I've been sick for the past two weeks and not up to bento making. Now I'm finally feeling better, but have another challenge to add to my meal making list. Over the weekend, Senorcito had a bad reaction to split peas. Right after he'd finished a plate of the stuff, his eating arm broke out hand to elbow in a red bumpy rash with large blister type things. Since he already has a major peanut allergy and a soy allergy (both legumes), the allergist wants him off of all legumes until his next blood tests in November. This means no more of his beloved beans, no lentils, no peas, no green beans, and no more of the one cereal I thought was safe, because it does contain pea protein. As frustrating as it is for me, I feel really bad for my little guy. He just wants to eat and enjoy his food. He's not a big meat eater beyond ground turkey and was very displeased with the turkey breast and veggies I gave him for dinner. The doctor basically wants him on just meat, veggies, and fruit, plus breastmilk, of course. I'm going to continue with the rice, too, as I've seen zero issues with it and I'm not going to deny the kid his muffins and pancakes if I don't have to. Looks like I will be experimenting with meats, including those I haven't touched in over a decade. I used to be a vegetarian, so all this meat stuff is not only hard for me to deal with emotionally/ethically, it's completely foreign in terms of cooking! I have a kid friendly recipe for chicken apple meatballs, I'll be trying soon. I made turkey-apple meatballs previously and he loved them. Hopefully, I can continue to keep him interested in his food with this extra diet change. I so glad I decided to keep on breastfeeding, though. That should fill any gaps he has with solid food. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll start getting foods back before he weans himself.
Despite his dietary restrictions, it's easy to tell my Senorcito is still getting plenty to eat! He's too quickly grown from a sweet baby to a happy and curious (yet still sweet) toddler.
