Seven Months + Viral Sweet Potato Bowls

Saturday

Arthur slept in until 7:45 on Saturday morning!!! Well, he woke up at 6:30, but Miklós was on the toilet, and by the time he was finished, Arthur had fallen back asleep. And he stayed that way until I got up - I was so gosh dang proud of him.

Damn, they put additives in this too?

We had a pretty chill morning, involving a long overdue bath and the little dude helping his parents run some errands amidst large flakes of snow (!) falling. At snack time, I decided to try feeding Arthur an apple-pear purée I had picked up from the store the other day. He didn't seem as into the purée itself as I thought he would be; I thought the sweetness would be super appealing to him, but maybe the tartness was a bigger dissuading component than I had expected. He was more excited about getting to hold the fruit pouch and play around with it, and of course managed to squirt fruit goop all over himself. But he had fun with it, and even if it might take a few more tries for him to really appreciate the culinary aspect of it, the feeding himself part is always a good experience.

For his dinner, I made Arthur some more rice porridge a la breast milk, and mixed in some peanut butter to keep him on top of that allergen. As it was comprised of several of his favorite foods, Arthur, as usual, wolfed it down enthusiastically.

Which means that on Saturday, Arthur ate:

• apple (new food!)

• pear (new food!)

• rice porridge

• milk powder

• peanut butter

Sunday

Arthur was back to his early morning wake-ups on Sunday, first waking up for a few minutes at 6:30 and falling asleep, then at 7:00 and staying awake. Today is his 7-month birthday, so I guess 7:00 seems like a reasonable time to wake up. I can't wait until he's 10 months! While waiting for the boob to become available, Miklós fed Arthur a new jar of baby food purée, one consisting of potato, carrot, and beef. Arthur quickly demolished half the jar, so I think it's safe to say it was a hit. The little carnivore's Hungarian roots are showing.

Same confusion as Ariel - but in reverse!

Arthur's been drooling even more than usual for the past day or two; Miklós and my mom (via video chat) both noticed it independently yesterday, so the curiosity about whether he's teething or not is again renewed. But he's been in a remarkably good mood today, so maybe not. He's had a lot of energy, but a lot of smiles and affection as well - he's pretty much just wanted to interact, play, and cuddle with us the whole day, which we will not complain about!

For his afternoon snack, Arthur finished off the apple/pear purée. I tried feeding it to him both straight out of the pouch and via spoon, to see if it made any difference in his reaction to it. But he was kind of meh about it both ways. We followed it up with a bit of avocado, which he still seems to really enjoy!

So, on Sunday, Arthur had the following solids:

• potato

• carrot

• beef

• apple

• pear

• avocado

• oatmeal (new food!)

I gave him some more avocado at dinner (he still loved it), which we followed with a new food: oatmeal! I wanted his first taste of oatmeal to be as basic as it gets, so just cooked up some quick oats with water and gave it to him like that. And, as I expected, it was a hit, and he guzzled it down!

The usual weekend dinners applied to the parents: I cooked Saturday, and Miklós Sunday. For my own contribution, I opted to whip up some quick sweet potato bowls. They were based on a viral "recipe" I'd seen floating around online a few months back, and I'd made them once before, with good results. They're super easy, and high protein, two traits that are very appealing to me these days, and they really are a nice combination of foods. The original combination involves ground beef and hot honey, neither of which go over well with my hubs, so I swap them for veggie mince and sweet chili sauce, which do the job nicely. It's not much of a recipe, as the ingredients and quantity of each are super adaptable, but a nice blueprint for a meal. Here's how I make them:

---

Viral "Beef" "Bowls" (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 200-300 veggie mince (sometimes I use a 200g pre-seasoned and "cooked" variety; sometimes I use a "raw" one) - 200g pictured

• 400g sweet potatoes, cut into fry shapes or cubes

• 200-400g cottage cheese (I always use full-fat - it makes a big difference) - 400g pictured

• 1 avocado, peeled, cubed, and drizzled with lemon or lime juice & salt (I often use 125 pre-cut frozen avocado - note this ingredient isn't in all the versions I've seen, so it kind of optional, but I like it)

• 2 eggs, cooked to preference (another optional but nice addition - I usually make "jammy" eggs by sticking raw eggs in an air-fryer preheated to 140 degrees for 13 minutes)

• sweet chili sauce, to taste

• spices/seasonings, to taste: salt, pepper, MSG, garlic powder, onion powder, taco seasoning

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Celsius (with fan).

2. Toss sweet potatoes in salt, pepper, onion, and garlic powder, then put on a parchment-lined baking tray and roast for half an hour or until they are crispy at the edges.

3. Depending on the veggie mince you are using, either cook or microwave it with taco seasoning and MSG (only for unseasoned meat) until browned.

4. Cook eggs however you like.

5. Add everything to 2 plates, along with the cottage cheese and avocado.

6. Drizzle with sweet chili sauce and enjoy!