Easy veggie/fish meals?

[confuzed]

Hello everyone. I would be truly grateful for any help and ideas you can give me.

My son is 16 months old. I am a vegetarian but I give my son fish (a compromise reached with his dad ).

I still make meals in batches and freeze the little cubes. For this I do lentils and veg/beans and veg/pasta and veg. I give my son fish fingers and veg/potatoes. He will eat sandwiches/toast as well.

I am not the world's greatest cook and I worry that I'm giving my son the same things all the time.

I have a friend who loves cooking and is always telling me the amazing variety of things her child eats.

If anyone has any easy veggie recipies that I could try I would be so grateful. Does anyone know of any easy fishy things I could do too?

Thank you so much to anyone who replies

[Othersideofthechannel]

Fish cakes

Pasta bake. If you have the right dishes you could do individual ones and his could have tuna and yours not.

[confuzed]

Thanks otherside

Pasta bake is a great idea. I think I need to invest in some good tubs that can go in the freezer

[MegBusset]

Sounds like your DS is eating healthy stuff so I wouldn't panic, a lot of people would love their DCs at that age to eat veg and potatoes and sandwiches! My DS is 17mo and also has a veg/fish diet and eats about the same stuff although he won't touch pasta and is allergic to lentils.

I would recommend the books Finger Food For Babies And Toddlers and Baby And Child Vegetarian Recipes if you want a few more ideas. But really, I think you have the basics of a good diet so don't stress too much, just try something new every now and then.

[MegBusset]

Also have you tried eggy things like tortilla, omelette, scrambled egg on toast etc?

[Othersideofthechannel]

Variation on the fish cakes: stuffed jacket potatoes - tuna or salmon mix in well.

Polenta. Let it cool in a slab, cut out shapes and crisp up in a frying pan. Serve with home made tomato sauce. The left over shapes freeze well.

Soup - make it thick at this age and hom scoop up with the bread. Gradually thin the consistency as he gets more skilled with spoon.

[confuzed]

Thanks Meg for the book recommendations - I will definitely look into them. Unfortunately he won't touch egg! I made scrambled egg for the first time in my life last week (I was so proud) and he wouldn't touch it. Have also tried hard boiled egg (which I admit is a bit dry).. no luck. Maybe when he's a bit bigger I'll be able to do that as it's certainly easy and a great source of protein.

Shame about your DS being allergic to lentils! They are so easily disguised in a meal aren't they, and great for protein.

Thanks again

[confuzed]

Otherside - do you cook salmon first? If so, how would you cook it? Sorry to be so ignorant! Does it have bones in it?

Polenta is a GREAT idea, I would never have thought of that.

Soup is another thing I have not given him yet, you can freeze batches of soup as well can't you?

Thanks

[IAteRosemaryConleyForBreakfast]

Spicy beans - fry onion, chuck in peppers/mushrooms/garlic, add tin of baked beans, butter beans, kidney beans, canellini beans, haricot beans (any beans, you get the gist!) then add tin of tomatoes, some paprika, sprinkle of chilli powder, some herbs and season with black pepper. Cook for a while then serve with grated cheese melted on top. Very tasty with homemade potato wedges (great finger food). Delicious and exceedingly healthful.

[confuzed]

Great idea! Thank you! Sounds so easy yet really healthy.

[UnderRated]

Here is my list. DS was weaned on, and still eats, stuff like this (as do I):

Omelet
Frittata
Quiche

Veggie Bake
Grilled Portobellos w/ roast toms & ricotta on sourdough
Onion & Olive Pissaladiere
Onion & Goat?s cheese tarts
Tomato & Tapenade Tarts
Sweet potato & chick pea curry
Baked spuds
Potato & Onion Tortilla
Spicy Roasted Veg
Veggie/ Allotment Pie
Chunky Veg Chili
Leek and Potato Gratin
Paneer, peas and potato curry
Cauli Cheese
Baked Figs with Stilton
Stuffed Peppers
Stewed Okra w/ tomatoes
Baba Ganoush
Aubergine Parmegiana
Aubergine & tomato gratin
Aubergine in cheese sauce
Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini, and Chickpea Wraps
Perciatelli with Roasted Tomatoes and Eggplant

Black Bean Burgers
Mushroom veggie burgers
Carrot Lentil burgers

Pumpkin, Walnut & Blue Cheese Gnocchi
Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna
Roast pumpkin and mushroom lasagna
Goats Cheese and Pesto Cannelloni
Lentil Lasagna
Tortellini
Ravioli
Pesto
Tagliatelle w/ Veg ribbons
Spaghetti w/ asparagus and lemon sauce
Macaroni Cheese
Cannelloni
Spaghetti w/ fontina & Kale
Conciglie con broccoli

Risotto
Rainbow Rice
Mushroom Stroganoff
Dahl & rice

Red Beans and Rice
Chermoula Chickpea burgers
Chick Pea Burgers
Tuscan beans w/ tomatoes and sage
Adzuki Bean Stew
Parsley & butterbean stew
Black-eyed peas (w. rice)
Homemade baked beans
2 or 3 bean salad

Crunchy Lentil Loaf
Cheese & Lentil Loaf
Lentil Stew
Lentil Shepherds Pie
Spiced Lentils
Lentil Chili

Quinoa tabbouleh
Quinoa w/ avocado and mango
Jeweled Quinoa
Lemon-scented quinoa (w/ tahini dressing)
Quinoa in coconut milk
Veg fried quinoa
Couscous with spicy chickpeas & veg

Spinach, Goats Cheese & Pepper Quesadilla
Pizza
Cheese & onion pie
Leek & onion tart
Spanakopita
Vegetable Tart
Toasties

Burritos
Quesadillas
Mexican Lasagna (black beans, salsa, pasta)
Mexican Lasagna with tortillas (refried beans, sour cream, spicy veg)
Fajitas

Soup
Veg Soup
Barley & Veg sop
Tomato & Lentil
Onion
Winter squash (Roast pumpkin/ Butternut & onion)
Cream of watercress & stilton
Mushroom
Spicy Carrot
Pea and bacon soup
Borscht
Carrot and sweet potato
Pumpkin & Red Pepper
Tortellini Soup (w/ escarole/ spinach)
Tomato Veg soup
Split pea and ham

Salads
Pasta w/ green beans & mushrooms
Potato
Greens w/ warm bacon & eggs
Nicoise
Beetroot & mint
Fried Halloumi & grape
Tomato, Bean & fried Basil
Watermelon & Feta

[Othersideofthechannel]

Yes, you can freeze soup.

Yes, cook the salmon first. You can buy salmon fillets without any bones in. Wrap in foil and steam or cook in oven for 20 mins.

You can also give him the cooked salmon on its own of course.

[confuzed]

Thanks everyone - a great list from underrated and some great tips from otherside - am going to try the salmon tonight.

[dinkystinky]

My son loves salmon - he's a fussy eater but now just over 2 and will eat an entire fillet in one sitting and ask for more. We just cook it up in the oven with some herbs and butter or, if feeling adventurous, put on some cream cheese and breadcrumbs for him.

He also loves pasta with veg sauce and tuna stirred in. You can do a nice creamy (cheese sauce based) past sauce and flake in some cooked salmon (would poach it in milk) and veg (I normally use broccoli).

The other fish my son loves is sole or plaice (generally no bones) which we grill up and serve with a nice mushroom sauce.

[dinkystinky]

ps. DS wont eat scrambled egg unless is mixed with something - his nanny gives him it with broccoli (!) and cheese and he gobbles it up.

Wont touch a hard boiled egg either but loves cheese and tomato omelettes or a nice spanish omelette (think its a texture thing).

[kiwibella]

thanks for the extensive list of ideas UnderRated. My lo also enjoys scrambled egg with cheese but, I agree, think she refuses all other forms of egg because of the texture. It just gets to the mouth before being refused.

Can I ask what polenta is... or maybe I mean how you eat it? I was looking at some ready-made in the supermarket and I also found some powdery / grainy on the shelf... but opted for breadcrumbs (which was also suggested in the recipe I was using). TIA.

[Othersideofthechannel]

Polenta 'powder' is cooked in water or stock, constant stirring required, and either served immediately (hot purée) or cooled and then cut up and fried or oven baked. You can add grated cheese, bits of chopped olives etc for extra flavour.
I cool and then reheat because I can't do last minute cooking and help children wash their hands at the same time!