7 Easy Meals for Your Picky Toddler
Mac n Cheese: Who doesn’t love a classic Mac n Cheese? If you’re toddler has difficult eating veggies, this is perfect for you! The key is to hide the veggies in the Mac n Cheese. It’s pretty simple. Cook Mac and Cheese as you would. Then pick one or a few vegetables such as sweet potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli, spinach or cauliflower. Cook them, puree them in a blender and mix with your Mac n cheese! Easy way to get those veggies in and your toddler will love it. I recommend always trying veggies by themselves as young as possible but sometimes kids are just picky. At the end add some seasoning like oregano and parsley to expose them to new flavors.
Chicken and Rice w/ Yogurt Sauce: For some reason, kids love dipping food in sauces. Chicken and Rice is a super easy meal for most kids. Once I realized my daughter loved dipping sauces, I added in yogurt. She loves to mix it in with her food or dip her chicken in it. I typically boil chicken and shred it and mix it with rice with seasoning. Sometimes I’l use our chicken from our own dishes and mix it with rice. Lately she loves lentils and rice (daal chawwal) so I’ll take what I can get!
Quesadillas : Having a crazy day? Take some bread and cheese and make it into a quesadilla. When I make quick meals like this I’ll try to add in veggies and fruits on the side so she’s still getting her nutrition.
Class PB&J: Perfect for packing for lunch. This is the one of few meals my daughter finishes all by herself without much prompting. Although my daughter has nut allergies so I substitute peanut butter for sunflower seed butter and it actually taste the same. You can try almond butter too. There’s so many different ones now.
Homemade Pizza: This is especially fun when you get your kids involved. Safa loves sprinkling the cheese on top. Pair it with some veggies and fruits on the side!
Fish Sticks and Veggies: Some days I just don’t feel like cooking. That’s when we cook frozen fish sticks. She’ll typically eat them with ketchup and I’ll have some veggies like corn, peas, carrots and green beans on the side.
Spaghetti/Pasta: I’ll make some regular pasta or spaghetti for her too. For a good source of protein I’ll add in shredded or ground chicken. Again, hide those veggies in the sauce! Simple veggies to throw in pasta your toddler won’t hate without pureeing them are spinach, peas and broccoli. If that doesn’t work, puree those too!