The Boy is going through a very picky stage… he hasn’t been eating his blueberries with much gusto lately either. Granted, he’s been a little under the weather this week… but I feel like he’s eating less & less. He only wants milk. He cries for it, doing the sign for leche. But we obviously limit his milk intake… too much is not good, as we had to tell the nanny. She was giving him milk when he asked for it. But man, that boy sure does love his leche. Sometimes, he drinks his cup… and if Mr. B or Little Miss put theirs down, he tries to drink theirs too! Gotta keep a close eye on that boy!
So, I need some food ideas… again. I mean, they eat different things than when I last inquired about food!! What are you feeding your toddler these days?
We try to do mostly organic… we don’t do anything canned – have you checked out the amount of sodium in canned food?? Wow!! Well, I take that back… they do get canned mandarin oranges on occasion. And canned beans sometimes… although not as much as they used to. One can of black beans will last them all week. I just sprinkle a few here and there in their meals. I’ve been trying to give them appropriate sized portions of food.
For breakfast, they eat yogurt, mini pancakes, and some of Steph’s cereal. They are such little birds, begging for your food!!
Lunch is either PB&J, hummus, fruit (blueberries, raspberries, oranges, pears, pineapple, peaches, watermelon), hot dogs, veggies (avocado, peas, carrots, beans, edamame, corn, cucumber), grilled cheese, quiche
Dinner is usually the same stuff as lunch, but also includes eggplant, soy nuggets, mac’n'cheese (very rarely, they don’t like pasta), applesauce… a few other things I am forgetting.
Snacks run the gambit… goldfish crackers, fruit, cereal bars, bananas…
They won’t eat pasta… I try almost every week – they refuse it. I wish they liked it… would give me some more options!! I think it’s the texture – they don’t do anything remotely mushy. No oatmeal or bananas that are too ripe. The boys won’t eat tofu. They are not big meat eaters either.
They really only eat finger foods… when we give them a plate, they toss it over the side of the highchair. Even the ones that suction to the tray – they manage to pry them off and turn them into frisbees. The Boy will eat stuff out of a bowl – he’s great with a fork and spoon… and the other two can use forks, but they generally prefer things they can easily pick up.
Or maybe if I can entice them with some super yummy food, they’ll eat it off of a plate/bowl and throw it AFTER they have eaten everything!!
Soup?? My 2nd wouldn't eat ANY breakfast foods, none, but she would eat a can of soup EVERY morning for just about a year…chunks of cheese??granola???You about covered everything. Mine love oatmeal and the youngest loves the steal(or steel) cut oats, i thinks it's the crunchier texture and I'm bad i'll put one packet of a flavor kind with like 3 heaping spoonfuls of the steal cut…Good luck
One of my favorite toddler meals is a veggie cream cheese sandwich. You can buy cream cheese or make your own with whatever you have on hand and it travels well. Will they eat ravioli or tortellini? My daughter likes those better than regular pasta. Also smoothies are a great way to get food in them when they only want to drink. Also my daughter loves scrambed eggs!
I'm laughing that you call that picky! That is quite the variety, but I'm sure it just seems so monotonous to you. Our 22 month old will eat peanut butter, and well, some peanut butter. We make peanut butter bars, dip crackers and pretzels in peanut butter, or just give him a spoon. He will also drink smoothies that I sneak veggie juice in, some Kefir, and protein powder. He also gets cod liver oil for some fats and half a Flinstone vitamin for iron. So yeah….your picky would be my VERY adventurous toddler. And trust me…it's NOT from a lack of trying!
veggie chicken nuggets, frozen amy's bean & cheese burritos, string cheese, she just started eating fish sticks, black olives, chick peas, yogurt smoothies, snack = pirate booty, i'm sure i could think of plenty more if you like some of the things i've suggested so far…
-You can make smoothies and freeze them in the reusable popcicle maker thingies. -Some brands are better/healthier than others – Tater Tots. H digs those. -I think you need to try my sweet potato suggestion. Cubbing it into bite size pieces…-Have you tried grilling chicken and then cubeing it really small? Mix it in with applesause. Toddlers can be easy to trick
You can even do this with pork. What about "egg in a top hat" or Murphies as Grandpa called them. You can cut that up into bite size pieces as well.
Seriously. WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT THEM TO EAT ?I am thinking that EVERYONE wishes their kids would eat 1/2 of the stuff on your list.Ok, I would suggest fish sticks. However organic you want to make them. and some fries. make them sweet potato kind if you want. My kids won't eat spaghetti o's and those canned ravi's which I'm grateful for sometimes and not so grateful for others.I'm going to shut up now and stalk your comments for ideas
Great ideas… keep 'em coming!! I know they eat a variety… but some days, they won't eat anything other than berries!! With three of them, someone is always refusing something… it just gets frustrating to cook and have them refuse everything. Not to mention I feel so wasteful!! Like this week – they won't eat bread. Or cheese sticks. Just shake their cute little heads at me.
Sounds like your three are eating quite a variety! My two won't go near most fruits and veggies. It does get frustrating. One thing to remember is that most toddlers take in the calories/nutrients they need over a period of a couple of days. To us it looks like they're not eating anything, but they're getting what they need.Mine like pasta (you might try some 'stuffed' pasta like tortellini with cheese), scrambled eggs, quesadillas (cheese and chicken), french toast cut in strips with syrup to dip. Seriously, I'm jealous of anybody who has children who will willingly eat fruits/veggies.
There are organic veggie (or cheese) pizza bites that can be microwaved or baked in the oven. They're like Totino's pizza rolls but either Amy's or Kashi or someone like that makes them. They're tasty!
Bo is really loving homemade meatballs right now. I have a porcupine meatball recipe that I make with lean beef and brown rice and he loves them. I freeze them in sets of two so I just have to thaw and serve.I also have a recipe for Turkey Mini-Meatloaves that he loves and are very healthy. I use the same freezer trick with these. He also really enjoys flaked fish. I usually cook tilapia filets or salmon filets — broil or bake.Bo loves peas and black eyed peas. I buy the large bags and I can make tons of peas for very cheap. I freeze them in small freezer bags and then use throughout the week. Both recipes are on my site — just click on the left sidebar on the document of Jamie's Favorite Recipes and then Ctrl F to find Porcupine Meatballs and Turkey Mini-Meatloaves. Bo doesn't like bread, crackers, or cookies. Strange child.
Sounds like it's time to start thinking about family meals. Eventually you want them to eat what you eat and to be able to make three meals a day and that's it. I would run with what they eat now and start cooking for you and Steph and adding a little bit of what you eat to their plates every time. I know if it was me this would be a crazy idea because we tend to eat what is fast and simple, but there's always this idea in my head that when I have kids I want to be a gourmet chef… and feed them all these beautiful meals, etc. If you've never read it before, the johnson-mccormickfamily.blogspot.com blog is awesome. She has three kids (5yo twins and a 1yo) and they eat amazing and beautiful food and she often talks about their food consumption and cooking together and those kind of things. I admire her greatly and hope to be able to cook like her someday with or without the kids!
What about thin cut strips of a quesadilla? My 3 yo and 1 yo both love them. I will put some mild salsa with the cheese or as a dip on the side. They also love the veggie corn dogs. And anything pickled. I make homemade pickled green beans and cauliflower. That way I control the amount of salt.For the most part we give the kids whatever we are eating–chili, curry, stir-fry, whatever. Somedays they eat and somedays they don't. No biggie. Children will not starve themselves.We took this approach with our oldest, now 10, and she is a very adventurous eater. Not picky at all!
Try couscous or even orzo with butter…what about a vegetable casserole or vegetable soup (maybe too warm for the hot summer though).
I know right where you are coming from, especially with the throwing food and plates. That being said, as my 21-month olds get better with the spoon they just started with cereal with milk for breakfast and it was a big success. Maybe try for the Boy?Both of my girls also love cheerios (we do organic from TJs) in a snack trap as a snack. Not the ideal food but it does have iron and whole grains…I'll also second the sweet potato fries, smoothie and soup suggestions. We use reduced-sodium soup. Also if the trio likes eggs you might try an omelette…you can sneak a lot of protein and veggies in there.Good luck!Michele in Atlanta
We just found Kidz (forgot the second name in the brand but can look it up later) protein bars. We are having a hard time with variety too right now since Emmett has his molars and the girls don't so the food they are able to eat is different. But they do seem to like the protein bars which are low in sodium and sugar.
My girls are fairly good eaters. They get a variety of things which I think helps. If they eat something too often they start to reject it. Here are some things we do that weren't on your list.Breakfast – waffles, scrambled eggs, mini quicheLunch – Veggie Burgers (love Morningstar or Boca), fish sticksDinner – Beef stew, Macaroni, Beef & Cheese casserole. I've also done black beans, corn, tomatoes, cheese, and avocado mixed together. My girls love pasta and meat, so we do a lot of rotisserie chicken with some pasta. Roasted sweet potato you can make ahead and just reheat. Always a big hit here. I've done baked salmon before a few times. I look for stuff I can either make quickly or make ahead and freeze in smaller portions.
Fish and fish sticks are a hit around here. If you want to stay away from too much dairy, and I don't blame you, look for hemp milk and see if The Boy would take some of that in lieu of his regular leche. You can use it in smoothies, like otherpeople suggested. It's got omegas and tons of other awesome nutrients. Better than cow's milk, in my opinion. If he's not feeling the solids, then at least you can give him something in his cup that is more variety than the cow's milk. He'll get back into the solids soon.
Hi CareyI buy Tilapia fish at Trader Joe's – frozen pieces (I would never want to eat frozen fish, gets mushy) but he loves it!! It is so easy – stuck under broiler for such a short period of time and it is so flaky. Morningstar organic veggie burgers are good. When we go to sushi, I have the guy just put some salmon in his little grill and a little white rice – perfect. Raisins, prunes and dried cranberries are a big hit here. OH, he LOVES fig newtons – full of nutrients!! Cottage cheese is great – we mix it with pineapple or strawberries. Right now he is on a broccoli kick, I add a little butter to it. They have mini sweet potatos at Trader Joe's, he seems to like those WAY better than the normal big one's… I make a very easy (you know it has to be easy, I don't cook) rice/orzo pasta mix with chicken broth and a little salt – he cannot get enough – if you want the recipe, email me. Hmmm, trying to think of things he eats that you could try if you have not already… he likes sunflower seeds (obviously without shells) – bagels and cream cheese – I buy organic deli meat (turkey, ham) dab a little cream cheese on it and roll it up and he holds it in his hand and eats away…he ate tuna this afternoon, just plain (he didn't like it when I added mayo and pickles) surprised, because he actually likes pickles. Quesadilla's. Well, that is all I can think of right now…
I am sorry to say that my son's diet went from everything down to 5 things around 18 mos. I hope you find a solution that works for your family. Welcome to another aspect of toddler-hood.
Oh and lasagna is a good one – and my boy started to say no to the tofu, when he has loved it for months, so I added a little soy sauce in the pan and it sort of hardens on it and now he loves it again!!
We're big fans of mac, cheese and peas adding a different texture and taste to normal mac and cheese
Cody (just 2) eats pretty much anything however favourites are hokkien noodles, cous cous with roast veg, lentil bol with wholemeal spaghetti or brown rice, risotto and any curry or korma.I'm with Joyous, try tofu cooked or marinated differently 
I make mini muffins. They work for breakfast or snacks. I make ham and cheese or banana.