What do you feed your toddler?

[pinotgrig]

We're trying to get G on all table food for the most part. He loves feeding himself and is starting to get fed up with purées. We're running out of food ideas. Some things in our rotation right now -
Yogurt
Chicken nuggets
Fruit - bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe, peaches, applesauce
Cheerios
Waffles
Quesadilla with cheese and tomatoes
Oatmeal

We're trying to do quick and somewhat healthy. H and I typically eat after G goes to bed, fwiw.

[lulu21]

A lot of what you said, especially fruit. J eats pretty much any fruit but banana. We also do meat balls, steamed veggies, veggie burgers with melted cheese on them, cheese and crackers, chunks of sweet potatoes or squash, cottage cheese, and smoothies.

Eta- blueberries and mandarin oranges are a big hit for us.

[AlpineSlide]

toast with or without PB
pancakes - various flavors/mix-ins
chicken patties
veggie burgers, turkey burgers
grilled cheese
carrot matchsticks
sliced grapes, pears
cheese stick and crackers
meatballs
pasta
chicken noodle soup with extra veggies, crackers to soak up broth, or just feed him the solid stuff in the soup
mac and cheese
turkey sausage
mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes
corn or peas

[AlpineSlide]

black beans or other beans. my son loved those when he started table foods.

[starlily]

Can you portion out some of what you cook for yourself and your H and then serve it to G the next evening? That way you have something on hand easily and don't have to worry about two meals each night.

[Pilsy]

Butting in for these ideas and to ask if anyone has dealt with milk rejection. She's given up bottles and readily uses sippies for water but hardly drinks any milk. We are burning through my frozen stash, much of which is going to waste (sob) and WCM isn't doing the trick either.

She isn't into yogurt/cheese/cottage cheese lately, so I'm bummed and obsessed with getting her to eat more, especially healthy fat. Any thoughts?

She dislikes both eggs and avocado. She hasn't eaten a sandwich on over a month, despite my best efforts.

She's only 13 months. I thought pickiness set in later!

[anna7602]

DS isn't a toddler, but he's on all table food.

On the usual fruit, veggies, meat front, we do:

- a lot of roasted veggies, especially beets, sweet potato, carrots and eggplant.

- fruits DS loves are mango and blueberries.

- Try tofu for easy protein. I just fry it up for a few minutes, but DD used to eat it cold. (I don't give it to DS cold because I am usually already cooking it for the rest of us.)

- I make basic baked fish about once/week- either salmon, cod, hake or flounder. Bake at 350 for about 15-25 minutes depending on how thick the fish is. I barely season it for DS, just squeeze a little lemon juice on top.

- DS was really into this meatloaf recently, which I personally love myself:

www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/balsamic-glazed-lamb-meat-loaf-recipe


Fast ideas:

- I send a lot of ravioli and tortellini to daycare. Either cheese-filled or veggie-filled.

- DS looooves Dr. Praeger's- the dinosaur-shaped broccoli bites and spinach bites and the kale, quinoa, etc. veggie burgers have all been a huge hit with him so far. They bake in the oven in 10 minutes or so.

- Rice & beans are easy enough. I heat up a can of Goya Black beans, adding some thyme and oregano to it over the stove. Then I mix it with either rice or quinoa and that makes it chunky enough for DS to pick up with his fingers.

- I also give DS chickpeas straight out of the can (draining and rinsing them first, of course).

Make ahead:

- I also make big batches of veggie pancakes and freeze them. Someone here (pippa, I think?) posted a recipe for zucchini-ricotta fritters the other day that have a pancake consistency. Here it is:
www.foodandwine.com/recipes/zucchini-ricotta-fritters

[patbutcher]

Dd loves shrimp.

Pancakes

Berries

Hard boiled eggs

Frozen peas

Steamed baby carrots

Kiwi

Watermelon slices

[anna7602]

May 25, 2015 20:53:37 GMT -5 Pilsy said:

Butting in for these ideas and to ask if anyone has dealt with milk rejection. She's given up bottles and readily uses sippies for water but hardly drinks any milk. We are burning through my frozen stash, much of which is going to waste (sob) and WCM isn't doing the trick either.

She isn't into yogurt/cheese/cottage cheese lately, so I'm bummed and obsessed with getting her to eat more, especially healthy fat. Any thoughts?

She dislikes both eggs and avocado. She hasn't eaten a sandwich on over a month, despite my best efforts.

She's only 13 months. I thought pickiness set in later!

Almonds are supposed to be high in calcium, so I would think almond butter is, too. Can you try spreading that on apple slices or on celery sticks? 

Could you try mixing milk/yogurt into foods like smoothies or oatmeal?  

[Pilsy]

May 25, 2015 21:01:14 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Almonds are supposed to be high in calcium, so I would think almond butter is, too. Can you try spreading that on apple slices or on celery sticks? 

Could you try mixing milk/yogurt into foods like smoothies or oatmeal?  

I'd only thought of almond butter in a sandwich. Great idea!!

And she rejected the smoothie but I'll try mik in oatmeal.

Thanks!

[anna7602]

Pilsy, tahini is also high in calcium. Will she eat hummus & chips? Or you could sprinkle sesame seeds on pasta.

[Pilsy]

May 25, 2015 21:34:14 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

Pilsy, tahini is also high in calcium. Will she eat hummus & chips? Or you could sprinkle sesame seeds on pasta.

Hit or miss with hummus. I'll keep trying and can give the seeds a go. Hadn't crossed my mind. Thanks for the ideas!!

[sent]

Recent foods my kid added to her rotation:

Raviolis
Guacamole (minus any chunky things like raw onions)
Gazpacho
Watermelon
Strawberry
Meatloaf
Turkey pepperoni (these can't be good for her, but she looooves sucking on them)

Other things she typically won't reject:
Potatoes
Buttered noodles
Soup

"She eats what we eat" doesn't typically work in our home. She can't eat really hard or crunchy things, or our food is too spicy for her. The other day my husband made meatloaf and she really wanted to eat it, but instead she ended up crying and trying to scratch the inside of her cheeks, poor kid. If we're making something that could be DD friendly, we remove some of it for her before my husband goes to town with the black pepper, crushed red pepper, and jalapeños.

[stretchad]

DS eats a lot of the stuff already listed here, but also loves lightly roasted & spiced garbanzo beans for an on the go snack, orzo pasta with tomato sauce or sauteed veggies (carrots, broccoli, peas), ravioli. Also, dishes with ground beef are good for him too.

Snack cakes/breads like banana bread, zucchini bread, PB, Banana & Oatmeal muffins are generally a hit.

[catsarecute]

My daughter isn't really a fan of meat, which is weird because I love meat! She loves her veggies though (and I hate most veggies although I am improving!) I have to sneak chicken into food to get her to eat it. I baked it into a quesadilla today and even though she seemed suspicious at first, she ate it all.