It's hard enough to get a toddler to eat healthy in their own comfortable surroundings, but take them on a trip and you're lucky if they eat one meal a day! We were away for the past 4 days and I'm happy to say I did a few things right and the girls didn't waste away while we were gone.
First of all I brought along a few tricks.
1. Fresh strawberries. These were our "welcome to our hotel room" and afternoon snacks. The girls LOVE them and think they're a special treat but they're also healthy!
2. Milk. I bought a case of Horizon Organic Milk and it was one of the best things I did. It's not refrigerated in the store so if you only have a small fridge in your hotel room it's perfect to be able to throw in a couple at a time. And most of all I liked being able to take it to restaurants and know exactly what kind of milk my kids were actually getting.
3. New and exciting portable snacks. This worked for Cora but surprisingly not Leyna. I bought some healthy, new snacks that the girls had never tried before thinking I could stow them in the diaper bag to keep them occupied on long city treks or serve them before bed. Cora was a huge fan of both of these things, Leyna turned her nose up after one taste. Oh well, 50/50 isn't bad.
4. Peanut butter. I brought along a jar of our favorite, along with some bread and honey. Every day I packed peanut butter and honey sandwiches to take to the museums. The food there is SO overpriced and I would hate it if they wasted even a bite. Leyna could eat peanut butter for every meal (she actually ate a spoonful for her bedtime snack one night) and Cora ate a little and then shared my lunches with me. I think Cora's favorite lunch of mine was Clam Chowder. Go figure!
The second thing we did right was pick the right restaurants.
Urbanspoon.com lets you sort by kid-friendly restaurants in your city. I looked at the menus and reviews and went from there. Quesadillas and Spaghetti were key menu items. I've learned to face the truth and the truth is that restaurants are new and exciting enough without new and exciting food.
1. On the first night Leyna opted for a Bean and Rice bowl and Cora had the Cheese Quesadillas. They both swapped some of their items and everyone was happy. The applesauce served as a dessert :)
2. On the second night we went to a little more upscale place but they had spaghetti and the girls hardly made a peep. They both loved sprinkling/dumping their own cheese on their pasta. Cora ate all but a few noodles and Leyna cleaned her bowl AND ate a roll for dessert. SCORE!!!
I also have to share what I got because I want to remember it for all eternity. Jumbo Lump Crab Macaroni and Cheese. SO GOOD.
3. And for our last night we played it safe. Both girls were short on naps so we wanted somewhere super kid-friendly and guaranteed to please. We opted for Macaroni Grill and again the girls cleaned their plates. We literally didn't hear a peep from them from the time their spaghetti came until the last noodle was gone. It was glorious.
Then Cora tried to take a snooze...
4. And finally on our last day we didn't eat anything too exciting but I did finally let Leyna order dessert. She opted for this little parfait and happily shared it with Cora and I. Yummy! It gave them enough energy to stay awake WELL past their nap time :)
And speaking of too much energy, the big fail of the trip was continental breakfast. I actually chose our hotel based on it having free breakfast because I thought it would be easy and the girls would have lots of choices. The problem was that the eating area didn't have boosters or high chairs and the girls just went wild. They could barely reach the table and there were TVs running news and everything was clean and fancy and it just didn't work. Every morning was a struggle. We tried yogurt, all kinds of dry cereal, toast, you name it. Cora never ate more than a couple bites because she was too busy terrorizing the place. Leyna did eat muffins on the days they had them, however muffins make a HUGE mess. Oh well, you win some you lose some. At least Cora liked the coffee...
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