Yumm-o
More of an obento than a monkey platter, but it’s all the same here.
Chocolate squares* & Peanut butter thingy
Roasted (unsalted) almonds*
Apple slices*, Blueberry spears* & Baby corn
Edamame* w/soy sauce* & Various crackers from the cracker jar*
Italian roll w/ vegan mayo* & vegan deli slices
*organic
Your platters are always so beautiful! Although, experience suggests that if I made things like this for River, he would eat the chocolate, and maybe some of the crackers if he was feeling crazy.
Comment by laura — August 3, 2009 @ 8:21 pm
yeah, we didn’t really get into doing these elaborate things until he was maybe 4 years old. he’s always been a grazer, but it was usually one thing at a time and not a mini buffet. the good thing is that you CAN try it with VERY small portions (like 1 cracker, 1 slice of apple, 1 Jelly Belly, etc.) of things so that waste is limited or uneaten things can easily be used again or eaten by you. there are times when I know certain things on a tray aren’t things that E is particularly fond of, but he’ll eat them, because everything else is on his “good list”…it’s amazing the things he’ll try from a tray that he wouldn’t consider if it they were presented by themselves. thanks for the compliment…it’s nice to know that other people appreciate the trays….
Comment by michele james-parham — August 4, 2009 @ 12:41 am
I love your monkey platters too…. so appealing …. like it’s fun to pull blueberries off the toothpick ….. nibble at everything. All my kids are grazers… snack monsters. Since I first saw your blog, I’ve been trying to do “monkey platter-like” presentations for my kid cuisine. We do all organic – though not vegan (my oldest and I were vegan until she was 3 or 4), but… I have yet to match your pretty / nutritious plates. I’ll probably look at your photo and try to duplicate
.
Comment by Sherri — August 4, 2009 @ 8:33 am
Sherri~ feel free to copy away! honestly, I don’t spend much time on these. the one in the picture here though I did spend maybe ten minutes on…but usually E eats the same things throughout the day so, in the morning I get a large portion of stuff around in the fridge and then just fill up the tray when necessary or when asked for more of something. in reality, I probably spend 5 to 10 minutes tops per tray, but it’s second nature for us now. in the beginning I think it might have taken longer, more like 15 maybe 20 minutes, but that’s until I really got the hang of it.
Comment by michele james-parham — August 4, 2009 @ 11:51 am