feeding toddlers

One of my favorite blogs, Kelly's Korner, is doing "Show us your life" Friday, and today it's about what we feed our toddlers. I hope everyone will make a post about this as well (if you have/had toddlers, of course.), because I would LOVE some new ideas I may not have thought of before!

I have found that feeding toddlers has got to be one of the most stressful parts of parenting young children. I do think it gets a little easier with the more children you have, because you learn from experience that they will not starve if they don't eat much. One reason I find it most frustrating is that I spend who-knows-how-long in the kitchen, trying to prepare a delicious and healthy meal, only for them to push the plate off the table or look at me like I am trying to poison them. Ohhh, so frustrating! There have been several times in Anderson's life (mainly between 12-24 months of age) that he's gotten down from the table with one bite of food in his tummy. I used to stress out and start thinking he was going to wake up in the middle of the night because he's so hungry, but that just doesn't happen. If they are hungry, they will eat. I have still have to remind myself of this often. Thankfully, because Anderson is nearing 2 1/2 and he is able to understand more, I can tell him he must eat whatever it is on his plate, and he usually will. Sometimes.

So, I am going to just list what a few of our typical meals look like around here. Again, please consider doing the same thing on your blog if you have one, or even in my comments, with some of your ideas as well!

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal (I often add ground flaxseed)
• Cereal with milk
• Pancakes
• Waffles (usually whole grain)
• I always give some sort of fruit at breakfast, as well. (I try to give the kids fresh fruit as much as possible, though I absolutely have nothing against canned fruit. I usually always have some sort of canned in the pantry as back-up if we run out of fresh fruit.)

Lunch:

• A typical lunch for Anderson is: Deli meat (ham or turkey... which I know is loaded with sodium, but it's a great source of protein), string cheese or a yogurt smoothie, fruit, and some sort of bread/grain - such as bread, pretzels, etc.
• Quesadillas
• Grilled cheese
• Whatever the "main dish", I always add fruit and will often offer cucumbers or carrots as well.

Snacks:

• Pretzels
• Raisins
• Craisins
• Veggie straws
• Goldfish
• Peanuts
• Crackers
• Often I will make a homemade trail mix with two or more of the options above.

Dinner:

• An example of a simple, typical meal at our house: BBQ chicken, broccoli, roasted potatoes and rolls. I have found that my kids eat much better when there are many separate items on their plates, as opposed to a casserole with everything mixed together. Another example: Baked fish, green beans, corn, and brown rice. Again, all the items are separate and they can clearly see what's on their plates.
• Spaghetti and bread
• Quesadillas, mexican rice, and black beans
• Breakfast for dinner (sausage/bacon, eggs, biscuits, fruit)
• Tacos (which of course means meat, cheese, and tortilla all separated on his plate)

I may be blanking out on a few, but that's about it. I would love to be able to make fancier meals and spicy mexican dishes, but I know that's just not reasonable for my young children right now. One day, I will be able to make those things... but for right now I just need to make food that my children will actually eat. And let me tell you, if my toddler eats even half of what I put on his plate, I call that a VERY successful mealtime. :)

Your turn!