Robbie approved meals

I just finished making lunch for Robbie and as my focus right now is doing whatever I can to make the new baby transition smooth, I began thinking of meals that are "Robbie Approved" that other people can make for him. After all, we will have people over helping and I fully expect to utilize their help.

Robbie can be a bit picky with his meals, not just the content, but their presentation as well. So I thought I'd compile a list of meals that so far, have passed the Robbie test. Of course, they aren't fool proof, but it's better than walking in blind!

Breakfast

• Grapes (can substitute other fruits such as canned peaches, canned pears, cantaloupe and watermelon) and cereal (Cinnamon Life Cereal, Honey Chex, and his latest is Corn Pops). No milk in the cereal, but he will accept millk in a glass for this meal. Sometimes prefers Orange Juice. Be sure the grapes and cereal are in separate bowls.
• Pancakes and "O" (these are small canadian bacon fried in a sauce pan) with syrup on the side for dipping. He usuallly only drinks Orange Juice with this meal, or if we are out of Orange Juice, he'll settle for milk.
• Cereal and milk (cereals listed above). While this meal seems straight forward, there are some details that can't be missed. Presentation counts here. Bowl with dry cereal, cup of milk for drinking and a separate cup of milk for pouring into the cereal. Don't forget the spoon!

Lunch

• Grilled Cheese sandwich - Again, seems straight forward, but there are details that if missed could cause chaos. When discussing the grill cheese sandwich, it is always heated, not cooked. Use one and a half Kraft cheese slices - the other half should be left on his plate "for his mouth". The sandwich can be served with sides such as string cheese (must be separated into strings for him) or grapes if they are available.
• Macaroni and Cheese - this is fairly straight forward, no unusual details to follow, but it needs to be Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and if there is more than one box in the pantry, he needs to choose the correct one to cook. Likes salt and pepper, but do not put it on until it is in front of him and he is watching. Do not mix in!
• Jelly Sandwich - no peanut butter! He will eat this on either regular sandwich bread or on Cinnamon Raisin english muffins (slightly toasted). It seems he prefers water with this meal. Normally gets a side of fruit (any listed above).
• Cheese Quesadilla - again, heated, not cooked. Served with a side of BBQ sauce for dipping - quesadilla should be cut into thirds. Don't get fancy - he will only eat with cheese only!
• Peanut butter and jelly roll up - peanut butter spread thinly over entire tortilla, jelly spread in the middle and rolled up - cut into 1" pieces. Will sometimes eat carrots as his side.

Dinner

This one is tough as he most often requests to eat "not at the new house, at a restaurant, Changs is good"

• Spaghetti - ground meat in the sauce, use the thick fetuccini noodles for maximum consumption. If there is bread served with this meal, it shouldn't be introduced until at least half of his meal has been eaten.
• Tacos - be prepared for a mess as he assembles his own. No need for meat since he won't eat it, but he will sometimes eat black beans - with cheese and corn. This is not his most nutritious meal.
• Stir Fry - loves this one as long as it has his immitation crab and udon noodles - will also eat carrots, peas and sometimes squash. Served with just a little rice (must have soy sauce - do not put it on the rice until he is watching).

Snacks

• Jelly crackers - this is a side of jelly with crackers for dipping
• Peanuts (honey roasted)
• Carrots - especially if they are cut into disks and served with toothpicks for building. I often sightly steam the carrots so they aren't too hard.
• Chocolate Milk with small marshmallows - this is straight forward, but he always has "some marshmallows for his drink and some for his mouth" - only about four marshmallows for him to eat while the chocolate is "heating" and about eight for his drink. Sometimes needs to be served with a spoon.

Keeping Robbie happy can be fairly easy with a little pre-planning. Also, knowing what he doesn't like helps... he doesn't like pizza and he doesn't likes chicken "just a little bit" (translation, when it's chicken strips in a restaurant or KFC it's okay).

So, there you have it. This isn't to say that he doesn't eat what we eat. However, there are times when you don't want to listen to him complain about a meal, you don't want to really share your meal or he just needs to eat something! He does eat other things, but they are hit or miss.