Ella's Meal Plan

Nutrition and feeding can be major issues for newly adopted children and even long after a child comes home.  We continue to face challenges with both Rex and Emilia in these areas for very different reasons.  Because of this circumstance, it's felt like a relative breeze to feed Ella. Even though she has her own preferences and dislikes, she has no dietary restrictions or food allergies and is not particularly picky.  Here are typical options for each meal now that she's in school.

Breakfast: toast with butter or Nutella, oatmeal, Belvita breakfast cookies, fresh berries, bananas, grapes, or other fruit and 6 ounces of almond milk.  I am pretty sure breakfast is her least favorite meal and she'd gladly skip it, so I have to cut her some slack to get something into her belly to fuel her brain for school.

Snack at school: Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, dried fruit, graham crackers, string cheese and crackers

Lunch: salami, hard-boiled eggs, crackers and pretzels, green lettuces and herbs, fresh fruit, grilled chicken, meatballs, turkey

Afternoon snack: see school snack or cereal with milk

Dinner: with few exceptions, she eats whatever Craig and I do from soups to fish to casseroles to salads.  She even had her first steak recently and loved it. We have also figured out some favorite restaurant selections for her.  Ella does not have to clear her plate, but she knows that it is a prerequisite for getting dessert later.

Dessert: single serve icecream, popcorn, fruit, or yogurt

Foods Ella does not like: English muffins, sweet potatoes, sliced cheese (she's come around to string cheese), and raw carrots.  In her own words they are "gusting" (disgusting) and "Mama, don't give me that again, okay?!"

P.S. About those ugly plates with the green rims: Craig and I bought them when we were in college and on a very strict budget.  Sixteen pieces at $4.00 new was a steal and we've had these dishes ever since.  Can't get rid of them as they remind us of where we started and of what really matters.