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Intuitive Eating, Motherhood, Weekly Eats

Intuitive Eating During Quarantine

April 8, 2020 By Robyn 18 Comments

Many of you said seeing some of what we are eating lately would be helpful when I wrote this post about COVID-19 last week. My hope is that this post on intuitive eating during quarantine (and these kind of posts in general) provide some insight for you around “normal” eating (which will look different from person to person, so really there is no normal) and simply, overall meal inspiration. Maybe you’re like me and eating a lot of baked goods because that brightens up your day, baking gives you a fun/creative daily outlet while you’re at home all day, and something sweet just satisfies your soul right now. Maybe fresh produce is less abundant than it usually is. Maybe you’d rather eat something different than what you have available in your pantry/fridge/freezer right now. What intuitive eating looks like differs from day to day depending on your circumstances. So if you’re feeling wonky with food, remember that these times are teaching you flexibility with food and that’s a good thing.

What I’m Eating

We’ve been staying with my in-laws or at my mom’s house for the past two weeks. Someone makes a grocery run every 10-14 days. Overall, food doesn’t feel that dissimilar to our normal, but working with what we have vs being able to swing by a local grocery and pick something up on my walk home has been different. In a lot of ways, I’m finding it relieving to just eat what we have and move on. Food feels simpler. I’m thankful we have food.

There is no order to the meals I’m going to share since it was a miracle for me to even remember to snap photos given I pretty much never takes photos of food anymore. So the fact that I have photos is a win lol.

Breakfasts are pancakes, oatmeal or egg sandwiches. One morning (above) I made a big pot of banana oatmeal (rolled oats + Ripple milk + chia seeds + pinch of salt + banana stirred in at the end) and topped with a chocolate square and pb.

Below is a rendition of an egg sandwich I’ve been eating – sandwich roll with two fried eggs, bacon, non-diary cheese, spinach and hot sauce. Plus and unpictured orange.

Lunch one day was 2 eggs scrambled with spinach and non-dairy cheese (I don’t love vegan cheese but my mom bought it and I don’t want it to go to waste!) + a big carrot + potato chips. I think I ate some fruit after this.

Another lunch – chicken salad my mom made on a sandwich roll with a carrot, pickle and potato chips.

Dinner one night was veggie soup + focaccia my mom made.

Another night we had pizza. And one night we had pork tenderloin with baked potatoes and roasted zucchini/asparagus/broccoli.

Last night we had homemade chicken fingers (every time I’m with my mom I request these!) with sp fries + sautéed cabbage that needed to be used up. She breads the chicken in flour + egg and then panko and says she seasons the chicken and flour mixture heavily with salt + pepper. Then pan fries in whatever oil. Sometimes canola or if we have it, avocado oil. I ate this plate plus a couple more nugs and sp fries.

I’ve been snacking on crackers, fruit and these copycat reese’s eggs that are SO GOOD. Woah. Making these year round. I followed this recipe loosely and used 1/2 cup almond meal instead of coconut flour and TJs chocolate chips that I melted for the chocolate coating.

We also made a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies on Sunday using this recipe (except I used ap flour instead of oat and brown sugar instead of coconut sugar since that what we had on hand) and I’ve been eating a couple of those for an afternoon snacks.

Bedtime snack has been a variation of baked good + ice cream. A few nights it was leftover vanilla birthday cake, homemade peach crisp with vanilla ice cream, Ghiradelli brownies with ice cream and oatmeal raisin cookies with ice cream.

What Cal is Eating

For Nick & I, we decided early on in our parenting that we wanted to raise Cal to be an intuitive eater the best we knew how so we’ve been feeding him with the support of resources like Born to Eat, Ellyn Satter and the IG account @feedinglittles. I am nowhere near perfect at this. I would like to get better at less snacking on the go, but it’s more fun/easier to have him eat a snack outside after his nap or in the stroller on our way somewhere than spend another 15 minutes at the kitchen table 2-3x a day. Right now, I don’t feel like less snacks eaten at the table is preventing him from being able to sit and participate at family meals (I mean, for as much as a 15 month old can sit still) so I don’t have that much motivation to change up the snacking situation…

He is still nursing 1-3x a day or sometimes he drinks Ripple pea milk which I’ve found to have a similar nutrition profile to cow’s milk – I might try to trial dairy back in and see if he’s growing out of this protein allergy around 18 months. But after the 3 months of hellish sleep we went through when we introduced dairy again around 12 months before realizing he was likely up 5-6x a night screaming due to GI pain, I’m too nervous to rock the boat again. He’s sleeping 9-11 hrs straight about 70% of the time which for us, is huge. But I am really hoping he grows out of it.

Also, I want to preface sharing his meals by saying his eating habits change from week to week. A couple weeks ago there were many days (weeks even?) when he would eat only a handful of bites at lunch/dinner and a night or two where he straight up ate nothing for dinner. Lately, he must be in a growth spurt or something because his appetite is 3x what it was a couple weeks ago. I have to continually remind myself that I can trust his own innate ability to feed himself. He knows how much food he needs at any given time. My role (per Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility) is to provide what he eats, where he eats and when he eats and to cultivate a positive food environment.

It is a conscious effort for me to stay neutral with facial expressions, tone of voice and emotions at meals regarding what he eats and how much and not get worried when he eats next to nothing at dinner because my brain goes to, “he is going to sleep like crap because he’s going to wake up hungry.” Or if he eats a lot of food and tries new foods at meals I find it hard to hold back excitement. So, this is a continual learning journey for me.

If I’m introducing a new food or two, my goal is for the other 2/3 of his plate to be foods I know he loves and enjoys. Sometimes he doesn’t even touch the new food, sometimes he explores it with his hands and maybe takes a few bites and sometimes he eats it all. It’s a total toss up.

Breakfast is a rotation of oatmeal with some sort of fruit and nut butter or pancakes. We make a lot of oatmeal banana blender pancakes. Last week we made french toast with my sister-in-laws homemade sourdough and he loved that too. He is very much not into eggs right now, but in french toast form he was very into it.

This dinner was canned pureed pumpkin (he is obsessed with canned pumpkin and has been for months so he eats that at like 75% of lunches and dinners) with coconut oil and cinnamon mixed in, black beans, egg noodles with marinara and one of these spinach/chickpea/banana muffins. He ate this plate, but 1/2 of the noodles, a bite of the black beans and then another serving of pumpkin and muffin.

Another dinner was chickpea vegetable soup my mom made that I pureed a bit since he isn’t into vegetable textures right now so I mashed it up and introduced it that way and he ate a few bites. Plus more pumpkin with cinnamon & coconut oil and some buttered roll. He ate all the roll, 3/4 of the pumpkin and a few bites of soup.

This lunch was cold pumpkin with chia seeds, black beans, egg salad and almond butter + jelly on a sandwich roll. My brother and sister-in-law are awesome bread bakers so we are spoiled with lots of fresh bread while home. It’s awesome. He ate this whole plate, the other half of ab + j and another serving of egg salad. He was still hungry and asking for more after that so I gave him two black bean brownies topped with almond butter.

Again, this is a significant increase in his normal appetite from his usual so if you’re like, “my toddler eats nowhere near that!” that is OKAY. Sometimes Cal doesn’t either. We can trust their appetites.

My mom made & fed him lunch one afternoon while I napped and he ate half a pb & j on whole wheat that was “thickly slathered with pb” according to Mimi lol + a navel orange. I don’t have a picture to show you, but you get the point.

Another dinner was mashed potatoes (regular and sweet) with olive oil, pureed veggie + chickpea soup, the last bit of leftover pumpkin/coconut oil/cinnamon and a spinach chickpea muffin. He ate all of this except for 1/2 the potatoes and then asked for two more servings of soup.

He’s been loving these peanut butter puffs my mom bought (they are Popchips brand I think) along with lots of strawberries.

Almost every morning he also snacks on a few cheerios while I drink coffee and attempt to read the bible before we eat breakfast. He also loves the Siggi’s non-dairy yogurt for snacks (I think all non-dairy yogurt is so gross, but Siggi’s has somehow mastered a non dairy yogurt that takes like regular Greek yogurt) and those spinach/chickpea muffins, dried mango, Rx bars or the black bean brownies.

Cal has never really been into meat no matter how much I offer it. Although last week at my in-laws he LOVED spaghetti sauce with ground turkey that we had made so I’m going to make more of that again when we have the ingredients. And I’ll just try changing up with texture/presentation and keep offering.

And that’s what we’re eating! Share your thoughts & favorite eats in the comments!


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Filed Under: Intuitive Eating, Motherhood, Weekly Eats

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Comments

  1. Sarah says

    April 8, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing Cal’s meals, too! With trying to only grocery shop every couple of weeks I’ve been struggling in the creativity department for my 1 YO. My husband and I are fine with not eating exactly what we want every day or having the same thing more than usual but it adds another thing to think about when trying to feed a little a wide variety of meals/snacks.

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      April 8, 2020 at 3:07 pm

      I’m glad it was helpful! I hope it’s a relief/encouraging as well to know they actually don’t mind the same thing over and over – while not the most wildly nutrient dense, Cal loves a good ole pb&j on white bread on repeat. Hang in there mama!

      Reply
  2. Liz says

    April 8, 2020 at 7:33 pm

    Congrats on the sleep situation! Did you guys do anything differently or did he just grow into it? I have a nursing 18 month old who’s still up multiple times a night 🥴 so always looking for inspiration!

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      April 16, 2020 at 7:25 pm

      He really just grew into it – I mean we do the basics like bedtime routine (I mean the most consistent we can be with that ha) white noise, darkness etc but other than that and capping his daytime sleep to 2-2.5 hrs between two naps….nothing earth shattering. I just think babies/toddlers sleep longer when they are developmentally ready. I can create helpful habits (within reason that also works for our life – I’m not someone who can be super rigid), but I can’t control his sleep. Realizing that has been incredibly freeing for me.

      Reply
  3. Nancy says

    April 13, 2020 at 9:02 am

    Robyn,
    Hearing from you is a blessing to me and to many. You are the voice of reason that so many need to hear.

    Reply
  4. Genevieve says

    April 13, 2020 at 2:26 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing Cal’s meals as well for inspiration! I have a 5.5-month-old baby girl who was also diagnosed with a pretty severe cow milk protein allergy like Cal, and so you have been such a source of wisdom and solidarity as I navigate my own intuitive eating journey with a newfound dietary restriction. You’re right, baking more often and seeking as many satisfying eating experiences as possible has been so helpful! I’m preparing to start baby-led weaning soon and would love to hear more about your experiences with Cal in this area.

    Also I just have to say, we are 100% breakfast kindred spirits haha it’s my absolute favorite meal and I have been eating pancakes, oatmeal, or breakfast sandwiches on repeat for as long as I can remember (and I’ve been on a huge oatmeal kick since my second trimester through postpartum). We have a family favorite pancake recipe that is just so delicious that I had to share in case you wanted to try it out some time: https://minimalistbaker.com/life-changing-banana-walnut-pancakes-gluten-free/

    (Side note: We use whole wheat flour instead of a gf blend and the nuts are optional, but a pro tip is to add extra banana slices to the batter because they caramelize while cooking. SO good!)

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      April 16, 2020 at 7:27 pm

      Thanks for sharing this recipe Genevieve! I’m so so thankful to be pretty far along in the IE path – more “normal eater” if that makes sense – I can imagine it would have been much tougher for me a few years ago. Know you’re not alone!

      Reply
  5. Katelyn Wood says

    April 13, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    I love the addition of seeing Cal’s meals, thank you SO much! It’s super helpful to get some ideas – my little guy also loves pumpkin but I never thought to try it with coconut oil and cinnamon! Great tip! And welcome back, you’ve been missed in this space 🙂

    Reply
  6. Becky Nussbaum says

    April 14, 2020 at 9:34 am

    Robyn,
    I really enjoyed that post! Reading the section on your son’s intuitive eating reminded me of the little boy I babysit frequently. Sometimes he was in the mood for the pb toast, other times he would throw it. I really had to get creative!
    Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your intuitive eating. I try to remind myself to be thankful for what we have because we are not lacking food, even if it’s not what I like.
    I’ve been enjoying gingerbread pancakes recently where are so good.
    Thanks Robyn!

    Reply
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A non-diet dietitian and nurse practitioner helping women find peace with food, accept their natural body size and heal from hormonal issues and period problems.

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🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻 two babies are asleep at the same time in their beds (and not on me) for the FIRST TIME IN 7657 DAYS and dear lord I could cry tears of relief straight into this latte and bowl of chocolate chips bc I woke up this morning exhausted and weary and told Nick I didn’t want to parent today 🤣 Not even calling this self care. It’s sanity right now. And even if it lasts 5 minutes it will be 5 minutes of freaking glory. p.s. yes that brick is crooked bc v uneven floors are part of the charmed package of this old house
Learning over and over again in this season that f Learning over and over again in this season that feels unsettled and chaotic and longgggggg that sometimes, you just need the viewpoint of a toddler to remind you that the seemingly insignificant things & moments really are....straight up magical. And that yes, these mundane days are packed full of goodness & beauty if I keep my eyes fixed on what actually matters.
Spent two hours at Lowe’s this morning and wow, Spent two hours at Lowe’s this morning and wow, wowww 🤯 Asked at least six people where to find something and their opinion on all the options bc holy decision fatigue. Nursed my newborn on the floor of the paint aisle. And BLESS my new contractor friend Matt I found in the lumber section that pushed my cart around and helped me avoid the mistake of buying exterior wood for some DIY bathroom shelves.
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I’m giving all our bathrooms a DIY makeover and I couldn’t be more of a rookie. So shoutout to all my Lowe’s buddies and YouTube 😜 You’re making this happen.
We are now officially homeowners. WUT? We didn’t We are now officially homeowners. WUT? We didn’t plan to close on a house 10 weeks after having a baby, but here we are. And we are so, so grateful.  And I’m also terrified. We’ve moved three times and lived in three different states since we got married three years ago. After six years spent living in New York City and Boston, moving back to Charlottesville was really, really hard for me. I cried a lot those first six months because my heart ached for the northeast and for city life. I wanted to pack up and go back to Boston ASAP. It felt so different and so quiet here and at times, very lonely. Even though it felt like the next right step, I second guessed our decision A LOT.
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But here we are 10 months later ready to continue investing in this neighborhood we’ve come to love. And this community of people that have become so dear. Ten months later and it feels so, so right. And although committing to settling down here for a good bit feels really scary to me, it also brings so much peace to know we aren’t moving again anytime soon. We are here to plant and grow. And raise our babies in this house as we make it a home. It’s also really fun to have one of your best friends be your realtor. We love you @kelli.teter.nesting 🤗
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Now, to see if we make it out of this kitchen renovation all in one piece 🤪
my go-to breakfast these days is two fried eggs in my go-to breakfast these days is two fried eggs in ghee with sautéed spinach (also in ghee) and an english muffin with more ghee + some sort of jam on half for that sweet & savory combo. we discovered these local english muffins (from The Bread Basket) and they are doughy and delicious and we are obsessed.
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I’ve found that I need a solid source of protein and lots of fat for breakfast to keep me full while breastfeeding this time around vs with Cal, I was so into big bowls of pb & chocolate chip banana oatmeal. just goes to show our bodies know what they need and change cravings accordingly. also, just a psa: go pick up the maple butter from @traderjoes bc it is bonkers 🤤 and lastly, shout out to my husband bc a lot of mornings he is making this bfast for me while I nurse & try to pull myself out of bed - don’t for a moment think I’ve got it together 🤪
I’ve had many thoughts rolling around in my brai I’ve had many thoughts rolling around in my brain of if/how to use this platform in a way that aligns with how I want to live my life. I’m finding it tricky to discern that when 90% of my use on this app is for professional purposes. But I’m not sure if even professionally, it makes sense for me. Because I feel more aligned with what matters to me when I’m not regularly present here.  I’m not really sure what things will look like moving forward, but for right now I’m here to share with you that I somehow found some spare minutes between newborn & toddler life to write a post with some semi-coherent thoughts on life lately. 🤪 You can head there by clicking the link in my profile.
I’ve been completely disconnected from social me I’ve been completely disconnected from social media and that’s been vital for me during this tender postpartum period of transitioning from a mama of 1 to 2. But today, I’m bopping on briefly to share how Teddy entered this wild world with you - if you’re into a lengthy, detailed birth story, the link in my profile will lead you to the blog post 💙
Theodore “Teddy” Lars Nohling joined our famil Theodore “Teddy” Lars Nohling joined our family at 12:48am on Wednesday after a quick and swift labor & birth at home 💙 Thank you Father for another healthy baby boy & your abundant, tender love for us. What an undeserved gift.
Very grateful to be carrying another baby past his Very grateful to be carrying another baby past his due date, but also....LET’S GO DUDE. Still over here eating dates (check out the @ebbirth article on the research showing dates can help ripen (aka soften) your cervix, reduce the need for medical intervention in labor and can overall, improve birth outcomes) drinking red raspberry leaf tea and sleeping as much as possible with a 19 month old running around. And also trying to survive July in VA without public pools or splash pads bc it is BLAZIN HERE (and I’m a wuss with the heat 🤪)
#AlignPartner A huge plus of transitioning from ti #AlignPartner A huge plus of transitioning from tiny-apartment-city-living to house living is this screened in porch. This little oasis sold me on renting this house when we moved from Boston to Virginia back in November. I dreamed about this becoming our outdoor living room for at least half the year (because also, summer comes earlier and stays later down here - which has a its pros and cons 😆)  During Cal’s afternoon nap, I set up shop out here with my computer + something refreshing to drink and get a little bit of work done before my brain turns to mush and/or a find myself napping instead of working. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I can only drink so much water during the hot months before I’m over it so I’ve been mixing it up with either seltzer + juice, iced tea or @alignprobiotic’s new Kombucha On-the-Go powder sticks - all you do is mix one of the packets into ice cold water and stir. Then sip!  With quarantine life, we aren’t on-the-go much these days, but it’s still nice to have a nonperishable drink option always around. Flavor wise, it’s like a fizzy iced tea with a zingy, refreshing lemon ginger flavor.  I think it’s important to know that not all probiotic supplements are created equal. They all aren’t backed by evidence, but the Align brand is and could be something helpful for you if you feel like you need some digestive support - but talk to your healthcare provider first. I try to incorporate probiotics into what I eat - and that mostly comes in drink vs food form. Tell me how you’re staying hydrated in the comments ...because these days, it’s the little things 🤪 #AlignProbiotic **Use as Directed
Lunches for the past month or so have been some re Lunches for the past month or so have been some rendition of a sandwich + chips + fruit. SUMMERTIME 😎I’ve switched to open faced only bc there just ain’t much room left in there for food at 38.5 weeks 🤰🏻90% of the time at the end of a meal, no matter how “small” the portion, I’m feeling stuffed and like the food is in my throat (just what you wanted to read on this lovely Tuesday afternoon 🤪) but my point here is...intuitive eating doesn’t mean find-the-perfect-fullness and eat-only-when-hungry. Sometimes it means eating when you’re not hungry and feeling overly full often and trying to eat foods lower in fiber and higher in calories.
Found this photo on my camera roll today from a wa Found this photo on my camera roll today from a walk I took a month or so ago. Between quarantine and spending my days with a toddler, life is much less hurried and a lot more mundane these days. But those two things are helping me to stop & notice and to chill out on checking things off my to do list and instead just being present with whatever is in front of me. I want to have the curiosity & wonder my 18 month old has as I go about my day - with my surroundings and people I encounter and really, everything. Life is way more meaningful that way. Ending my evening with that reminder and a white chocolate chip cinnamon blondie covered in vanilla ice cream before I go take an Epsom salt bath and read.

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