Hi J.,
I realize this is a late response, but, I figured better late than never - hopefully I'll be able to give you some ideas. My daughter is 22 months old & her diet includes some of the following things:
Fresh yams (I boiled them, peel them & mash them), they're inexpensive and 2 or 3 large yams will last through several meals. Scrambled eggs with or without cheese (I use white american because I love the way it melts) - I also make omelettes w/diced bellpepper & onion. Oatmeal - not the gerber or any other child's variety...usually kashi or which ever version has something like added Omega 3, ALA - etc. I mix in either a small amount of natural honey, some Yo-Baby yogurt, or cut up bananas, peaches, blackberries…etc. I buy sliced lean turkey sandwich meat (very thin) & she’ll eat a few pieces of that solo. She also loves fresh blackberries, strawberries, boysenberries, raspberries, white grapes, bananas, and sliced avocado. I have a recipe for a turkey chili – which is mild – that I can send you if you’d like…she loves to eat that either plain or with shredded cheddar cheese stirred in or as a side with another meal. Shredded chicken stir-fry (they’re meant to be fajitas but I avoid giving her a lot of unnecessary flour/starch) which has the chicken, red & green bell peppers, onion, shredded cheddar. If I stop at McDonalds I get her the fruit and walnut salad (it’s only a $1.50) and every once in a while I’ll grab a sausage & cheese mcmuffin (subtract the egg) for her which she’ll pull apart and eat each half separately. She absolutely loves tomatoes. She also eats shrimp, originally getting her to try it I had to let her dip it in a little bit of cocktail sauce because that’s what she saw me doing – and a lot of the time getting her to eat something new, or something she’s not excited about, simply means letting her dip it in a sauce – some ranch, maybe a little bit of ketchup or bbq or even a-1…just enough to peak her interest. She loves pb&j sandwiches – and I always include a fruit like pears, or even fruit cocktail (I only buy the canned fruit if it’s packed in water) and I only make her a half of a sandwich. I don’t give her white breads, she gets (I believe it’s Nature’s Promise – I’m not sure) a wheat bread that has double fiber & lots of grain, I also buy mini bagels (Thomas, I believe) that are wheat and I’ll put peanut butter on those, or I’ll even make her a mini sandwich with the turkey breast & a little bit of mustard. She loves the cottage cheese doubles (they include a side of fruit), and Yo-Baby yogurts (I’ve never tried her on the ones that have fruit/cereal included) and graham crackers (I buy the ones without cinnamon & sugar). I also make a beef stew and a chicken stew (both include green beans, onion, celery, corn, wax beans, zucchini & yellow squash). We do have some pasta – if possible I get wheat pasta. My family is Italian so I make my own marinara gravy w/meatballs – which she loves. So she’ll eat a few meatballs w/gravy and some parmesan cheese. Sometimes we’ll have spaghetti, rotini (I have a recipe for a casserole we call tomatoes, cheese & macaroni – sometimes I add ground meat into that I can give you those as well), the shell pasta (stuffed shells), elbow macaroni, and tortellini (cheese and cheese w/spinach). I try not to have pasta often and when I do I try to mix it up…marinara sauce, my gravy, an alfredo sauce, an alfredo sauce with sundried tomato (I also make one homemade), we even tried a pesto sauce once & I mixed it with alfredo…which she wasn’t ecstatic about but she did enjoy somewhat.
I think the main thing is to remember that children that are pre-toddler/toddler ages develop a lot of their early preferences based on texture more than even the taste of the food. If you try to versions of different meats it could really help you find meats that she will eat. For instance, if you notice the chicken foods Nevaeh eats are basically all shredded chicken…however she’s not a big fan of like chicken fingers/chicken nuggets. She even loves shredded chicken tacos, I just take all of the insides out – chicken, tomato, sour cream, cheese – and she’ll eat it without the tortilla. She loves salads too – but – she won’t eat the lettuce unless it’s super small & it’s mixed with mostly the toppings…I believe that’s a texture thing for her. So maybe he wouldn’t like a cheeseburger but he would enjoy a ground beef soft taco, or he’d love cut up grilled pork chops, or he’d prefer chicken fingers but not the shredded chicken – or maybe only if you dip it for him. I do want to add that I agree with the other posters, you're doing a great job. Good luck Mama!