Lunch/dinner ideas for 13 (almost 14) mth old...

ceecee31 · December 2008

DD is almost 14 months and she is a picky eater. I try to expose her to as much as possible, but it is getting a little difficult for me because I am not much of a cook. I do make meals (rice & gravy, red or white beans w/ smoked sausage, mashed potatoes with baked chicken) but very rarely does she eat any. I don't give up; I know it'll take a while for her to come around so in the meantime she's been eating these Gerber meals. But when I noticed the sodium content it blew my mind! She needs to be eating healthy lunches and dinners.

Having said that....can you guys share with me your "menu" so to speak for your 13-14 month old? I'm willing to try anything. Making the same few meals over and over again is driving me nuts! Please help!

JulieandBen · December 2008

This is what I used to feed Jack at 14m. I wrote it up for a friend once and saved it.

Jack?s menu at about 14 months

Here's basically what I've been dealing. It took a while to get Jack
into the groove of eating, but he's full steam ahead these days. I'm
afraid to jinx it by talking about it, but here goes his usual menu.

Breakfast:
1. Cheerios w/diced bananas in milk (just like we'd eat) - This is the
only way Jack will eat bananas unless they are blended smooth and
mixed with oatmeal.
2. Omelet w/chopped steamed spinach and cheese, diced strawberries, yogurt.
3. Morningstar Farms veggie scrambles (these are small chicken nugget like omelets w/egg whites, soy sausage, peppers, and onions rolled in a multi grain breading. They're in the frozen organic section. Bake them. DO NOT microwave them.), yogurt, diced strawberries.
4. Oatmeal with either cinnamon and applesauce mixed in or blended banana.
5. Kashi blueberry waffles (8grams of protein!) w/frozen blueberries
instead of syrup.
6. Mini whole wheat bagel, egg, and cheese sandwhiches. (Mine, but he loves them!)

Snack is either a fruit leather by Gerber, a few crackers w/milk,
diced peeled apples, diced strawberries, a yogurt (if he hasn't had
one with breakfast).

Lunch:
I found that I can put anything in a quesadilla and Jack will eat it.
1. Whole wheat tortilla quesadilla w/
a. cheddar, steamed carrots and steamed chopped spinach, fruit on the side.
b. as above but with deli turkey, chicken, or ham, fruit on the side.
c. mozzarella, tomatoes or tomato paste, steamed chopped spinach
(basically a pizza quesadilla)
d. Anything else you can think of to put between a tortilla, fruit.
2. Cream cheese and spreadable fruit sandwhich (similar to jam or
jelly, but no added sugar or preservatives) on wheat bread, diced
strawberries, and yogurt.
3. Hummus on a toasted whole wheat pita, diced strawberries.
4. Morningstar Farms garden burgers w/cheese, sweet potato fries,
diced veggies or strawberries.
5. I'm about to try turkey sandwiches again. They didn't go over well the first time.

Snack is either a fruit leather by Gerber, a few crackers w/milk,
diced peeled apples, diced strawberries, a yogurt (if he hasn't had
one with breakfast or lunch), or cheese.

Dinner:
Basically anything I can think of at this point.
1. Turkey chili, diced strawberries.
2. Spinach lasagne, diced strawberries.
3. Mini raviolis (from our local health food store) or spaghetti
w/turkey meatballs or Italian turkey sausage, fruit. ( mix steamed
carrots, peas and/or steamed chopped spinach into the sauce for more
veggies.
4. Turkey burger patty w/cheese, diced veggies, baked sweet potato fries.
5. Grilled fish, fruit salsa, diced veggies.
6. Whole wheat fettuccini alfredo w/steamed brocolli, spinach, and
diced carrots mixed in.
7. I made Jack chicken nuggets shaped french fries, baked sweet potato fries, and steamed peas the other night. I felt bad that it was
unhealthy, but at least the chicken was organic and rolled in a multi grain breading.
8. Soft ground beef or chicken tacos, refried beans, and rice.
9. Pretty much anything we eat. Pork chops are hard for him to chew and get down still.

Here are a couple things I did this week.

I made a batch of mini turkey burgers and mixed an entire grated
zucchini and a bunch of steamed diced carrot shreds into it. I formed the patties, froze them, and then put them in a ziploc in the freezer.
There are so many veggies in them that if I feed Jack veggies on the
side too, it's just bonus. They're really easy to work with since I
just bring one out in the morning to defrost in the fridge. They're
small (like those mini burgers at pubs), so nothing goes to waste.
This was easy, fast, and it will take care of at least a dozen meals.

I also made a big tray of spinach lasagne using whole wheat noodles and lots of Italian turkey sausage. I'm going to freeze slices today for use later.

Jack also loves grilled asparagus, zucchini, and summer squash. Or
I'll saute sliced zucchini in garlic, toss it with diced canned
tomatoes, and top with a bit of parmesan cheese.

Things I always keep on hand in the freezer:

Morning Star Farms spinach artichoke and cheddar broccoli thingies (patties in a breading)
Morning Star Farms veggie burgers
Morning Star Farms country scrambles
Amy's organic shepherd's pie
Amy's organic turkey pot pie
Frozen diced veggies like those corn, pea, green bean combo, peas,
corn, edamame, broccoli (steam in microwave)
Single serving frozen broccoli w/cheese sauce (I'll mix in brown rice
and diced chicken when I'm desperate for something to make)
I also found these frozen sweet potato patties at the store recently.
They're very low in sugar. I bake them, add a bit of butter, fresh
grated nutmeg, and cinnamon and mix them into a mashed potato like clump. They're awesome. Jack likes them also as much as I do:)

roseroseroseroserose · December 2008

well you can't beat Julie's post...but www.wholesometoddlerfood.com has lots of great ideas too.

ceecee31 · December 2008

Awesome ideas, guys! THANKS A BUNCH!

FSUSammy · December 2008

I usually give DS whatever we are eating because he is an endless pit and will eat anything. He also eats turkey and cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese and even quesadillas. When we get a rotisserie chicken he gets shredded chicken like its going out of style. You have to get creative with their menu and find out what your little one likes to eat yet keep exposing them to new foods and textures.

lisa777 · December 2008

My DS eats anything and everything and will not stop eating either. When he first wakes up in the morning, he likes to have a bottle of milk and then once he is out of bed, we will give him either a chopped up banana or an apple. He is with my parents during the day so I am not completely sure what he eats all the time but he has his oatmal cereal and fruit for his breakfast or should I say 2nd breakfast, then he will have snack which is usually just some puffs. Lunch is usually one of the Gerber dinners, or grilled cheese or mac n cheese, then he will have fruit in the afternoon for snack. He usually eats whatever we eat for dinner or sometimes I'll give him chicken nuggets for a treat.