What are some of your go-to meals for your kids or what foods have you had success with? I seem to be in a food rut and could use some new ideas... been doing lots of chicken, pasta and cut fruit lately. It doesn't help that I have a picky 2 yo on my hands either, but I'm sure it's just a stage. TIA!
Re: Toddler Food Rut
DD1 likes when I make pb&j like this, I usually use tortilla wraps instead of bread though and she practically always unrolls them to eat but she still likes it that way.
Other than that, we are big on the normal toddler stuff when she doesn't eat what we are eating - chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, hot dogs, applesauce, fruit in little cups, goldfish, etc. Sorry I don't have more "out of the box" ideas for you.
This is what DS eats basically. We also have frozen meatballs that we give him (easy to heat up just a handful of them), tater tots, frozen veggies, and I have been giving him pureed green beans a lot - mostly because it gives him practice with a spoon, they're veggies, and he freaking loves them. I've also done alphabet pasta mixed with a tiny bit of sauce and cut up meatballs. These ideas are not fun or original, sorry!
BFP#1: 01/10, M/C 6w
BFP#2: 06/10, M/C 5w
BFP#3: 09/10, DS born June 1, 2011
BFP#4: 07/12, M/C 5w3d
BFP#5: 12/12, EDD 08/18/13
My Blog: Decorate This
Awesome idea! I never thought about this! Since DD only eats broccoli and cheese but loved pureed veggies I'll have to try this.
We are pretty much in the same stage as everyone else. I have had success with the single serve portions of veggies, (broc & cheese, cauliflower & cheese, corn and peas), but for most main meals its chicken nuggets, shredded chicken or spaghetti.
We do lots of the toddlers/preschool standbys. DD is getting pickier - so we sub stuff in too or will do a litle switch. Instead of doing breaded chicken nuggets, I'll just give her some leftover grilled chicken. I honestly find giving her a choice helps her eat better. She'll eat beans and rice like its her job; she loves coleslaw (!) so we'll throw that onto almost anything she eats. Anything with egg noodles, she loves plain cheese ravioli w/ spinach pesto, she's big on tacos recently (very messy but cute). She loves breakfast food - scrambled eggs, waffles, cereal, bacon.
She's not so great w/ veggies or fruit these days - but I can't sweat it too much. I keep putting a little on her plate or ask her what she wants. She knows she needs to eat "healthy" and what those foods are.
Haha, we do this too. We gave DS bits of meatloaf and he asked "meatball?" and we said, "um, sure! meatballs!" Close enough
BFP#1: 01/10, M/C 6w
BFP#2: 06/10, M/C 5w
BFP#3: 09/10, DS born June 1, 2011
BFP#4: 07/12, M/C 5w3d
BFP#5: 12/12, EDD 08/18/13
My Blog: Decorate This
Mine isn't as picky yet, I guess, but she really likes any sort of ground meat dish (like meatloaf, pasta with meat sauce, taco meat and cheese) and we found out last night she likes chicken with bbq sauce. Her go-to food is black beans. Sorry, daycare.
I also make a casserole with ground turkey, taco sauce, refried beans and cheese and she likes that too. Salmon is popular, as is stew. Go-to veggies are canned green beans and frozen peas and corn.
Baby Girl #2 is on her way!
DD goes through phases. Usually she will eat bananas, clementines (she asks for them and calls them oranges), beans & rice, cheese, hummus, mac n' cheese and peanut butter. She is hit or miss with veggies (which she used to love), sweet potatoes and avocados. She doesn't like chicken,turkey or fish. ( I am vegetarian, so I didn't eat any of these when I was pg. DH tries to feed them to her, but she usually spits them out.)
She would demolish ritz crackers and cheddar bunnies if we let her. Mostly, we start dinner out by giving her the same as is what is on our plates. If she is still hungry AFTER DH & I have finished eating, then we will give her something else, but she has to wait until we are done. At first this resulted in really bad tantrums, now she is just sometimes fussy, but she does end up eating more of her dinner. We also NEVER give her cheddar bunnies or ritz crackers if she doesn't eat enough dinner. She loves those and would probably always skip dinner.