Friends and family with kids have been asking me a lot lately… “What do you feed Liam?!” The truth is, we usually feed him whatever we are eating… and over time meals have become pretty peaceful, even enjoyable sometimes! It wasn’t always this way and we’ve had our share of frustrating dinners, but being patient and persistent has definitely paid off. We now have a two-year old who loves salad, sauerkraut, olives, and eats raw onions for fun. I’ve put together a list of recipes from my blog that we’ve made and Liam has happily eaten, but first, here are six things that have worked for us in creating an adventurous eater:
What’s Worked For Us:
- Letting go of your own pre-conceived notions of what kids will like or not like is probably my biggest piece of advice. Just let them try everything and anything! If you’re chopping onions and they grab a handful, let them taste it without making a gross face yourself. Tell them what it is and let them be the judge.
- Get them involved in the kitchen! We have a kitchen helper stool and whenever I’m cooking Liam hops up and watches what I’m doing. It’s a great opportunity for me to show him what each ingredient is and to try it if he wants to. It’s also a great way to get kids to eat veggies while they’re waiting for lunch or dinner to be ready!
- Give a new recipe a few tries before writing it off. For example, if you make a recipe for dinner and they don’t touch it, try offering the leftovers for lunch the next day. Liam has definitely refused a new recipe at dinner only to devour two bowls full at lunch the next day. If I offer it a few times and he doesn’t touch it, I at least try to get him to taste it and then let him be. There’s no point in making meals stressful for the whole family. As long as you’re providing healthy options, then you know they’re getting some good nutrients with the other foods they choose.
- On that note, I do try to steer clear of one-pot dinners if it’s a new recipe he hasn’t tried before. For example I wouldn’t JUST make a pot of chili and hope he likes it. I’d make chili with a salad, and maybe have some sourdough bread and hummus as back-up. I’d then offer the salad first, followed by the chili, and see what happens. If he doesn’t like it, I’ll offer the back-up and try again the next day.
- Don’t keep junk food/junk meals in the house! We don’t have macaroni and cheese or frozen chicken nuggets in the house and therefore those are just NOT options to feed Liam. He doesn’t even know what they taste like so he’s not upset that he’s not eating them or begging for them instead of a real, healthy, meal!
- Set a good example! Liam probably eats salad because I eat salad with him for lunch almost daily. As a stay-at-home mom this also makes it really easy for me because we eat the same things for breakfast and lunch, and we all eat together as a family for dinner.
The best part about making real recipes with real food for your toddler is that you don’t have to worry about spending an hour making little broccoli tater tots because you think that’s what toddlers eat, only to find that your child refuses to touch them (because they are pretty bad, let’s be honest), and then you’ve wasted time and ingredients ($$) on something you don’t want to eat either! It’s much better to make REAL food that you also want to eat and then it’s not wasted time and energy.
PLEASE NOTE: Use your best judgement based on where your child is at. If you need to cut things up smaller, please do! We use kitchen scissors for a lot of meals to quickly cut up lettuce and veggies in a salad or to cut up the veggies in my Portobello mushroom fajitas. Also, please adjust the spice level accordingly. I usually just omit any cayenne or hot sauce in a recipe because I know Liam doesn’t like it too spicy. Use your instincts to make it appropriate for you and your family!
Toddler Friendly Recipes
Breakfast
Omega-3 chocolate Mood-Boosting Smoothie
Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats Hold the nuts or chop really small.
Apple Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast bowl We throw lots of things into cooked quinoa (butternut squash, mashed sweet potato, banana, shredded carrots, apples and coconut, hemp seeds and chia seeds, coconut cream, nut butters, etc.)
Super Green Ginger Smoothie Liam seems to love ginger in smoothies, your child may also
Super Seed Granola (make sure your child is OK with chewing seeds and crunchy things! We didn’t start giving granola to Liam until about 20 months)
Easy Fig Jam Spread this on toast or rice cakes with some nut butter.
Corn, Zucchini and Goat Cheese Mini Quiches
Snacks:
Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffin
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Prenatal Superfood Bites– Yes, great for prenatal but also great for toddlers because of the high-iron ingredients!
Pumpkin Dip– great with apples, bananas or on toast/rice cakes
Naturally Sweetened Banana Carrot Muffins I make these all the time. They freeze well too
No Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars
Lunch/Dinner:
Kale Caesar Salad– Liam’s favourite dinner… no joke. We sub crispy chickpeas instead of using croutons.
Butternut Squash and Quinoa Soup
Spinach and Walnut Pesto Use it on pasta, spaghetti squash, or mixed into scrambled eggs.
Portobello Mushroom Fajitas Chop the veggies smaller after cooking them before wrapping them in the tortilla. Liam loved the cilantro pesto as well.
Spicy Curry Roasted Sweet Potatoes Omit the cayenne pepper!
Easy Miso Ramen Liam loves miso broth and loves these noodles.
Super Simple Baba Ghanoush An easy way to get your kids to eat eggplant! We eat a lot of hummus so this is a nice way to change things up!
Cornbread Muffins Great on the side of soup, stew or chili. They’re gluten free, vegan, and naturally sweetened.
Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Quiche Omit the chili flakes if you think they’ll deter your child from eating it, but it’s really not spicy at all.
Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad
I hope your kiddos like some of these recipes! And remember, they won’t love them all, that’s totally normal, but keep trying and you’ll soon have a child with a healthy appetite for whatever you put in from of them!
