My toddler really loves his pasta, and I try to make healthy substitutions. One surprise is that pureed squash makes a great pasta sauce. You can mix it half and half with the usual cheese, or use it alone mixed with a little olive oil and sea salt for a really healthy meal. I find that just mixing up what SHAPE the pasta is and substituting a few ingredients can make it seem like a new meal.
Branch out her love of bread by buying different kinds. Trader Joes has a huge selection of different breads. I like their organic Ezekiel bread which is high in protein, and their Middle Eastern flat bread which goes well w/ hummus. My son calls the flatbread "pizza bread" because it is round, and loves to make his own pizzas with some crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and various veggies and meats.
I also take a lot of shortcuts (like buying the premade frozen brown rice at Trader Joes because then I don't have to babysit a pot of rice for 45 minutes). Or if I'm baking chicken, I'll do twice as much as we need for that evening, and use the rest for other meals (like chicken salad) or freeze it for later use.
I also keep in mind that my toddler is often more impressed by having an array of finger foods to pick from (like olives, fruit and veggie slices, sunflower seeds and nuts, cubed tofu, sliced meat, peas or baby carrots, and breadsticks) than by any cooked "meal" I could put together. It gives me a night off and we'll just go buffet-style and put our own plates of finger foods and salads together. He loves it.
Also, I find that the more often I can get my 2 1/2 year old involved in making the meal, the more often he will try a new food. We made an apple pie a few days ago (substituting a 100% palm oil shortening found at Whole Foods for the usual trans fat laden shortening) and he had a blast -- he was involved in the whole thing, from picking the apples to cutting the first slice. He was so proud.
