Hi Mammas,
What do you feel your toddler's for lunch? Also, do your toddlers each the required amount (servings) of vegetables? I'd love to have some new lunch ideas for my little boy and also some new ways to feed him veggies.
we feed our 16 month old peanut butter and jelly sandwich with sweet potato fries, cut apples, cut pears, green beans, peas, turkey sandwich, etc
my youngest daughter's favorite things to eat for lunch are deli sliced tukey, ham, grapes, oranges and grilled cheese sandwiches. She loves yogurt. Another thing that she loves (if you don't mind the sodium) is ramen noodles.
Remember that toddlers are usually grazers -- due to their high energy levels and yet still small stomaches. Fill an ice cube tray with various snacks and allow him to eat at his pace. We give our toddler a little of whatever we are eating -- I make a lot of soups and give her the veggies from the soups. She also eats a lot of PLAIN yogurt (I would avoid anything with added flavors- unnecessary sugars) with fresh fruit.
Try tiny pastas, I know there is a type that looks like a tiny round bead I forget the name but toddlers love this finger food, you add any veggies like peas, carrots, broccoli. cubes peaches. string cheese. asparagus spears, just give him the spear part (my 11 mo. loves this!) my old babysitter use to add corn to my mac-n-cheese. for something different, try different pasta shapes instead of maccaroni, use small shells, with white chedder, and add a veggie and cubbed ham. cheesey breads.
How about a hash brown mix with corn and sausage, or ham and egg, easy for little hands. cubed yams or sweet potatoes. dehydrated fruits, like apples and banana chips, crasins. spagetti squash is really good, plus Toddlers like to pull the strings out. Zucchini bread. pumpkin bread. hope some of these ideas sare new and work for you. good luck.
Both of my kids (3 and 1) eat pretty much whatever I do. My 3 year old loves cucumber salad-cukes and cherry tomatoes cut up and mixed with a little Italian dressing. Sometimes I make a chef salad with lettuce tomatoes cheese cukes deli meat and
Ranch dressing. I have found they eat more veggies if I serve them while I am making dinner. The frozen steamable veggies really come in handy for that. I also make beef vegetable soup alot-that way they get a little of everything in one meal.
