How Fussy is Fussy?

Little Z is now almost 21 months old and what most people describe as “a proper little boy”… This usually translates to meaning he loves to run and climb and throw himself off things like a little stuntman. He is pretty much on the go all the time and if he’s not running around then he is singing and dancing wanting everyone to join in. It can be exhausting just watching him and I’m pretty sure it’s made me healthier just chasing him around most of the day.

But my little man is one of the most fussiest eaters I have ever come across. I wouldn’t say he hates food, he’s just not interested. He is very much on the slim to skinny side and he regular shouts “pants!!!” at me as they start sliding down his skinny little waist. My OH is very skinny too so I know he’s very likely to take after him physique wise. That’s not what bothers me though. It’s the constant refusal to eat a proper meal.

I kept thinking “oh it’s a phase”.. But I’m now not sure how fussy is fussy and when you should start genuinely worrying that your toddler isn’t eating as much as you’d like. Most meals are a battle, particularly the bit where I try to get a very wriggly him into the highchair. Protests can range from a whiny “nooooo!” to a full throttle paddy.

Once this bit is over he may or may not eat something. I’ve never seen him polish the plate off which I’ve accepted will never happen but when he just ears the sweetcorn and declares “All done!” after the 20th meal it starts to get a bit worrying.

Take yesterday. This is what he had ALL day…

Breakfast: Some cereal with milk

Snack: handful of raisins

Lunch: two bites of scrambled egg, some sweet corn, about 3 of our chips and 3 strawberries

Dinner: Nothing (well, a bite of one slice of bread).

About a pint of milk through the day.

This is the way it pretty much goes day in day out. Is this normal for an almost 2 year old?

I’ve raised this once with the HV but was kindly dismissed with a “it’s a phase”. Umm… but this phase has gone on ever since he turned about 1! That’s a whole year?!

Do you have a fussy eater like this? Should I be worried? Should I stop looking at the nutritional value of sweetcorn hoping it’ll one day morph before my eyes and say “yes this provides an entire day of nutrition for a toddler that thinks he is the road runner?”

What to do?

Foodie Friday

We did something out of the ordinary for us this evening. We decided to be spontaneous and head straight to dinner at a grill place not too far from us. Slightly naughty considering it was so close to little Zs bedtime but we’re not often spontaneous like that so thought may as we enjoy it.

Little Z was mostly well behaved until he knocked over quite a lot of pepper from the pepper shaker that… Umm…I gave him to play with for a while. Im pretty sure thats why he kept sneezing so much for a bit. And the place didn’t have highchairs! So taking turns to balance a toddler on laps was a bit of a challenge.

But the food was verrrrrrry nice….particularly the Texas Chicken and chips…

Red Hot World Buffet – A Review

Until recently the Red Hot World Buffet is somewhere thats always been on my list of restaurants to visit. For one reason or another its never happened though so when I got asked if I would like to visit and review it I thought Oooooh yes please!

The Red Hot World Buffet is a restaurant that boasts 300 dishes from different world cuisines including Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican and Italian. I love buffets in general but there is always a small part of me, when I first visit, that wonders whether the catering will be for the masses i.e. mostly frozen ok-ish quick and easy food. I expected a bit of that with our visit here too.

How wrong we were. We visited the restaurant in Manchester and the first thing that strikes you is how organised it all is. We were seated straight away and the staff couldn’t be friendler or more helpful. I found the service was excellent and plates were cleared away very quickly without being annoying or giving the impression of hovering around to see what the customers are doing. There is not the rush of buffets and the venue is quite large so creates a relaxed atmosphere in a place where people are to-ing and fro-ing with their dishes.

The food area looks huge at first glance and we found ourselves walking around it all just to familiarise ourselves at first. The thing that stuck out for me the most was the presentation. Everything is laid out with so much care and detail. It is obvious that presentation is an important feature of the restaurant and it works very well as a distinguishing feature when compared with other buffet restaurants.

I tried a few things mainly from the Chinese, Italian, Indian and Japanese counter and everything is very nice and flavourful. The one thing I didn’t quite enjoy was the Thai Green curry but everything else was very very nice. I could have spent the whole day visiting the noodle counter having different stir fries made for me. There are a lot of stations that provide a made to order service and I love these. I resisted the urge to be too adventourous but even the straight forward musroom risotto turned out to be lovely.

The desserts area is very impressive. Each portion is small but its a good way to encourage you to try other varieties (or simply help yourself to more of the same!).

I think from our whole trip I only had one negative which in this case were the toilets. Whilst they were very clean, I thought they could do with a massive coat of paint on the doors. The restaurant is so modern looking and well presented its a weird contrast when you walk to their bathrooms and see something that needs a bit of decorating. Its a minor thing but if you happen to be visiting you’ll know what I mean.

The friend I took along is a bit of a connoiseur when it comes to restaurants and she was visibly impressed, even using the word “brilliant”. I would thoroughly recomend this to anyone that loves buffets and good food. It is very family friendly and has a good choice of kids counters too, although there is enough kid friendly dishes in each of the cuisines. I would definitely go back for more. The confirmation for us was well and truly nailed as we walked out and saw the queue had stretched to the outside doors.

We were paid to review the Red Hot World Buffet. All opinions are my own.

Food

This week the theme in the The Gallery is Food!

3 years ago, the OH and I decided one day that we would finally get married.  It was a very long time coming but when we decided we did it at ligtning speed.  After eliminating already booked family holidays, the birth of 2 family babies and other crucial events we realised that we only had 4 weeks to do everything.  Needless to say, the next 4 weeks were utterly stressful and fun all at the same time.   Every weekend and weekday would be spent rushing to different places to book the venue, food, invitations, favours, bridal outfit, dresses, presents, rings…and the list went on.  Arrrrrrgh!!

Amazingly, with the help of some excellent friends and family it all came together.   I then realised a couple of days before that I had FORGOTTEN TO ORDER A WEDDING CAKE.  Ahhhhh…S***! Still, I wasn’t too bothered anymore.  I was just really looking forward to our wedding day and resigned myself to the fact that it would be cakeless.

The day kicked off and it was amazing.  Halfway through the day I suddenly caught sight of something being brought out.  It was a wedding cake.  My brother had noticed, in my bridezilla frenzy, that I’d not ordered one so bought us this as our wedding present.

And very very nice it was too.

Wedding Cake

You can see many more Foodie entries in this weeks Galler by clicking the link below.

Morning

The theme in Tara’s gallery this week is Morning.

I’ve seen some wonderful photos over on Instagram of people’s mornings – from breakfast and that first cuppa, to sunrises, journies to work/school, what they’re wearing and photos of feet up with a book and a bar of chocolate! As ever, interpret the theme any way you like.

A nice cup of tea, and eggs, beans and toast popped into my head instantly. Then I realised. I hardly ever have time for brekkie when I’m rushing around in the mornings to get myself and Baby Z out to work.

One very memorable morning then came to mind. Sitting on what was a “dull” day we sat on the beach and watched the early morning sport enthusiasts jet skiing around. It feels like many moons ago now as I tried to eat my bodyweight in pancakes and omelettes for an entire week.