Suggestions for quick & easy toddler meals?

Question

I'm returning to work full-time and I'm not the best cook, I tend to burn everything. I'm looking for suggestions on healthy meals that are easy to prepare and have ready for supper when I get home for my daughter (age 1) and me. Receipes would also be appreciated. Anything for a slow cooker, I have one but don't use it.

Please no smart comments, only serious answers. Thanks

Answer 1

if you're into pasta, try the barilla plus stuff - lots of good fiber, lots of omega-3's, lots of protein. add a canned or fresh alfredo or spaghetti sauce, a salad on the side (for you) or some steamed veggies for her, and you're on the way to a quick, healthy meal.

you can cook a bunch of pasta over the weekend and heat it up as necessary. add melted cheese, you've got mac & cheese. add tuna, you've got tuna casserole (more or less.)

a lot of meals you can do for yourself and then cut into bites (or separate out) for your daughter. remember, too, that when they're first learning to eat they might not like something to begin with, but might get used to it. (my daughter, 3, is now a fiend for salad, broccoli and green beans. go figure.)

learn to steam vegetables - not just for your daughter but also for you. really, some fresh steamed broccoli can be pretty yummy. also you can boil cauliflower, mush it up and add milk, pepper and butter to do a kind of knock-off mashed potatoes.

meatballs and meatloaf are great for weekend meals, then use the leftovers shamelessly. a big batch of meatballs can do three meals, easy (and they work great with the pasta, of course.)

use your slow cooker any time you can. throw a couple of skinless chicken breasts in and season as you like (easy on the salt, you can always add it later.) if you choose a chili powder, you can use it for mexican later (quesadillas, etc.)

you can also cook sweet potatoes in a slow cooker. i think you wrap them in foil , add a bit of water, then throw them in. sweet potatoes are very healthy and yummy, too.

remember to use non-stick spray or a light coating of oil on your slow cooker to make clean-up easier.

i've been learning lately that a failed experiment is always a learning experience - and if you eat less of it that evening, it's not going to kill you. just learn from the experiments and keep trying. i've been doing pies now for a few years and i still burn the outside crusts on a regular basis.

oh yeah, chicken pot pies are fun, especially with fall right around the corner. you use cream of mushroom soup, some mixed veggies (frozen are fine), and some diced cooked chicken (done in a crock pot would work great!) Add flattened-out refrigerated biscuits on top and bake for a while. pot pies are something you want to pre-cook, maybe on the weekends, then re-heat for monday night supper.

allrecipes.com is one of my favorite websites, especially because of the readers' comments. they'll give you great insights into real-world cooking - what works and what doesn't. have at it, and good luck. working full time and being a mom is hard - but you don't have to sacrifice eating well!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

Banquet makes slow cooker meals. They have everything right in the bag. All you have to add is water. Pasta is a good choice too because you can make it in advance and freeze it until your ready to use it. There are so many different sizes, so your daughter can eat it as finger foods. Someone mentioned Goulash, which is good. But you can also cook up some boneless chicken breasts in advance (instead of ground beef), cut them up and add it to pasta, along with some frozen veggies and sauce (Knorr makes some great sauces for pasta that are easy to make). My husband came up with a good recipe. You make a box of mac & cheese and put it in the bottom of a caserole dish. Then you brown ground beef and add taco seasoning to it. Add that to the caserole dish on top of the mac & cheese. Next add a layer of salsa and then top off with a layer of shredded cheese. You can make this in advance and when you get home from work, just pop it in the oven for a 1/2 hour to warm. Serve with sour cream. It's awesome. I also give my daughter some avacado with it.

Answer 5

Think of making homemade meals on your free time like for example I make like 3 lbs of meat sauce on a Sunday or something with just ground beef and canned crushed tomatoes and I divide it up into portions good for two and all I have to do is take one out in the morning before going to work and put it in the fridge to defrost and when I get home boil pasta and there you go a homecooked healthy meal. Or you could do the same with sloppy joes, taco meat (chicken or beef). My son loves just taking raw chicken that you've just bought or left to defrost and I tenderize it by hammering it with a meat mallet and then I fry it in a little canola oil with bread crumbs and then at the same time just make rice a' roni, it takes about 1/2 hour all together and it is still homemade. I think the key is to not rely on lots of foods that have preservatives and too much fat and salt and to try to keep it healthy and homemade but utilize the idea of portioning things out and freezing them for quick meals. Try not to use the microwave to cook things either it destroys all the nutrients in the food. I know it is tough, hopefully your daughter is not too picky, but if you don't introduce lots of healthy stuff now she will become picky, be careful. Always try to add things to the meal like pieces of tomatoes or beans in the boxed rice you cook for dinner. Or cooking broccoli with a few slices of Kraft or Borden American cheese and putting that in mashed potatoes or something.

Answer 6

I think you got some really good answers I don't have anything to add food wise Cowpuncher Casserole Ingredients: Cooking spray 6 to 8 ounces bacon, diced 1 ½ pounds ground chuck 1 medium onion, chopped 1 can red kidney beans 6 medium potatoes, chopped 1 can tomato soup 1 tablespoon prepared mustard 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce Directions: Lightly spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Fry or microwave bacon until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels. If using skillet discard bacon drippings. Brown beef and onion. In a separate bowl combine with beans, potatoes and soup. Transfer to slow cooker and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours. Stir in mustard and Worcestershire sauce before serving you can also check out second hand book stores for slow cooker recipe books, they are wonderful to have. That way you do not have to sit and type out recipes or lose your favorite recipe card. I use post-it notes as a bookmark on my favorite recipe pages if I need to write a reminder to myself about the recipe it helps too especially when your like me and forget things easily. Good Luck! Sorry If I wasn't much help!

Answer 7

There is no one single Paleo Diet, as our ancestors from all over the world ate dramatically different diets depending on the climate where they lived, their landscape, accessibility to water bodies, and the latitude that they lived. This is a detailed meal plan for the paleo diet https://tr.im/Jrf39

In some cases, a Paleo Diet may be 90% plant foods and 10% animal foods, and in other cases, a Paleo Diet may be 90% animal foods and 10% plant foods.

For example, our ancestors that lived near the equator had year long access to more plant materials such as root vegetables and various fruits, veggies, and nuts.

On the other hand, our ancestors that lived at higher latitudes further away from the equator only had access to fruits and vegetables seasonally at one specific time period per year, and had larger periods of the year where they ate a higher % of meats, organ meats, fish, and other animal-based foods, or fermented foods that could be stored for winter.

Answer 8

I LOVE the recipe site posted in the sources below.

Quick and easy -

Can of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Cheese quesadillas - just melt cheese between two tortillas - you can use the microwave, put them in the oven or on the stovetop to do it - you can add in some veggies or precooked chicken strips if you'd like

Get sliced deli meat and cheese and do sandwich night with fresh cut veggies and chips.

Baked potatoes - serve them with butter, sour cream, shredded cheese - get fajita chicken strips, peppers and onions and warm that up to put on top to make a meal out of it.

Breakfast for dinner - Pancakes or French toast with bacon and/or eggs.

Spaghetti - with meat sauce, marinara sauce or alfredo sauce.

Tortellini - get packages of frozen tortellini from the store - they usually cook in like 5 minutes. You can serve them with pasta sauce or you can toss in some veggies and put a little olive oil top or get a jar of pesto sauce from the store.

Tuna salad sandwiches.

Chicken nuggets with french fries and vegetable of your choice.

Answer 9

Others have suggested Gerber toddler foods (which are great, but expensive).
Tuna noodle casserole is great for a slow cooker. I used to cook my vegetables on the weekends and put them in the freezer for the week. It made life really simple. My son loves hummus and pita (great finger food) and you can serve it with raw veggies. In addition to making your evenings easier, it will get her used to vegetables.

Answer 10

A few things my 3 young children love are...
*mac n cheese
*grilled cheese sandwiches
*spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread
*I also take garlic bread and put pizza sauce and cheese (sometimes pepperonis) and make little pizzas for them
*hotdogs
*fish sticks
*most veggies can be stemed and they are then soft enough for a toddler to eat
*pudding for dessert
*yogurt for dessert
*applesauce
*my kids love to dip greenbeans in ranch dressing as a snack
*chicken nuggets

I really hope this helps. Most of these things are pretty easy to make and can be made in the microwave.
Best of luck!