Best toddler friendly recipes

[daisymommy]

What inspired this thread is my triple attempts at 3 different meatball recipes that were all too spicy or flavored for Joshua, and having to dump some of them (because who needs 6 dozen meatballs!) Calling LisaS on this one if she is out there! I remember her posting that she makes meatballs with a cranberry/brown sugar/onion/tomatoe puree sauce YUMMY!:9

Let's all post recipes (not just for meatballs;)) that we make for our older babies and toddlers.

[nohomama]

These are really tastey and Lola loves them. I should also note that, with the exception of baking, Dan and I tend to improvise a lot when we cook. This recipe lends itself well to that style of cooking. If you don't have shallots, use onions. No vegetable stock, use chicken stock instead. No fresh basil, use dried basil and mabye a little dried oregano too. Also, if you're short on time, try using a jar of prepared pasta sauce instead of making this sauce from scratch.

From Annabel Karmel's "First Meals":

Turkey Balls & Pepper Sauce

For Red Pepper Sauce-
1 1/2 T vegetable oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 1/2 red peppers, seeded and chopped
1 T tomato paste
3 T chopped fresh basil
2 C vegetable stock
salt & pepper to taste

For Turkey Meatballs-
1 lb ground turkey
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small apple, peeled & grated
3 T fresh bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 T fresh sage or thyme, chopped (we often leave this out)
salt & pepper to taste
flour for coating
2 T vegetable oil for frying

1. To make the red pepper sauce, heat the oil in a skillet, add the shallots and red peppers, and saute until softened. Stir in the remaining ingredients and season to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Blend until smooth.

2. Mix together all the ingredients for the meatballs, seasoning to taste. Use your hands to form the mixture into about 24 walnut-sized balls. Spread the flour on a plate and use to coat the meatballs. Heat the oil in a skillet, add the meatballs, and saute until golden all over.

3. Transfer the meatballs to a casserole, cover with the pepper sauce, and cook in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and well browned.

Serve over rice, speghetti, or egg noodles.

[cinrein]

My mom makes a similar version of turkey meatballs too--sometimes she used ground chicken. Anna hasn't tried them yet, but my nieces have and love them. My mom's trick is to finely chop spinach and sneak it into the meatballs--you don't even taste it!

She also makes a version without eggs since one niece has an egg allergy. She uses lots of grated Parmesan cheese to make them stick together into balls.


Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[August Mom]

Here's a recent thread with a number of meatball recipes (although not necessarily just for toddlers) http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=37&topic_id=39492&mesg_id=39492&listing_type=search

Personally, I just give DS some of whatever we're having and don't cater to him. He sometimes likes what we're having and sometimes doesn't. That's okay with me. He has grown to like spicier foods as he sees DH and I eating them. He now even eats chili and chicken chili, which I find quite spicy. So, if you like things spicy and flavored, I would just keep introducing them and Joshua may like them too someday.

[alleyoop]

I made this last night and DS whoofed it down! Some people use milk instead of wine, but I think that it is the twang of the wine that makes it good.

Chicken and Wine
6 breasts chicken
salt and pepper
6 slices (one package) swiss cheese
2 cans Cream of Chx with Herbs
3/4 cup white wine
2 cups Chicken stuffing

Heat oven to 350. In bowl, mix soup and wine. In 13x9 pan, layer chicken, s&p, cheese, soup mixture. Sprinkle stuffing over. Bake 1hour, 15min, until bubbly all around and stuffing is golden. Serve over sticky white rice.