To ask for toddler meal suggestions? We're stuck in a rut

[Xuli]

18mo is a good eater and a BIG eater but we're surviving in that boring pasta and veg, peanut butter on toast etc rut. And breakfast is a head scratcher at the moment too.

He can't have eggs (but does tolerate them baked in something) and has recently gone to limited dairy. This means breakfast has gone to pot at he won't eat porridge or Weetabix with oat milk, so he has dried Shreddies and fruit a lot - which doesn't seem to be filling him up, so the morning goes wrong. But I'm wary of a bread based breakfast as he generally has some form of bread for lunch...

Dinners are fine, but again tend to be based around pasta, rice or noodles so if I don't do bread for lunch, he might have pasta and then I worry about his whole diet being too carb heavy.

What do your toddlers like? How can I mix this up a bit? I live for the day he can have scrambled egg and a good protein heavy breakfast!

(Oh, and we have no microwave and no room in the world's smallest kitchen to put one so things like jacket potatoes require a degree of planning we don't always have time for after a day out!)

Can't he eat what you're having most of the time?

Our toddlers just had a little bit of whatever we were having. I never did the separate meals malarkey.

Yogurt for breakfast, maybe.

Shepherd's pie for dinner. Stir fry chicken/fish and veg.

Dinner is probably the only meal we all share, and he eats that happily. But he won't eat the same breakfast and I'm bad, it's toast for lunch here a lot, or eggs!

Just feed him what you're having? Isn't that normal? I never cooked anything different and mine eat pretty much everything given to them now.

I'm not a fan of the separate meals either but it's just due to logistics really that he quite often ends up eating separately, or has something a little different due to his allergies/intolerances

Mine has a fruit pouch, toast with peanut butter and a mini babybel for breakfast.

Lunch I do something like omelette, beans on toast, baked potato with tuna or pasta pesto.

Tea is what we have, spaghetti bol, risotto, fish and veg etc.

What about pancakes for breakfast? Simple to do and the egg is cooked so should be ok?

Muffins (not blueberry etc), crumpets

Rice? Things like risotto/curry and rice are a hit with mine (2 out of 3 of them, anyway )

One, that's similar to what older DC ate but because he can't have much cheese or yoghurt and no eggs, I'm struggling a little! My natural instinct is "here, have an omelette" but that's not an option.

It's the allergies and intolerances that are limiting me often. There's only so much dhal and spaghetti one boy can eat.

Oops, just reread your post re: too many carbs. Sometimes my children have "spicy chicken" which is just tikka marinated. They have it with peas or salad (depending on which child it is!)

By the way I think little children need lots of carbs so maybe don't worry too much... (I'm no expert though)

Mashed avocado on toast is tasty. Salmon is quick and easy to cook - steam it or wrap in a foil parcel in the oven. Smoked mackerel goes down well with a lot of children and you can eat it out of the packet, you could do a tin of mackerel in tomato sauce on toast.

Marinated chicken would work, I think he love that and veg for lunch.

My two are not fans of breakfast but they like pancakes. For quick meals they like tins of beans and sausage, ravioli etc. Crackers and cheese usually ends in disaster with them just eating the cheese and nothing else and then saying they're hungry. They do like mash potatoes with gravy and the other meal they like is chicken wrapped in bacon with Philadelphia and a tomato sauce (out of a jar).

Pancakes for breakfast? With fruit and soya yoghurt? I wouldn't worry too much about carbs in a growing child as its tricky with dietary restrictions

We are in a similar rut! DS (1) has egg and dairy allergy and just eats pasta and rice!! You can get vegan pancake recipes that taste exactly like normal pancakes. Sweet potato with ratatouille, chicken and sweet potato casserole, chilli con carne with mashed avocado, turkey and sweet potato meatballs (sweet potato instead of egg!). We buy a lot of sweet potatoes! But hopefully a few ideas

Banana pancakes for breakfast?
Chicken and avocado and salad wraps?
Get a slow cooker and make stews etc? I know you are short on space but this could do loads of meals

Frustratingly he's told us where we can stick our diary free yoghurt

That's good to hear about the carbs, I'll have a little read around but maybe stop worrying too much. And I'd forgotten about the tinned fish, I used to give that to older DC but haven't don't that for the younger one for a while.

Tuna mayo
Fish fingers
Cous cous with Home made tomatoey sauce
Pitta pizzas
Almond butter on toast

It might be easier to move the bread to breakfast and then give him something different for lunch - baked beans and a good quality sausage; chicken breast and cucumber or other veg sticks with houmous; fish fingers or piece of fish?

My little one loves pinwheels: a sheet of puff pastry spread with passata and then whatever fillings you like (we generally have spinach, mushrooms, ham and cheese). Roll it up like a Swiss roll, slice and bake

Just feed him what you're having.

My kids just got a smaller portion of whatever I was having for dinner. None of this 'just pasta stuff' nonsense.

Make whatever you want, give it to him too.

How about overnight oats for breakfast? Just soak porridge oats in Apple juice in the fridge overnight, then mix in yoghurt and fruit in the morning

My DD has cereal (Shreddies) and an apple at breakfast. She has raisins or a banana with a cheese string for her snack. She has a cheese sandwich at lunch with cucumber and tomatoes and maybe another piece of fruit. She has pasta or risotto or fish or similar for dinner with vegetables. She seems well.