menu for 14mo old

1DestinationBride

DH and I work full time, with no help other than a few hours here and there during the day from my mom. I need some FAST & EASY dinner ideas for LO (he only has 4 little specks for teeth).

** when I say fast & easy meals, I mean like 10mins top. as my commute from work to home is over an hour, so by the time I get home it's close to 6 - 6:30 and DS is usually in bed by 9.

adamsps

We have had a longgg week and dad is out of town. So I just fed my 17 month old "Mexican" dinner black beans, cubed avocado, and cheese. Loved it! No cooking required. I do scrambled eggs with spinach sometimes for dinner too. Other easy hits are combos of ravioli, turkey meat, pitas and hummus, chicken sausages, frozen peas/edamame/butter beans for easy sides...

blu-eyedwife

Something I've been doing lately, which may work for you, is meal prep the night before.  I do it so I can get a run in before it gets dark, but it also works if you need to get dinner on the table quickly.

So our evening schedule looks like:

5:30ish we all get home and I heat up what I made the night before.

6:30ish I head out for a run while DH does playtime/bathtime/pajamas.

7:15ish I'm home and start prepping dinner for the next night.

Since you're not running, and you get home later, you could do:

6:30ish get home and heat up what you made the night before.

And then, depending on what you need to do with bedtime either prep dinner after everyone is eaten and happy, or after your son goes to bed.

chicsahm

My super easy no time meals are:

1. Annie's white cheddar mac n cheese, I mix in tuna and peas (makes it like a supper easy tuna noodle)

2.When I make meat loaf I make a lot extra to freeze and I also make meat balls (baked) and freeze them, microwave # you want, toss with egg noodles, peas and pasta sauce.... or I get the microwave brocc/caulif mix or mixed veggies DS loves..... I either toss the veggies in with pasta sauce or I serve tossed with grated parm cheese for DS to eat while I make his dinner.

3. Costco has these panko breaded talapia that DH and I eat in fish tacos...they are not like your usual fish stick, it is a big filet of fish (I cook and scrape out the inside fish) toss with a tiny bit of tarter sauce (he used to eat plain but no more), I get these sweet potato puffs from whole foods that DS loves (cook at same time as fish), serve veggies (same as above) while fish and puffs cook. I also have chicken nuggets I will serve as well with sweet pot puffs and veggies.

4. Amy's brand (freezer section) mac and cheese (low sodium), toss in bunch of peas 

dizzycooks

Estwd2:

Wait, you have 3 whole hours between the time you get home and the time he goes to bed? Forgive me, but I'm not seeing the need to rush. We only have an hour and a half to work with. That includes cooking, dinner as a family, bath, brushing teeth, and story time.

This. We get home at 4:45 and DD is crashing by 5:45, but we still need to do bath and teeth brushing.

I plan ahead  and cook large batches that I can freeze half of for another time.  I cook double the chicken on the Saturday so I can reheat it on Tuesday and take it for lunches throughout the week.  I make meals simply to freeze for another night when I have a spare few minutes.  It just takes practice.  You'll get there. 

ETA: I didn't answer your question.  DD eats exactly what we eat.  I do not cook two meals.  Tonight she had spinach balls, roasted asparagus, grilled chicken and baked potato. 

LuckyDad

LalaMama81:

Don't you and DH have to eat, too? I would just feed him whatever you are eating. If he's not going to bed until 9, it seems like he has time to have a snack while you cook dinner. Or if you normally eat after he goes to bed, he can have leftovers from the night before. Not much besides sandwiches or hummus, veggies and pita take less than 10 minutes.

This is what we do, mostly. Sometimes we'll cook low salt and then add salt later. Luckily DS gets mad if he doesn't get what we're having, and he's a pretty good eater, so far. 

shannm

We get home around six and DD is in bed by 7:30.   I do dinners for the entire family in about 30 minutes and we eat together.  She eats what we eat (within reason obviously).  She then gets a bath, books and cuddles.

I wouldn't worry about teeth.

 The working moms board frequently has posts about quick meals.  Tonight we had quesadillas, last night turkey Cobb salad, and Monday was spinach tortellini.  

1DestinationBride

when I get home with LO, I'm solo....I do the meal time, bath time, bed time, try to prep for the day all by myself. I usually meet DH somewhere to do the switch with the LO so that he can get to work when I'm leaving work (I work days and he work nights)

Lunches are usually leftovers from the night before, so I try not to give him the same thing for lunch and dinner. DH and I usually shove food in our mouths when LO is eating or I eat when he's in bed (DH would eat & shower when LO is taking his naps during the day).

 

katieh1017

Generally she eats left overs from the night before. We get home between 5:30-6 and she's ready for a bath by 7. Some quick things for her (if not reheating leftovers) are quesadillas, soft shell tacos, cheese ravioli, pierogies, grilled cheese, turkey sandwhich, chicken noodle soup (right now she just gets the noodles, chicken and veggies in it), veggie/chicken burger and I usually do frozen veggies, they take no time. While she is waiting for dinner I will usually cut up some cheese, give her hummus on crackers, fruit, that type of thing.

Jenks509

I usually cook my 13 month old 2 meals a week and just divvy it up for him. If we are cooking that night ( usually 4 times/week) and it's not too spicy, salty, or strongly flavored we will give him that. My go-to is chicken or pork tenderloin cooked in the slow cooker or braised in the oven with broth and garlic. Then steamed broccoli, carrots or cauliflower for the veggie. This week I cooked 2 pork tenderloins, DS are the shredded pork for 3 days and DH and I had tacos, pulled pork sandwich, and Cuban sandwiches. I also like to make him turkey meatballs. I mix ground turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic salt, and finely chop spinach and mushrooms (or whatever other veggies I have, zucchini, etc). Freezes great, and it's a very portable whole meal. Great for when we have a babysitter or go to visit friends or family. 2 or 3 meatballs and a cheese stick and dinner is ready in 30 seconds. Eggs are also quick staple. For lunch today, DS had 2 egg yolks and a whole egg (I ate the whites) scrambled with a little melted cheddar and an english muffin with some butter and a little jelly. My babysitter also makes him pastina with Parmesan cheese- he loves it!

summerbld2

i like buying vegetable beef soup (you can go organic/lowsodium if you'd like) and mix it with the powdered rice I bought for my son as an infant.(that will soak up some of the broth and make more of a meal than just a soup) it has veggies, beef and grains and taste great. ( you can also do that with cans of chicken noodle soup with carrots and celery in it)