Quick and easy meals for a 2 1/2 year old?

Question

I husband works second shift, meaning he is gone from 3:30pm until 2:30am, so my 2 1/2 year old daughter and I are home for dinner alone. I get her those gerber lil' entrees and gerber soups, she loves them. She loves cooked veggies, but I don't wanna cook a meal for just me and her. what are some good meals for her dinner? I normally don't eat a big meal. I eat a microwave healthy choice meal most of the time.

You guys have a lot of good ideas. I do get tortilla shells sometimes and put cheese and skinless chicken in them. and my daughter likes those little one person sides of carrots so I add those to hers. I did cook chicken breast in the crock pot with carrots, beans and potatos the other day, it was good.

Answer 1

I have the same problem - I have a 2 1/2 yr old boy and my husband works 11p-7a. He is always sleeping at dinner time so I am on my own. I have had to get pretty creative. Michelinas makes some frozen dinners called Zap 'Ems and they have chicken nuggets with potato smiley faces. I also buy already cooked (or I cook it) grilled chicken breast and pair it with a frozen veggie. I get them in the bags so I can take out just enough for him and sometimes me.
If I am feeling adventurous I do make dinner for the 3 of us and save him a plate for later. My son really likes to help cooking so if he is in the mood to help I try to make something that isn't frozen but you know how toddlers are. I eat a lot of Lean Cuisine!
Remember, just because it doesn't look like a traditional dinner doesn't mean it isn't healthy. A bowl of fruit, a sandwich, a glass of milk or yogurt, or even a steamed fresh veggie can be a well balanced meal.
Good Luck. I am sure I will be taking some of the other suggestions you get to use for myself too!

PS Get some tortillas (I like whole wheat) and you can make anything out of them. My new thing is Pizza Quesadillas - you can even make them in the micro. You can even put veggies on them if you want.

PPS I just thought of another thing I get - canned soup. My son likes the Dora chicken noodle or the Annie's organic Aurthur O's (basically spaghetti O's). They are easy and fast and they like the characters. I don't give soup a lot because of the salt content but who wants to eat that everyday anyway. Especially in the summer :)

Answer 2

Once a week or so I cook homemade food and freeze my 2 1/2 yr old meal size portions for the week. I buy chicken breast dip them in egg white and bread crumbs and cook in an oven at 450 for 25 minutes and when cool I freeze them for him. They are a lot healthier than any packaged meal. I keep a jar of Newmans Own organic pasta sauce and just boil him whatever whole grain pasta he picks from the pantry and add a couple of table spoons of sauce. He won't eat a tomato but he eats that.

He loves cream cheese so I fill up 1/2 of a celery stalk with cream cheese or peanut butter and top it with raisins or chocolate chips and that is a great snack.

I also make homemade turkey or chicken soup (monthly) I let him help add everything, like carrots, celery, spinach, onions, string beans and whole grain brown rice and mini pene whole grain pasta. I freeze smaller portions for him and larger ones for me. This is the only way I can get him to eat vegetables.

He loves to help make english muffin pizza's too, I use the pasta sauce and let him add the cheese.

He loves pumpkin muffins and I substitute pumpkin for the oil the recipe calls for and they are great.
What ever it takes right!

Answer 3

What you are doing is fine. Healthy choice meals are a lot better than many homemade meals people make. The Gerber lil' entrees are also fine. I like to add a healthy side
salad with a green romaine or baby spinach to get a good dose of veggies, and I also like to add a fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries, watermelon are great) to be sure I'm getting a good, well-rounded meal.

If you absolutely think you want to cook something, then some things are very easy:

Lasagna when you use the no-boil noodles. Simply layer sauce, ricotta cheese (mixed with a single egg), and mozzarella cheese on top. High in protein, and not bad if you use lowfat or nofat ricotta. Again, add a side salad with lowfat and lowcarb dressing to avoid high sugars, and add a fresh fruit.

I like having the old meat and potato kind of thing, but I really change it up by adding whole grains. I make skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs in the oven. 30 minutes if you bake it with about 1/4 cup of water in bottom of pan, and sprinkle with garlic salt and basil. On stovetop, I love to make brown rice combos that you can buy by Near East. High in fiber and whole grains, and low in fat. Easy!

Buitoni makes fresh pasta that you can buy and takes just a short time to heat up. Add a sauce or just some parmesan cheese. My son loves their mini raviolis, and I am a tortellini person. Again, add a salad (sound like a broken record?).

Finally, our all time favorite is definitely chicken quesadillas.
Take a flour or whole grain tortilla and put on cookie sheet (no need to spray sheet). Add precooked perdue or tyson roasted chicken (I freeze it and then just defrost it in the nuke for a couple minutes). Sprinkle sharp cheddar cheese (or your preference). Top with another tortilla. Bake in oven just until tortilla is crispy and cheese is melted. Serve with salsa and sour cream. (BTW - I get the flour tortillas that are on the aisle where the mexican food is - they last much longer than those in the refrigerated section).

Good luck and God bless!

Answer 4

ok hope u have time to read all this b/c i have same problem, so here goes

"fake hotdogs"
hot dog bun with string cheese instead of hot dog. add pizza sauce and heat in oven. you can add lots of veggies too.
"Enchiladas"
put cheese and cooked chicken (I usually cook a chicken and place small containers in the freezer for when i need it) in tortilla and microwave. You can also just put cheese and ham or any other meat. leftovers work great.
"Chicken Noodle soup"
Chicken flavored ramen noodles (I use 1/2 the seasoning packet cause of all the sodium) with cooked chicken and some frozen mixed veggies.
"Omelettes"
buy a microwavable omelette dish (they have them at Wal-Mart). for some reason my 2 year old always eat breakfast food at dinner even when she wont eat the same thing in the morning. she thinks its funny.

The best thing to do is to spend a day cooking and freeze stuff in small containers. You can cook chicken, fry up some hamburger with taco seasoning then just pull some out to make her some tacos or burritos. Do just plain hamburger and add it to some pasta with tomatoe sauce. Make a big batch of meatloaf and then cook it into small loafes and meatballs.

Answer 5

I get chicken fingers shaped as dinosaurs in the wholesale clubs. From BJ's they're called Dino Buddies. I pop those in the toaster oven along with some fries. My daughter eats her carrots while this is cooking. My little toaster oven bakes them in 10 min. I bought a small George Forman grill for this purpose,my husband is not home for dinner either,he too works an odd shift. I grill hot dogs,cutlets,grilled cheese sandwhiches,you name it! It's a great little grill and cooks quickly.

Answer 6

My two year old really like the hamburger helper Cheese and Macaroni one. He also likes mac and cheese, fish sticks, scrambled eggs, beans and wenies, PB and J, and chicken nuggets.

Answer 7

you can make larger portions and just freeze in smaller plastic containers that you can nuke to reheat.

tuna casserole with green beans and sliced mushrooms...

mini ravioli, i added some banking soda to the pasta sauce to neutralize the acid. they are sold in smaller bags in the grocers freezer area

fish sticks and chicken tenders/popcorn in resealable bags so you can dole out her portion and pop back in the freezer

shephards pie... ground beef w/a veggie on top covered in mashed taters

Answer 8

I have a favorite toddler food cookbook...

Baby, Let's Eat!
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Welcome-Books-Workman-Publishing/dp/089480300X

It might give you some healthy ideas for both of you without much cooking.

Answer 9

I always liked frozen meals.

Answer 10

hot dogs cut up small... easy mac.....