Help! - Freezable Toddler Meals Recipe Ideas

looneyleo

Glad to hear other mum's are having the same problems...

My little girl loves cous cous...I buy the already flavoured ones (Ainsley Harriotts are lovely!) Very easy to make...take 2-3 mins in microwave and I get her involved in making it..stirring...pressing the buttons etc. I then grill a small piece of tuna (spilt the rest up into pieces and then in the freezer for next time) and i'm lucky...she eats salad too so a few pieces of tomato, cucumber etc and a healthy meal in 5 mins. Use the remaining cous cous for your lunch in a salad the next day.

Doing veg isn't hard either...I just have one pan of boiling water...put in one new potatoe, half a carrot, rip off one piece of cauliflower and one piece of brocolli. Because it is all so small it only takes a max of 10 mins to cook. I serve it with a sausage or whatever and a small amount of instant gravy...

Pasta is great too...my hubby does a lovely quick pasta sauce...Fry mushrooms with onions and pepper, throw in some ham, then just mix in some ketchup (we use real tomatoes too sometimes). Throw in the cooked pasta add some cheese on top and it's lovely!

Don't worry about junk food...tiny babies don't talk back...they're easy to feed! As long as toddlers get veggies and fruit in some form most days then it's OK to miss the odd day!

looneyleo

moiracm

I too freeze leftovers for my DS (2 years old). I tend to make things like;

Shepherds pie
lasagne
chicken casseroles
sausage casserole
fish pie
spaghettie bologniase
home made soups and scones
lamb hotpot

all of which I can freeze extra portions for DS and then take them out in the morning if DH and I are having something spicy, or are having a late meal. I also use packets of frozen mixed veg as this ensures that he gets a good balance of veg and it cooks very quickly in the microwave.

For puds I tend to give him a jelly or a custard with some tinned fruit (in juice) for quickness and know he has had a good balanced tea.

Penny-Pincher!!

Just remember NOT to add any salt as advised by my old HV!

PP
xx

Sea78

Wow,

thanks for all these suggestions - I'm going to use loads of them! Also, to reassure, my dd didn't eat much veg at all from about 2 until she was nearly 3. I was tearing my hair out! Now she'll have a go at most things, especially at the childminders where she'll eat everything she's given, it's only at home she has a problem...grrrr....

Sea xx

Shez

ooh theres some good ideas on here - think i will try some myself!

im getting fed up with what to feed them, DD is quite good and will try things, but DS wont try - dont like it! how do they know they dont like it if they dont try??? they dont eat bolognaise, shephers pie so cant disguise veggies! I find real meat a problem, apart from chicken.
maybe its a case of putting something infront of them and if they dont eat it, leave them without till next mealtime? if they know something else isnt getting served up then maybe they will eat whats there?
they do eat fruit, but veg is a hard one.

Penny-Pincher!!

Children are often like this:rolleyes: My DD is 11 and at home will eat cabbage, runner beans, carrots, peas, sweetcorn, lettuce, cucumber. If she goes to someone elses home-she will eat anything

xx

HopeElizzy

:hello: I use Annabel Karmels cookbooks - I started with her baby and toddler meal planner and also use her family meal planner- all the recipes tell you whether they can be frozen. This has really helped me as I've been able to batch cook meals for my toddlers so when my mum childminds they can take their dinner with them to her house. Less work for her - she just has to heat up the meal and less worry for me - I know what they're eating!:rotfl:

Annabel has a website with some ideas on it.......[EMAIL="http://www.cookingforchildren.co.uk/"]http://www.cookingforchildren.co.uk/[/EMAIL]

Jo_R_2

Something we have introduced recently to my two-year-old is homemade vegetable quiche. It has gone down so well with boyfy and DD that next time I am going to make two or three and freeze what we have left. We usually have them with homemade potato wedges, you can stick them in the oven with the quiche whilst you heat it up and if you cut the wedges thin enough, they'll cook in the same amount of time - we did them in 20 mins yesterday if that's not too long for you.

finc

A quick meal I prepare for my 2 year old is 2 tortillas fried lightly in a dry pan until a bit crispy.
Spread with some tomato puree on one side of each tortilla and top one with grated cheese. Add ham, peppers, sweetcorn or whatever els and place the other tortilla on top, tomato side down.
Put back in the dry frying pan and cook a bit longer on each side until the cheese has melted a bit.
Slice into wedges and serve! It only takes about 10 minutes to make and are also tasty cold.

I've also got the Annabel Karmel book and it's got loads of great ideas that are tasty for all the family. Have a look in the library for it but if you want to buy it I found the cheapest place was Asda.

helen81_2

Finc,

Is that off Jamie Oliver? Think I saw him do something very similar with the tortillas on sainsburys advert?