Seeking Advice on Toddler Meal Planning

As long as she's got teeth, her meals can look just like yours, only cut into tiny pieces. For a few months while we transitioned to all table food, we would have something extra for my son (now 21 months) like plain pasta, green beans or peas, and if we were having a tough meat (sometimes pork chops can be hard to chew), I'd skip meat for his meal. Canned veggies are softer, so we used those instead of fresh or frozen. He's just now eating raw broccoli and steamed green beans (from frozen). Some of his staple meals have included:
Any kind of pasta -- plain (with a little butter or milk to keep it from being sticky) or mac n cheese. You can chop it up if it's big pieces like penne or spirals.
green beans
steamed carrots (add a tiny bit of sugar)
steamed broccoli
chicken
ground beef
potatoes or sweet potatoes -- mashed or diced
chopped lunch meat (we try to get the kind without added salt or nitrates. Hormel makes a packaged kind and Boar's Head is in the deli)
cheese
toast with jelly (more jelly = more mess)
yogurt with blueberries in it (run cool water over frozen blueberries to thaw them)
Cheerios, of course
Just about any kind of fruit -- apples and pears needed to be peeled and cut small, mango, kiwi, bananas (watch out for constipation though), mandarin oranges, just about any canned fruit.

Hope that helps. And be sure not to fret over how much she eats (or doesn't eat). I've read that a portion size of any one food for toddlers is about a tablespoon. If you put too much in front of them it's overwhelming and they're more likely to play with it than eat it.

I agree with everyone- try to feed your daughter what you are eating. I do try to buy some items that are standby's for those days that our meals aren't as baby friendly. I will still buy some baby food fruit combinations (these are great for times that you are on the go, too) as well as having applesauce, yogurt, cheese, fresh fruits, broccoli (my son and daughter both love it), wheat toast, and pasta.
My son with only eat soft foods it he has cheerios or something else to hold while he eats them.
My oldest is a great eater and I truly believe that offering lots of fruit and veggies was the key (and we always told her to stop eating when she was full- no cleaning your plate philosophy).

Hi,
I have twin 15 month old boys and I'm proud to say they eat most anything.
I made all their baby food fresh myself so the only transition was testure or form not taste. Baby food is very watered down with lots of additives. So baby food carrots taste nothing like fresh cooked carrots. But my life saver was a new product by Ziploc. They make steam bags. So I steamed all their fresh veggies in the micro in a matter of minutes. I steam them soft and cut them into bite sized peices. I even steamed fruit until they could eat them uncooked. Introduce foods in lots of different varieties, textures and colors. The more variety the more they are apt to eat and get used to veggies.
Brown rice, oatmeal (mixed with applesauce) and whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce are big hits with my boys too. Along with avocados and tomatoes. But they didn't want alot of these foods the first time they tried them. Especially at this age, they will refuse most anything healthy. But wait a day or two and try it again. If you only offer a variety of healthy foods at each meal (even if he eats very little or nothing at all) I promise he will eventually learn to love everything you give him. This age is really tough but stick with it and stay consistent. Good luck!

My 12 month old eats what we do for the most part. We have a very small chopper that we put meats in if necessary. We only chop it a little because it's not necessary to make it almost like a puree. Other than that, he eats what we eat. We don't eat fast food, so neither does he, but we do eat out a couple of times a week. Example: if we go to a Mexican food restaurant, we just order a taco without the lettuce and shell. He does very well with this. Also, we always make sure he has a fruit to eat after. We don't give him regular desserts except on occasion (very very seldom). There's a Combi Mommy's Food Processor that I found the other day for when you go out, and it's very inexpensive. I don't know how it works, but it pretty much looks like a spoon and tongs and a small case to put them in. It says it cuts up chicken strips and pasta, so I'm interested. You may want to check that out. Your 16 month old should be able to eat what you are eating. Just keep it balanced for the most part.

S., Like Maggie said- your daughter should be eating the same thing you do at this point. Here is a great article: http://kidshealth.org/parent/food/general/toddler_meals.html

Don't become a short order cook. Your job is to offer her healthy meals, her job is to eat.
This is a notoriously difficult age, so don't stress!!!

D.

If you'll email me at my website, I'll send you a document I've put together with suggestions for toddler meals.

http://www.missbrenda.com