Meal Ideas :)

Stacey - posted on 02/22/2011

my daughter eats just about anything that i make for a snack or dinner. she loves lunch meats and cheese. she eats raviolis, nutragrain bars, fruit cups, french fries..and i sometimes share with her when im eating. she loves to snack no matter what time of the day. she loves bananas, choc chip pancakes, yogurt, oatmeal. i hope this helps

Rashmi - posted on 02/16/2011

hi all..



Carrot and tomato soup is a hit with my 15 month old. Wheat biscuits with milk is her favourite snack. Also Ragi porridge and wheat porridge are absolutely filling. In addition she eats lentils and rice alongwith us with her fav wheat pita bread.



Bananas are nice but not daily fav.

strawberries r lovely too.



We are planning to now introduce muesli and cheese..

Lia - posted on 02/10/2011

I have been reading everybody's post in this matter since I am having with my 15 month old son. He doesn't like to use his teeth very much so he chokes on anything chunky.

He will only eat the jarred baby food for 12 months and nothing any chunkier other than cut up bananas and the heinz cereal bars.

I have been getting slack from my mother for not cooking him real food and purreeing it like she does. Only problem is he always gets diarhea when she does feed him her food. We tried broiled steak with potatoes purreed and he was vomiting all ove the place. No idea why.

Should I worry he isn't eating normal food yet as long as he still eats 4 meals a day?

Valeria - posted on 02/05/2011

You're baby is a 14mos..mine is too. I make him apple and carrot juice (with a juicer) or I'll make a blend of tangerine apple spinach parley carrot napa cabbage and celery (dont worry) it takes like really fresh sweet apple juice.

I'll run his food through a food processor so he cant see all the veggies I throw in. The other day I made ground beef with zucchini, onion, celery, spinach, garlic, cumin and salt pureed it and threw in brown rice flakes....and he loved it. Today gave him lentil (as is..its small and soft enough to swallow) Let the lentils soak overnite and rinse. Throw in a pot with cumin garlic onions salt carrots celery spinach brown rice and let cook till soft (about and hour-ish with water to cover the lentils you can add more if needed , make sure they stay covered or they'll never get soft.) for sweets, banana or yogurt with honey or maple syrup with fruit (depending on how your handles dairy) you can puree any healthy meat with several veggies and grain (rice, quinoa, barley) or potato or sweet potato and yo have a balanced meal. Kids also love root vegetables, beets especially since they're sweet. Hope this helps. :)

Emma - posted on 02/04/2011

see i have the problem with my son eating to much he has a big frame as it is allready weighs 2 and a half stone but isnt fat he eats so much and anything i think as long as they eat fruite and veg the rest dont have to be perfect ,there wasnt a worry during the war when people had to be carefull and they all turned out fine try not to worry to much as long as its not sweet and choc on a plate ur fine x

Kristen - posted on 02/03/2011

Hi Brittany,
Your menus sound great! Similar to what my 15 mo old daughter eats. I do a lot of eggs with cheese and a green veggie to "hide" the veggie in the eggs (which she LOVES).
I was wondering about your comment re: your child's milk intake. You say you feed her 8 oz daily in the AM only. My daughter still drinks 3 8 oz bottles, in AM at wakeup, before her afternoon nap, and the third before bedtime.
I'm wondering if it's interfering with her appetite for food?
Have you talked with your pediatrician about this?
Thanks!
-Kristen
Q

Helen - posted on 02/03/2011

He has his cereal in the morning along with yogurt and milk. For a snack he'll have goldfish, banana (or any other fruit) and some more milk. Lunch usually just mixed veggies. Then he goes down for a nap... After his nap it's another milk and maybe a piece of fruit. For supper i TRY and give him meat, but these days he's not eating it so I just give him 1/4 cup of tofu and some sort of veggies with it. And for a bedtime snack it's another milk and possibly some more fruit. He also like snacking on PB and [whole grain] toast. He ALWAYS has a sippy cup of water out for him.
We sometimes mix in stage two formula on days that I feel that he's not eating well.

Julie - posted on 02/03/2011

I am so lucky because my 14 month old son eats a wide variety of healthy foods, but it was a lot of work to get to this point. I usually feed him home made wheat waffles or pancakes with blueberries, apples, or strawberries baked in them (he used to hate fruit so I would have to hide it in his pancakes and dice it up real small), or an egg with cheese and a turkey sausage link. For snacks he likes steamed baby carrots, cheese sticks, whole grain crackers, apples, grapes. You can also refrigerate or freeze left over waffles and pancakes and give that for snacks. My son even likes cold pancake out of the fridge. For lunch I give him any meat sauteed in olive oil (oh, and he loves shrimp and fish, too) or sometimes I toast a piece of whole grain bread, cut it in half, put half a piece of cheese then deli low-sodium turkey on it and then the other half of cheese on top, and close it up and microwave it for 15 seconds til the cheese melts and he has a healthy toasted cheese and turkey sandwich without grilling it with butter. He also loves sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, steamed broccoli, and peas. Peanut butter on whole grain bread (I make a quarter of a sandwich for a snack) He eats a ton of kidney and black beans. Cottage cheese is also yummy. Then for snacks he gets more carrots or beans or apple or banana. Sometimes rice cakes are fun for him to crunch on. Just try a ton of different things and if he doesn't want it, try it again with a different presentation. I hear that it takes offering the same food 15 times before some babies actually take to it. I found that he eats the most when I put it on a tray and set it down at his level and let him pick at it (for snacks, that is). He didn't always like all of these things, but after trying them time and time again and cooking them different ways, he has taken to healthy food really well. For a bedtime snack, I give him a treat which is a honey graham cracker. He thinks it's a wonderful treat :-) No more than 24 oz of whole milk a day, so I give him 8 oz with breakfast, 8 oz with lunch, and 8 oz with dinner. I hope this gives you some ideas!!!!

Amanda - posted on 02/02/2011

Try boiling them in vegetable broth or chicken or beef broths it works for us with carrots - he loves all other veggies - even broccoli and spinach

Amanda - posted on 02/02/2011

mashed sweet potatoes, try some smoothies and slip some veggies in there he will never know, Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon - you can even mash bananas and stir them in. Mac and cheese and add carrots, just to name a few

Annie - posted on 02/02/2011

My 14 mo old daughter is picky about how her veggies are cut. I have found the individual microwavable veggie cups (especially the carrots) work great for us. 30 sec in the microwave, drain and rinse. She will eat the whole cup. If I chop and cook fresh carrots she won't touch them...but there is something about the little square carrots! When I make pasta dishes I add lots of sauteed veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, mushrooms, etc) to store bought sauce. She gobbles them up that way. She also loves mashed sweet potatoes and squash. I don't put all the butter and brown sugar in her's like I do the rest of the family's.

I've found that if I make an egg bake (w/ whole wheat bread, mushrooms, peppers, onions, ham, sausage and cheese) I can get her to eat proteins. If I do scrambled eggs I need to put either cheese on top or mild salsa. She likes taco meat so I make her deconstructed tacos (cut up the flour tortillas into bite size, tomatoes, olives, cheese and the ground beef and let her make it how she wants).

As far as snacks we do Kix's cereal, Cheerios, Goldfish Crackers, Teddy Grahmns, Yogurt, Cheese, Fruits, dried plums or cranberries & rasins. I try to keep our carbs at meal time limited because we do a lot at snack time.

As you can see, you aren't alone! Just keep introducing a variety of foods. I heard that it takes 100 exposures for a toddler to truly decide if they like something or not. Good luck to you! One of the many joys of being a Mommy!!!

Chelsi - posted on 02/02/2011

lol sounds like my son!!! if ur dr is concerned ....i give my son pediasure just like 2 oz with his milk 1 time a day. also he likes taquitos which have meat in them, little smokies, hot dogs, sweet potatoe fries (veggie) !! :) hope that helps.

Megan - posted on 02/02/2011

We started feeding our 14 month old the little chef boyrdee cups. They have different ones now a days. One of the ones he likes the most is the rice with chicken and veggies. Most of them now come with a full serving of veggies.

Georgina - posted on 02/02/2011

Hi Mary my son was very fussy and is now a lot better, dont give yourself such a hard time he eats fruit which is great, and he will one day suprise you and start eating other foods. Have you tried him with things you never thought he would like my son didn't like things that most kids love but liked other food, and I just tried him with different food then just kept trying the food he said he didn't like every noe and again and eventually he started liking them. He still isn't great with veg and there will always be food that he just wont like but he is now eating a good variety and im happy, I also give him multi vitamin tablets the're from 3 years but i gave george them at 2 half he loves them so often reminds me to give them to him and before that i gave him liquid muli vitamin think thats form 1 . I wouldn't worry though lots of kids are fussy and he'll start eating different food when he's ready.

Megan - posted on 02/01/2011

I too am interested in ways to cook veges to get them to eat it, I fear the way we eat them might be too boring for my son, we started putting gravy on them and that did the trick but no longer, I even dipped them in sauce once and he ate them but again he clicked on and I am at a loss again. The only idea I have is putting grated courgette and carrot into things like shepards pie, then they have no idea and it all gets eaten!

Elaine - posted on 01/31/2011

My daughter loves shrimp sauteed with teriyaki and soy sauce, but not too much. Peppers and onions sauteed (I saute a lot). Italian brat wurst in spaghetti, instead of meatballs. I dont have much time to cook so there are a few suggestions.

Karen - posted on 01/29/2011

I find risotto's, creamy pasta dishes and quiches are winners with my daughter. I put tonnes of vegies in them (grate them and cook them down so she can't seem them, pumpkin, zuchini, carrot, brocoli etc) and also add chicken/mince/steak too. I find its a great way to boost her vegi intake and she doesn't even know it.

Kylie - posted on 01/28/2011

hi there,
i make my 1 year old son meals like shepards pie (with grated veges in it) omelet, chicken pie (again with grated veges in it), we also do homemade pasta

Callie - posted on 01/28/2011

My daughter eats what we eat (really helps me eat healthy as well) and will eat pretty much anything. For breakfast I give her scrambled eggs w/ fruit, oatmeal w/ banana's or cinnamon, pancakes, or muffins. Lunch/Dinner- grilled cheese, fish, grilled/baked chx breast, tofu cubes. Veggies I usually steam w/ no seasoning- various squash, zucchini, carrots, sweet/reg potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower. I freeze extra to use in a pinch or you can buy frozen bagged veggies as well. I often give my daughter string cheese for a snack or some whole grain crackers (ritz or goldfish).

Have you tried making your own chx nuggets? You can cut up some chx breast and put them in an egg wash then bread crumbs and bake them; they would be more nutritional than processed nuggets. You can find healthy adaptations of a lot of foods on the internet; just google it. Our pedi told us if they go through a stage of ignoring fruits or veggies its not that bad. Fruits have a wide variety of nutrients so make sure you're giving him a wide variety of fruits while you're trying to get him to eat veggies. Some veggies are naturally sweet- sweet potatoes (my daughter's fav), carrots, red bell peppers, some squash. You can always try the sweeter veggies. And for stuff like cauliflower and broccoli you could put a little cheese or some sauce on it and he might go for it. Try slipping some extra veggies in pasta sauce- dice up tomatoes and/or mushrooms, and grate some carrots and mix it in with the sauce. He might not even know he's eating them.



Oh and for drinks my daughter get's water or she nurses and that's it.

Hollybear - posted on 01/28/2011

I love the fact that a mother is wanting to post something like this because it helps us other moms if we have trouble as well.. See i have a 14 month old and he normal eats what we eat at dinner time.. he really doesnt like his greens as well i just got him to eat broccoli last night. The snacks that i give him during the day is bananas peaches, goldfishes as well, we do like chicken fingers, and i normally buy the gerber snacks for toodlers as well.and normally around morning we do scramble eggs with cheese and some sausage or waffles and pancakes. my little guy will drink milk, koolaid, water, and juices during the day. But my little guy really isnt that picky he normally eats anything that you give him besides his greens lol..

Jennifer - posted on 01/28/2011

My son has PKU so he can't have ANY meat or a lot of stuff high in protein. He's not a picky eater by any means. He usually eats eggs, mac and cheese, pasta, soup, and fruits or vegetables for meals and then cheese, cheerios, crackers, and fries for snacks.

Olena - posted on 01/27/2011

THANKS A LOT! I SEE NOW! FIRST WE'LL GO TO MEX RESTAURANT TO TRY IT & AFTER THAT I'LL DO BY MYSELF! THANKS AGAIN!

Becky - posted on 01/27/2011

Sure, a quesadilla is basically a grilled cheese sandwich, but instead of using bread you use a tortilla, aka a wrap. I put it in the pan with a little cooking spray, put a thin layer of shredded cheese on half, filling of your choice, and top with cheese. Then you fold the tortilla over to cover your filling, cook and cut it up. Hope this helps!
They serve them at Mexican restaurants, yummy!!

Olena - posted on 01/27/2011

OH, THANK YOU BECKY! WE'LL TRY THAT WAY! AND WILL YOU BE SO KIND TO TELL ME, WHAT IS IT quesadilla? THANKS!

Becky - posted on 01/27/2011

Olena - our dr had us introduce peanut butter (as well as EVERYTHING else) at 6 months since there were no food allergies in our family. She recommended a very thin layer of peanut butter on toast so that it wouldn't be too difficult to eat. He loves it!! Good luck!

Alisha - posted on 01/27/2011

I find if my son doesn't eat his veg, the next day I just mix it with a white sauce & pasta or put it in wonton paper & steam it. He almost always eats it then.

Olena - posted on 01/27/2011

SOMETHING EASY TO STOMACH BUT NUTRITIOUS! IT WILL BE GOOD TO EAT OATMEAL WITH MILK OR EGG WITH A PIECE OF BREAD, OR CEREAL AS WELL & DON'T FORGET ABOUT CHEESE!!!

Olena - posted on 01/27/2011

I LIKE ALL THE IDEAS, TOO! AS I SEE WE ALL ARE TRYING TO GIVE OUR BABIES THE BEST, HEALTHY & VARIOUS KIND OF FOOD. I CAN SAY THAT ALL OF YOU ARE JUST PERFECT MOTHERS!!!
MY 14 MONTHS OLD BABY GIRL EATS ALMOST EVERYTHING WHAT I'M GIVING HER, ESPECIALLY FROM MY BIG PLATE! LOL
OATMEAL, DIFFERENT MIX VEGETABLE SOUPS WITH CHICKEN, PORK OR BEEF, YOGURTS, BANANAS, BREAD, CRACKERS, YOGURT JUICES, FRUIT STRIPS, GERBER'S FRUITS & VEGETABLES, SAUSAGES & CHEESE, ALSO HER FAVOURITE PRETZELS. AND DON'T FORGET TO GIVE YOUR BABIES - COTTAGE CHEESE, IT'S A VERY GOOD SOURCE OF CALCIUM, FOR THEIR BONES, TEETH, NAILS & OTHER IMPORTANT PROC IN OUR ORGANIZM!!!
I DIDN'T GIVE MY DAUGHTER PEANUT BUTTER YET, AND I'M NOT SURE SHE WILL EAT IT! IT'S A LIL BIT HARD TO CHEW & SWALLOW IT. BUT I WILL DEFINITELY OFFERED HER THAT TOMORROW!

Becky - posted on 01/26/2011

For breakfast we do oatmeal loaded with strawberries and raspberries or honey, eggs, toast with honey, french toast or pancakes with strawberries (no syrup).
Lunch we do PB&J, PB & fluff, grilled cheese, quesadilla, or leftovers and always include either cucumber (his go to veggie) or fruit
Dinner we give him whatever we're eating, but he usually ends up having yogurt and fruit to make sure he's filled up. He loves fish, but is not a huge meat eater.
snacks - goldfish, cheese sticks, grahm crackers, fruit, yogurt, cucumber...
Our go to for any meal is a quesadilla. He likes cheese and you can "hide" anything in them, veggies, meat, leftover pasta....
Great post, I love all of the ideas!!!

Cristy - posted on 01/25/2011

Its funny because all my lil guys like different things(8,5&1)But my middle one sounds like yours. Its been a real struggle getting him to eat veggies. But I just keep putting them on his plate and forcing him to eat them and finally he is starting to like them!! Also with the meats, try all different kinds, I personally wasn't a big fan of pork so that was my last resort. Turned out he loves it! All I season it with it McCormick grill mates montreal steak seasoning & he loves it. I find putting butter & pepper in the veggies help( I steam them). As long as he is not over weight it is no big deal. Hope this helps!

Erin - posted on 01/25/2011

I will sometimes make the frozen vegetables that you can steam in the microwave. The carrot, pea, green bean medley is his favorite. I will cut up fresh strawberries and raspberries for a nutritional snack for him and he loves the gerber yogurt for a snack too. Usually for dinner we make him grilled chicken w/a veg and fruit he also loves grilled cheese sandwiches. We try to give him whatever we are eating as long as it is healthy.

Mary - posted on 01/25/2011

Thanks for all the tips Ladies! I was wondering how you cook your veggies and which ones are a bigger hit? I think that's what my son is lacking most....the veggies.

Mary - posted on 01/25/2011

Michelle, Goldfish are little cheese crackers shaped like tiny fish...kind of like Cheez-Its? :) They are made by Pepperidge Farm.

YuLibette, My son will not try cheese either. He always spits it out really fast. It's funny though because he loves mac n cheese! Velveeta, not easy mac. He does love milk, however. I also started giving him chocolate milk every now and then and he LOVES it. You might try that and see if it gets your baby girl to try milk more often. Just add less and less chocolate til it is pure milk and she is used to it. Just a thought? :) Also, Jase loves yogurt. Maybe she will like yogart. Hope I helped somewhat... :)

YuLibette - posted on 01/25/2011

Hey, Is nice to find other mommies having a difficult time with their picky eaters too. My girl is 14 months, she eats cereal, waffles, oatmeal, bananas, toasted bread, and sometimes scramble egg for breakfast. The snacks are fruits, crackers, carrots (her favorites). Lunch and dinner goes by with potatoes or rice & beans, grill chicken, tomatoes, pasta, brocolli... Meals have been pretty hard on us too, just because my baby is not tolerating the dairy products yet. So, she's missing the cheese and the milk that I would like for her to try. Luckily she had started to be very hungry so, she's eating more than ever... I think is part of there growing... Hope you're little guy is doing better!!

PS: If someone have more ideas for meals in this case with non dairy products in it... please post them too! ;) I'm sure you don't mine!!!!? right... Thanks a lot!

Michelle - posted on 01/25/2011

Hey Im scottish so can you please tell me what goldfish are as the only ones i know swim in a bowl !!! LOL
My 14 month old eats mostly what we eat, Im lucky as he likes veggies like cabbage,carrots and brussel sprouts. He loves chicken ususlly roasted or poached, he will eat salmon or cod in butter sauce with mashed potatoes and veggies. Also pasta is a favourite of his with any kind of sauce and you can hide veggies in sauces ! I also make homemake soups with lots of veggies in it. As far as snacks go he loves fruit, rice cakes, Ritz crackers and small cubes of cheese. Hope you find this helpful :o)

Mary - posted on 01/24/2011

Thanks Brittany, that gave me some ideas! What kind of soups do you do? And are they homeade or store bought? :) Thankyou!!

Brittany - posted on 01/24/2011

I make peanut butter or almond butter sandwiches, tuna sandwhiches (but only once every other week), stir fries. My daughter doesn't like breaded chicken so I often grill it with salt and pepper. Rasins, gold fish, wheat thins, and Ritz are big snack items. I make an egg with a bit of pepper and cheese. I also give soups. I make sure to always give a veggie with a meal and if she doesn't like it than I try making it a different way and try again. She seems to really like sauted veggies in a bit of olive oil. Oatmeal has been another great one for her especially if I add bananas to it.

We've actually had to start treating bananas like candy since she'll down one and ask for another.

She only gets milk in the morning when she wakes up and only 8 oz, the rest of the day is water.