Healthy food options

Corrie - posted on 03/19/2011

As with you ladies, my lo seems to be good at trying new things, but he will instantly tell me if he doesn't like it!! I have a terrible routine for myself so my shopping list tends to only have a few repeated things on it.....

Breakfast - Tends to last an hour. He likes to pick and choose between an assortment of things which i lay in front of him in the high chair. But i always spoon feed (or watch him feed himself) a fromage frais or home made fruit puree.
Dried Fruit
Organic carrot/corn/tomato/herb/cheese and onion puffs.
Rusk.
Toast with honey or jam (Half a slice cut into fingers)
Banana
Grapes
And usualy cordial or milk in a cup.

Snacks - I'll be honest, his snacks are never regular, most of the time he doesn't have anything between meals except the odd mammys crisp or biscuit (I'm 8 months pregnant, I SNACK, but he's usually just too busy!)

Lunch and Dinner -This totally depends. He has what i have, and there's very little he wont eat but also very little i can afford to cook fresh or have the energy to do so!
Pasta with Bolognaise/Arribiata/Carbonara
Roast dinner (Meat and 3 veg, potato and gravy) - I find he likes things he can pick up with his fingers, though we're trying to learn how to use a spoon and fork, for example Broccoli
Cauliflower
Green Beans
Carrot sticks.
Anythying with peas (His favourite!)
E.g. Fish fingers, chicken goujons, sausages....
Casserole or stew
A bowl of soup with bread in (to thicken it up of course!) - Mushroom, chicken, vegetable, carrot and corriander, tomato and basil - usually home made! I pride myself in my soup!
Mild curry or chilli (he seems to quite like the slimy texture of mushrooms! Which is nice cos i used to HATE them.
And pudding.
I think every child should have a two course dinner!
It's usually a small peice of cake or custard or jelly.

Also, i found that 4 meals a day worked better than 3. His dinner is always around 4-5 and he has a bowl of porridge or cereal before bed at 7 with his milk.
Anything too heavy stops him sleeping well, and obviously contributes to a fuller more uncomfortable nappy in the morning.
Hope we've all helped!

Sharon - posted on 03/19/2011

Our little man (17mths on the 31st) gets the same breakfast over and over...if I give it to him out of order, or something different he gets really unsettled. So I'm not messing with his breakfast routine hehehe.

BREAKFAST
60g tub baby yoghurt + quarter serving of porridge + small amount of mixed fruit.
Occassionally he'll have weetbix instead of porridge, but not too often anymore.

LUNCH
Daycare have him 3 days a week and that is usually a hot meal like tuna casserole / chicken pasta / curry (mild ofcourse!!) / spaghetti etc.
When he's home it's usually some sort of sandwich.

DINNER
whatever we are having.
He LOVES potato done anyway, and spaghetti bol.

SNACKS (morning tea & afternoon tea)
Fresh Fruit (everyday atleast one snack)
sultanas
cheese cubes
yoghurt
crispbread with vegemite
yoghurt

Anna - posted on 03/18/2011

Here's what I give my son, who is 17 mos. I try to mix it up and not give him the same thing all the time. I know I certainly get bored eating the same thing over and over!

Breakfasts:
Homemade mini muffins
cheese
raisin toast
toast with peanut butter & jelly sandwhiched
oatmeal with blueberries
blueberry pancakes
banana
Cereal w/ milk (with my help)

Snacks:
lots of fruits
some raw veggies (all cut up) we've tried: red peppers, tomoatoes, cucumber, peas
pickles
crackers & cookies
muffins
applesauce
yogurt

Dinner
He eats pretty much everything we do, and it's just cut up for him. He really loves vegetables and will usually eat up all those before starches and meats.
casseroles
chicken/beef/pork
pasta (his favorite is spaghetti & meatballs)
all kinds of cooked veggies..spaghetti squash is fun
sweet potato fries
rice