Each week I face the task of trying to think up meal ideas that will fit my toddler's needs, likes and that his daddy and I will enjoy. For the most part I am blessed to have a toddler that is a great eater. He loves meal time and will almost always try everything on his plate even if he doesn't finish it all. Today I thought we would look at some meal time tips and then also some different toddler appropriate meals. When it comes to meal time there are a couple tips/rules we follow in our house.
We eat together as a family, at the table, no toys or technology. There are always exceptions every once in awhile, but it's important to me that we teach our son that meal time is a time not only of nourishment for our bodies but for our family as well. We talk about our day and discuss what we will be doing throughout the week. It's an enjoyable time and it's not rushed so that our toddler has plenty of time to eat at the pace that works for his little body. He has even began wanting to help set the table when he is getting hungry because he thinks that will make the food magically cook faster I guess?
We put everything on our plate. Even if it's just a little spoonful, everyone tries a little bit of all the foods. I've found that as I have gotten older, my tastes and likes have changed. Giving children the opportunity to try something, then try it again a few months later allows them to realize if their tastes have changed as well. Just because they didn't like it before doesn't always mean they won't like it now. We don't make our son finish anything on his plate because forcing him to eat something he doesn't want to will just be stressful for everyone, but it's their on his plate and most of the time he tries it all out.
I try to get a variety of simple foods each week that I can have chopped up and prepared to mix and match throughout the week. Some of my sons favorites include: chicken fingers (of course with ketchup), any kind of pasta, veggie chips, grilled cheese, bananas, broccoli, yogurt and various crackers.
While all children's tastes vary along with their appetite I wanted to find a list of meal ideas for toddlers. I found a great list of quick toddler meals from Lindsay at the Lean Green Bean (https://www.theleangreenbean.com/quick-toddler-meal-ideas/).
What does your toddler love to eat? Do you have any tips for planning for toddler meals? Please Share!