Grady has gotten to the point in his toddler life where if anything remotely looks like a vegetable, he ain’t touching it. When he was younger, it was all about trying new foods, looking at the colors and textures and it was exploration. He had no problem eating whatever. Things have changed now that he’s older. (If you want to see how we started our Baby Led Weaning Journey click HERE. If you want to see Part One of What Grady Ate, click HERE.)
Unfortunately, kids don’t always eat what they are supposed to. Luckily, I’ve found some really delicious recipes for fun finger foods that are stuffed with veggies. He enjoys them and if he doesn’t touch the veggies on his plate, I’m okay with it. Below is a look at what Grady ate in a week. I included links to any recipes that I could get my hands on so that you can try them out for yourself!
Monday
- Breakfast: banana toast, mixed berries, whole milk
- Lunch: veggie nuggets (freezer), cheese sticks, avocado cubes, oranges, milk
- Dinner: smothered pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, zucchini and corn skillet, pears, milk
Tuesday
- Breakfast: cheesy eggs (scrambled eggs with a little shredded cheese on top), raspberry oat muffin (freezer), banana slices
- Lunch: sausage veggie roll ups (freezer), pepper and cucumber slices with ranch, cheese, orange, milk
- Dinner: million dollar spaghetti (freezer), green beans, pepper sticks, orange, milk
Wednesday
- Breakfast: apple and oat muffins (freezer), mixed berries, milk
- Lunch: veggie meatballs (freezer), avocado cubes, cucumber slices with ranch, banana slices
- Dinner: chicken and dumplings, green beans, steamed apples with cinnamon
Thursday
- Breakfast: cheesy eggs, toast with jam, milk
- Lunch: chicken veggie nuggets (freezer), cheese stick, cucumber and tomato slices with ranch, pear, milk
- Dinner: steak, sweet potato fries, peas and carrots, steamed apples with cinnamon
Friday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs, english muffin with cream cheese, strawberries, milk
- Lunch: parmesan zucchini tots (freezer), tomato slices, pepper sticks, grapes
- Dinner: baked pork chop, twice baked potato, green beans, grapes
A few things I’ve learned at this age:
- He’s not always going to eat and that’s okay. I don’t force feed. There are days when he refuses to eat anything off his plate and other days he’s a garbage disposal. I’ve learned to roll with it.
- I won’t let him walk around with food. Meal time is meal time. We sit and eat and when we are done, we can get up. Grady got the flu and for days I would just let him have snacks here and there in the playroom. It caused a bad habit of him wanting to just snack all day and not sit down for an actual meal. Once the habit was broken, we were able to get back to the table and eat together.
- He’s still not using utensils (regularly) and that’s okay. I read an article that children should be using utensils by 17 months. As a former teacher I know that not all children can do the same things at the same time. He’ll use them when he’s ready. Until then, I always make sure his utensils are at the table, even if he doesn’t use them.
- I introduce a least one new food a week. Be it a new nugget I’ve made or a celery stick with peanut butter, I try to get something new in there. I always make sure I provide plenty of other options if he like/want the new food. And going off that, even if he doesn’t like it the first time, I’ll offer it again later. The first two times I introduced celery with peanut butter (ants on a log) he ate the raisins and left the rest. The third time, he was making love to it. I try not to give up when he turns down new foods. Unless he REALLY gives me the signal he doesn’t like something, I’ll keep offering.
Hopefully this will inspire you to make some healthy freezer meals for your little tot!
Ashley