What is on your grocery list for your toddler?

Question

My daughter (almost three) is a very picky eater. I was interested in knowing what kinds of foods other mom's put together for their toddlers meals. Our number one breakfast food is poptarts or cereal and our number one lunch food is mac and cheese or PB&J. (foods she'll eat) We usually have trouble at supper time.
So my question is, what kinds of foods do you buy for your toddler. If there's any simple and tasty recipes you can share with me that your kids love, I would be so appreciative! (mainly concerned for foods high in vitamins)

Answer 1

At dinner time your child should eat what the family is eating. Do not make a special meal for her. But do not make a big deal of it if she doesn't eat anything.

It may help to offer her choices. When you are making dinner ask her if she wants peas or broccoli for dinner. Offer her a choice of two things for breakfast and lunch too. These should of course be healthy options. If she requests a third option and it is reasonable then you can say yes, otherwise say no.

Dipping sauces go over well with children too. Only offer healthy dips such as salsa, guacamole, fruit and veggie purees, humus, and salad dressing. Make your own and then you know how much fat and salt go into them. Just because you wouldn't dip broccoli in apple sauce or pureed strawberries doesn't mean there is anything wrong with doing so.

In addition if you don't have poptarts or mac and cheese then she can't eat them. Simple as that. She will not starve herself if you offer her healthy well balanced meals and snacks.

Answer 2

My daughter is also very picky. Although she loves breakfast time. She is a syrup fiend so she loves pancakes and I buy the Nutri-grain waffles. She will also eat cheese omelets and I used to be able to mash up carrot and sneak it into the omelet because the colors were similiar but she's getting smarter now. She also loves Fruit Loops cereal but Cheerios now has a fruity cherioo that looks just like fruit loops but with less sugar. other meals are difficult for us. She barely eats pb & j. but she does love mac and cheese and the same goes with mashed carrots with that. Of course Mcdonald's cheeseburgers are the main thing she will eat. cinnamon applesauce on occasion and bananas. She has problems in the bathroom so I buy the soluable fiber (FiberSure) that you sprinkle in food to help out. She loves Dora the Explorer so she will eat the Dora yogurt and I have to fight and play games to get her to take at least one bite of a veggie (You're eating Dora's shoes!). I make sure to put a multivitamin in her milk every morning and just keep it in mind that eventually she will outgrow this stage. Oh, and her fav cookie is a fig newton which is better than an oreo. She will also snack on gerber graduates cereal bars and graham crackers or nilla wafers because the sugar content is lower than most mainstream cookies.

Have you tried cutting sandwiches into fun shapes like stars or such. Or pancakes with a face made out of fruit sometimes if the food looks fun they have fun eating it.

Answer 3

Poptarts are one of the worst things you can eat, I'd stop buying them!

My toddler will eat just about anything so we're lucky at that - but here is what he normally eats:

Breakfast: oatmeal (most mornings) with fruit. Also he might eat eggs or yogurt. oatmeal or whole grain based cereal bars are good too, and always milk!

Lunch: pbj, fruit, chopped veggies, cubes of cheese, grilled cheese with tomaote slices, mac n cheese if we're in a hurry

Dinner - usually eats what ever we eat, but he's like me and doesn't care for meat that much so a lot of times we do pastas and veggies.

For Desserts he loves cookies so we try to stick to a few teddy ghrams or nutter butters. Or yogurt, fruit or pudding.

Snacks - dry cereal is his favorite for snacks! all kinds!

Answer 4

My 2 year old loves any green vegetable, so I will buy an assortment of green vegetables for him to eat through the week. For breakfast, he likes oatmeal or dry cereal. I give him a cup of juice or water with the cereal. he has milk allergies, so he doesn't get the milk. For lunch, he gets leftovers from dinner time, soup, crackers with tuna salad, or rice noodles with chicken and curry sauce. For dinner, he is offerred the same foods that I eat, minue those he is allergic too.

Each morning, he gets a children's vitamin. He remembers to take his vitamin each morning better than I remember to give it to him. I do this, just case he doesn't get the vitamin balance he needs through the day.

Answer 5

My little girl is 16 months. For breakfast she eats eggs, poptarts, cereal, pancakes, waffles, etc. For lunch she has mac n cheese, chimichangas, taquitos, chicken nuggets, vegetable or double noodle soup, etc. Then for dinner she eats whatever we have, tacos, spaghetti, perogies, rice, beans, anything. Just keep trying and you'll find something she likes. Also, fruit cups are good for snacks, or bagels and cream cheese, or english muffins with tuna and melted cheese.

Answer 6

My little one is a picky eater too:

I find she eats more when I let her sit at her own table and chair set....for breakfast I usually give her dry cereal, grapes, kiwi, cheese and crackers all finger food....she loves fruit so its a given there..mind you she changes her fav alto........lol

lunch: its sandwich first then i give her fruit ,yogurt , cottage cheese..sometimes i open a can of tuna that's in water and drain and rinse well put it on crackers or just peanut butter on crackers....they like the finger food plus dipping sauces are great

supper ....well there's fish , chicken breast which i just put shake n bake on cut up into small piece for us all and dipping sauce ...rice with veggies mixed in ... mashed potatoes and gravy...you just have to mix and match.........make it fun for them

during the day just take fruit pieces crackers or veggies in a plastic cup and just set them out so she can take it when she want it..... you will be amazed to see how much she eats of it in time.....try to lay off drinks between meal times she will eat more.

and don't forget the treats I do give cookies or ice cream after shes eaten something good for her...marsh mellows are a treat for her...........I may be a meany but i don't give my child soda/pop...or any of that soft chewy candy that will stick and rot there teeth.......

Answer 7

My son loves manderin oranges. I also make homemade banana bread that he eats everyday. For dinner I usually have some type of meat (my son is big on chicken) a fruit(usually oranges or pears) I try a vegtable but he usually won't eat any besides corn on the cob. Spaghetti is another favorite if you're up for the mess it makes! I've also noticed my son is more willing to try foods if he sees me eating them so I try to model good eating habits by snacking on baby carrots or raw broccli and it really does work! Good luck!

Answer 8

Paleo diet its a diet based around eating real food unprocessed

Answer 9

hey,
make them pizza with healthy toppings like tomato, or olives, somethin that is healthy yet tasty, and u know all kids like pizza, so it should work out 4 u.

good luck :)