Meal Ideas for 1 Year Old

Do you have a crock pot? If not, buying one would be a great investment. They are not that expensive at Target or similar stores and are readily available in second-hand shops as well. Then google "crock pot recipes" and you'll have a whole slew of ideas to look through. Crock pot meals are usually fast and easy to prepare, and ingredients can be put into the pot in the morning and be ready for dinner when dinner time comes. They also tend to be soft meals that can be easily chewed by a toddler. Then you'll have enough for leftovers!

As toddlers, my children also loved any kinds of beans and rice.

Best wishes!

It really depends on how adventerous you are. My dd adores beans so any time I'm at the grocery store, I pick up a small helping of the black bean salads as a treat (it was an indian summer salad this week - corn, black beans, and other veg all mixed together).

There's a great company called Just Tomatoes (www.justtomatoes.com) that sells dried fruits and veg. I've been keeping these on hand, as well as fresh, for easy snacking. Sometimes dinner is as simple as a carrot stick, a celery stick, some grated cheddar, and a protein.

We've also had big success with fish sticks, tuna salad, baked fish, ribs, pork chops, steak, and ham. Right now, the most exciting thing for her is DIP! Anything that can be dipped is great - ketchup, ranch dressing, bbq sauce . . . If she can dip it, she'll eat it.

We have been doing fruit and yogurt for breakfast. An apple, a pear, and a cup of yogurt split between the two of us (although I usually have peanut butter or cashew butter with my fruit - she's just not into those yet).

It's hard when we work, huh? :)
I like everyone's idea of cooking ahead and freezing stuff...the only problem with me, is that I truly don't have the time to just spend cooking a whole bunch of stuff...I swear, our schedule is just booked.

I do things like cook extra food (I have some for leftovers at lunch the next day, and the rest I save for the baby). I am trying really hard to have her eat what we eat whenever possible. I try to plan the meals so that one night I can make something that Renee can have...and I save extra for the next night in case I make something that she's less likely to eat (like if I make something spicy).

Sometimes what is a side dish for us makes for a good base of a meal for a little one...like if I make rice as a side, I just throw some chicken or meat in and she loves it.

Cheerios, Kix and other cereals. Fruit, especially berries, bananas and grapes (make sure you cut those small enough). Regular chicken breast from baked chicken or pan-fried cutlets. Any other meat that you are eating, like pork chops, can also be cut small for her. Sometimes though, I season the kids' meat less than ours. Hot dogs too can be done, but cut small. Yogurt is also a good kid food. Hope that gives you some more ideas! Best of luck!

My one year old loves cream cheese and jelly on whole wheat. Its easy and portable.

Lots of good suggestions already (esp. yogurt). I'll add three more: soup, esp. if you're really low on time. You can get low sodium, and there's some chock full of veggies or lentils, etc. (and it can be a side to your dinner). And salmon patties/cakes (easy to have canned salmon on hand and you can throw them together and have them cooked in about 10 minutes as a meal for the whole family). My son (12 months) LOVES salmon patties. Go figure! And avocado -- very nutritious. Good luck!

Hey T.
What to mean when you say you work "nights"? I work at 5pm-12 midnight 2 evenings and every second weekend, same idea. I still have to eat dinner myself, as well as my husband and kids. You would have to eat as well, right! I just plan ahead and make something that I can take to heat up at work that the rest of my family can also eat. You got great suggestions on meal idea and sites to check out.
I am actually making a casserole for our supper now. Using spiral pasta, boneless chicken breasts, frozen package of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, and will add a jar of spaghetti sauce or sometimes I do a can of cheddar cheese soup, depending on my mood. You can make a big enough one for 2 meals. I actually prefer not freezing casseroles, as they seem to be runny and lose taste, but just make enough for 2 meals. I do buy big packages of hamburg, cook and freeze them in amounts to make a casserole, so it is still quick and easy.Getting your family to eat the same thing will make life so much easier and eliminate mealtime battles in the future, ensuring your family is ALL eating healthier.

my son used to love bean burritos at that age.

Hi T.,
The biggest issue is time. as long as you make time to make some batches of food that you can freeze for your husband to re-heat. there are actually some good books that give great ideas for feeding toddlers. At that age my daughter loved to chew on corn on the cob, cottage cheese, hummus, guacamole, fat free re-fried beans.
I would also try changing, your pasta to organic whole wheat, it has more protien than regular pasta. My kids also love fish. they love my cream cheese pasta with salmon or tilapia in it. (saute chopped leak and or onion, cook pasta and broccali, add cream cheese and milk to saute mix, cut up whatever fish you would like to use into smallish pieces and add to frying pan, when cooked add pasta and broccali and mix with the sauce).

Hope this helps!

Www.chowmama.com
I have fed both my children recipes from this site from 6 months up and my 3 yr. Old eats what we eat, every meal and always has. We went thru one very short phase of pickiness, but I believe that feeding her a diverse selection of flavors from the very begining made her so adventurous. We also have a deal where she always has to at least try one or two bites of anything new that she seems sceptical about.

I would suggest yogurt, yogurt and fruit smoothies, fruit, cheese, crackers, small pieces of cooked chicken (doesn't always have to be breaded nuggets or fingers), meatballs, rice, mashed potatoes, steamed, soft broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato "fries", squash sauteed til tender, etc. As long as she can chew it and its soft enough and small enough for her, she can have anything!
Have you tried making large batches of things and freezing them so your husband doesn't really have to "cook" just heat up? That would save you time & money.
I'm lucky b/c I have a kid who begs to try new stuff--he gets bored with the same old stuff everyday so he keeps me on my toes! I guess he's like that b/c he's always just had what we have and he likes that wide variety and choice. Having a non-picky eater (by giving her lots of different stuff now) will come in handy in a few years! Good luck.

i get like that too, where i feel like all i feed my son is the same stuff. i figured out somethings to get more veges into him... like mixing spinach in his eggs in the morning or putting a slice of tomato on his grilled cheese (he loves it) I cut up fruit (straberries(have to watch allergies tho), grapes, oranges and he loves bananas, then i'll give that to him next to any meal that doesn't have a vege. and i also try to steam up some veges every couple days so that i can have them handy to go with the chicken or on the pizza. My son is also a "grazer" where he eats all day long snack after snack, i just try to make them healthy ones (the best i can, cause it's hard when you work fulltime). i used this website to give me ideas when he first started eating real people food :-).http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile69e.stm
~S.

Keep it simple, but you're right, she needs veggies and more healthy things than just all the old favorite carbs. And now is the time to diversify-or it will get harder!

It's great she's eating eggs, you can finely chop in some asparagus or spinach to the scramble. Add some fresh fruit into her oatmeal. My kids like a dish of dry cheerios with banana sandwiches (banana rounds surrounding natural almond butter) on the side. Or almond butter toast finger sandwiches with a banana on the side. Or apple slices and cinnamon.

Pasta is the saving grace for everything when you're in a hurry. I keep a tub of ready-made whole grain pasta ready for whatever I need to add it to. I get A.'s organic veggie soups-black bean chili, lentil-anything with lots of veggies. Then I heat it up and dump in some pasta and voila. I also add tons of finley chopped or ground veggies into their pasta sauces. We also add finely chopped broccoli or asparagus etc into organic instant mac,n,cheese. It adds in a veggie and stretches the servings. They like cold soy dogs (healthier than real dogs and need no cooking) and slices of cheese for instant protein.

These are the instant things. As for feeding her what you eat, REALLY DO IT! I doubt all you guys eat is grilled cheese and chicken fingers! Focus on making yourselves good meals, and make extra to feed and save for her. Leftovers are the quickest meals!!! Good luck, feeding kids is the never ending challenge!

I would suggested getting her Gerber Graduates Meals and snacks there is alot choices in the graduates.It would help your husband alot and put you at ease. KimS.

I would suggest either making or buying veggie purees to "hide" veggies in her food. We do either sweet potato or pumpkin in mac and cheese and grilled cheese. Spinich puree in eggs makes "green eggs." If you have a food processer, you can make a bunch of puree, freeze it in ice cube trays and just pop a cube or two out to throw into whatever you are making.

Making and freezing your own waffles is very easy and you can make with 1/2 whole wheat flour, some applesauce, and blueberries (we use Trader Joe's wild blueberries because they are tiny). Dip in or top with unsweetened applesauce, and you have a perfect breakfast-- or lunch!

However, what you really need to do (and I know you know this) is find a way for your family to have a more healthy relationship with food-- whether that means you find some easy dishes to make at odd times, or you cook and freeze over the weekend. When my baby was little I went to SuperSuppers a couple of times and stocked the freezer. We usually try to eat organic, but in that case I made an exception and used their meat/vegggies, and the meals were good and fairly nutritious. They are also very inexpensive, which is good when you are on a budget!

Good luck. Even for those of us who stay at home, this is a really tough issue. I made a daily menu for a while-- Monday breakfast was yogurt and apple, lunch was grilled cheese (with puree) and grapes,etc. That helped because I knew what to shop for each week, and took the guess work out of meals. After a while, I felt like I got my feet under me, and could come up with stuff on the fly.

T.,
Baby NEEDS now and FOREVER all food groups to grow, develope , be healthy .
STOP the DAILY PIZZA [ salt salt salt ...fat!]
stop the chic fingers etc .... yuk
eggs= easy
salads = easy fun
boneless chic , pork, etc made on your day off [ no fat, no salt] eat w/ everything
a slice of bread .
think of her future .
we are what we eat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
feed her ' real' food
fruit season is here too !!!!!!!!
a grammy

You could try making large meals and freezing them. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are quick to cook and freeze well. You can buy frozen mixed veggies that are already cut into tiny pieces and tend to be fairly soft when steamed. I work late 3 times a week, and if my husband doesn't have time to make dinner early, the boys usually have last night's left overs. I often plan to having enough left over on the nights I cook so the boys will have something to eat the next night if necessary. Is you husband at all receptive to cooking the nights you work? It's a huge stress relief - not to mention resentment relief - that my husband cooks the nights I work. Our deal is whoever cooks, the other one cleans up. It's helped keep in peace in our marriage for the past 10 years!

Good luck