Zoe’s Cinnamon Applesauce Recipe

This is about as big as Zoe's smile gets,
due to her facial paralysis.

Zoe has Moebius syndrome, a condition characterized by facial paralysis and lack of eye movement. That means she doesn’t blink, move her eyebrows or wrinkle her nose. Ever. 

That also means that, other than opening and closing her lips, she can’t move them much; she also has limited tongue movement.

 Eating does not come naturally for her the way it does for most people. She was born with very poor suction, meaning that nursing was very hard for her to actually get milk. The bottle was easier, but still not easy. We spent a week in the nicu (11 days total) just trying to teach her how to eat before she came home. She wasn’t diagnosed with facial paralysis until six months later, so we didn’t realize that was the problem. We started out with a special bottle called a Habermann, also called a special needs feeder, and eventually transitioned to a playtex drop-in. 

Feeding her has always been a struggle, but it’s much easier than it used to be. She still gets most of her fluids from a playtex drop-in bottle because that’s what works for us. We’re working on other options, but for now, we’re just glad she’s fed, healthy and growing. 

Zoe has come a long way; she eats food, but she needs it mashed. She has both sensory issues and oral motor delay, so it’s not just a matter of teaching her, and it’s also not just a matter of being willing to try new things. It’s complicated, and she goes to feeding therapy with a speech and language pathologist to work it. She’s also come a long way with that. Her food can be thicker and have texture to it; she chews some, and she’ll tolerate various temperatures. All progress. 

We do have to make most of her food though. It’s not terribly hard, but it the beginning, once she was eating more than tiny baby food jars, and the stage three stuff smelled terrible, we really didn’t know what to do. Where would we get her food? We had been making some already. I made most of my other daughter’s baby food as well. 

But as Zoe got older (and she’s always, until recently, considered eating a huge chore to be avoided), we wanted her food to taste better. She’s also always been small; she’s in a size 7/8 clothes, and she turns 12 this week, so very small. Her doctors want her to grow; she needs more calories to do that. So we needed to make her food she would enjoy, that she could eat, and that will get her what she needs to grow and be healthy.

So we’ve learned some things, and I am willing to share. We were doing all right, and then we met with a nutritionist a few years ago who gave us even more ideas, because we needed to increase her calories without increasing her amount of food. 

Here is the applesauce recipe I make for her every couple of weeks:

Everything you'll need

48oz unsweetened applesauce (homemade or store bought)

1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut

1/3 c ground flax

2/3 c vanilla flavored toddler formula

1 tsp cinnamon

2 T sugar

1/2 c baby oatmeal

I just mix it all together in a bowl and then spoon it into 8 oz canning jars to freeze. It fills 6 and a half jars. I label the top of the jar with a dry erase marker. We use each jar as a full serving, usually for lunch.

Divided into 6.5 servings, they should each be about 222 calories and 3.8 grams of protein. 

To add some calories and double the protein you could use 3/4 c dry milk instead of the formula, but if you want the calorie increase, you’ll want to make sure it’s full fat, not the nonfat stuff that’s used in baking. I order that from Amazon when I want it. You could also add 3/4 pbfit for a calorie boost, and that will triple the protein and give it a peanut butter flavor. 

And here's another tip: While I'm measuring out all of the dry ingredients, I'll do it twice more and store it in ziplock bags; that way, I'll have a shortcut to the next two batches of applesauce. If you're short on an ingredient or two, just make a note on the bag of what needs to be added. When you need to make more applesauce, just pour the ziplock into the bowl of applesauce and stir.

I wasn't low on sugar, but I left it out because sometimes,
the store runs out of unsweetened applesauce, and I don't want
it to be too sugary.

  

I hope this is helpful, and let me know if you have any questions!