I am on child number four. You would think by now I would have the whole ‘feeding a toddler’ thing down but it can still really stress me out. I don’t know about other one year olds but my little whippier snapper wants to eat all the time.
By this stage in life baby food is old news and my kids won’t touch it! I think I burned A12 out on cereal, crackers, and yogurt when she was about 7 months old. Now she doesn’t want to touch anything that appears to be even remotely convenient for her mother.
In an effort to keep my little critter happy all day long I came up with 25 things I can make for her, either as a snack or as a meal, when real people food just won’t work, like when the big kids have an afternoon snack of pistachios, or when we are having steak for dinner. The following recipes are healthy (some more than others), easy to make, and very toddler friendly. (Many of these recipes contain peanut butter, eggs, and honey so if your child is younger than 12 months old be sure she can handle it.)
1- Deviled Eggs
2- Rice and Orzo Pilaf
3- Banana Bread Muffins
4- Tuna Salad Sandwich
5- Ground Beef and Black Beans
6- Lemon and Rice Soup
7- Corn Chowder
8- Butternut Squash Soup
9- Fried Rice
10- Chewy Energy Bars
11- Mozzarella Omelet
12- Macaroni and Cheese (pg 120
13- Granola
14- Shortbread Cookies (pg 150)
15- Guacamole with crackers
16- Rice Pudding
17- Yogurt with raisins, nuts, fresh fruit and whipped cream
18- Steamed Broccoli with Cheese
19- Twice Baked Potatoes
20- Oatmeal (with strawberries, bananas, and Nilla wafers) http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/quaker-instant-oats.aspx
21- Creamed Corn or Creamed Eggs
22- Pancakes with peanut butter and jelly
23- Tortilla Cheese Pizza
24- Sweet Potato Fries
25- Meatloaf Cakes
26- Egg Salad Sandwich
Deviled Eggs:
3 Eggs, hard boiled
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1 tsp Mustard
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1 Tbsp Mayonnaise
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1 tsp Chopped Chives
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Slice eggs in half and carefully remove the yolk. In a small bowl mash the yolk with mayonnaise, mustard, and chives. Spoon yolk mixture back into egg whites.
Rice and Orzo Pilaf (Muromcew)
1 Tbsp Butter
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½ Cup Orzo Pasta
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1 Cup Rice
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2 Cups Chicken Broth
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In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter foams, add the rice and pasta and cook, stirring frequently, until the grains are coated and slightly translucent. Add the broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Partially cover the saucepan and boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cover completely for an additional 15 minutes or until liquid is fully absorbed.
Banana Bread Muffins:
Use your favorite banana bread recipe (or find mine HERE) and bake in muffin tins!
Tuna Salad Sandwiches
(Go easy and mix a can of tuna with some mayonnaise or dress it up a bit with my Tuna Salad recipe HERE)
Ground Beef and Black Beans
(Brown some ground beef with some taco seasoning and onions. Add a can of black beans and top with a dollop of sour cream. Leftover taco meat works great!)
Lemon and Rice Soup (Muromcew)
1 (14oz) Can Chicken Broth
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Juice of 1 lemon
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½ Cup Cooked Rice
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1 Egg
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In a medium saucepan bring the broth to boil over medium heat. Add rice and lemon juice. Crack the egg into a small bowl. While whisking the egg slowly add ½ cup hot broth. Gently stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan.
Corn Chowder (Muromcew)
1 Tbsp Butter
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1 Cup Milk
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1 Small Potato, peeled & diced
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1 Tbsp Flour
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1 Cup Chicken Broth
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1 Cup Corn Kernels
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In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and add the flour, cook stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook, stirring frequently for 10 minutes or until the milk thickens. Add broth, potato, and corn. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potato is tender. (May be pureed for little ones!)
Butternut Squash Soup (Muromcew)
1 Butternut Squash
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1 Can Chicken Broth
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1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
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1 Small Onion, diced
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1 Tbsp minced Gingerroot
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1 Cup Milk
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Peel the squash and slice it in half, remove the pulp and seeds. Chop into 2” pieces. In a large saucepan bring chopped squash, onion, broth, ginger, and cinnamon to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the squash is tender. Let the soup cool slightly and then puree in a blender (or use an immersion blender). Return to the pot, add milk and heat through.
Fried Rice
Make it quick and easy, add or remove any vegetables your toddler might like! Find my recipe HERE
Chewy Energy Bars (Graciousrain.com)
2 ½ Cups Rice Crispy Cereal
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1 Cup Corn Syrup
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½ Cup Brown Sugar
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2 Cups Oats
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1 Cup Peanut Butter
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1 tsp Vanilla
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In a large bowl combine cereal and oats. In a small saucepan combine corn syrup, peanut butter and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat until peanut butter is melted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over cereal mixture and mix well. Gently press into a 9 inch pan. Cool completely and cut into bars.
Mozzarella Omelet (Muromcew)
1 Egg
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1 Tbsp Butter
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¼ Cup Milk
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Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
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In a small bowl whisk together egg and milk. In a medium skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add egg mixture and cook until the egg is just set. Place mozzarella slices down the center third of the omelet. Carefully fold the sides over and cook for one more minute, or until the cheese melts. (I like to add a fresh diced tomato with the cheese!)
Macaroni and Cheese (Food.com)
8 oz Elbow Macaroni
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Dash Pepper
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¼ Cup Butter
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2 Cups Milk
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¼ Cup Flour
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2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
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½ tsp Salt
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Cook macaroni according to package directions. In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat; stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Slowly add milk. Cook and stir until bubbly. Add cheese and stir until melted. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni.
Granola
(the world is filled with fun homemade granola, either buy some already made or make your own! The recipe I like can be found HERE)
Shortbread Cookies
2 Cups Flour
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1 Cup Butter, room temp
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1 tsp Vanilla Extract
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¼ tsp Salt
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½ Cup Powdered Sugar
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In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat again. In a separate bowl whisk together flour and salt. Gently stir flour mixture into butter mixture; stir just until incorporated. Chill dough for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a ¼ inch thick circle. Cut into rounds or shapes. Refrigerate again for 15 minutes. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.
Guacamole with crackers
(Mash up a ripe avocado. Add a tablespoon of mild salsa, a table spoon of sour cream and a bit of garlic salt. Serve with Ritz Crackers, or other easy to chew crackers)
Rice Pudding: (Muromcew)
2 Cups Milk
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2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
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1/2 Cup chopped Raisins (opt)
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1/2 Cup Cooked Rice
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1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
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In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and rice over low heat, stirring occasionally, for up to 30 minutes or until the rice has absorbed most of the milk. Remove from heat; stir in sugar, cinnamon and raisins.
Yogurt with raisins, nuts, fresh fruit and whipped cream
(Be creative!)
Steamed Broccoli with Cheese
2 Cups Broccoli Florets
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2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
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1 tbsp Butter, melted
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Salt and Pepper to taste
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Place broccoli in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water and cover. Cook until tender. Remove from heat but keep in the steamer. Drizzle melted butter over broccoli and add salt to taste. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and cover until cheese melts.
Twice Baked Potatoes
4 Large Baking Potatoes
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1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
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½ Cup Sour Cream
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4 strips cooked Bacon, crumbled
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½ Cup Milk
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¼ Cup Green Onion, chopped
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2 Tbsp Butter
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Shredded Cheese
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Preheat oven to 400. Clean potatoes and pierce with a fork. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until they are cooked through. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly, slice in half and remove the insides into a large bowl. Add bacon, onions, butter, sour cream, and milk to the potatoes and mash well. Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Oatmeal
Again, be creative and add fruits, sweeteners, nuts, and milk. For some fun ideas to jazz up oatmeal checkout quakeroats.com
Creamed Corn or Creamed Eggs
My mom says you can cream anything and a kid will eat it! Check out my recipes HERE andHERE for detained instructions.
Pancakes
Skip the syrup and the fork and make your pancakes into finger food by using peanut butter and jelly or just butter and a bit of powdered sugar.
Tortilla Cheese Pizza
Flour Tortillas
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Cheddar Cheese
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Pizza Sauce
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Place tortilla on a microwavable plate. Spread lightly with pizza sauce and top with cheese. Microwave until cheese melts.
Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet Potatoes
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Salt
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Olive Oil
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Sugar
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Preheat oven to 450. Peel sweet potatoes and cut off the ends. Cut the potatoes in ¼” uniform pieces. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and sugar. Stir well until all of the potatoes are coated. Spread fries on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, turning ½ way through.
Meatloaf Cakes
(whip up your favorite meatloaf and bake it in cupcake tins. When your little one needs a bite to eat warm up a cupcake size meatloaf and she will be fully satisfied! Don’t have a favorite meatloaf recipe? Use mine, HERE)
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Mash up a few hard boiled eggs. Add some mayonnaise, mustard and a bit of pickle juice. If you are feeling extra sneaky throw in some diced up veggies. Serve on bread or crackers!
There you have it! 25 quick and easy recipes to keep your toddler fed. Many of these recipes can be used to feed the whole family, just double or triple the amount of ingredients and you have yourself a quick and easy meal.
*You will notice many of the recipes posted here are from Joohee Muromcew: she is the author of The Baby Bistro, which is a great book for feeding little people. Some of the recipes are a little odd for my taste but I really like many of them. If you are looking for a babyfood cookbook this is a great place to start!