Healthy Hummus

One healthy food I have been giving Quinn since she was a baby is hummus. It's made of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), so it's a great source of protein. It has a thick consistency, so it was wonderful for self-feeding when she was learning to use a spoon--at first I'd put a glob on her spoon, hand it to her and let her lick it off, holding the spoon herself. For younger infants you could thin it a bit with some breastmilk or water.

Now I like to make "porcupines" for Q for a snack or for lunch. I put a big glob of hummus on her plate and poke stick pretzels into it all over it (unfortunately today we only have the other kind of pretzels). She loves this!

Q would gladly be a vegetarian (with the exception of milk) if we'd let her, so I am constantly working diligently to get enough protein into her meals. Hummus is a nice variation to the cheese, turkey, yogurt, nuts, and peanut butter we lunch/snack on!

Sabra is my favorite brand and Walmart and Sams carries it.

I also offer carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, whole wheat crackers, or whole wheat toast strips for dippers.

Hummus is also great for scooping practice--Q can scoop it into her bowl on her own. We are working on the skill of GENTLY tapping the spoon on the side of the bowl to get all the hummus off into the dish.