Help me identify quick, nutritious food for my 1 yo

[megan973]

We pack his lunch for day care each day... we typically have a No Sugar Added fruit cup (peaches, mandarin oranges or pears) and a 3rd stage fruit or veggie (sometimes mix oatmeal in it).

He is not a huge fan of meat yet... I hate to keep relying on puffs, Cheerios and the like.

Any suggestions of easy, fresh items? He is almost one. He does okay with some toasts.

[BabyBearsMom]

Our daycare provides food, but things that I pack for DD if we are going to be out are (I cut or break all of these into small pieces):

- cheese
- fruit
- steamed veggies
- a roll/bagel/bread
- crackers (graham or fishies etc.)/dry cereal/Mum Mums
- Sliced turkey, ham, roast beef or chicken

[BabyBearsMom]

Oh, and yogurt or apple sauce.

[weech]

Some things we feed DS:
Fresh steamed veggies (peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, squash, etc), any type of bread/bagel, hummus, crackers, cheese, homemade muffins, waffles, pancakes, most beans (pinto, kidney, white, black, etc), and all types of fruit.

Just a warning about the No Sugar Added fruit cups - I'm 99% sure they have artificial sweeteners in them. We always look for fruit in 100% juice.

[infocrazy]

Be careful with the No Sugar Added fruit cups...I was getting those for awhile and realized they don't add sugar, they add splenda :angry-smiley-005: I think Dole has fruit juice ones now though...

DD loves cheese, noodles, lots of veggies, blueberries, bananas, turkey meatballs from TJ, crackers, pieces of chicken, pizza :bag , cottage cheese, etc... waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs...

[megan973]

Thank you for the feedback... I'll have to check out the fruit cups. Labels are so tricky! I thought I was buying the right thing!

We're probably going to start doing some eggs... he's had a bit, but I want to be sure he's good to go with eggs so he can have cake at his birthday! :)

Do you add anything to the waffles/pancakes, i.e. spray butter, jelly, etc? Do you make them from scratch, or is there a particular mix that you like?

We do the Gerber yogurt that doesn't need to be refrigerated. He likes applesauce, but not the fruit flavors (oh, how about the no sugar applesauce?... still added sweeteners?)

We are not the most nutritious of eaters, and I'm trying not to pass our carb habits onto our LO.

What about dried fruits? We use the Gerber ones, but they are so $$$. Most of the others I've seen have some chemicals in them, and I'm not sure if they're okay for him. Maybe I need to check the health food stores for something more natural.

Thanks again for the responses.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Beans!! They are so easy and nutritious and able to be eaten with the fingers easily.
eta0 skip the dried fruits if they are like raisins or fruit snacks. They get stuck in the molars and can cause cavities.

etaa- Like pp said, I would skip the no sugar added fruit cups if they have artificial sweetner (sucralose, Splenda, nutrisweet...) as those just aren't good for anyone. I also avoid fake butter spray stuff- just use real butter (not margarine). Cream cheese on pancakes, waffles or cinnamon raisin bread is good too.

I make my pancakes from scratch. Super easy. I use the Joy of Cooking recipe. Sometimes I use a Whole Foods' brand mix and that is pretty good too. Trader Joe's has a multigrain one if you want to add a little bit more nutrition to the pancakes or waffles.

Mac and cheese in a thermos
Grilled cheese or cheese quesadilla
ravioli or tortelini (again, these can go in the thermos or wrapped in foil). Keep sauceless if you don't want a mess and just have the sauce in a small container (like a Gladware snack sized container) for dipping. Dipping is very popular. :)

Beth

[lizzywednesday]

...

We do the Gerber yogurt that doesn't need to be refrigerated. He likes applesauce, but not the fruit flavors (oh, how about the no sugar applesauce?... still added sweeteners?)

...

What about dried fruits? We use the Gerber ones, but they are so $$$. Most of the others I've seen have some chemicals in them, and I'm not sure if they're okay for him. Maybe I need to check the health food stores for something more natural.
...

Look for "natural" applesauce rather than "no sugar added" applesauce.

I am leery of that Gerber yogurt; my sister ended up with an unexpired package that was curdled (!) and that put her off it permanently.

She's been getting YoBaby and YoToddler refrigerated ever since! (For my DD, I just get plain, organic, whole-milk Greek style yogurt from Trader Joe's. She does fine with it.)

As for dried fruit ... I thought the recommendation was to avoid dried fruits in kids under 1?

[brittone2]

Cheese and peas (can toss in frozen peas and it keeps the cheese cool for a while).

sweet potato "fries' (just cut a sweet potato into fry shapes and bake until soft)

DS1 did not like meat but liked little bits of those flavored sausages (nitrate/nitrite/hormone free). Chicken/apple, feta spinach, etc.

Greek yogurt