Give me your best toddler recipes please!

[OveranxiousUnderated]

Hi there...

My DD is 17 months old and generally a good eater - big appetite and tummy to match! She loves fruit/veg, and I make all her food myself but I am running out of ideas...only have a few meals left for her in the freezer so would like some fresh ideas.

Our usuals are: Salmon and Brocolli Cheesy Pasta, Cottage/Shepard's Pie, Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni, Fish Pie and Roast Chicken/Pork Dinners.

That sounds quite varied, but I think we are both getting bored, so can I please have some of your favourite/popular recipes for inspiration...

Also what sort of snacky meals do you do, as in a light tea? For example my DD occasionally has scrambled egg on toast/omelette, what else can I do that's pretty quick and simple to prepare.

[I have lots of white potatoes to use up too...]

Thanks.

To be honest at her age, I would just give her whatever your having

Watching with interest...

^ I hear the 'whatever you are eating' comment so much but toddlers eat at 430pm in this house and mummy & daddy at 8pm! Surely most people are the same?

Agree with Shutupanddrive whatever you are having.
My DC are 11, 7 and 13 months, they love similar things to your list but also, curries, chilli con carne, lasagne, stews, casseroles, soups with crusty bread, fajitas, burritos, fishcakes, risottos, fritatta with salad - most foods really. It makes life much easier if you all eat the same sort of things.

SootySweepandSue We eat together between 5:30 and 6:30ish (DC have a snack about 3:30 so not starving by dinnertime), if DH isn't home by then then he has his reheated when he gets in.
There are a couple of meals that DC don't like and DH and I do, steak for example. If we have this then we have it as a treat when DC are in bed, but IME DC eat better and eat a more varied diet if at least one adult but pref both eats with them, and it's nice to be together in one place with no TV/Wii/Ipod/MN/laptop distractions.

I also posted in 'Food' and got a similar response....here's what I said there:

"Yeah she eats what we eat most of the time, if I make a big cottage pie for example then we will eat as a family and I will freeze any extra portions.
However, I also make up some batches of food separately for her because when I work, my DM looks after her so I leave meals for her so that she doesn't have to cook. Plus DP sometimes works evenings and I will eat later with him, where as DD likes to have her tea at a certain time each day, so I like to have back up meals for her in the freezer as and when needed. "

SootySweepandSue that's very similar to us, although we do try to eat together as much as possible.

So I am looking for ideas for all of us too really, meals that we can all have that your toddlers enjoy. I am going to try her with soup as she has never really had it before, and fishcakes would probably go down well too.

how/when did you introduce curries and chilli to your toddlers??

when they started weaning! seriously my dd loves butternut squash curry, you can make it quite mild. she is 13mths adn had chilli for diner last night, we all did.

if you eat at a different time can you not keep back some of hwat you made and then give it to your toddler the next day?

soup is nice and easy to make a batch adn freeze, i do a butternut squash one, beetroot soup or a tomato and lentil soup, all are nice and easy and freeze well.

also slow cooker dinners, the meat is lovely and tender then so easy for toddlers to chew, i make a turkey tagine with aprictos and chickpeas that dd loves.

pasta with peas and ham and a sauce made from cheese, i often just heat up a blue cheese with a bit of cream, nice and easy and liked by all 5 of mine :)

Same as above really. We will all have one meal and then I put a few portions in the freezer of it for other days. DH isn't back by DS's dinner time so I sit with him and have a piece of fruit or biscuit so I'm eating too.

Anyway, my freezer currently has moussaka, lasagne, fish pie, leek and haddock pasta bake, chicken stew, chicken curry, Thai green curry, lamb hotpot and some bolognaise that can be put with various carbs.

His favourite is fish which encourages us to eat more fish too which is great.

Oh, quick teas are pesto pasta, or new potatoes with ham and cheese, or a picnic plate, some breadsticks and Houmous, bit of cheese, bit of ham, peppers and carrots, whatever is in the fridge really.

When mine were little I usually put a portion of whatever dp and I were having aside and dc had it the next day. So we were eating the same thing, but "time slipped". Just do some fresh vegetables.

I introduced curries/chilli con carne at the weaning stage too. I make then the way DH and I like them medium heat then add a little greek yoghurt, sour cream, or coconut milk to DS2's portion to make it a little milder for him but he likes it quite spicy.
For my older DC I put the yoghurt or sour cream on the table in bowl and they add to suit their taste.