To ask what you feed your two-year-old?

[UnderTheDesk]

Because trying to think of things to feed mine that aren't too sugary, salty, fatty, meat-heavy or nutritionally empty is giving me a headache. Inspire me, please!

Today she had banana and milk first thing, eggs Benedict for brunch, peanut butter on toast and a satsuma as a snack in the afternoon and roast chicken, roast potatoes and veg for dinner. At 2 can they not just have the same as the rest of the family?

Omelette
Prawn fried rice with peas corn peppes and mushrooms
Spaghetti Bolognese

Cheesy bnut squash and pea pasta sauce
Veg Lasagne
Cottage pie
Chicken, mushrooms, corn and peppers - add to wraps

Lamb stew

Fish pie
Meatballs
Poached salmon
Fish fingers
Bean burgers
Fishcakes
Sausages
Broccoli and cauliflower cheese
soup

Porridge or over night oats. Humous and pita. Roast chicken dinner (he picked at it) and apple crumble with cream. Snacks of apple, raisins, and cheese.

Ideas
Casserole loaded with veg and slow cooked for make the meat tender
Spag Bol with grated carrot and mushrooms
Cous cous with tuna and cucumber sticks
Boiled eggs and soldiers
Fish pie
Mac and cheese with salmon
Haddock risotto
Soup with cheese on toast
Egg muffins with cheese and veg
Rice pudding

Following mainly for ideas but my two year old twins are loving veggie haggis and veg mash. An unexpected win- and v healthy!

We also like fish/chicken curry, macaroni cheese (with tons of hidden veg) and savoury flapjacks.

We also like chicken nuggets and beans and cake........ can't be perfect

Porridge or shreddies in morning with a banana (dry cereal) along with some juice.

Apple for snack

Small pizzas for lunch along with veggies and a treat for pudding.

Afternoon she has nursery so pancake or fruit etc for snack.

Dinner time is meat or fish with veggies and chips.

Pudding normally a yoghurt and fruit.

Our wee one is three now and she's always had a good appetite- especially thai chilli crisps and she's lean and tall with no health issues.

Mines two in April but close enough.

Today he's had

Rice krispies and milk for breakfast
Then he had a pain au chocolate (prob not what you're aiming for) because I had one and he wanted it.

Then he had a Fromage frais.

Then for lunch he had a crumpet with butter, some grapes, and another Fromage frais.

Then for tea he had corn beef hash with the rest of us.

When he eats tea with us (weekends) he eats what we eat most of the time. If for any reason he eats earlier he'll have something like pasta with tomato and veg sauce, or cheese and veg pasta. Or omelette or scrambled egg on toast. Or a baked potato with tuna/cheese/beans and veg. He has stuff like fishfingers waffles and peas or beans occasionally.

I feel he has a balanced diet, he's always been a skinny thing so i dont worry about him getting overweight right now.

Today... porridge and honey for breakfast. Banana and blueberries mid morning. Roast chicken, mash, broccoli, carrots and gravy for lunch. Beans on toast for dinner. Small bowl of Greek yoghurt with some raspberries after dinner.
She’s not the best eater (4 year old sister is a dream and eats everything), but here’s a selection of things she likes:
Chicken stir fry with noodles
Lasagne
Sausage and mash
Pasta and tomato based sauce (sauce is a great way of sneaking in extra veg)
Tomato soup
Roast chicken
Macaroni cheese
Jacket potato with cheese and beans

Oh sorry, I should have been clearer. Dinners are fine, as she eats what we eat, it's the other three meals* that have me scratching my head.

I've been a very negligent mother and was giving her a bottle of milk with cereal for two of her meals until recently, but just read that she shouldn't be having bottles of milk at her age (22 months) anymore, so now I'm wondering what to give her instead.

I have just decided to start making porridge with fruit on top in the morning.

*We are in France - four meals a day, no snacks outside that is the norm for kids here.

Today mine had

Peanut butter on toast

Two biscuits
Half a banana and a pear

Cheese and crackers
Watermelon
Grapes

Roast lamb dinner

Just normal food!

Soup, salads with protein (chicken, tuna etc), omelettes, porridge...
Cereal with milk on top rather than milk in a bottle?

My 2 year old is hideously fussy. He only eats toast, grapes, strawberries, sweet corn, breaded chicken and fish fingers. Sometimes chips or garlic bread. It's extremely annoying and I'd love to know where I've gone wrong. His brother is a dream!

But I'm hoping it's a phase. I put all sorts in front of him and he eats only the things listed. So quite often he is hungry after a meal. So I give him more fruit.

He's 98th percentile for height and weight so I guess he's ok.

At two mine would have porridge with fresh fruit (weetos on the weekend).
Mid morning a banana.
Lunch of a one egg omelette or ham sandwich with cucumber and cherry toms. Yoghurt to follow.
Afternoon raw pepper sticks.
Dinner rice or pasta or mash with sausages or chicken breast or fish fingers. Peas or beans.
Iced lolly or ice pop.
Supper of one slice of toast with butter or peanut butter.
Sounds lots but portion sizes wete teeeeeny.

Breakfast:
Porridge
Cereal
Toast / bread

Lunch:
Bread, cheese, cherry tomato, cucumber
Soup
Quesadilla
Omelette / scrambled egg
Sandwich

Not sure when the 4th meal is....

Well the same things you eat, just a smaller portion, so a

risotto,
pasta with tomato or tuna sauce,
a piece of fish with boiled potatoes,
a piece of meat with sautéed zucchini,
soup (minestrone, pea soup, carrot-pumpkin )
Roasted chicken and tomatoes salad,
.....

Following for ideas but to add what my almost two year old ate today was:

1 Weetabix with whole milk for breakfast followed by a bowl of blueberries

1 slice of wholemeal bread Dairylea sandwich, few carrot sticks, bag of kiddylicious cheese straws, few cubes of cheese and some plain yoghurt for lunch

Home made breaded chicken, a potato waffle and baked beans for dinner (lazy Sunday dinner!) Followed by a fruit pot

She also picked at bits of my porridge at breakfast and DHs omelette at lunchtime.

My problem is getting veg into DD. Fruit and salady bits no real problem but veg? No chance.

In that case:

Snacks:
Cheese and crackers
Fruit platter
Rice cakes
Veggie muffins
Drop scones/scotch pancakes
Plain air popped popcorn
Hummus and crudités
Bread sticks
Porridge pancake fingers
Dry cheerios
Smoothie

Lunches:
Omelettes
Beans on toast
Baked potatoes and toppings
Soup
Quiche
Quesadillas
Noodles and frozen veg
Pinwheel wraps
Puff pastry scrolls with various fillings - make in advance, freeze and cook from frozen in the oven

Thanks all for the replies. Some good inspiration here.

(Also thanks for not telling me I'm a terribly deficient mother.)

Some typical meals for us

Breakfast:
•Porridge and berries
•Ripe banana, oat, flaxseed and egg pancakes (just blend)
•Egg and banana (not together!)

Lunches:
•Vegetable soup
•Vegetable and basil passata sauce with pasta and cheese
•Wholewheat cheese wraps with veg and fruit crudites

Dinners:
•Roasted pepper, onion and tomato sauce with tinned salmon/tuna, pasta and cheese
•Beef and lentil cottage pie with root veg mash
•Cheese, corn and black bean quesadilla
•Lentil bolognese with pasta and cheese
•Sweet potato mash and baked beans
•Chicken roast and trimmings
•Chicken + root veg casserole with dumplings/mash
•Homemade pizza (have started making the bases from gram flour and water and she doesn't mind... yet!)

I sneack lots of veg into most meals.

Snacks are either fruit or salad type veg. The odd sweet biscuit. I've also recently bought mini cutters from Amazon for less than £7 so we've had apple stars.. cucumber flowers.. they've gone down well!

Cereal for two meals a day? Isn't she hungry?

What do you eat for breakfast and lunch - just give her the same.

Also OP, I haven't given my DD a bottle since she was 13 months but she always has a full cup (7oz) of whole milk with her dinner. They don't need formula at this age but there's nothing wrong with a daily cup of whole milk. It's good for them.

I am very surprised by all these 2 year olds having cut up fruit! You're all very dedicated. I just hand them an apple or nana or tangerine really.

Hana Milk with powdered cereal in, or soup with milk and cereal was what she was getting in her bottle. I kind of misunderstood the "at least 500ml of milk until 3-years-old" advice we get here.

Her other meals were normal dinner and fruit, or yoghurt and a banana, but yes, she was getting hungry between meals, so I realized she wasn't getting enough, looked it up, and then found out about the bottle thing.

Her Dad has porridge in the mornings and has said he'll make it for her from now on too. I don't think my usual breakfast of black coffee and a fag would be the best for her.

Who has said they cut up fruit?

Breakfast is either a pancake with banana and peanut butter, or a mini croissant and a banana, or a bowl of those banana weetabix minis (he likes banana 🙈)

Lunch I tend to do toast with scrambled egg and beans, or he will have a sandwich with his brother. On weekend - when there's more time and no nursery run to do - I might do fish cakes and peas or let them make pizzas.

For tea today he had korma and rice, tomorrow I'm going to slow cook some pulled pork. I batch cook a lot for the kids, so I grab stuff out of the freezer.

I'm lucky my youngest eats anything, whereas my eldest is fussy. I do a lot of breadcrumbing for him - salmon nuggets are a favourite of his. X

Mine still has a bottle morning and evening. She asked for rice krispies this morning but didn't actually eat them. Then she had a banana, fruit snack bar thing and a yoghurt. Then my mum did roast lamb which she demolished and they had hot dogs for tea.

Probably too much sugar this morning and too much salt this evening, hopefully they balance out