Favorite Toddler meals?

[trumansmom]

I'm in dire need of ideas. DS is the pickiest eater on the planet, and we have quite a limited list of things he will eat. What are some of your toddler's favorite meals?

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

[brubeck]

Amy loves the standard kiddie staples:

mac & cheese
chicken fingers/nuggets
pizza
grilled cheese
pasta/ravioli with tomato sauce
hot dogs

I make these slightly more nutritious by buying the 'enriched' versions and by occasionally mixing in some veggies (eg: peas into pasta sauce).

I am usually able to get her to ingest fruit at breakfast (although recently she makes a fuss over anything but grapes). She also loves to eat whatever cereal Daddy is eating so she usually has some vitamins that way. I also manage to get a container of yogurt down her once a day.

Now Truman is a year younger than Amy, so you may have to save this for awhile, but I find I have great sucess with the 'dessert reward' game. It goes like this:

I put dinner in front of Amy.
She doesn't want to eat it.
I say, "too bad, then I guess you can't have any cookies!".
She perks up.
I say, "If you eat ALL of your dinner you can have 2 cookies afterwards."
She starts eating.
If she stops eating I repeat my bribe.

It's old, but it works. Another trick is to offer a choice, even if they don't want to make it. For example:

I say, "Amy, would you like chicken or a sandwich for lunch?"
She says, "Pizza!"
I repeat, "Amy, would you like chicken or a sandwich for lunch?" If possible, I show her the boxes so she can see the pictures.
She says, "No, I want pizza!"
I say, "Alright, I guess we can have a sandwich for lunch."
She freaks out, "No sandwich! I want chicken!"

And the choice is made.

I know, I'm soooo bad. :)

[egoldber]

Have you tried soup? Sarah will eat things in soup that she won't normally touch!

[newbelly2002]

Dante's favorites include;

Spinach (mixed with melted mozerella cheese sometimes)
Spaetzle (small boiled noodles a little firmer than normal)
Salmon of any sort (lox, steak, fillet...)
Grilled cheese
Fish sticks
Roasted potatoes (another good candidate for mixing: peas, carrots, little bits of sausage)
Small breakfast link style sausages (nuremberger, over here)
Cauliflower with hollandaise sauce (who knew?)

He's not a soup fan unless he has a lot of patience that day. I'm feeling a little uninspired recently, though, so I'm really looking forward to everyone else's responses!

Paula
Mama to Dante, 8/1/02

[emmiem]

Here is a list of my 2 3/4 year old.
mac n cheese
any and all fruit
drinkable yogurt
canned carrots, green beans, peas
pasta
cheese cubes
home made quesadilla
black beans
rice
chicken
peanut and jelly
string cheese, if fact, any cheese
Since this is her first Halloween, she has now discovered candy. What a mistake. Looks like the trash can will be full tomorrow!:)
Emmie

[cara1]

I second the quesadillas. I made this on whole wheat tortillas with chicken and cheese, and I also snuck in some (frozen) chopped spinach on the inside. Woo-hoo, he ate veggies without knowing it! And they were really good, too! I made another version with lower fat cheese for DH and me. I also got him to nibble on a veggie burger once. May have to try that one again...

[newbelly2002]

Do they have veggie sticks in the States? They are frozen and stocked by, as well as resemble, fish sticks. However, they have veggies inside,some also have cheese. For the veggie-avoiders, this is one way to sneak some in. Also, if the babe likes mashed potatoes, you can mix spinch, squash, etc in with the potatoes.

The quesadillas sound great. Are they really messy?

Paula
Mama to Dante, 8/1/02

[sarasprings]

DS really goes for lasagna. Everything else has been mentioned.

I'm going to try the quesadilla's for dinner next week.

[August Mom]

Chicken Nuggets/Chicken Strips

Chicken Parmesan (although he doesn't really like the pasta)

Rice Pilaf

Mac & Cheese

Quesadillas

Bell Peppers, especially orange ones, both raw and sauteed

Black Beans, Pinto Beans, Kidney Beans, Navy Beans

Pork Tenderloin

Pot Roast (and the potatoes and carrots cooked with it in the crock pot)

Pork Shoulder (and the potatoes and carrots cooked with it in the crock pot)

Beef and Peppers (the beef is marinated in a soy sauce/sherry mixture) - DS usually gobbles the beef up

Fajitas - he likes the meat and the peppers

Chili - recently he likes both beef and chicken chili if Mom and Dad are eating it too. He especially likes to dip tortilla chips in it.

Edename (soy beans) - I'm not sure I can call this a favorite, but he has been eating these as a snack this week on most days so it isn't a rejection

[mom2kes]

Just wanted to add that I find if I put spinach or kale in the Cuisenart, I can slip it in to almost any meal unnoticed: pasta sauce, bean and cheese burritos, lasagne, macaroni, fried rice, you name it. Blending vegetable soups with cream and a little parmesean also gets them by most finicky eaters. Vegetables in "sticks" or "trees" with ranch dressing for dipping tends to be a hit here also.

[trumansmom]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! DS is in the process of getting molars, so he's pretty much not eating anything other than yogurt and apple sauce these days. But, as soon as those puppies are in, we'll be trying out all of these great ideas!

Thanks again!
Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and EDD 4/23/04!

[JacksMommy]

My son loves to eat his veggies frozen. Especially frozen peas and corn even though he won't eat them fresh. I think it helps when he's teething, too.

Good luck!