Finally! I’ve been working on this post for a while, so I hope you find it useful!
I think the one thing that has stressed me out the most about raising a baby so far, is what to feed them. It was easy the first year – breast milk and pureed fruits and veggies. I lived by THIS website for foods age birth-1 year. Finger foods is a whole new ball game. Did he get enough? Why does he hate meat? Why isn’t he eating his sweet potatoes? He ate them all last week. Can he have this particular food? Why is he throwing his food everywhere? Am I feeding him healthy foods? Did I ruin his taste preference when I was pregnant? And on and on!
BASIC MEAL PLAN:
If you have a toddler, I’m sure you’ve asked yourself these questions and more. I’m not an expert on feeding a 1 year old, but I thought I would share some pictures of several meals I’ve fed Beckham the last few months (he’s almost 17 months). I try to serve a meat/protein, fruit, and veggie at every meal. He also has a sippy cup of milk (Organic Whole milk) with each meal (about 20-24 oz. per day). I will explore other types of milk (almond, coconut, etc.…), but until he’s 2, I was advised to give cow’s milk. Most of his foods have to be soft since he’s still working on getting his teeth. He eats crackers, but tough raw fruits and veggies doesn’t work just yet. He can’t eat with a spoon by himself yet, so any yogurt type food is done by me. I let him practice with the spoon afterwards though and a few bites here and there. He’s pretty good with the fork, but if he’s super hungry, he just gives up and shoves it in his mouth with his hands.
DRINK:
In between meals, he gets WATER to drink. I don’t give him juice as I PERSONALLY don’t feel it’s needed for HIM. It just has a lot of sugar and he eats TONS of fruit anyway, so we just do water. I don’t think it’s bad, just not for Beckham right now. If he didn’t eat a lot of fruit, I would probably give him some diluted juice (25% juice/75% water).
SNACKS:
For snacks, he usually eats fruit (tons of clementines), Goldfish (although he’s not really into these right now), peanut butter crackers, smoothies, applesauce, those squeezable pureed fruits/veggies on-the-go, and yogurt. This boy LOVES smoothies! This is a great way to hide foods your kid may not eat. I don’t want to hide foods from Beckham, but sometimes you’re desperate for your child to get certain nutrients. When I make myself a smoothie, I pour him a cup before I add my protein powder. He gulps it down SO fast! See…
Check out my Strawberry-Banana Smoothie HERE and my Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie HERE!
4 Things I Find Important:
- I’m really trying to keep him from sweets that are not fruit because I just don’t see a point in making that a craving. Don’t get me wrong, he’s had sweets and will have more in the future, but he’s too young to make that choice right now, so mama’s in control! Haha.
- I also let him try as many different foods as possible. I was shocked he liked tomatoes.
- I introduce foods he might not like at first over and over and over again! He JUST ate a bite of avocado for the first time without spitting it out a few days ago. He has hated this food since he was 6 months old. He also ate broccoli (all of mine of course) and he hasn’t been liking that either lately.
- Quick meals are mandatory – Nothing will get you moving faster than a hungry child!
Here are several pictures of some of the foods he’s been eating lately. I’ll start with breakfast foods, then lunch foods, and then dinner. Lunch and dinner tend to be the same at times. A lot of these foods may be the same, but I just took a picture of everything I was feeding him.
There are SEVERAL recipe links below, so be sure to read under the meal title if you’re interested in how I made it.
ANOTHER RECIPE NOT PICTURED:
–QUESADILLAS– You can pretty much add anything to the inside of a tortilla, add some cheese, and heat it up in the microwave or on the stove for a crispier tortilla. We add finely chopped chicken and broccoli a lot. Beckham would only eat these for a time period. It was our saving grace for him to eat meat. I also heard you can add hummus to the tortilla for a sticky filling in addition to meat, veggies, and cheese. I will definitely try this.
HOW I MAKE GRILLED VEGGIES AND CHICKEN FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK:
-Grilled veggies on the fly:
A little prep work 30 minutes (if that) a week and you have veggies all week you can serve in seconds. I will wash, peel, and cut veggies such as sweet potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. I’ll steam them on the stove and then store them in an air tight container in the fridge for the week. Whenever I need veggies, I take out a few and heat them in the microwave.
-Chicken on the fly:
1. If there is a day we’re having grilled chicken (or anything that needs to be cooked on our outside grill), I’ll have Ryan grill 1-2 extra chicken breasts so I can have a couple of already cooked chicken breasts ready to eat for Beckham. Usually one will be enough for the week. I marinate them with seasonings and Worcestershire sauce before grilling them. Then I can use them for chopped bbq chicken or inside a pasta or quesadilla dish.
2. Boil chicken in water for 20-30 minutes. This will be very plain so it’s good to pair with other ingredients when serving. It’s a much faster and easier way to cook it though. Great for the winter months when you might not be outside grilling.
3. 1-2 chicken breasts in the crock pot with 1-2 cups salsa (we use medium). I also add about 1 Tbsp. of taco seasoning. Cook on low for 2-3 hours, longer if frozen. Shred with a fork! I freeze this a lot of times to have for chicken recipes.
*I just keep the chicken in a baggie in the fridge!
I hope you found these meal ideas and recipes useful! I would LOVE to hear any ideas you have for feeding your toddler, whether it’s a meal, a snack, a cook book, or an idea that gets them to eat better. Other moms and dads are the best resources! Thanks to my “special moms” Facebook group for so much support and idea sharing. You’ve made this first year and a half SO much better!
Thanks for all the great ideas! I've been avoiding buying a steamer basket for veggies, but this motivates me to do it so I can prepare them all at the beginning of the week. My little guy is almost 16 months, and I feel like I feed him the same thing over and over!
Thank you for all the work you put into this! It gives me some great ideas.
My 23mo loves shrimp, so I keep a bag of cooked shrimp in the freezer-they thaw in minutes and made an easy snack or meal time met I'd I know he won't eat our meat-like steak.
I am LOVING this post!! My twins just turned one and are so ready to stop eating purees, but I'm not very creative when it comes to their food, so they usually get some anyway. Right now, I'm stuck on PB sandwiches, Grilled Cheese, and Quesadillas. They love these, but I feel like they need more variety! I'm excited to try some of these meals with them. They look so easy and something my husband and I would be able to make into a more "grown-up" meal as well (i.e. pulled pork sandwiches). Thank you!!
Great list! I have 15 month old twin boys, so this is very helpful. I think i need to do better about cutting their food up like you do. They are great chewers but the smaller pieces would look more manageable to them.
One other idea that I've been using recently is sandwich kebabs. I cut rounds of bread and cheese, slice the sausage.chicken and tomato and thread them on a skewer (I snip of the pointy bit). My toddler aged 3 and 4 months is loving them. Sometimes I may even add one item he doesn't like (example:cucumber) so he is free to taste it!
That's a great idea. I'll have to try that. I bet they think it's "fun" to eat that way.
I have been looking for a blog like this! These are great ideas and I love how you tell exactly what Beckham's eating and with pictures. We were kinda slow with food for our now 14 month old, so I love how you have explained things so clearly. I was able to send this to my mom (who keeps my son), and she loved it. Good job!!
I also love this post! Believe it or not, my 2 YEAR OLD, is still giving me fits about eating food that's not pureed. I'm starting to introduce him to new foods, and I found this very helpful! Especially love the peanut butter, banana sandwich idea. I think this may get him to eat bread, since he likes peanut butter and bananas! Yay!
Olivia, thank you for this detailed post. You have put a lot of work into giving some great ideas. And I love the photos of how you prepared them. As a grandmother, I really appreciate your suggestions for feeding even the fussiest eaters. Karen http://www.givingbears.com
Pastina!
We loved pastina for when our kids were younger.
Mixed with soft veggies, they loved it!
Also, an easy steamer idea:
Large pot filled 1/4-1/3 with water.
Metal strainer or metal colander.
Place the strainer in the pot (make sure the water is low enough to not come through the mesh/holes)
Place veggies in the strainer and set the water to simmer.
I don't have money or room for a separate steamer. This worked for my family very nicely.
Thanks for the post. Some new ideas for my boys to try.
Great ideas…thank you so much!
I buy frozen bags of grilled, pre-cooked chicken strips and throw 3-4 in the microwave, then chop them up.
I started doing this after you suggested it and my son loves the chicken strips (actually they are the fajita chicken strips that I've bought). Super easy and quick too. I don't necessarily like the chicken as much, but he seems to love it 🙂 Thank you!
Thanks for the ideas!
Loved this! Thank you for the great ideas and especially the tip on prepping the veggies for the week!
Thank you SO much for this post. Your descriptions and pictures are very inspirational. I am not creative when it comes to meals for my 2 year old, so this is a HUGE help! Thanks, again!
This is a great post! I'm so happy I found it- I'll refer to it often! Well done, Mama. = ) Thank you so much for sharing! Your little man is SUCH a cutie!
I love all of this! It is such great inspiration for my two boys. (1.5 and 3) As for the non soda ingredient with your roast. Try using some sparkling water (the fizz helps to tenderize) or seltzer water. For the sweetness you can add a little agave or some molasses and acidity can come from the onions or add about half a tablespoon of lemon juice!
Great idea! Thank you!
might want to reconsider calling your beans that use chicken stock "vegetarian"
Well I suppose your correct. I guess I just thought "no meat" = vegetarian. But yes, if you use veggie broth (which I do sometimes), then they can technically be called "vegetarian" I prefer the chicken broth.
people are so picky…good lord.
some do go out of their way to be offended and to call others out on the most harmless of things… If that is all you have in your life to be upset about, consider yourself very lucky.
If someone is a vegetarian surely they know what they should and should not cook with. These are examples of meals to feed a toddler, not recipes. People can adjust the meals to meet their own needs or preferences.
Quick question. In the description for your third picture, you reference pancakes from Sprouts as "whole wheat, gluten free". Do you mean that Sprouts has both kinds: a whole wheat option and a gluten free option? I am just wondering since a whole wheat pancake cannot be gluten free.
Abbie, I corrected the information above. They do have both gluten free and whole grain (not whole wheat), but yes, not together. I also added the brand name since I get them so often now. I do believe they are at regular grocery stores as well. Now, I will buy their waffles, but make my own pancakes and freeze them since pancakes are easier for me to make in big batches. Hope that helps…thanks for asking and pointing that out.
Thank you so much!! I needed some inspiration 🙂
LOVE this! THANK YOU! How old was your little guy when you started him eating like this? Thanks so much!
About a year. I started with wholesomebabyfood.com when he was 6 months old. And gradually introduced table foods.
Just what I was looking for! omg this has helped me so much thank you for all these wonderful ideas
GREAT ideas! I have been looking for ideas for my 1 year old. Great stuff. Thanks!
What meals could be prepared for a child with allergies to dairy and egg? Anaphylaxis allergy?
I don't have much experience with allergies, but I have a friend who doesn't use egg…I will ask her what she uses as a substitute. She made me chocolate chip banana bread with no egg or flour (oatmeal instead) and it was pretty tasty.
That is so very hard to do, my son has severe allergies to food and it isn't easy to plan any meal going out to eat is never an option. If you ever find some thing that gives a ton of ideas I would love to know about it!! Thanks, Your ideas are awesome!!
This website says you can use chia seeds as an egg substitute, but I haven't tried it myself: http://wellnessmama.com/4981/uses-for-chia-seeds/
I haven't tried this myself, but I read that you can use chia seeds as an egg substitute. They are packed full of nutrients, and they turn into a gel when soaked. This website gives some instructions: http://wellnessmama.com/4981/uses-for-chia-seeds/
Try using orange juice in lieu of dr pepper. I cook ribs in the oven low and slow, and the addition of orange juice mixed in with the sauce makes the meat fall off the bone. I would guess it would do the same in the slow cooker
Ooooh good idea! I will definitely try that. Thanks so much.
What recipe do you use for pancakes?
I either use frozen pancakes (Van's brand..they're organic and you can find gluten free too). Or I make them from scratch with whole wheat flour. I have a recipe on my Pinterest board I use. And every now and then I just make the recipe with Bisquick mix. I like the frozen the best because they're organic and FAST. I need fast right now.
Wowserz!!! You really have an imagination when it comes to food! No wonder my big guy (just turned two) won't eat what I am making!! For one, he clearly needs smaller bites. He needs a lot more variety and a lot more sprucing up. I have a very picky eater, but now I am thinking it is my fault because he good is bland. Thank you for taking the time to share all of this with the world. You have so many awesome choices and ideas!! Thank you!!
Broiling chicken breasts is also quick, and tastier than poaching them. Just treat your oven broiler like a grill.
For crockpot pulled pork you can use just apple juice about half way up the meat and cook on low for 12-14 hours. Shred and add as much of your favorite sauce as you want. My 9 month old loves sloppy joe. There are a lot of homemade recipes of that too if you want to avoid can.
First, fabulous name! My 28 month old's name is Beckham! Thank you for this post. The toddler food issues id all too real.
How neat! I personally don't know any other Beckham's…I hope it stays somewhat "different"
We do oats 1/3 cup in a bowl 1/3 cup water for 1 min the the microwave, I like to put in fresh blueberries we picked this summer that have been washed and froze in the oatmeal, when added frozen it helps cool off the Oatmeal quickly. We also add banana, strawberries, peaches.
Lunches we often make egg in the nest, whole wheat bread lightly buttered both sides, cut out the center, put in pan on stove crack the egg in the middle break the yoak, filp to cook other side cut up and my daughter devowers it (from time to time when on a dip kick she requests katsuo)
When in a real pinch for a meal we buy the target brand whole wheat Mac and cheese cups cook according to package, add frozen corn, peas, mixed veggie helps cool it off and we can use that single cup for 2-3 meals depending how much she eats and the amount of veggies I put in.
Those are great ideas to sneak in those veggies. Love the frozen fruit to oatmeal…that's perfect. Curious if the egg cooks all the way through (I'm not familiar with eggs other than scrambled)…I can't do any runny-ness to eggs so I'd have to make sure it's cooked. I'll have to try it!
Yes, the egg cooks all the way through. If you have ever eaten a fried egg with the yolk broken and cooked, this is basically the same thing! I make them, but add deli ham, tomato, and provolone cheese on top for mine and it is amazingly good!
Love all the ideas!! I've struggled with moderate egg white/soy allergies with my daughter since she began eating table foods a yr+ ago (she just turned 2) & it's been so frustrating trying to find foods that work. She loves pasta but seems to be going through a 'I-don't-care-for-anything-that-looks-like-a-GREEN-veggie' faze, & I was so happy when I found a Barilla fusilli pasta made out of spinach at the grocery store (it's green colored!) & she LOVES it, & it's never caused an allergy flare up luckily! Also loves the orange (carrots I believe) penne & mini wheel pasta (adds some fun to her dish). She loves it & I love knowing she's getting her veggie serving for the meal if she balks at the broccoli sitting right next door lol! I've also used cookie cutters to cutout her jelly sandwiches in fun shapes (have found some fun ones at the dollar store occasionally!) & it's been a big hit.
These are great ideas/tips! Thanks so much. My son LOVES when his sandwiches are cut into shapes.
Great meal ideas! thanks for sharing. What bbq sauce you use? any brand suggestions?
Thank you! I typically buy Sweet Baby Ray's. But also have used KC Masterpiece (I think that's the name) 🙂
Love all the photos and ideas! My daughter's extremely picky and I'm kind of jealous of all the great things you get your son to eat. I am working on the variety, but it's a slow process. Will have to check back for more – love sharing and getting new ideas. Thankfully she likes fruit so that really helps.
These are awesome ideas my only problem, my son doesn't eat anything I offer. He's extremely picky, I can relate to Kate. Do you or any of the other bloggers have any tips for helping picky eaters? I am so jealous I will my son would eat even half of these meals. 🙂
I'm on the search for foods for picky eaters. Since I wrote this post, we've had another little boy and already (at 10 months) he seems a little picky. Time will tell, but I may have to be creative with the foods I prepare for him. I'll keep y'all updated with what works. So far, smoothies have been great to sneak in some good fruits and veggies if that helps at all.
Oh you said yall lol.. you're southern… where ya from? Please share all ideas… I'm in serious need 🙂
Texas 🙂
Thanks so much Olivia! I'll try the smoothies, they look yummy. Please keep me posted on what you come up with for your new baby. Any help I can get I would greatly appreciate. BTW-you are awesome for sharing this with us!
My son just turned one and I'm still trying to grasp this whole "you need to give him real food" thing. Thank you for sharing your meals – it's given me quite a few ideas!
I found this post on Pinterest and it's fantastic! I love the meal ideas, pictures, and tips on cooking large quantities of veggies and other food. Unfortunately my 17 month old has an egg allergy so that eliminates that protein option, but he seems to like grilled chicken. While I always offer him 3 different foods (protein, veggie, fruit/carb) I find myself wondering how to go about offering a food he doesn't like over and over again. For example, if I give him chicken sausage, cheese, and veggies, he'll finish all the cheese and veggies and want more of those. Do I give him more of what he wants since he's hungry or insist he try or eat the 3rd food first? Usually when I choose the latter he ends up crying and throwing a fit so I give in and offer him more cheese or a banana since I figure it's healthy. But then next time do I try sausage again with 2 other foods he likes or something else? Anyway, great post, thank you and congrats on your new little guy!
Thanks so much for these ideas! I needed to see this. I think you are doing a great job and I have definitely learned a thing or two. I appreciate this.
Thank you for sharing! I have been searching for ideas and stress constantly about what to feed my 14 month old… he isn't picky, but I want him to be healthy. Thank you again!!
If your lil ones like pizza (who doesn't?!), you can make a healthy version with a multi-grain or whole wheat english muffin! Split it open, spread pizza sauce, sprinkle cheese (mozarella, cheddar, colby jack, whichever you like), pizza toppings (optional), and pop in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes!
thank you for sharing these ideas, there are a few things on here I never thought to try. I have some meals that I give my daughter that she loves…..you mentioned adding meat into a quesadilla for your son….one thing I came up with was adding tuna to my daughter's quesadillas because WIC gave us way more tuna than we need. Also for this reason, I decided to make her other meals with tuna, such as a grilled cheese sandwich….I'll grill an open-faced sandwich with cheese on top, and on one side I'll spread a tablespoon of tuna and then fold the sandwich in half. She loves it! Also, like you, I make food ahead of time and freeze it, and one thing I'll do is cook and portion out noodles to freeze….I also freeze my sauces, meats, and breads. And I'll take out a frozen cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup, some frozen noodles, and heat them up, add some chopped warm veggies and some tuna and I'll have an instant tuna casserole.
I’m very happy to say that my kids is not a picky eater and I can serve any food on the table. But still I thank you for this very wonderful idea.
Thank you for the great tips!!
A couple people mentioned having picky eaters. My daughter is weird/picky about food (will refuse food I know she likes) and I have found some of this blogger’s ideas helpful:
http://yourkidstable.com/2014/05/turning-my-picky-eater-around-easy-to.html#_a5y_p=1757691
Such great ideas! Thank you!
Truly a great list! The pictures help as well! My 11 1/2 month old finally just really started eating table foods and this was the list I used to help figure out some meals for her! Thanks so much!
These are so great but my son just throws everything on the floor if it’s something new, he won’t even try it. And he’s SO picky… he will NOT eat meat. Every once in a while he will eat a hot dog (only if it’s cold) or sandwich meat rolled up, but that’s as far as he will go with meat ( he loves chicken nuggets but I obviously can’t give him those every day) it’s so exhausting making new things for him to try just for him to throw it all on the floor and refuse to try it. He won’t eat pasta or steamed veggies, and he only likes a few fruit, pineapple, apply but not if it’s sliced and it’s hard for his little mouth to bite a full apple, peache slices. I’ve recently started making cheese quesadillas (cheesy triangles-he will only eat if if I call it by this name lol) for him but I really wish I could incorporate some kind of meat without him realizing it. He also likes peanut butter sandwiches (I have to call it a bun or he won’t eat it lol) ….. he’s just SO picky. I do my best to introduce new things for him to try but he’s not very adventurous when it comes to food. When my husband and I go to visit family they always make comments about how he doesn’t want to eat anything and want me to force him to eat. I tell them he will eat when he’s hungry but they just don’t understand and the comments they make can sometimes make me feel like I’m not doing the best I could be. It’s a struggle! I hope your little in continues eating all of these wonderful foods. When my son was his age he would eat everything! Now I’m lucky if I can get him to eat something other then rice crackers and cheese.
Hey Crystal,
I have to admit (and I think I mentioned this in one of the comments here), but I didn’t realize what a good eater my first son was (he’s 6 now and I’ve had 2 more kids since then). My 6 yr old still eats well and at least tries whatever we give him. Now, my second son is more like yours :(. Super picky and I feel like he eats carbs and that’s it. Won’t try new stuff and wants to snack. It’s frustrating and I can now empathize with mothers of picky eaters. He’s not the worst case scenario when it comes to picky eaters, but he’s definitely picky. I think there are more picky kids (toddlers especially) than there are good eaters. I honestly think we luck out when we get a good one (look at us, same parents, different eaters). The only advice I can give you (and that I’ve taken myself) is to just keep giving him foods to try and don’t get mad at yourself if he doesn’t like it (he probably won’t …or won’t even try). I’ve heard rules like making them eat however many bites they are old (3 yr old has to eat 3 bites), but that only works if they’ll actually try it. I’m not above incentives for trying foods either. My picky eater likes smoothies and I can sneak in spinach and some healthy supplements (flax seed, chia seeds, etc). I sweeten it with agave nectar (light). He also likes peanut butter smoothies. Anyway, good luck and keep at it…he won’t be this picky forever and you’ll have more leverage when he’s older. I’m sorry…I know it can be extremely frustrating. And ignore the ugly comments :). YOUR his momma 🙂
Just found this post, love all the ideas. I put chopped frozen spinach (thawed first of course) in spaghetti sauce and my son loves it. Also Amy’s brand makes a frozen spinach pizza that is delish and my son scarfs down at least a whole slice then some. He’s 21 months.