The Daily Fuss

Fussworthy Food: Smoothies

The Freeman family hopped on the smoothie train for a few simple reasons:

1) There are quite a few alternatives to dairy, readily available these days and miss Mairin seems to have developed a sensitivity to dairy. It was a combination of hives and then also what looked like eczema from neck to toe that occurred in conjunction with a long-lasting cold and teething and brief change in laundry detergent. I'm not sure whether it's over or what, but I'm not going to reintroduce dairy for another month.

2) Leighton is growing like a little wild flower and her dinner doesn't always get her through the night. She's been waking up STARVING at 5am and that's just not working for mom, dad and ... mostly for poor Mairin. She is NOT a morning person. Wow.

3) Ryan and I are juicer people. We don't always fit in all of our veggies and vitamins and are accustomed to cleaning out the fridge every few days to make a concoction. Carrot, apple, beet, tomato, red pepper and spirulina (if we have it) is a regular recipe. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. We've used a Breville Juice Fountain Elite for the past four years.

4) Everyone can agree that it's fun to enjoy a colorful beverage of fun consistency in an unusual cup before bed and again in the morning. We go so far as to call these "shakes".

Our smoothie operation s fairly simple. I keep whole milk, Very Vanilla Soy Silk, Regular Vanilla Silk (less sugar), coconut milk and almond milk. Even Target stocks the Silk brand of most of these, if not all. They do tend to take up some room in the fridge, but the only juice we have is Vruit and fresh-squeezed orange juice and those come in relatively small containers.

We keep an assortment of fruits on hand (both fresh and frozen since it's winter) and also use the mish mash when we're otherwise low on a particular ingredient. To sneak in veggies, they need to be cooked or juiced raw.

For cooked veggies, plan ahead: We'll have broccoli for dinner, but we'll make several cups and then have some for lunch the next day or a piece to throw into a smoothie. Same thing with carrots, chunks of sweet potato or peas. All three of those are easy to sneak into a smoothie, believe it or not. There are a number of containers in the fridge with cooked this and that that. They never go to waste because we can puree them and throw them into pasta or cous cous (on gluten free days we use wild rice, quinoa, millet or amaranth) and voila, we've just added some depth to our dinner.

We also keep containers of the cooked grains I mentioned in the fridge for a day or two to add whatever sauce mixture we come up with that day. The girls really like cous cous, quinoa and wild rice.

Of course, when Ryan and I make our juice, we add veggies and can just pour some of that into the kids' smoothies. A tiny bit of beet makes everything pink, has lots of vitamins and if you use just a little doesn't have a strong flavor.

The main message here is that we juice raw or cook and puree veggies into our smoothies. I got into the groove of this Jessica Seinfeld type behavior while making baby food for Leighton and it just became second nature. If we go a day or two with just a fruit smoothie, I don't sweat it. Overall, we include veggies more than we exclude them.

And, if I am lazy or rushing, I just throw in a veggie-blend mish mash and congratulate myself for ingenuity.

I make smoothies at night just before bed and we take them up in place of our battes. I make enough for the morning, as well. I'll use last night as an example.

For Mairin: I poured 1 full Take and Toss cup of coconut milk in the blender. Mairin helped me add four big strawberries, five blackberries and a medium banana. I squeezed in the leftover half of the spinach apple rutabaga mish mash that she didn't finish at lunch and we whipped it up. I poured half of the mixture into separate take and toss cups. I put the lids on, gave one to Mairin and put the other in the fridge for the morning.

For Lei: I poured 3/4  Take and Toss cup of  whole milk and 1/4 Take and Toss cup of Very Vanilla Silk in the blender. I added four big strawberries, five blackberries and a medium banana. I squeezed in another one of Mairin's leftover lunch mish mashes - sweet potato apple - and let her hit the button. I put the lids on, gave one to Lei and put the other in the fridge for the morning.

We sneak in some vitamins, avoid waking up starving and have a fun, pre-bed activity we can do together. We also have a mess-free breakfast smoothie ready to go in the morning, which cuts out the hypoglycemic whining that's been going on while the eggs are scrambling.

It's a win-win.

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Smashed Fruit (and Veggies) Revisited

I've previously mentioned my love affair with baby and toddler fruit purees here and here and I thought it best to post my annual update.

We still love these innovatively-packaged wonders. And, we still have a giant wooden salad serving bowl filled with several different brands in our favorite combinations. It's stocked at all times.

It's worth mentioning that in the two years since I wrote the first post on what we affectionately refer to as "Mish Mash" no matter the brand, there are so many more options - more veggies - more combos - more fun!

We still hit the Plum Organics and Happy Baby pretty hard. We've also added Ella's Kitchen and some Earth's Best into the rotation. All have more stages and more vegetable combinations than ever before.

We do a lot of smoothies too with cow, soy, coconut and almond milk. Mairin needs a few alternatives because she's a bit sensitive to dairy all of the sudden. Fresh food is our first option, but we also blend in a mish mash when we don't have enough fruit or veggies in the house. Plus, it's winter in the midwest and selection of good fresh food can be limited.

To the companies who make these wonderful on-the-go treats.

Keep it up!

And, thank you!

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Date With Leighton

Leighton needed some mommy time. Okay, fine. Maybe it's the other way around, but no matter. Lei happily accepted my offer to take her to her very first movie in the "thee-ay-ter".

The Muppets.

It's playing at Northbrook, so we decided that Ryan and Mairin would mill around the mall while we went to the movies. We would regroup afterwords for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.

Sidebar: I love CPK. The food is consistent. Prices are reasonable. There are plenty of healthy options for kids and grownups and they serve alcohol. Perfect. Did I mention that they serve alcohol?

Leighton carefully readied herself for our date in a way that let me know she understood just how important the outing was for me. I haven't spent a large chunk of time with just Lei for a while now and was looking forward to some bonding.

My peanut picked out some textured tights, pink corduroy skirt and a white top with tulle at the collar - a good look for a two-and-a-half year-old to be sure.

We sang and danced to Let's Go To the Movies from Annie while we dressed.

Lei then took it several steps further and accessorized herself with sparkly shoes, a hair bow clip, a necklace and one of my purses from I couldn't even tell you when.

I think "embellishment" is one of her favorite words. In fact, I'm certain of this.

As we walked through the mall, Lei turned heads with her confident little gait. "What a girly girl." "She's so cute." "Look at those shoes."

She was oblivious to the attention, which pleased me immensely. She was only going about her business, after all.

We left Mairin and daddy at the entrance to the theater, picked up our tickets and headed straight for the snack counters. Out of all the candy, crap and junk food she could have chosen, Leighton settled on fruit snacks.

God bless her.

So I talked her into ordering a white cherry ICEE to wash them down. She later admitted that it was a smart decision.

She was mildly irritated by the previews, but loved the Toy Story short film and Muppets feature. She bounced around during the musical numbers and clapped at the end.

We saw a two-hour kids version of The Nutcracker last month and she got antsy half-way through. But for these Muppets, she made a little camp in her seat, ate her snacks and gingerly sipped her ICEE - taking it in and out of the cupholder a thousand intriguing times.

For the undisputed littlest ticketholder in the thee-ay-ter, she behaved perfectly.

We had a lovely dinner, fish tacos for mom, bbq chicken salad for dad, banana and avocado for Mairin and grilled chicken and broccoli for Leighton. She cleaned her plate and we made our way home.

We stopped at Walgreens on the way home to get more kid toothpaste (mint is too "spicy") and Lei said she couldn't wait to brush her teeth. She went straight upstairs and did just that when we arrived home. And put on her PJs and went to sleep.

Thank you my sweet little Leighton for the absolute best date EVER.

Fussworthy Food: Kid Kabobs

This Christmas Eve at my grandma's we did heavy appetisers for dinner. I didn't know what to bring and initially has some trouble figuring what would appeal to Leighton from a spread comprised entirely of cold food.

She likes broccoli and pasta so I made kid kabobs. I cooked green and white tortellini, steamed some broccoli florets and cooled them. I alternated them on kabob skewers and threw in red pepper for color balance.

I set out marinara sauce and ranch for dipping and it was a hit. Kids and adults ate happily. Easy preparation, yummy presentation (I didn't realize until I was finished that the red, white and green made for a lovely holiday theme) and it travels well.

Lei wasn't crazy about the red pepper, so for New Year's I replaced it with strawberry and watermelon. With tortellini as an anchor, you can tweak the rest to suit your family's preferences while serving a balanced meal on a stick.

Enjoy!

Ha Ha, Sucker!

We try to eat well. I try to limit sugar - although I do allow Lei to drink half-water/half-juice. And, we do have gelato or ice cream on occasion.

Candy, however is TOTALLY off limits.

If that were true, then I would not know with full certainty that a Blow Pop lasts up to 200 miles in the hands of a two and a half year-old.

Thank you, Charms.

 

What the Fuss? Skinny Girl

The final tastes of summer are some of the best. I was skeptical of the Skinny Girl margarita until August and I wish I would have discovered it sooner.

Made With Premium Blue Agave Clear Tequilia.

Lightly Sweetened with Agave Nectar.

100 Calories per 4oz Serving.

Delicious.

It's $13.99 at my grocery store, $11.99 at Binny's and ten bucks in Milwaukee. Perfect at any price point, sure to please and easy on the waistline - grab a bottle of Skinny Girl today.

What the Fuss? Vertical Chicken

I must confess I am not a chicken eater, generally speaking. Gun to my head, I do love a good, roasted thigh. You will not likely find me tossing a chicken breast into a pan. Bo-ring.

I do love a good rotisserie chicken, or a bird roasted whole. I've just never been interested in figuring out how to cook it myself.

Until I bought Ryan this chicken grill pan at Williams Sonoma. The label came with a recipe for beer can chicken. Of course, being a chicken novice, I had no idea that people pop the top on a cold brewski, sit a chicken on it and grill it.

This pan comes with two of it's own beer-can-type cones which can be snapped on to hold one large or two smaller (up to 5 lb) birds. It sounded like a wonderful adventure on which my husband should embark for his birthday. So, I bought it - along with two other fish and veggie grilling baskets and grill tools.

We used everything right away, except for that damn chicken pan. He was skeptical and I my hope was dwindling since the chance of me EVER touching a raw chicken was slim to none.

And so the pan sat for months. Until Mary (Mary Poppins, our nanny) found it in the cupboard and insisted we give it a whirl. We (by "we" I mean Mary) used Guy Fieri's beer can chicken recipe. Let me just say that it calls for the use of bacon as an alternative to enless basting. Yet one more reason bacon makes everything better.

I have never used it to cook more than one chicken, but have used the rest of the room in the pan to roast vegetables. This pan is $50, which is steep for a specialty item. In the alternative, Rosle makes what is basically a fancy beer can. It regularly retails for $25, but is on sale for $12.95 right now.

Or, you can certainly use a can of MGD. It's up to you.

Between the awesome pan, Penzey's spices and Guy's recipe, we have now made the most delicious chicken I have ever had in my life THREE times.

I even ate the white meat. And liked it.

Fussworthy Food: Salmon Salad

I'm a label person. This pertains largely to wine selection, but (as I recently learned about myself) applies to salad dressing, as well.

That said, I do not particularly care for the label on Hendrickson's salad dressing. In fact, I found it so unattractive that I almost passed on it when my mom offered it to me for my salad.

Almost.

And, I'm glad I didn't. Yum. It's unbelieveably delicious. We always have a bottle on hand. Plus, this 80 year-old recipe is made with natural ingredients, is fat, wheat and gluten free and Kosher.

So, I put it on the salad we made last night. I started with a few handfuls of different lettuces from my garden - washed, chopped and placed in a big salad bowl.

 
I also plucked several leaves from my Cinnamon Basil plant, minced added it to the lettuce.

 
I added one choped Vidalia onion, honey roasted almond slivers, shredded carrots and shaved parmesan cheese and tossed the whole lot with Hendrick's dressing.

Ryan seared wild salmon on the stove top with a dash of Penzey's Sunny Paris and Herbes de Provence and plated it alongside the salad. It was such a simple meal, I didn't even think to take a picture until I was half way through dinner.

 
Enjoy!

Fussworthy Food: Sugar Tree Fruit Salsa

Sure, I enjoy a good mango salsa. But suddenly, mango is so 2010.

For those of you who enjoy mixing your sweet and savory, I have another fruity salsa for you to try - Sugar Tree Fruit Salsa. The recipe and it's contents were procured by my mother, courtesy of Sendik's Food Market in Milwaukee.

It's as easy to make as it is delicious. My mom whipped it up last night in fifteen minutes.

The key to this salsa is the Pluot - a cross between a plum and an apricot. The result is a sweet, fleshy fruit that stays slightly firm even when fully ripened. Still, the overall effect isn't too sweet - the salt brings it down a notch. Plus, the cilantro tames the onion and the Jalepeno adds just the right zip.

Let's just say we ate until we ran out of chips.

To make Sugar Tree Fruit Salsa, dice the fruit, chop the rest, and salt to taste.

    3 Raspberry Splendor Pluots

    3 Black Raspberry Splendor Pluots

    2 White Flesh Nectarines

    1 Medium Red Onion

    1/2 Jalapeno Pepper

    1/2 Bunch Cilantro

 
 
This recipe makes a decent-sized batch, so we put the rest in the fridge overnight. Faced with usual breakfast options this morning, I decided against the standard fare and went back to this salsa.

Yep. This salsa is so good, I just ate it for breakfast.

Mmm ... Cookies

My cousin, Kristine, made these amazing cookies to celebrate little Miss Mairin.

Because they're both gorgeous and ridiculously time-consuming to make, I felt the need to share them with you before they are little more than a memory.

Right down to the dainty, pink, gingham bow, they're almost too cute to eat, except that they're also delicious.

I am incredibly impressed with these treats, not only because they look and taste like perfection, but because I stink at baking. In fact, I hate it. I can cook my ass off, but baking ... um no. Baking involves exact science and rule-following - both of which are notably absent from the essence of ME. I simply couldn't cut it as a pastry chef.

This fact is made glaringly obvious every few years when I erase select portions of my memory, fill the holes with Norman Rockwell-esque nostalgia and attempt to bake Christmas cookies.

This year's shit-show was no exception - complete with tears, throwing burnt cookies and unbaked dough in the trash, and vowing (in earnest) never to bake again. We're still working our way through the twenty sticks of butter I procured to carry out my romantic holiday dream. Bah- Humbug, I say. NEVER again!

Why I don't dabble in baking runs on the same axiom as why I'm a lawyer and not into some other profession that required more math along the way. I could talk my way into and around anything as an English major and argue my way through a brick wall in my professional life. But, when it comes right down to two plus two - the answer is "four" no matter how much bullshit you throw at it. I really hate that. Numbers are like Kryptonite - they sap my power. So, I avoid them whenever and wherever possible.

My cousin, however, has nailed it - the exact science, the rule-following and the pastry chef-ness of it all.

Thank you for the cookies, Kristine! What a wonderful gifty.

P.S. Leighton is headed in the direction of fairies or ballerinas or ballerina fairies for her birthday party theme should anyone feel inclined to try her hand at wings or flowers or butterflies or tutus or something of that fantastical nature in the form of a delectable baked good.

Mish Mash Stash

Last February, I enthusiastically acknowledged the squeezable, organic fruit revolution.  A year later, we keep a stash of  squeezables on hand next to the Luna bars and fruit on our counter top. Leighton happily eats one or two a day for her snack or to tide her over between meals.

Plum Organics is responsible for the original Plum Tots Mish Mash. However, Lei refers to all squeezable fruit or fruit and veggie combos as "Mish Mash" and we don't correct her. It's the best name anyone has invented to describe the dilectible, organic, pureed contents of an ingeniously designed pouch.

I choose to single out Plum Organics products because they have rapidly expanded their baby and toddler food and snack offerings beyond any other company.

For babies, Plum Organics has first and second fruits and blends, training meals, cereals and puffs. And, for Tots, they offer Mish Mash, Fruity Fingerfuls and Fiddlesticks.

Leighton likes everything on the menu, but most importantly, doesn't split hairs on baby versus toddler squeezable snacks - we keep the big wooden salad bowl filled with all the flavors - up to thirty pouches, ready for picking, at any given time.

 
Unadulterated fruits and veggies that keep fresh, can travel anywhere and are packed with mighty vitamins - our kids can snack on them until they're in high-school for all we care.

JUST fruits are a perfect first food introduction for your budding eater. Simple fruit purees with smooth textures offer your baby the very best flavors and nutrition. Using only organic fruit and nothing else, the gently cooked fruits are naturally preserved in a convenient, resealable pouch that's perfect for flexible portions.

Apple, Mango, Banana, Pear, Peach and Prune.

 

Plum Baby second blends come in seven varieties: Blueberry, Pear & Purple Carrot; Sweet Potato, Corn & Apple; Spinach, Peas & Pear; Pumpkin & Banana; Pear & Mango; Peach, Apricot & Banana; Apple & Carrot.

I feel great about mixing these in with the fruit-only varieties. Sometimes it's tough to make sure a toddler gets her veggies.

 

Plum Tots Mish Mash fruit blends are pefect for toddler hands and make great on-the-go snacks. Throw a few in your bag and you are never caught without a healthy snack.

These blends come in Strawberry, Peach and Banana.

 Whole Foods carries the Plum Organics brand and so does Babies R Us and select Toys R  Us stores.

The Highland Park Toys R Us doesn't carry anything other than Gerber products, so I order Mish Mash by the six pack (or palate) from Diapers.com. They come out to about $1.50 each for a considerable amount of organic goodness. It's a good value in my book. Plus, the fact that my kids eat what we eat (just without hot spices and blended in the Beaba Babycook to suit their specific age) means that we aren't overspending on prepackaged baby food in general.

This product review conforms to the Fuss Formula.

Have you tried squeezable smashed fruits and such? Let us know what you think. Please leave a comment and share your fuss with us.

Optimization: Meal Planning

I am a process person. I gravitate toward maximizing efficiency, systematic approaches and organization in general. I wrote about this after Leighton was born clearly with more energy than I have now and continue to seek out methods for optimizing the management of our happy little home.

It is readily apparent to me that disorganization costs money. If I misplace something I need, then I have to buy it again. If the magazine subscription lapses, then it costs triple on the newsstand. If I forget to get gas before going into the city, then it costs me an extra few bucks to get home. Every time I lose the radio key to Leighton's school, they charge me twenty dollars. When the house is a mess, things get lost or broken and need to be replaced. This list is ostensibly endless.

Food is a HUGE offender. If I don't have food on hand in the morning for dinner that night, I might just order in or buy the super-expensive prepared foods at the deli. If I don't have time to take inventory and make a decent grocery list, then I wind up with moldy bread and ten extra rotten bananas a week later. If I don't have Leighton's snacks stocked at home, then she eats overpriced crap at the zoo, or store or museum or music class or wherever we are. If we're out of coffee, then Starbucks gets incredibly lucky. You get the picture.

We have managed this to some degree with meal planning while sticking to a budget. However, it was much easier when we ordered from Peapod - you can order late at night, the food is delivered and you can manage your lists with ease. However, we now live up the street from a wonderful grocery store (minus the Lulu Lemon contingent) and Peapod comes less frequently to this new house. So, I routinely forget to place my Peapod order and need to run to Sunset foods with increasing regularity.

As a way to combat this mental foolishness, I have devised a better meal planning system that will work for me, as well as Ryan, my parents, a nanny or anyone else that steps in to help us with a new baby coming. The cornerstone of my optimized meal plan (index cards) is as old-fashioned as it is reliable and I can't wait to put it to the test starting monday.

The current and soon to be outdated system is as follows:

Breakfasts, lunches and snacks are based off of an aggregate of weekly items - milk, juice, eggs, bread, chicken sausage, fruits veggies, mish-mash, crackers, lunch meat, cheese, yogurt etc. that we know we need - reduced to a weekly shopping list on yet another spread sheet.

We also have twenty one dinner meals planned and rotate seven for any given week. The ingredients and shopping list are included in the spread sheet and once we pick our seven, we shop off of said spread sheet.

This plan worked great when we were able to better manage our grocery shopping. It's just not working so well now that we make several trips each week and often run out to pick up dinner fixings at the last minute.

The solution ... index cards.

I will print the weekly shopping list for breakfasts, lunches and snacks and make sure we're stocked every sunday with those staples. That list will live on the fancy schmancy wall organizer in the kitchen, right next to the white board that holds the "All Out Of" check list for unexpected items.

 
I will reduce each dinner to an index card with the meal on one side and the shopping list of ingredients on the other.  That way, if we need to run out for a meal or two at a time, very little thought or lead time is required. These cards will also reside in the organizer for ease in grabbing them on the way to the store.

This has to work. Otherwise, it's back to the drawing board. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you posted along the way.

Over the next three weeks, I'll decide whether my index card system flies or flops. I'm happy to share twenty-one days of meals with you, as well. In the interim, please feel free to post any tips or tricks you have for managing the ongoing task of feeding your family. 

Into the Sunset

Amongst other suburban chores, grocery shopping isn't my thing. I'm not good at it. Even when shopping online, I forget crucial elements like toilet paper, butter, soy sauce or some other deal-breaker item. Just mention grocery shopping to my husband and he will happily tell you that I suck at it.

What's worse is that when faced with the prospect of perusing real-life aisles for necessities on my list, I wind up hauling home a few hundred dollars worth of wine, cheese, magazines, greeting cards semi-sweet chocolate and other pricey must-haves. I am an absolute MORON in the grocery store.

My first trip to Sunset Foods, the self-described gourmet grocer in Highland Park, was nothing short of a disaster. Please don't misunderstand, this store has all the fancy everything I could ever want  (organic, prepared foods, awesome bakery/deli, European etc.) and some of the no-frills stuff too. It's just the whole experience that throws me over the edge.

Here's the deal: I ran in looking for a few specific items early one morning - milk, Yo Toddler!, cheese, white vinegar and tea to be exact. After forty-five seconds I realized that I was in serious breach of the dress code. The mom squad was showered, hair blown out, in full makeup and expertly decked out in full Yoga regalia. I was sure I'd wandered into a Lulu Lemon by mistake. Alas no, I have come to accept this as Sunset dress code. I was fresh from bed, hungry and improperly groomed for my Sunset debut. Boo, Jen.

I scooped up my items, minus the cheese because NONE of it was organic (gasp) and headed for the checkout. I was a few steps away from freedom when a random woman at the foot of the register aisle grabbed my cart. I jerked it back once and she didn't let go. Finally, I figured it out and let her do what she wanted - unload my groceries onto the belt for checkout. But not before throwing in a Martha Stewart Living and a Twix just to make it appear as though I wasn't finished with my cart until ... okay now.

I paid and was about to leave when the bagger asked me if I "wanted a number."  Confused, I said "What? No." and scurried away. I later learned that they give you a number so you can drive up and have your groceries loaded for you. Convenient and strange in my opinion. I see the utility in not having to load several bags of groceries into your car, but who's gonna unload them when you get home? HELL-O? DE-LIV-ERY.

The whole ordeal turned me off to say the least. Still, a lack of this and a shortage of that around the house forced my hand and I begrudgingly made several more trips to Sunset over the next few weeks.

I am pleased to report experiencing a pivotal moment in my relationship with the grocery store this week. I walked in, found the organic cheese for Lei (in the organic section dumb-ass), stealthily and efficiently made my way through the store checking the remaining items off my list. I let the unloader, checker and bagger do their jobs without assault, took a number, pulled up the Jeep to be loaded and was on my way. I felt like such a know-it-all big shot. It was actually kind of fun.

I even wore my favorite yoga pants.

What the Fuss? Nice Rack

Cute and clever - a wicked combination. Especially when we're talking about baby products. I spent the last sixteen months balancing bottles and nipples on a drying rack that resembled a warped starter set of Construx.

Why you ask? Because I didn't know any better.

When we moved, my mom showed up with a few treats for me. (Let me say that she rarely, if ever, shows up empty handed. In fact, Leighton's first move after greeting her Gaga is to rifle through her purse looking for gifts. Please remember that my mother only lives and hour away and we see her quite often. The pavlovian effect was swift).

This time, my gifties were two newAvent wide-mouth Natural Feeding bottles, a kickass bottle brush(also Avent) and the Boon Grass Drying Rack. Yes, Lei is a toddler but she still like her baba at night and I refuse to deprive her of such things until she's two. We have no baba shame in the Freeman house. Plus, she has been a straw drinker since eight months and does not like sippy cups. Hence, the baba.

I love the Avent products - made in England and beautifully designed. Still, the jackpot portion of my haul was the Boon Grass Drying Rack. It's two dishwasher-friendly pieces of fun that hold any baby item to dry completely. It's ingenious, adorable and takes a spin in the dishwasher without warping.

You can pick up your Boon Grass Drying Rack at Target for $15 - or closer to $20 elsewhere. This Fussworthy Must-Have makes a great shower gift and is not to be missed.

Just curious, at what age did your toddler give up the bottle? Parents seem to get nervous about it and my nanny said that the parents of her other charges were sheepishly wondering the same thing. Please leave a comment and share your fuss with us!

WIN IT! Happy Baby Foods and Snacks for Your Wee One

To salute the purveyors of organic beeb foods, The Daily Fuss is giving away Happy Baby organic foods and snacks meal kits to three lucky fans. Happy Baby groups their delectable into stages.

Stage 1: Starting Solids

Stage 2: Simple Combos for 6+ Months

Stage 3: Meals for 7+ Months  

Since I have no clue how old your beebs and tots are, please post your stage preference in your post. If you don't, I will hunt you down anyway, but I'd prefer you make it easy on me.

Meal kits will include the best and yummiest picks from Happy Baby for your particular peanut - a $40 value for each winner.

How do I win, you ask?

Leave a comment on this blog post telling us your kid(s) favorite foods and ways you try, as a responsible parent, to offer palate-building variety.

Or maybe you just serve taco pie and mac n cheese every night. We won't judge. In fact, that's a great reason to try something new. Be creative and share your fuss with us.

Here are the official rules for the giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post per the above instruction.

2. Your official comment to this blog post during the specified time frame counts as an entry.

3. Three comments will be selected as winners.

4. Comments will be open until March 31, 2010 at 5PM Central.

5. Comments will each be assigned a number and winners will be chosen randomly using Random.org.

6. Winners will be announced on April 2, 2010.

7. The prize for each winner is a Happy Baby organic foods and snacks meal kit. Please specify Stage 1m 2 or 3. ($40 value each)

GOOD LUCK!

Please check back soon for The Daily Fuss Guide to prepared baby foods. Thanks for reading and if the mood strikes, please leave a comment and share your fuss with us.