My toddler ate dog food and other concerns

So far, I’ve been unsuccessful in enticing Fig to eat avocados. This is a pity because avocados are one of my favorite foods not to mention superbly nutritious. S0, when I stumbled across this recipe by Oh, She Glows for 15 minute creamy avocado pasta I was confident I’d hit the jackpot. Not only does it take 15 minutes to make ( 30 with a toddler) but because Fig is a sucker for all things pasta,  I was confident it would be the solution to our avocado woes.

And because Pasta is the perfect vehicle to sneak more veggies into my little guy, I decided to add freshly shelled sweet peas, fresh corn  and a little cilantro; we are in Mexico after all. All was going as planned until I left for two minutes.

As any mama knows, a toddler can accomplish an incredible amount of mischief in less than 30 seconds flat. Less time is needed with an accomplice.

Enter, Mafalda the Dachshund. A sneaky, sassy little sausage dog with a weakness for freshly shelled pea. 2 minutes is all it took for 1/2 our peas to go down the hatch of a veggie loving dachshund with the help of a two year old sous chef.

I walked in on the pea debacle in full swing, quickly realizing I had nobody to blame but myself. Rule # 1 of cooking with toddlers, never leave them unattended, especially with a dog.

We had plenty of corn and cilantro, so our recipe wasn’t shot yet.  Next we set out to make the avocado sauce only to find that Mexico City’s rainy season had other plans for us. With the power going on and off, we weren’t able to make use of the blender. No matter, hand grinding did the trick and was deliciously fun for my little chef.

With the avocado’s prepared, back to the kitchen we went to assemble our creation. As I’m adding the garlic, lemon, and cilantro the dish I feel Fig’s presence behind me; quietly absorbed in some task. I want to take a picture of our final product since it looks quite lovely and am scrambling to do so before the lights turn off from the storm.

2 minutes pass with no peep from Fig. As I turn around to bring the meal towards the table I see him squatted by the dog’s bowl, back towards me, the rhythmic motion of his jaws moving up and down.  It takes me a full 5 seconds to realize he is scarfing down the dog’s food.

That night, Fig did not eat his Avocado Pasta. He was too full off of kibble ( albeit, high quality organic kibble from Whole Foods, but kibble nonetheless).My only consolation was the several dozen peas that made it into his stomach prior to giving the rest to the dog, the tiny bit of avocado he tried while processing it, and the plethora of dried vegetables and fruit found in the kibble.

We’ll redefine success for the day and call it a win.