Old Style Meal Plans for Toddlers?

ragz_2

HI (please move this if there is already a similar thread), I have 2 toddlers age 1&2 and I like to feed them proper food rather than stuff out of tins everyday but I am lacking variety and inspiration. It's not always possible to feed my DSs what we eat in the evening and I really need some simple do-able ideas. I have tried books and websites but I would really like the advice of people who've fed their kids "old style", I consider myself a capable cook but I am a little lazy and don't want to be cooking long envolved meals for the kids and then again for ourselves every day.
My two are fairly good with food but reject things like meat with potatoes and veg (possible the texture) while they love my bolognese/chili/curry.
If anyone has some Old Style recipes or just tips for feeding toddlers I would be very grateful.
Many thanks
RAGZ

Mappygirl

Hi ragz,

My little one loves chessey pasta - just pasta covered in cheese sauce then I add things such as brocolli/peas/sweetcorn etc.

How about cheese and potato pie served with beans?

I'm quite lucky with DD, she eats most stuff so we have bolagnaise, meat & veg, sausage and mash/toad in the hole/lasagne/stew etc.

sorry can't be of more use!!!

redmel1621

How about making up big portions of bolognese and freezing it, then when you are having a meal they don't like defrost and heat up while you are cooking your own.

Alternatively do what I do with my boys, make them eat whatever is on the plate!!!!

Mel x

CRANKY40

Bizarrely, my ds also dislikes meat and potatoes with veg, but loves bolognaise, chilli and curry. He has also recently discovered a passion for penne pasta. The way we do it the small person way is to serve the pasta on it's own, and I give him a ramekin of sauce to dip the pasta into. He prefers tomato based sauce, and I puree veg to go in it. I don't worry about him having protein with it too much as long as he has had some form of protein for lunch.

He isn't a big eater, and won't eat ready meals etc anyway, so sometimes it takes a lot of ingenuity to keep him fed. I can get the meat and veg into him, it seems to be the texture he dislikes rather than the taste. I make up a lamb stew with plenty of veg in it, then puree it and freeze it in portions. When it's mixed with mashed potato and has gravy added, he doesn't really notice what is in it, he just enjoys the taste.

Sometimes I add butternut squash or sweet potato to his ordinary mashed potato. He also likes to dip bread in soup, so home made lentil soup is good. He won't eat any lumps from the soup, but he must be getting some of the goodness by dipping his bread.

I won't force him to eat anything as I was forced to eat when I was small. I do ask him to have a lick of anything new or anything that he doesn't regularly eat. He's never been keen on fruit, but we now have him eating melon and apple just by asking him to have a lick now and then, and by giving him pieces of apple to dip in yoghurt insead of using a spoon to eat it.

He eats crusts now, but when he was 2 years old and didn't, we used to make him his own pizzas by cutting circles out of bread with a pastry cutter, spreading them with tomato puree then adding cheese. You can make a face on top if your children eat the sort of things that you can make faces with. Mine didn't :rotfl:

Sorry if I have rambled, but I hope that I have helped in some way.

ragz_2

Thanks CRANKY that was definitely helpful, I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with feeding my little one. I will be trying the stew idea, I found the only time my eldest ate carrot was when I was cooking stew and he was watching, i fished one out, explained what it was and he said "yummy carrot" so I gave it to him, he ate it and asked for another! But when I gave him carrots next in his dinner he picked them out. I think I need to be more involved with him, get him helping me cook and praise them both more when they DO eat well. I tend to leave them to get on with it when they eat as I am usually grateful for the peace either to eat myself or vacuum etc when there's floor space not full of toddlers!
If anyone can direct me to some good recipes involving veg that I can tempt my boys with I would be very grateful
RAGZ

cha97michelle

Great idea for a thread. I have got to the stage with my two where i want to try and feed them the same thing - i'm not bothered if it is not the same as us, i want it to be healthy and try to givve them the 5 a day, but it is getting a bit repetitive as the baby is only 7 months and needs suitable finger foods.

I'll give you some ideas of what i do for them:

• fishfingers or sausage with mash and beans or peas
• we eat lots of veg and lentil based soups - i can make a big vat, then freeze and just remember to get them out the freezer on the right day - I just chuck some veg, water and red lentils in the SC, and then blend when cooked. My boys love it with bread and butter soldiers.
• they will eat my chicken soup - chicken stock made in SC, then add the veggies i want with some of the meat, also add some split peas
• scrambled or poached egg on toast
• spaghetti bolognaise
• shepherds pie
• corn beef hash
• cowboy hash - this is mince, onions, sweetcorn, tin of baked beans and a tin of oxtail soup - serve with rice or pasta or potatoes or in a yorkshire pudding
• special rice - i will add some peas and other veg and some sort of chopped meat into it and serve
• fish pie - white fish, white sauce, mash, serve with veg
• vegi chilli - chunks of root veg in a tomato based sauce and a small amount of chilli for them, serve with rice
• chicken curry - again, theirs took out before we add the spicy stuff.
• toad in the hole
• chicken roast dinner
• stew - have to take the beef out for DS1
• he will only eat very mild cheese, and that is only recently, so we are limited to jam or cheese sandwiches. I try to serve where possible with slices of cucumber, and recently discovered he likes the baby corn on the cob, which i can quickly steam and serve.

I've found DS1 is very lazy at chewing meat. He likes spices, and loves garlic. He likes tomato based pasta sauces, but he won't eat even my home made pizza - so i might have to try that bread idea.

DS2 will eat anything put in front of him. He has 5 teeth, and for a 7 month old, i have seen nothing like it. I wouldn't have dreamed of giving DS1 some of the stuff he eats this early.

I think the problem i have is i think they are too young sometimes for some of the spicier stuff, yet they love that. DS1 has things like sweet and sour sauce at nursery, so now i try to get him to taste things like this on a weekend when we all manage to eat together and i have more time to experiment with the cooking.

I keep thinking to myself i should plan out what meals i am going to give to the kids. I do for our evening meal, and it would save me a lot of head scratching. I think i will try DS1 again on stuff like white sauce, rice pudding, noodles. He will eat anything at nursery, so i think i need to be more creative with it.

I saw a suggestion somewhere for cauliflower cheese on toast for littlies.

I'll add other suggestions if i think of something.

Michelle, x

gailey_2

My daughter has healthy appetite and is 3 in febuary and eats lot.
Im lucky she loves veg I cut fruit like apples bananas and strawberries into tiny peices like sweets as healthy snack and as pudding she loves strawberries and cornish icecream
At the moment she loves satsumas and odd bag of cripsy or breadsticks have tried ricecakes but she hates them but love my home mad flap jack and the home made hob nobs were winner.
She adores cherry tomatoes and also I allow her to dip carrot stocks into cream cheese.
She likes tomato soup occasonally i buy it myself or cheat with heinz tinned or even better covent garden sups as they been on offer latly as she likes her soup quite thick and mine is quite watery.
She loves bread including my homemade stuff which is good.

breckfast consists of yogurt
cereal either rice krispies or weetabix
toast with butter or cream cheese

Lunch
rissoto with grated chese
pasta with just passata basil and grated cheese and sometimes chopped fresh tomatoes too
or yummy variation of this is frozen fish fillet on baking tray pour passata or chopped tomatoes over top then grate chese few leafs of basil and drizzle of oil cook at 200 for 30-40mins lovley baked white fish with chesy tomato sauce can be mashed up with pasta or served with frozen mixed veg carrots and sweetcorn seem like faves as they quite sweet.
cooked salmon fillet in microwave and melted buure with veg good too or good variation is cook salmon fillet in microwave them mash and shread add to plain bolied rice and then add mixed swetcorn and means and blend all together is yummy easy and cheap!
Toasted sandwiches make sure well cooled
home made pizzas can cheat and use ready base with puree and grated cheese.
chicken korma with rice and poppadoms i usually cheat and use a jar for mild curry as mine end up to spicy but you could make mild curry sauce and freeze.

tea time I try to keep lighter and more snack so things like soup and bread
speggeti/beans on toast
jacket potatoe with butter and cheese
sandwiches with small pack of crips and cherry tomaoes
chese on toast
carrot sticks with cream chese
chese and pottoe pie basically mashed cheesy poato with some chopped up ham in it.
scrambled egg on toast
corn on cob with butter

2 other tips
cheats pizza used half bread rolls or french bread and add tomato purre and grated chese and grill!

mash potaoe add small amounts of other veg with mash like carrots ,swede,pumkin or squash or sweet potato and disguise with cheese.
Sometimes I do baked sweet potato with salad as change

Daughter loves roasts and anything with gravy so
bangers and mash with gravy or
chicken yorkshire puds potaoes and lots of frozen veg all covered in gravy.
Try wraps instead of sandwiches as she has tuna and mayo wraps in nursury.

Th freezer is my saviour as i buy most veg frozen so never run out used to use steamfresh as little packets but does cost more but could just cook in microwave for 3mins.
I make sure i got enough fruit and tomatoes in fridge plus dairy yougurts butter and milk.

beccam

Hi, great ideas here. Can I suggest a site called netmums.com, there is a whole recipe section designed for kids with easy, simple and cheap meals that has cooking instructions. Also Annabel Karmel has some great books for healthy toddler meals, M&S have some of her books and products on 3for2 offer at the mo.

DD has just turned 3 and is a pretty good eater, she'll try most things.
Daily her day is something like this:
Breakfast is cereal and drink of milk OR toast with peanut butter/jam/choc spread.
Snack mid morning of fruit, dried fruit or pancake
Lunch is usually a sandwich, she loves salad so will have ham, cheese, lettuce, cucumber, tomato or chicken salad. Or else scrambled egg/cheese on toast.
Dinner will be something like cheesy pasta, homemade chicken dippers and wedges with corn and peas, fish and veg, sausage casserole or a mini 'fry' though I don't actually fry anything! Bolognase and lasagna always go down well too!!

Although DD will eat most things she needs encouraged....ALOT!! So dinner takes ages and needs an incentive like desert or treats after so I make ice lollys from diluted fruit juice or have some nice fresh berries which she loves!

ragz_2

Thanks cha97michelle and Gailey for sharing your meals, I have made a not of quite a few and I'm planning on trying them out next week.
I was wondering whether most people tend to serve their toddlers their bigger meal at Lunch or in the evening? I heard, and it makes sense really, that they should have a big meal at luch and a smaller supper/dinner/tea. The problem is, and I am sure many of you share this, my OH and I have our main meal in the evening and of course we want to have dinner with the boys if it's early enough and we would like them to eat the same things of possible.
I could keep their portion of our main meal in the fridge for lunchtime the next day but I thought if they saw us eating the same thing they will be more likely to eat it.
Sorry for rambling! Just wanted to know what the rest of you tend to do?
Thanks again for all the meal ideas!

Jack's_mummy

My son hardly eats anything at lunch time so serving a hot meal then would be a waste. He makes up for it at teatime though! I think it just depends on their own appetite.

I'm very very lucky in that mine will eat pretty much whatever we are having. My problem is lying in packed lunches. He won't eat sandwiches/pitta bread etc so I'm going to have to get inventive come January LOL

rchddap1

Mine is a bit funny with meat sometimes too. I think its because its chewey. If its freshly cooked meat she's there with bells on, but if its be re-heated she's not too keen. I do try to do things fresh for her, but I don't always have the time.

Most of the meals that she has you've got listed above, but one that she loves is the meat-free hot dogs from Tesco. They only take a minute in the microwave and its always wolfed down. Handy for those 'need to rustle something up in 5 seconds' moments. Their meat-free burgers go down nicely too.

I don't like giving her processed stuff, but I don't mind these meat-free things as they don't have all the meaty rubbish in them. If you catch my drift.