Joel is a very good eater... but I'm not surprised considering how well his Daddy eats too. :) I'm still waiting for the day all that changes and he gets into his picky food stage. But until then, I'm happily enjoying the opportunity to introduce him to new foods with different flavors, textures, colors and aromas. I will say that I was a bit nervous to incorporate seafood into his diet. There's a history of seafood sensitivity on my side of the family but there's no way of knowing whether Joel is sensitive or not unless he tries it. Thankfully Joel took to these Salmon Potato Cakes really well! Flaked salmon is mixed with mashed potatoes, spices and coated with a fish fry coating before pan frying to a golden brown...


I first gave Joel steamed white fish and that went really well. Next was salmon, which he especially loves with chunks of baked sweet potatoes. So far, we're doing well with seafood so I feel much better experimenting with various recipes. One recent recipe I made was for Salmon Potato Patties. This is a good way of introducing seafood to kids. Feel free to adjust the amount of salmon in the dish to your or your child's preference. You could even sub the salmon for other kinds of fish including cod or tilapia. It's important to have the fish cooked beforehand, however you'd like. For the patties I made, I grilled our salmon and used leftovers to make them. Joel really took to these well and it's a great way for me to use up leftover seafood including salmon, cod, tilapia, shrimp, etc.


1/2 pound cooked salmon, drained and flaked
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup garlic and herb seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Louisiana Fish Fry coating
cooking spray

In a medium bowl, mix salmon, eggs, garlic and herb seasoned dry bread crumbs, mashed potatoes, onion, garlic, dill weed, celery salt, salt, and pepper. Form the mixture into 2 inch balls, and flatten into patties about 1/2 inch thick. Dredge in fish fry coating and set aside.

Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat. Spray skillet with cooking spray and pan fry patties about 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned.