AIBU to ask for your easy healthy quick toddler recipes?

[Hallomother]

I’m overhauling my diet and I’m doing the same for DS. He’s a good eater generally but has had a bit of a dodgy tummy for the last week on or off and as a result just wants to eat beige.
He has low iron so I try and add iron rich foods to as many things as possible.

One of the things I make is banana oat spinach pancakes for breakfast which he had with berries

Or

Porridge fingers with courgette and pear

But I’m struggling with snack ideas and meal ideas

Would love to hear what other people make

Just focus on whole foods and nothing out of a packet...and have him eat what you eat.

So meat, eggs, fish, veg, fruit and a bit of dairy.

Eggs make a good lunch...boiled and sliced or scrambled with toast or without.

All my kids were given a salad plate with every meal...in a shape...to make it more appealing. So I'd make a tree out of cucumber, carrots, tomatoes...whatever...or flowers or faces.

Then serve whatever protein alongside it. Toddlers just eat what we eat and it's good for him to sit down with you at mealtimes.

Snacks should always be cut up fruit or veg/salad. If he's not eaten all of his last meal, add some cheese or egg.

@fortunesfave he won’t eat cut up veg unfortunately so I put a lot into his meals through various means. He has fruit with breakfast, and as part of one snack usually.
I try to give him things like cubes of cheese or babybel or homemade flat scone with veg in it, porridge finger with fruit or veg in it etc as a snack rather than out of a packet. Although I do give him an oat bar or baby veggie crisp sticks if we are eating on the go, usually with a sandwich.

I think he has a good balance I’m just looking for a bit more variety.

I like the idea of shapes though. I’m going to try him on pepper crudités again. I keep offering salad plates but he just spits it back out again 🙈

Are we talking young toddler (12-14 months ish?) or almost-preschooler (almost-3-year-old)? Mine is an older toddler and basically just eats what we eat, and I rarely bother with snacks as he eats plenty at mealtimes - makes life much easier! This morning's breakfast was porridge followed by pear and yoghurt (usual for him to have both - other mornings it would probably be just one of those options). Lunch was vegetable soup with bread, 3 different kinds of cheese, and some chopped tomatoes followed by blueberries. Dinner will probably be pork and vegetable stew with rice, and maybe some melon or mango afterwards. I never buy packeted stuff aimed at toddlers - way too expensive, and often not that nutritious. I might put a piece of fruit in my bag if we were going out after a particularly early breakfast/lunch and I was expecting it to be a long time until the next meal.

With the chopped up vegetables thing, I would just keep offering them and letting him see you eat them. Make sure there are other things to eat on his plate that he likes. He'll very probably start trying them of his own accord at some point as long as he doesn't feel pressured to eat them.

My ds is nearly 4 and his all time favourite meal at the moment is tuna rice salad.
It’s so easy I just cook some rice (can use brown if you fancy but I just use white rice)
Add a can of tuna, stir in any veg/salad you have lying around in the fridge/freezer (sweetcorn, carrots, peas, tomatoes, cucumber etc) and then stir in a little bit orb mayonnaise and mix all together.
It’s nice warm but is also great to keep in the fridge cold.

He’s just over 18 months

@StevieNix I might do this with salmon as he’s a big salmon fan thank you

Mine is a big fan of a dippy egg, which conveniently can be breakfast, lunch, or tea as needed. Poached is easier for her to do more independently, but she copes with soft boiled with a little help.

We also make veg & cheese muffins – if you use something like courgette or carrot, it just about vanishes, but something like spinach and red pepper gives a more distinct, but still pretty mild flavour. Also a fruit version, banana and cinnamon is our standard, but pear, apple, tinned pineapple, and probably others I'm forgetting have all been successful. The fruit ones usually have a finely grated carrot in there as well...

Pesto pasta, can blend broccoli or spinach into the pesto if you want.

Egg fried rice also goes down well here, and if you chop the veg fairly small, most of it seems to get eaten. Also chili beans and rice (mild, unless he likes a bit of spice), one pot, works with most sorts of veg (again, chopped small), top with a little grated cheese if you like.

Roasted root veg might also tempt him to eat more visible veg (easy, if not fast).