SUPER Pancakes - For the Picky Eater

My daughter Sidonie has always been a little peanut, at birth she was a tiny 6 lbs 10 oz - which was a small baby for my 5'9" frame. All through nursing I struggled to get her to eat a serious meal and actually fill her belly. She was a snacker and would eat a little and get busy with something else, or fall asleep and be ready to eat again 15 minutes later. It was a crazy schedule. During the 8 months that I nursed her she was on her own little weight curve, around the -3% which to a first time mom is incredibly unnerving.

Pediatricians threw around the term 'failure to thrive' but weren't quite ready to commit to it because she was happy, active and a wonderful baby thriving in every other way - just not a good eater. Eventually the physician suggested I supplement with formula to increase her weight. This did nothing for her weight, but taught her that it was easier to drink from a bottle than from mommy. Fast forward to true solids - her snacky tendencies continued, and she added the new realm of being super picky about what she would eat. No meat, no veggies, no eggs - pretty much just fruit, along with bread and cheese products. We called her our "Fruit-itarian". But, there was one thing she always loved (and still does at 3 1/2 years old) PANCAKES.

In an effort to get some inspiration to cajole my picky little one to eat meat and veggies, I turned to Jessica Seinfield's "Deceptively Delicious" which I highly recommend. Unfortunately, Sidonie wasn't really accepting these new dishes - but it did give me an idea. If I could sneak green beans into brownies, why couldn't I sneak large portions of protein and healthy goodness into PANCAKES. Hence, the birth of SUPER PANCAKES, and it worked wonders to get her weight up to a doctor happy 50%. Please remember as I give this information that I have absolutely no dietary education at all, these were just ingredients I knew she was lacking in her daily diet - all tossed into a pancake. Below are some of the things I put into the super pancakes:

Aunt Jemima Complete mix is my base..

Whole Organic Milk
Wheat Germ (great source of protein)
Flax Seed Meal
Pureed green beans (organic baby food)
Pureed carrots (organic baby food)
Pureed avocados (organic)
Pureed sweet potatoes (organic)
Eggs
Carnation Instant Breakfast (Classic French Vanilla Powder Form)
Pureed chicken

I had to play with the recipe, and it was never the same ingredients or quantity of ingredients. I just added what I thought I could get away with and she ate them up. Packing a protein punch like the super pancakes did helped to ease my worries that she would not eat any meat at all, and rarely did until she was 2 years old. Plus she was happy. Mommy WINNING!

Current day Sidonie is 3 1/2 years old and is at the 50% percentile for weight and I think that's just perfection. I've stopped making her the super pancakes because she is finally eating a larger variety of foods, but is still a notoriously small eating snacker.

For all mommies out there with little babies, you're not failing - they won't starve themselves, some babies just like to make their own little curve.