Help pls! I need a toddler friendly recipe!?

Question

Hi
I have a 2 1/2 year old son who doesnt like food.....Seriously, he wont even eat chocolate bars. Since hes been 1 year old we had to give him pediasure which is a meal replacement. Now I need some recipe ideas that all kids love. Here are a few helful hints : he doesnt like pizza or any kind of pasta with meat in it. He loves mayo, ketchup, hot-dogs, hampburger patty, bread and sometime chicken. Pls dont tell me to give him a hot dog or a hamburger.... I need some good recipes...even if they dont contain any of those ingredients and you know that your kids love it pls let me know what it is. Thank you

Just in case some of yous might be wondering. I don't give my son chocolate bars or any other junkfood. We had to try it with the doctors because they taught he might have a problem with his mouth and that it might explain why he didnt want to eat. He spit out all the treats that were offered to him. We now know there is nothing wrong with his mouth as he will eat hotdogs, patties...

Answer 1

Bake a potato until it is fork tender. Take off the skin and cut the potato into cubes that he can feed himself. My VERY picky son went through a phase where all he would eat for a few days in a row was cubed potatoes and Stouffer's Spinach Souffle (frozen style you can find in the frozen food section- microwave it- kids LOVE it)

Try also for pasta- cook up some fun shaped pasta like bow ties (Farfalle) and serve them with cream of chicken soup and you can add some small cubed of cooked chicken too.

Do the old- build yourself a peanut butter sandwich buffet. Give him two pieces of bread and some small bowls with some peanut butter, raisins, banana slices, honey, chocolate chips and even potato chips. Let him make a "sandwich" from his favorite things.

Do the same thing with apple slices, pear slices, bananas, peaches etc. Let him try dipping them into peanut butter to eat.

Try the cheese ravioli's you can get in the freezer section at the store and serve with tomato soup if he doesn't like the spices of the regular spaghetti sauces.

A favorite for breakfast at our house when the kids were small (even now in college they make it themselves!) Take a hot dog and slice it up into little discs. Cook gently in a pan with a little butter and then add two eggs you have beaten for scrambling. Pour it right over the hot dogs so it becomes a kid omelet. Cook until done and serve it with toast so he can either eat it with a fork or make a hot dog sandwich out of it.

I also make my own Mc Donalad's style breakfast sandwich's that I call Egg McMommies.

Toast an English muffin, Use a big round cookie cutter in a frying pan and melt a little butter inside the circle. Pour in an egg and cook it until it's done in it's round shape. Lift off the cookie cutter and slide the hot egg onto the muffin bottom. Put a slice of Velveeta cheese on to the egg (you can cut it round also with the cutter) put the top on and there you go! You can add a piece of cooked Canadian Bacon if he likes it. WAY cheaper than a trip to Mickey D's.

Also, try the hash brown patties (also frozen foods section) Some kids love those.

How about mashed potatoes? You can hide a world of food inside those by blending it first.

My pediatrician said that whether we see it or not, kids KNOW what they want to eat. Our job is to offer a variety of things so they can see what's out there.

Take him to the store and play Food Detectives. Plan on an hour minimum trip. Go to everything in the fruits and veg section and work your way a round the store making notes in a notebook on what he looks interested in. Buy him two new food things to try. Repeat this every month until he's in school and you'll have a kid who will have a wide variety of food likes.

And I don;t think I have to tell you that when a kid won;t eat real food, he REALLY shouldn't be given a bar of chocolate. You already know that.

Answer 2

I don't have any children, but I've got 1 very picky niece, 1 semi-picky niece, and 2 who will eat anything - all under the age of 4. The very picky one really likes 'fun food'. Cheese cut into shapes, and chicken nuggets in the shape of Dinosaurs, and 'fries' in the shape of Smiley faces - they are actually shaped mashed potato with a coating. She will always eat these - even if she won't eat regular chicken nuggets. Also, she likes peanut butter off the spoon or in the cheese crackers, but won't eat it any other way. Cheese is always a good thing for her, and fruit. She doesn't like soft mushy foods, and never liked baby food.

I understand your concern. Sometimes it was a challenge to find something for my niece to eat. She didn't like the Pediasure - so at least your son is getting something. My niece fell off the growth charts for a long time, so everyone was concerned. Everyone just fed her what she wanted, when she wanted it. If she wanted grilled cheese for breakfast, she got it. Although, sometimes she would take 1 or 2 bites, and that was it. Usually 1/2 of a sandwich lasted her the entire day. One thing my niece really likes is ham and bacon. So there was always a supply of cooked bacon and deli ham.

Now that my niece is pushing 4, she's starting to like more foods. Her favorites are still the Dino nuggets, and fries, and ham and bacon, but she'll now eat other things... it just took her a while.

I know I didn't give you any recipes, sorry, I just wanted to let you know that even though he doesn't seem to like food now, he'll grow out of it. Just be patient, and keep offering him different foods. Eventually you'll hit on something that he really likes, and then he'll start expanding his palette.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 3

I have a soon-to-be-three year old (March 2!) and a 19 month old who both refuse to eat anything other than what comes from a box, can or bag. Seriously--I could spend hours cooking the most mouthwatering, delicious meal you've ever seen. If I put it on their plates, they scream until I give them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or grilled cheese. Unfortunately mine DO eat chocolate and sometimes they scream for it. :( My 3 year old informed me the other night that if I didn't let him have chocolate chip cookies for dinner, he'd spank me. :D

OK, that being said, if he eats hamburgers, will he eat hamburger cooked and crumbled up and added to Kraft macaroni and cheese? Maybe a little ketchup on the side? I found with my boys, sometimes putting ketchup on their plate (even if it's something that ketchup totally doesn't belong on) would at least get them to taste it.

Also, it's not really cooking, but have you tried Chef Boyardee? I was leery about giving it to my sons, but if you read the label, there's really nothing horrible in it. Fat is relatively low, it's made with enriched flour, so there are plenty of vitamins in it, the sodium is *sort of* high, but I doubt your son has heart problems.

You could also try a recipe I found the other day for Kid Casserole. It's here: http://www.recipezaar.com/31319 I know it sounds repulsive, but I made it and OMG--I think the kids and I inhaled it! My husband didn't especially care for it, but I think that's because he hates cream soups and pouts when I cook with them. What a dork, lol.

Good luck to you, and hang in there--I know what it's like to have a picky eater! At least my 3 year old is *slowly* growing out of it. For the entire second year of his life, he REFUSED to eat any fruits or vegetables other than canned corn and mandarin oranges (rolling eyes). I got him to eat 1/2 of a red delicious apple the other day. YAY!!

Answer 4

Hi alex..

may be you can try this..
Rice Krispie Bars
6 cups Kelloggs Rice Krispies
1 bag of white marshmallows
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
No-stick cooking spray


Melt the margarine in a no-stick pan and add the entire bag of marshmallows. Stir over medium heat until the marshmallows have completely melted. Add Rice Krispies and mix together well. Pour mixture into a 9" x 13" pan that has been greased or sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Use a baggie that has been sprayed with no-stick spray to spread and flatten mixture. Cut into squares when cool. Kids love making and eating these easy treats!

Soft Pretzels ***
2 - 16 oz. loaves frozen bread dough
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon water
Coarse salt

Separate thawed bread into 24 - 1 1/2" balls. Roll each ball into a rope 14 1/2" long. Have children plan and design pretzel shapes (letters or numerals). Put pretzels one inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Let stand for 20 minutes and brush with combined egg white and water. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Place a shallow pan containing 1" of boiling water on bottom rack of oven; bake pretzels at 350 degrees on rack above water for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Yummy Potatoes
8 medium sized potatoes
½ cup butter, melted
salt, pepper, garlic salt
1 tablespoon parsley (fresh or dried), chopped
Heat oven to 350°. Scrub and slice unpeeled potatoes in about ¼-inch slices. Place in a buttered 9x13-inch pan. Drizzle butter over potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste. may be other spices too if you want to.Bake uncovered for about 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

hope this helps

Answer 5

Stock up on dips- my kid is a Ranch and A1 freak- he even dips fresh mini carrots in it. But- finger foods are key here- they are easy for them to eat. Cheese, crackers, celery with pb, veggies with ranch, apples and pb dip- stuff he can "play with" while he eats.