Help! - Freezable Toddler Meals Recipe Ideas

[Deleted User]

Hi,

I try to get my son to eat what we eat but there's the few days a week where we need to eat later and I have been giving my son what I call 'Junk Food' and I really dislike doing this.

Has anyone got any recipe ideas for making batch meals up that I can freeze for my little man?

Any help will be much appreciated

Rachie_B

i always keep some HM tomato based sauce in the freezer,my son loves it with tuna mixed into it then served with whatever pasta shape he fancies

also HM soup is good to have in the freezer,just microwave it and serve with bread for dipping

baked potatoes ready cooked,so just need reheating with whatever topping he likes

also it doesnt always have to be something hot & cooked

my son likes to have a "picnic" meal : meats / cheese / bread / boiled egg/ scotch egg / breadsticks & dips / dried or fresh fruit,pot of yogurt that kind of thing

or something easy like cheesy beans on toast
eggy bread

etc

[Deleted User]

I didn't think about dinners NOT being hot!

Some great idea there, do you cook the Roast Potatoes yourself? And how do you go about freezing them?

Thanks

[Deleted User]

Oopps sorry Baked potatoes sorry Not Roast Potatoes I meant!

mae

You can freeze portions of shepherds pie, I make one big one then when its ready put into smaller portions and freeze. Also i make a chicken casserole and do the same. Or you can even make a big portion of mash freeze then put in portions too then when you need a quick meal put a piece of fish or chicken under the grill or whatever and put the mash with it and do some frozen peas in the microwave for a couple of mins... Also with the mash you could defrost it bung in some cheese and warm it up and you've got cheesy mash then make sure they have a yoghurt and some fruit and they've had a healthy quick meal...Also frozen corn on the cob is always quick you can buy mini ones frozen and they only take about six mins in the microwave and healthy too...

**purpleprincess**

I'm not a toddler but I think I'm going to use some of these ideas!!

katglasgow

I have this problem too! My son is 2.5 and is very picky. I work (almost) FT and have to produce dinner v.v quickly! It's handy to have things in freezer that can be microwaved, grilled or oven cooked in 10 mins or less!

I buy chicken goujons and freeze them in portoins, they can be oven cooked wrapped in tin foil with herbs etc... At the moment he won't eat a slice of "normal" cooked meat from Sunday roast etc... but I am working on this!
I do serve him sausages and fish finger but will pay more for the best quality ones.

I have recently started making my own burgers - lean beef mince, breadcrumbs and a bit of onion, herbs, he really likes these and they are great for freezing. I have also in the past done a meatball variation on this with pork mince and a bit of grated apple and onion.

Ewan has always liked mince and potatoes so make up big quantities of this whenever the better quality mince is reduced, and freeze it in cooked protions, thats a really quick meal (you can also hide carrots, turnip and onion in the mince!).

With all the things I would serve a portion of potatos, rice or couc cous and a portion or veg - carrot batons, peas, sweetcorn or baked beans (healthy option). The portions he has are tiny so if you cook some up one night then you have a few ready cooked portions to keep in fridge for next few days (you can't keep cooked rice in fridge but it is OK to freeze it). Ewan doesn't like pasta at all but if your son does you can also make up a huge batch of cheese sauce and freeze portions so you could make macaroni cheese, fish in cheese sauce etc... very quickly and easily. Another quick, lighter meal which he loves is a boiled egg (which I mash up a little in a bowl).

He gets lunch at nursery and eats much better there where all the boys and girls eat the same. He regulary has a very mild chicken korma there and they also make their own pizzas.

I have only recently realised he is not a baby and is a boy now (!) so I am starting to get a bit meaner to encourage him to eat what I want him to - no pudding unless you have 2 more pieces of carrot etc... It does actually work! I have also found he eats better when the protions are tiny and sometimes I make it into a happy face for him!

Maybe not the healthiest of eating habits, but at the moment I am trying to balance variety with time and just hopefully move him in the right direction. He doesn't eat much veg but loves fruit so I guess thats OK.

Karyn

gingin_2

I managed to get a job lot of ramekins and so I fill them with fish pie, lasagne, bolognese, casseroles. Basically whenever I make anything for us I just pop a couple of portions in ramekins for DD and either refrigerate or freeze. If I don't have much time one of my kids favourite meals is pasta with cheese and peas and ham mixed together, it takes no more than 5 minutes to get ready and is better than relying on junk food.

garret1

Hi there. i had this problem with my twins (and still do) as they won't eat spicy food. On our "spicy nights" I either do "hotchpotch" which is bsically a ploughman's for kids using up any cold meat, cheese etc and chopped up fruit, or I will usually have something in the freezer. Their favourites are:

shepherds pie
spag bol
any fish in white sauce
homemade turkey burgers
sausage casserole
irish stew
chicken casserole. (made with thighs and very cheap)

and remember not to beat yourself up about the occasional junk meal!!:D

[Deleted User]

Thanks for all the advice there's some really greta ideas here.

I try to keep things healthy but when I do give him a 'Junky' Meal I do feel slightly guilty, as I've always tried to keep his meals healthy, I breastfed for 10 months, weaned him with Organic HM vegetable Mixes, then it came to other meals and I got stuck!

I think I know what I will be doing this weekend!

Rachie_B

nicci985 wrote:

I didn't think about dinners NOT being hot!

Some great idea there, do you cook the Roast Potatoes yourself? And how do you go about freezing them?

Thanks

what i do is cook a few potatoes in the microwave,then freeze individually in foil ,i take them out the night before then its just a case of popping back in the microwave to warm through or in the oven if you want the skin crispy

also you can freeze single portions of mashed potato
my 4 yr old loves rice and i admit i cheat and buy the bags of steam micro rice from tesco ,they are 2 big bags for £1.50 and are in individual size portions so ideal for popping in the microwave and stirring some tuna etc through for a quick meal