Well- she used to love everything- but not anymore! I cook dinner for the family but that seems to be the only "cooked" meal of the day. She loves fruit, cheese and oatmeal- but we are wearing those out. I need quick lunch and breakfast ideas for an 18 month old- and it would be great if the picky 6 year old sister liked it too. I seem to be making the same things everyday. (Nuggets, sandwiches, soups) Yes, I know there are no vegetables listed here. I serve them, but neither DD likes them. She does not like any of the Gerber or baby food meals. Thanks for any suggestions!
Mine always liked beans at that age ! Good source of protien too. My boys just had bean burritos or quesadillas (or just a tortilla rolled up with some beans and cheese inside). My daughter loves the zaterains (sp?) beans & rice - we buy both black & red. Yum!
I hear ya on the vegetables, two of mine will eat peas, they will eat corn and that is it!!!! And their daddy isn't much better.
How funny! My son is also 18 months old, but lately he has been giving up all his favorite foods and wanting ONLY what we have on our plates. I guess this is good, but it means no more ordering pizza for us and giving him a healthy meal :) As someone else mentioned, beans have been a favorite, especially Baked Beans. I sometimes mix a can of mixed veggies into his and he eats it pretty well. He's also into bread... guess he gets that from mommy! We have raisin bread and yogurt for breakfast quite a lot. You can buy it in whole grain now, which is great! He also loves Eggo waffles and English Muffins with a little jelly on top. I also buy the bags of precooked frozen fajita chicken and heat up a few strips for lunch sometimes along with a tortilla and some cheese. Obviously at that age it gets eaten seperately, but he basically gets fajitas for lunch. Good luck.
Contact me at my website and I'll send you a summary of ideas for toddler and pre-school meals that I've used in my daycare program for years. If anything, it might give you some ideas of your own.
My son was the best infant eater and for some reason at about 18 months or so he started to get very finicky. Here is what I did. I make 3 healthy meals - if he eats it great. If not I don't force it. I cut the snacks down to 2 healthy snacks per day - I make at least 1 snack a veggie. As kids get older food becomes a control issue, so you really have to know that they will eventually eat the healthy things you put in front of them when they are hungry enough! Don't become a short order cook!
I totally agree with Alexis. I know it seems mean, but if they are hungry, they will eat it. I feed mine whatever we are having. If they eat it great, if not - it is off to the bath.
Here's a few things that have worked for me with my twin girls: Green beans - I add a tablespoon of barbeque sauce to a can, leave the water from the can with the beans, heat up in microwave. The girls love it, and often we serve them cold - the barbeque sauce kind of marinates in the green beans. Just the beans on the plate, no liquid. Also show them funny ways to eat them, like suck them in long-ways, etc. Weiners are also good treats; if he doesn't like them plain, cut them up, add a tablespoon of barbeque sauce and a little water heat it up in the microwave, and tell him it's barbeque. Give it to him sometime when you and your husband have barbeque and he will be more interested. Turkey roll-ups are good - deli style turkey on a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese, heat in microwave til cheese melts. Try getting him to help make the roll-up; kids have more interest if they help make the meal. Serve it without rolling it up, and he has his own pizza - try it first time when you and hubby have pizza. Try multi-grain bread toasted with sliced turkey and melted cheese, since he likes bread so much. Mac & cheese and boxed mashed potatoes are a staple around here, along with the chicken nuggets. Also corny dogs - remember, he can still have some fat in his diet. Kids like to dip. Try a veggie plate with salad dressing (ranch) for dipping. Pretend it's all for you and pretend you don't really want to give it to him. Try cucumber slices, tomatoe slices. Baked beans are a staple here too. For a quick fix, Quaker's cereal bars are pretty good; I spent a lot of time looking at the nutrition content on all those cereal bars before picking those out; I started with "strawberry bites," but I don't think they make them anymore. Chicken pot pie and chicken fettucine are also favorites here and easy to fix. Also have much luck with making it a social occasion; reward for so many bites taken, etc. But don't try to force too much food; toddlers know when they are hungry.
Mine is 18 months old and eats everything. He really loves black eyed peas, hard boiled eggs and turkey slices.
He loves fajitas and quesadillas. Just melt some cheese with a mix of grilled (or sauteed) mix of chicken, steak, mushrooms, red peppers onions...
He also loves stirfry, peas, carrots, celery... with some good sauce, eggrolls (we buy them oremade at Walmart) and rice.
And I just found out he loves baked potatoes with brocolli, cheese a little bit of bacon and smart balance butter (much healthier.
Mke gound beef with taco mix, add green beans and cook it in the mix. Take premade refridgerated buttermilk or flaky biscuits and put them on a baking sheet. Sperate them in half and put 2 tablespoons of the taco mix on the bottom of each one, sprinkle on some cheese. Put the top part of the biscuit back on and press the edges shut. Bake for the recommended amount of time on the biscuit package. We love these.
I just try and add in some veggies to whatever I make since those are harder to get him to eat on his own.
