Right now, the 3 year old is just finishing an insane and quite stressful ‘hummus phase’. He was obsessed and it was all he asked for.
Why was it stressful you ask? Firstly, we kept running out and our schedule is so damn tight at the moment that nipping to a shop for hummus is tricky and a hassle… plus taking kids to the supermarket is just never nipping in is it?
Secondly…. the ‘vehicle’ in which we delivered the hummus was a continually evolving drama in itself. For a time, it could only be sucked from a finger, despite handy vegetables, pitta or toast fingers. Then it required a spoon! And not a toddler spoon, a grown up spoon. This week – it can only be eaten in a special wrap. I don’t even know what this means! I tried wholemeal, I tried white, I tried mini and I tried big. NONE OF THESE ARE THE SPECIAL WRAP!
Reading this back, I’m frustrated with myself, why am I indulging this pickiness. But the fact of the matter is, when it’s feeding time at the zoo, I’m tired from work, and I just cannot be bothered with the fight. Am I making a rod for my own back? Most likely.
As it happens he’s just told me he’d like a break so we are having a hummus holiday.
Benji is a very vocal nearly 3 year old and I like that he knows his own mind, but this has added to the food drama because he has decided he, in his own words, “only likes pasta sometimes and he doesn’t know which days that’s going to be”. So the pre-planning of meals is a joy at the moment.
And this brings me to food wastage. I’m trying to be good, environmentally conscious, but whoever these people are who tell us to waste nothing… these people do not have babies and toddlers. It. Is. Impossible.
Jake is a very good eater, he will eat anything and in huge volumes. It’s actually terrifying how much goes in there – and the subsequent nappies of course. But he’s also a baby and a lot goes on the floor. And as I’ve said, Benji gets a bit picky. There is a lot of food wasted. We don’t have a dog so this goes straight into the food waste bin and I feel, oh here it is, the familiar endless sensation of MUM GUILT.
What’s the other alternative? Me and Lad Dad eat it? As someone who puts a stone on if I even look at a cake, this is a bad habit that I have (mostly) dropped but it feels so wasteful and I hate it.
I have tried to balance this by massively reducing the food waste for me and Lad Dad. I am getting much better at using everything up and I’ve definitely reduced what we put into food waste, but some is inescapable. This is particularly tricky with James who isn’t as flexible as me with best before dates. I’m ready to risk most things the day after…
Our freezer is getting used a lot more though and it’s something I’m determined to continue. I also use our leftovers in the boys food. Here is my famous frittata uses up everything recipe… jokes, I’m not a recipe blog. Google one.
Now I just need to train Benji to eat everything mummy makes and teach Jakey to stop dropping food, that’s going to be easy right? Right?
(Incidentally.. the cakes in Benji’s picture that we made together? He refused to eat those. And nobody is allowed to judge me that Jake is eating a chip or two.)
Mummy And Her Lads 