ideas for lunch or dinner?

Bethany - posted on 04/25/2010

if Charlotte doesn't quite finish her veges, or whatever she's having, I stir some vanilla flavoured full fat yoghurt through them and she eats them for dessert. hehe, she hasn't cottoned on yet.

Suki - posted on 04/24/2010

My daughter loves rotini noodles with spaghetti sauce and cheese. She also loves steamed veggies with a little butter. Like most of the other moms, we give her a little bit of what we are eating. Diced and steamed sweet potatoes is a great one too! I also try to give her some fruit with every meal. Bananas are her favorite, but be careful with those since they are a binder. Good luck!

Kris - posted on 04/22/2010

My daughter is very picky about what she eats. I tried eggs, oatmeal..she spits it out. I'm still feeding her the rice cereal, and stage 3 foods. She does eat toast, diced peaches, pears & bananas..but thats about it. I even tried the toddler foods (pasta & cheese)..nope I had to smoosh it up then feed it to her. I guess it just takes patience & some time to introduce new foods..but if anyone has suggestions feel free.

Zsuzsi - posted on 04/22/2010

I do not cook anything seperately for my twins. They eat what we eat. I just pay attention not to cook too salty and spicy. That's all. Fortunately they love to eat so no problems!!!!

Darci - posted on 04/21/2010

Yeah I dont give my son chicken nuggets or hot dogs or mac and cheese or any of that crap. It is rare that he gets chicken nuggets he maybe gets those once a month. Yeah I try not to feed him empty calories and crappy foods. For breakfast I usually feed him toast and eggs and a fruit, or oatmeal and fruit and soy yogurt or french toast with very little or no syrup or blueberry pancakes. I try and mix it up so he doesn't get board but with every meal he gets a fruit or a veggie to eat with it. Some of his favorite fruits that he eats a lot are blueberries, blackberries, mangos, strawberries, bananas, and green apples. He wont eats pears cut up he will only eat the baby pear sauce. funny boy. It must be a texture thing. For lunch I usually feed him leftovers or a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich oh multi grain bread with soy yogurt and fruit or something. Once in a while we will go to rumbi and get a rice bowl they are healthy if you havent been there they have rice bowls for kidos for 4 bucks and they are rice with terryaki sauce veggies and chicken. For dinner its what ever I make which is usually something low in dairy or no dairy at all my son has a food allergy to dairy so we try not to give any to him. Soy I use a lot of soy milk and soy and he loves his soy milk. For dinner I make things like home made spaghetti, stir frys with fresh veggies, chicken, brown rice or whole grain noodles. I make roasts with potatoes and a veggie like green beans i try not to put to carbs together in one meal like no potatoes and corn together. I make steaks and potatoes or sweet potatoes and a veggie or a pork roast and then i make tacos with wheat flour tortillas and tomatoes, lettuce, onion stuff that goes on a taco ya know. I make casseroles, one of my favorite things is this rice and chicken thing i make with a bunch of spices and you put a little bit of lemon aid in the mix its almost like sweet and sour chicken its good. I make sweet and sour meat ball with rice and peas or something. the other night i made a healthy burger wrap with avacado,cilantro,beans lettuce on a wheat tortilla it was pretty good. I make carrots chicken and potatoes with a sauce that i make. I make bbq chicken with my homeade bbq sauce. yummy . I really like pesto pasta, it has cheese in it so i make a vegan version, its yummy. Thats all I can think of off the top of my head right now, but when i want something new or i just cant think of what to make for dinner sometimes i just google healthy dinner meals and there is a ton a recipes you can try or type easy healthy meals.Just one tip everything I make i try to do like the healthiest version so instead of white rice use brown rice or instead of regular egg noodles do whole grain noodles or no white bread do wheat or multi grain and same with cereal we try to buy the healthier ones like multi grain cheereos or the kashi brand has some good ones i like there Cinnamon harvest. Hope that was helpful.

Renee - posted on 04/21/2010

My daughter has been a little picky these days too. She is 14 months old and only has 2 teeth which limits our choices a little too (she has surprised me on some things I didn't think she would be able to chew up good enough though!) She loves ham and cheese sandwiches on whole grain bread, I just cut it in small bite size pieces after I make it. She loves cooked cinnamon apples, healthy and super easy- just dice up apples (I do 4 at a time), throw in a pot or pan with a TBS olive oil and 2 tsp cinnamon (can do more or less to taste) and cook stirring every once in a while until they get as soft as you want them. Meat is our biggest challenge, she suddenly doesn't want chicken and she seems to have a hard time with hamburger even crumbled...not sure if it is hard to chew for her or she just doesn't care for it! She loves meatballs in spaghetti sauce though, roast or roast beef, fish sticks (real not minced), and the gerber meat sticks. I generally give her tidbits of whatever is on hand for lunch (try for a little something from each food group) and then she generally eats whatever we have for dinner, pasta or rice is always a winner! Good luck!

Samantha - posted on 04/21/2010

i had a prob with my son eating mince, so i bought the cheap frozen stuff which mushes up more than the fresh stuff and found he ate that better, try soups, put loads of veg in with a veg stock cube cook for about half an hour in the same pan blitz up and it freezes well too, i find that is a fav of my sons, also if you take out some for you, you odnt have to have it blended up and have it as a chunky soup instead. pasta is a good one too, home made curry, spag bol, jacket pot and beans or spag hoops or anything you want to put it in, the pot will mush down, home made fishcakes.(bread crumbs fish potatoes egg yolk) hth x

Amy - posted on 04/20/2010

My 14 month old is not fussy, so I am usually able to feed her whatever we are having....she is on the small side so I try to make every bite count for calories and nutrition. avocados, a drizzle of olive oil on roasted mashed sweet potatoes and butternut squash,.all full-fat dairy..cottage cheese and esp full-fat Greek yogurt,,,it is so rich and creamy, she loves it with some blueberries for breakfast..

Also, here 's a great tip to sneak veggies (she loves them anyway but it really worked when I was a nanny..finely chop ( or use a food processor) onions, garlic, red bell peppers, carrots...really, whatever you have on hand..add some sort of green like shredded baby spinach and slowly saute in olive oil until it is sweet and caramelized...you can add this to mac&cheese, grilled cheese, scrambled eggs or an omelet or some ground beef or turkey to make meatloaf...sometimes I would make it into meat loaf and then freeze into patties to have on hand for a quick protein at lunch or dinner time...all the kids I ever cared for loved this...and my baby does too.

(I also have a recipe for carrot cake pancakes...sounds like dessert but is a great, healthy yummy breakfast..have to look that one up, so I will post it later...)

Heather - posted on 04/20/2010

Save moolah and sodium re: rotisserie chix...take a whole chix & set it in your crock pot on top of three balls of tinfoil (to keep it out of the juice & fat) cover/surround it with one onion sliced and about 10 shakes of hot sauce(doesn't taste hot when done) cook on high for 4 hours of low for 6 hours...remove the skin and it tastes just like rotisserie!

Heather - posted on 04/20/2010

BRILLIANT idea! I will totally try this. SO CLEVER.

Heather - posted on 04/20/2010

My tot eats most things we eat and we have a wide varied diet...I am also not a fan of the hot dog-chicken nugget kids' food deal. I have standard fall backs-tortellini, hummus, string cheese, cottage cheese, crackers frozen peas etc. Usually tho we have some kind of soup or ethnic one pot dish leftovers in the fridge.

Brooke - posted on 04/19/2010

When we get in a tight spot and my son doesnt want to eat what we are eating i will feed him the lil entree meals. He loves the mashpotato and spaghetti ones. I always keep one or two in the pantry just in case. The have a main meal and a side of veggies in them.

Marie-Christina - posted on 04/18/2010

I started to make "pancakes" out of leftovers. So far, salmon (who knew he'd like fish!) and cheese are his favorites. Thay are super easy to make and Dad eats them too. I finely grate 1 small onion, 1 zucchini 5-6 mushrooms, 1 med. potato (peeled) and 1/2 cup cheddar (or use some already cooked meat, poultry, fish or tofu). I mix in 2 large eggs, about a 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 1/4 tsp salt, some pepper.

Heat about 1/2 Tbs canola oild or spray a skillet with Pam. I make small pancakes (silver dollar sized) and they should be cooked till golden brown on both sides. You can also pour it into a glass pyrex and bake it for 20 minutes at 350 in a preheated oven. I serve a salad on the side for the grown ups and it's down. Also makes a great brunch on the weekends that you actually get to sleep in a bit!

Jenny - posted on 04/18/2010

Our daughter eats what we eat most of the time. Not much fussiness even with the molars coming in but we do have trouble getting her to eat our veggies. So I keep some stage two veggies on hand --- she will eat an entire container along with the meal my husband and I have.
I get into a rut sometimes on the weekends. Dilana goes to day care and I don't have to worry about lunch during the week. Their menu is decent ... much better than the lunches my 7th and 8th graders get at the school i work in!

Dawn - posted on 04/18/2010

My son always liked toast for the longest time, but has been cutting molars so we are going through our own pickiness right now. I am trying to toast the bread less when I top it with cheese or just put peanut butter on un-toasted bread. We have luck with pasta and meat sauce, all together are a good combo!! He is a fan of green beans and peas!! I offer fruit at breakfast and lunch...his favorites are strawberries, diced pears and bananas. If we didn't have an egg for breakfast, he will have one for lunch; he would eat those all day if I let him! I find that he loves rotissere chicken from the deli!!! I am with Bethany in that, my son will sometimes eat alot but mostly just a few bites and then he is wanting to back into action; I don't push him as long as he is happy and healthy. My mother once made a comment about toddlers small appetites and how you often wonder how they can live off so little food; meaning this is very normal!!. To supplement my sons diet, I give him about half a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast mix into one of his milk servings during the day.

Jenita - posted on 04/18/2010

My 1 year old basically eats whatever I eat. I rarely eat out which is a plus (which is once a month). She eats pinto beans, lima beans, blackeye peas, butter beans (all with cornbread), collard greens, mash potatoes, mac n cheese, roast, chicken (mostly backed), roast, sweet peas & carrots, pot pies, fish, pork chops, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, etc. Depending on your kid appetite Gerber Graduates have some microwavable meals, which helps me out at a moments time when she just need that quick meal til Im finished cooking. I hope this helps you out. Good luck

Bethany - posted on 04/17/2010

Charlotte usually has a "Plowman's Lunch" which is a bunch of different bits and pieces on a plate. Like some cubes of cheese, or a bit of grated cheese, some cut up apple or pear, some pita bread or tortilla bread torn up with avocado or cream cheese or butter or peanut paste, some scrambled egg cut up, some cucumber or zucinni cut up, torn up roast beef or silverside. Bits of whatever's in the fridge.
For dinner she has bits of what we have, like a bit of roast chicken and vege and bread and butter, or some pasta and vege and sauce, or sausage and potato and gravy or fish and vege. She really enjoyed my home made onion rings the other night. (we were having my burgers and onion rings)

She loves peas, which is great because they are one of those foods that have alot of nutrients in them. She eats them straight out of the freezer (good for teething pain too). Also brocolli, cauliflower, she'll eat them frozen, or cold. She loves cheese, and also avocado, which is a bit pricy, but so good for her, it's worth it nutritionally. She hates carrots, so I don't even bother with those, no matter how they are prepared. I'm introducing brussel sprouts this week (which I hate) so we'll see how that goes.

I make a cookie or little "rock cake" out of flour, butter, egg, milk, oats, coconut and mashed sweet potato and sultanas, and she can have as many as she likes of those as she likes as they're all good. That and a handful of frozen peas is all she eats some dinners, and that's ok, as she's happy and healthy. She has milk and water through the day, and will eat a whole apple if I get it started for her.

Karen - posted on 04/17/2010

I give my son whatever me and the girls are eating. If he doesn't take what they have I will offer what I have. It could be PB&J, grilled cheese, pasta, leftovers like potatoes and chicken...I normally always offer fruit with each meal as well. Although he is not loving fruit lately :( . Just try giving her whatever you or her siblings are eating.