When you’re a parent of a 13-month-old, every meal feels like a roll of the dice. Will she love it? Hate it? Squish it into the floorboards so thoroughly that you’ll be discovering couscous for weeks to come? (Spoiler: yes, yes she will.) This week’s adventure was the HelloFresh Carb Smart Halloumi and Tabbouleh Bowls, and let’s just say… it wasn’t exactly a win in our baby food Olympics.
Baby’s First Taste Test: Halloumi Edition
The star of this recipe is the halloumi — salty, chewy, and delicious when pan-seared. My husband cooked it up golden brown, and honestly, I was excited to see how Roslyn would react. Turns out, she gave it the toddler equivalent of a shrug. She ate exactly one tiny piece of halloumi, chewed thoughtfully, and then moved on with her life like it hadn’t just taken us 25 minutes to prepare.
Then came the couscous. If you’ve ever served couscous to a baby, you know it’s basically an exercise in chaos management. Tiny grains everywhere, sticking to hands, cheeks, bibs, and somehow the dog. Roslyn managed one forkful before declaring she was “done” — which in her world means squirming, turning her head, and reaching for anything that isn’t her meal.
The Teething Factor
To be fair, Roslyn is in the middle of some pretty intense teething right now. And let’s be honest: when your gums hurt, no amount of tabbouleh is going to hit the spot. She wasn’t interested in the tomatoes, cucumber, or the lemony dressing. Instead, she wanted comfort foods. So after her brief halloumi-couscous experiment, we switched gears.
She got a banana — which she gleefully squished between her fingers before throwing chunks to the floor like an overenthusiastic flower girl. Then she settled in with her true love: milk. Over the course of an hour, she sipped away, calm and content, while we finished our bowls. Honestly, that’s a win in my book.
Parent Plate Review
Meanwhile, the grown-ups in the house (aka me and my husband, the HelloFresh chef) actually loved this meal. The tabbouleh was fresh and bright, the couscous fluffy, and the halloumi — well, I’ll eat squeaky cheese any day of the week. It felt light but filling, the kind of dish that makes you feel virtuous while still being satisfied.
Would we order it again? Absolutely. But maybe not on a night when we’re hoping for toddler approval.
Reality Check: Dinner as a Family
Here’s the truth about feeding a one-year-old: not every meal is going to land. And that’s okay. Some days she’s polishing off chicken and potatoes like a champ, and other days she survives on yogurt and air. A fellow mom once told me to look at nutrition over a whole week, not just one meal or one day. That little piece of advice has taken so much pressure off mealtime. Tonight was a “banana and milk” night, and that’s perfectly fine.
Baby Modifications (or Lack Thereof)
This meal didn’t really need much modification to make it baby-friendly. The halloumi can be cut into small bites, and the couscous is soft and easy for toddlers to manage (if they actually want to eat it). The veggies could be diced a little finer for little mouths. But in our case, the best modification was simply letting Roslyn decide she wasn’t interested and pivoting to something else.
The Real Meal: Tylenol and Sleep
By the time bedtime rolled around, it was clear what she really needed wasn’t more food — it was Tylenol and sleep. If you’ve ever had a teething baby, you know this story. She curled up, milk-drunk and finally comfortable, and drifted off while the rest of us cleaned couscous off the floor.
Final Thoughts
The Carb Smart Halloumi and Tabbouleh Bowls are a big yes for adults but a hard pass for our 13-month-old — at least this week. I’ll keep halloumi in the rotation, because she might surprise me in the future. For now, though, bananas, milk, and a solid bedtime routine were the true heroes of this dinner.
