Jenny McQueen

Food is one of the areas I felt like I was in my comfort zone with twins. I was able to have fun with it, and plus I was (and still am) excited about the idea of shaping them to be adventurous eaters. During their first year, I took ideas from baby led weaning. We also did 100 food before 1, which was so much fun for me! Although I’m still not over their 100th food being a rice cake in the grocery store.

In the second year I decided to just keep rolling with giving them allll the food options. Strawberries, canned pears, black beans, bananas, pasta with a little sauce, scrambled eggs and turkey hot dogs were quick favorites. We also made a lot of organic mac and cheese. Like..a LOT! I probably should buy stock in Annie’s.

Okay, let’s get into the things that really saved my sanity during the second year of mealtimes.

1. I am not a morning person, so NO part of me wanted to be cooking at 7 am. My twins would wake up hungry, meanwhile I wouldn’t climb out of bed until they started stirring, so I needed 15 minutes for my coffee to kick in. Enter these refillable food pouches. The pre-made ones are EXPENSIVE, (and great for in the car) but my twins would suck them down so fast that I couldn’t justify paying at least a dollar a pop! I quickly decided we had to figure out a way to make them ourselves; amazon to the rescue. There are a few brands out there, but the baby breeza ones I linked held the most (7 oz). We would load them up with yogurt or applesauce and stick them in the fridge. I will say they are annoying to clean, but the savings was worth it to me.

2. Teaching them the “more” & “all done” signs. Warning; they will use this to ask for more at the most inconvenient times. But it is soooo useful. They both picked up on it right away, at around 12 months. I could ask if they wanted a particular food, or more of something they were eating. They started using it to tell me when they were hungry, or finished, and it really cut out a ton of frustration.

3. These 3 section plates. Listen, my brain does not need any extra decisions to make, so a little equation for meals really helped. Some sort of main dish in the larger portion , plus two sides and boom we had a complete meal. On good days, I tried to serve a protein, a fruit and a veggie. On rougher days, I’d open the fridge, heat up some leftovers and add some veggie straws as a side. I found that usually they didn’t like something, but that was fine because they would eat at least one of the options!

4. Serving meals on their level. As they got a little bigger, I would put snacks on the end table, and then serve meals on their learning towers that converted to tiny tables. Let me tell you, twins eating at their own tables is CUTE!! Aside from being adorable, I found that allowing the twins to move around freely (versus being strapped into a high chair) took some of the pressure off them. Meals took longer to finish, but overall they are way more. Warning; if you go this route, be prepared for constant sweeping/vacuuming. Crumbs will be everrrrrywhere.

two other resources I’ve loved:

Plant Based Juniors (their newsletter, social media & cookbook)

Solid Starts (they have data base, guides and classes. But honestly SO much info on their instagram)

I want to quickly acknowledge that feeding journeys can look very different. We don’t have any food sensitivities or allergies. Developmental stages as well as comfort level of the parent also factor in, so if some of this is out of reach for your toddler, I see you, and I know we are all doing what’s best for our kiddos!