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WHAT ALI EATS, Brooklyn, NY (2026)

11/09/2020

hi ! while i was on my insta holiday, i wrote a piece on portion sizes for toddlers & kiddos for my friends ☺️🥄. the gist of it is - there are guidelines out there for feeding younger children and best practices for serving sizes but at the end of the day, there’s no one-size-fits-all recommendation bc all kiddos are different !! link in my bio to read the whole thing 🤍

09/17/2020

another day of 😋 sharing what my 2 year old eats in a day ! as always, these posts are meant for inspiration and to show NORMAL fluctuations in appetite, not for comparison as all kiddos are different. 💘 some might think “wow, she eats so little” and others “wow, she eats so much” but the truth is, she eats what she’s hungry for!
7:30: half a waffle with PB, strawberry chia pudding, & strawberries. she ate 2 pieces of waffle, all the chia pudding, and most of the berries.
10am: had a clementine during her music class in the park
12:15: refried bean quesadilla, leftover mexican street corn, spinach littles. ate half the quesadilla, one of the littles, all of the corn.
3:30: rest of the waffle & PB + strawberries from breakfast with some raspberries too. ate all of the waffle and most of the berries.
6:00pm: shells with pesto, broccoli, & peas + avocado & sweet potato. ate maybe 2/3 of the pasta and peas, ignored the broccoli, avo, and sweet potato. we all had the same pasta for dinner 😉
7pm: got a surprise delivery for daddy’s birthday so sylvie had a piece of oatmeal raisin cookie! i try to serve desserts WITH meals/snacks to de-stigmatize them but it doesn’t always work out that way 🤷🏻‍♀️
what are your little ones eating today ?

08/19/2020

! your weekly toddler meal inspo (i hope? otherwise i’m just taking a lot of pictures of her food). as always, these posts are not meant for comparison as all kiddos are different ❤️
7:30am: oat + banana + egg + flaxmeal pancake (eyeballed, sorry no recipe 😬) with PB & peaches. ate everything on the plate.
9:30am: had the other half of the peach and another pancake + PB
12:15: low sodium refried bean & cheddar quesadilla ( almond flour tortilla) + sugar snap peas & avo. ate about 2/3 of the quesadilla, half the avo, all the snap peas.
3:30pm: untouched quarter of her hummus on english muffin sandwich from the day prior & cherries. ate all.
7:00pm: turkey burger on a “bun” (we ran out, i had to improvise with whole wheat 🤷🏻‍♀️) with ketchup & mayo, corn & cauliflower with tahini, avo, 1 artichoke heart. ate a little more than half the burger, most of the corn, 1 piece of cauli, no avo or artichoke.
+ keeping it real: she was having a really hard time sitting still, kept climbing out of her high chair at dinner (was prob v tired), so she ended the meal in my chair 🥴👍🏼.

what did your littles eat today ?
@ Greenpoint

08/13/2020

we are back with ✨ ✨ as always, these posts are meant for meal inspiration and to show normal fluctuations in toddler appetite - not for comparison. all kiddos are different, and intake often fluctuates from meal to meal !
7:30am: banana coins w/ PB and h**p seed “sprinkles” + orange slices + plain greek yogurt. ate all the banana/PB and orange, none of the yogurt. (i offer fortified soy milk with breakfast if she asks for it, otherwise she drinks water with her meals - not all toddlers need to drink milk, it depends on their diet as a whole).
9:30am: had some leftover fruit salad and part of her nanny’s muffin, had maybe 3/4 of this container.
12:30: beef empanada, roasted cauliflower, avo. ate all the empanada, most of the cauliflower and avo.
3:30: had the rest of the fruit from the morning with the greek yogurt left over from breakfast (yes i know i’m insane with leftovers but i hate waste) - ate all.
6:30: we got for dinner, had chicken thighs with garlic aioli dip, brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli. ate most of the rice, 1 bite of chicken, 2 helpings of sweet potato, and no broccoli. normally one of her favorite veggies but she wasn’t into it tonight ! no biggie.
what are your littles eating today ? @ Greenpoint

07/13/2020

hellooooo !! i wrote a little piece on how to encourage our kids to eat a varied diet and prevent “picky eating” ⭐️ spoiler alert: it might take 20+ times before your kiddo tastes a new food and that’s NORMAL !!
check it out on the *is this normal* blog by 😋 - isthisnormal.littlespoon.com (or link in bio!) 💥

07/07/2020

one dinner three ways: tempeh taco veggie bowl, deconstructed for the todd, and regular ol’ tacos. i’m still learning how to cook with tempeh so i appreciate my family for bearing with me during these experiments. if you’ve never cooked with it before, it’s a pretty nutty/earthy, nutrient-dense, versatile protein made from fermented soy beans ! 🤙🏼 bear in mind, this is pretty crumbly so only serve to babies this way if you and they are comfortable with the texture (lentil taco meat would be a great substitute if you’re not into tempeh!).
i crumbled the tempeh and sautéed it with a little red chile enchilada sauce until the bits were coated and soaked up some of the sauce (can also make your own sauce or just use spices and tomato paste). i also roasted the cauli with taco spices (garlic, cumin, paprika, chili powder). brown rice and corn are from the frozen section! easy peasy 😛
@ Greenpoint

07/02/2020

sharing another day of for my little foodie. as always, these posts are meant as meal inspiration and to show normal fluctuations in appetite. please don’t compare intake as all kiddos are different 💞
7:30am: 1 scrambled egg in butter + leftover multigrain french toast sticks + watermelon. ate several portions of 🍉 - the first of the season, very exciting for her 😂. had a few bites of eggs and 1 bite of french toast. she also had ~6oz of whole milk (i can talk about milk separately as i don’t think there’s one size fits all advice).
10:00am: more 🍉 and some Os cereal (she was out, i was wfh).
12:30pm: hummus on multigrain pita bread + 1 slice cheddar cheese + avocado + quartered cherry tomatoes. ate 2 small pieces of sandwich, most of the cheese, half of the avo, 1 bite of tomato.
3:30: gave her 2 more pieces of sandwich & blackberries. ate everything.
6:15: made farro & white bean burgers, served with roasted SP & avo. i also gave her a little BBQ sauce to dip and she had fun dipping the sweet potatoes (and her fingers). tried 1 bite of veggie burger (spit out), 2 helpings of SP, 2 bites of avo.
🍳🍞🍉🧀🍅🥑🍔🍠
what are your kiddos eating this week ? @ Greenpoint

06/10/2020

we are back with - i am a evolving person over here but sharing/trying to help other parents feel confident feeding their kids keeps me going ! as always, these posts are meant to inspire and show normal fluctuations in appetite and not for comparison. ⭐️ this week i want to highlight how i make use of LEFTOVERS and MINIMIZE FOOD WASTE ⭐️

7:00am: 6oz fortified soy milk with vitamin D drops
8:30am: whole wheat french toast, berries, & unsweetened whole milk yogurt. ate 2 of the french toast pieces & all of the berries + more, didn’t touch yogurt.
11:30pm: banana cinnamon almond butter sandwich, avocado, & freeze-dried strawberries. ate about 1/3 of the sandwich, half the avocado, and all the strawberries. **guess what her snack is gonna be tomorrow. you guessed it - the rest of the sandwich cut into strips with some fruit !
3:30pm: **served the rest of the yogurt, berries, & french toast from breakfast. ate all of it but one french toast stick.
6:00pm: peanut tofu, stir fried rice with broccoli & red pepper, **leftover avo from lunch. ate all the tofu plus another serving or so (she started taking tofu out of my bowl so i can’t be too sure 😂), a few spoonfuls of rice (mostly ate the broccoli and peppers out of the rice), didn’t touch the avo. **avo is going into her lunch tomorrow, it’s still looking good ! if she doesn’t eat it for lunch i’ll finally toss it 😉.

what do you moms do when your kids insist on eating YOUR food (even if it’s exactly the same) ?? i want to know !!

06/02/2020

muted. listening. learning. thank you .msrd and for leading the way. i acknowledge that i will never fully understand the pain and collective grief, and i am confronting my own implicit biases head-on. for now i will only be sharing content that will 🖤

05/28/2020

one of the most frequent questions i get, from friends and strangers alike: “which way should i feed my baby - purée or baby led weaning?” 🤔

the answer is, whatever works best for you and your baby ! the *best* way to encourage eating a variety of foods is to provide a variety of foods, model the behavior, and follow your baby’s lead. the method itself doesn’t matter, and i’d be wary of anyone who tells you one way is better than another. this is backed by solid research - while some infants may be introduced to more textures sooner, by the time they’re toddlers there’s no significant difference between kids who have started with spoon feeding or self-feeding. do what fits best with your family’s eating habits & makes you feel most comfortable (some moms worry about choking/gagging with BLW). there’s also no reason you can’t do a combo approach like we did (see my pics for evidence), introducing purées, different texture foods, and palmar grasp foods in the first few months of complimentary feeding. and if you have questions/concerns, reach out to an RD. 😉 how did you all start feeding your babies ??

@ Williamsburg, Brooklyn

05/21/2020

this week❣️sharing a day of meals i served to my 2 year old ! still blows my mind that she’s 2 🤯. as always, these posts are meant for inspiration and not for comparison — with kids (and toddlers especially) appetite and preferences can change from day to day and meal to meal 😉

7:00am: 5oz unsweetened fortified soy milk with vitamin D drops.
7:45am: banana muffin baked by aunt + full fat yogurt + blueberries. ate the full muffin and a few blueberries.
11:30am: leftover turkey brown rice veggie bake + avocado, roasted sweet potato + apple slices. ate about 1/3 of the turkey/rice/veg bake, all the apple & avo, didn’t touch the sweet potato.
3:30: leftover blueberries & yogurt from breakfast. ate about half of this.
6:00pm: peanut tofu + roasted mini potatoes + more avo. ate almost everything, didn’t want more.
6:30: shared a chocolate chip cookie with daddy, the real life cookie monster 💙.

05/13/2020

: the birthday edition !! 🥳🎈🥰 my baby, my wild child, my muse... is 2 !!!!! and i’m sharing what she ate on her birthday. as always, posts are meant for inspiration and to show normal eating behaviors; not for comparison. all kiddos are different 💗

7:00am: Had about ~5oz of fortified soy milk with Vitamin D drops.
7:45am: Served 2 chunks of a big whole wheat bagel with lox spread (her fave) and strawberries. She ate a handful of strawberries and one piece of the bagel and then wanted to dance around in her tutu.
11:30am: a deconstructed sandwich - tuna salad, 1 slice muenster cheese, and half an olive oil roll + avocado and freeze dried strawberries. she ate pretty much everything !
3:30pm: birthday cake !!!! she had 1 small slice for snack and asked for more; i told her that was all for now and we could have another piece tomorrow (she can and will). she also had a handful of strawberries and raspberries.
6:00pm: her fave dinner as of late from - chicken quesadilla, guacamole with chips (***can be a choking risk for toddlers ‼️ do as i say, not as i do plz***), corn esquites, and some salad. she ate the citrus out of the salad, all the guac, and most of the quesadilla; didn’t really touch the corn or the actual salad.

🎂 i have a lot to say about sweets with toddlers (~2y +) but i’ll try to be succinct. my goal is for sylvie to grow up with sweets as a normal and regular addition to her diet, rather than restricting them too much thereby placing them on a pedestal. i serve her sweet things in age-appropriate portion sizes — a few bites of ice cream, sharing a cookie, a small slice of birthday cake a few times this week for her birthday. it’s more complex than this because all families are different but this is where i stand 😉(.eat.in.color has some great posts & resources). ok, mini ted talk over. gonna go eat some of that cake for breakfast byeeeeee !!!

WHAT ALI EATS

11/09/2020

09/17/2020

08/19/2020

08/13/2020

07/13/2020

07/07/2020

07/02/2020

06/10/2020

06/02/2020

05/28/2020

05/21/2020

05/13/2020

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