Toddler Meals

I love looking at other blogs for toddler meal ideas. I do my best to give her a big variety of foods and try to give her the same dinner that we are having, modifying it a bit if necessary for spice or texture. I will say that she is a good eater. She likes to feed herself so I have been trying to give her as many finger foods as possible and have started giving her a fork and spoon. I probably should have started giving her utensils awhile ago, even if they ended up on the floor, but oh well, I suppose she won't be heading off to college shoveling food in her mouth with her hands :) Gabriella is mostly vegetarian; not because we decided to have her eat vegetarian, but simply because she doesn't really like meat. She will eat small meatballs occasionally, but doesn't enjoy chicken or turkey. If we are eating meat, I do offer her some but I don't force it. We are lucky in that she loves other sources of protein- she will eat peanut butter, hummus, almost every kind of bean, milk, and cheese. She has had salmon and liked it mixed with pasta and peas. I don't stress out over how much she eats and offer healthy snacks between meals. So if you are looking for ideas as well on what to feed your toddler, here are some things that work for us!

Breakfast:
Toast with peanut butter and banana
Pancakes with fruit
French toast
Muffins (Pinterest is a great source of recipes for a variety of muffins that use vegetables. I have made apple zuchini, apple carrot, and even cinnamon butternut squash)

Lunch:
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (disclaimer- I know jelly is loaded with sugar. I use just a little bit but just read another idea that suggested using the fruit and veggie kids pouches instead of jelly! I love this idea and will give it a try)
Peanut butter and banana sandwich
Grilled cheese (if we have it, I will put some avocado in as well)
Bread with hummus
Pasta with cheese and veggies
Veggie or bean burgers (I microwave them with a damp paper towel on top to keep them soft)
Bean and cheese quesadilla

On the side she usually has fruit of some sort,  yogurt (I try to use greek for the extra protein), or veggie sticks. Gabriella loves to dip things now so she loves to dip fruit in yogurt or her veggie sticks in hummus.

Dinner:
Again, I try and serve her whatever I make for us. Some of her favorites include pasta (especially tortellini that she can stick her fingers in :)), broccoli or cauliflower with cheese, soft tacos or quesadillas (cut up in tiny pieces), sweet potatoes, butternut squash soup (I do help her with this but give her some bread to hold and dip), lasagna, and pizza. She has had fish, salmon seems to be her favorite, probably because of the mild fish flavor. This week I made a butternut squash and spinach lasagna and she loved it! The recipe is here!

Snacks:
Gabriella eats a huge breakfast and lunch every day so she usually doesn't want a morning snack. She often does have an afternoon snack, and I usually give her fruit, yogurt, hummus, shredded cheese or a cereal bar, depending on what she's had to eat during the day. She gets whole milk in the morning, before nap, and before bed and has water the rest of the day.

Trying new foods with her has been a lot of fun. We have had some misses with lots of head shaking and "no, no, no" but for the most part she's willing to try anything. She usually needs to touch it, push it around, and play with it before tasting, so meal time can be a huge mess, but I think it's worth it to let her try things on her own. I love getting new ideas as well and am constantly searching online, so let me know if you have any favorite recipes that have worked for your kids!!

xo,
Mary