Eat Like a Toddler

ashtuesday

Now that I'm home for summer, I make a real dinner every night, and every night, Nora takes two bites that she spits out before saying "No no no!" when I offer more, and then I eventually sigh and say, "Okay, do you want an eggie?"  Before I invest in chickens to feed this girl's egg habit, I figured we could share recipes that our kids eat reliably!

We've got three solid go-to's in our house:

1) This meatloaf: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16354/easy-meatloaf/  I saute the onions, but that's the only modification we make.

2) This one-pot pasta: https://monicaswanson.com/one-pot-garlic-parmesan-pasta-w-grilled-chicken/  It is absolutely not healthy, but it is sooooooo good (and sooooooo fast!!).  We usually add grilled chicken and a pack of frozen spinach, so at least there's some vegetables involved.

3) Deconstructed meatballs, which is just an eyeballed recipe of my mom's.  Mix up some ground beef or ground turkey as if you were making meatballs (seasoned bread crumbs, garlic, an egg, salt and pepper, pecorino romano), but don't make meatballs - just throw it in a pan and brown it.  Add two cans of tomato sauce once the meat is browned, seasoning as you like (I usually just use a liiitle bit of sugar to sweeten it and some pepper, the meat basically seasons it otherwise), and serve over pasta or zoodles.

mccurleya

@ashtuesday the only thing guaranteed that Nate will eat right now is Cheetos. Any variety. Baby teething kind, regular orange, or white cheddar. Also, animal crackers. Everything else, including milk, is a hit or miss. So far we’re good with pastas - Alfredo and red sauce - but that could be a no go here soon I’m sure. 

sgrn18

I can get LO to eat fruit and most veggies but meat has been a huge challenge recently.  I feel terrible but i gave him a very finely chopped hot dog and he gobbled it up like it was the best thing hed ever been given. 🙄🤦‍♀️

I like the deconstructed meatball one! Im totally going to try that! 

DDRRT1982

Sam eats everything right now.  My kids tend to do that and then develop likes or dislikes around three and four.  However, I am really liking these recipes.  Keep ‘me coming.  I’ll get our favorites and share here soon.

megpeg

@mccurleya amen to Cheetos. That’s a food group here too and gogurt. Those are the only two consistent things he will eat.

fatstagnation

Vinny will eat cheeze-its. and usually cheese in most forms. Also, she pretty reliably eats oatmeal for breakfast. Otherwise it's as you've said - she'll take a couple bites of something she normally likes, spit out the third bite and refuse the rest. Milk has to be in a bottle, and she will drink it before going to sleep. 

mccurleya

I forgot raisins. He will devour some raisins. The other night he ate some asparagus too and repeatedly said, “mmmmmm.” Today we’re trying Spanish tortilla and a salad. I hope he’ll eat that! It’s a family favorite.