it’s my actually my favorite one ever because this is the first time my daughter helped me prepare a meal. She used a little wooden chopper implement to cut up the cilantro to sprinkle on top. Of course, chaos ensued from there; I was so enamored with her valiant efforts as we did hand-over-little-hand that I lost track of time and burned the first batch to oblivion. Thankfully, it came together so quickly that I had to time to whip up a second batch, which she devoured in a heartbeat. What great memory isn’t sprinkled with a little chaos?
Easy Chicken Salad
Baby Rating: 8! Our lil lady loves grapes, so why not ensconce them in mayo, vinegar, Dijon mustard alongside tender (convenient) rotisserie chicken! It was quite the party — almost to the point of being overwhelming — but she ate most of it! For some reason, she insisted that I hand her each bite. Guess you could say she was being a bit of a…chicken (sorry).
Cheeseburger Sliders
Baby Rating: 10! Nothing says summer like a burger. And nothing tickles me like a food that is scaled to its customer’s size — mini burger for a mini lady! This was a rare total win — she cleared her plate without any obstacles. And then emitted a burp worthy of an adult. Burger experience complete!
Grilled Chicken Thighs with Tomatoes
Baby Rating: 7! 🎶Hot tomatoes, hot tomatoes🎶. I hate them. But my daughter loved them…as a sensory table activity. She poked and prodded it and swung it around like a lasso! Didnt eat it though. That being said, she loved the chicken and my wife loved the vinaigrette. Wild ride, but overall successful!
My daughter used to do this really awesome thing where, when she heard a song she was digging, she would wave her hand back and forth in the air. Last week, we realized she had stopped doing it. And then, as if by magic or sheer nostalgic willpower, she randomly did it again this past weekend. Phases can be cyclical — 90s fashion is so back — and I’m hoping that will be the case with these posts. I feel pretty confident there will be “MO!” down the road. But since this will be the last time for a while, I wanted to quickly thank all of you. These posts have been a steady source of joy and community for me. The camaraderie and the ever-flowing fountain of support have always been my favorite things about this sub.
It’s a beautiful thing to share a meal with the ones that you love. Thank you for allowing me to share them with all of you.