How to get a toddler to eat meat / meat equivalents?

[strangerthanfiction]

Dd's 20 months, a pretty fussy eater though not as bad as some. She eats broccolli, baby corn, cheese, bread, milk, pasta in tomoto / cheese sauce, and not a lot else. All are pretty healthy foods which I'm glad about. I'd really like to find a way for her to eat a different protein but so far have come up blank. She likes to feed herself and doesn't like casseroley type foods or soups so it has to be primarily a finger food version. I've tried lean cooked ham, boiled fish, fish fingers, cooked lean pieces of chicken, boiled / scrambled eggs, can't think of anything else right now. She's not a great chewer either. Probably doesn't leave a lot of scope for replies but if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them. Oh, I've tried quorn and tofu. No joy.

Mince?

cant you do spag bol?

used to use chicekn mince tooo for ds1

Iwouldnt worry about it, when she has mroe eeth sha can have bacon..

Is bacon a favourite then? I tried that once but she was horrified. Actually the only pasta she won't eat is spaghetti but I could try to put some mince into her pasta sauce I guess. Thanks!

My DS1 likes veggie sausages (because he can eat them with his fingers - no messy sauces to get in the way) and also hummous - he'll dip anything into it and sometime eat is with his fingers whihc I find particularly revolting - but at least he's eating some protein. He also went through a phase of eating lentil pate sandwiches. Some ideas there strangerthanfiction? Good luck!

have you tried Annabel Karmel's chicken and apple balls? DD loves these to 'dunk' in dips (usually ketchup), they are very sweet and possibly more palatable to todddler tastebuds. I usually make a big batch and freeze them.

recipe:
3 chicken breasts or 6 thighs
1 apple
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
pinch herbs
half onion chopped finely
1 stock cube (I use a teaspoon of stock powder)
2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
flour
oil

mince chicken in food processor, grate apple, add lemon juice to apple, mix together chicken, apple, herbs, onion, stock powder, breadcrumbs

flour hands and shape into 10 golfball sized balls.

shallow fry in oil until golden for about 6 mins.

(also works if you bake them in the oven about 10 -15mins at 180 deg)

Thanks, two great ideas here. I'll definitely try the chicken balls gingerbear, thanks for the recipe. And tommy, I haven't given her veggie sausages yet, I'll give that a go. So far hummous has had the thumbs down but it's been a while since I tried it and they are fickle.

There are turkey meatballs too, which my ds twins (aged 2 1/2 now) have always loved. From memory they are:

200g turkey mince
small onion finely chopped
slice of bread made into crumbs
pinch of chilli powder
pinch of cumin

Sauce: tin of chopped tomatoes, mixed herbs, chopped green peppers, cook together in saucepan.

Mix all ingredients together and then shape, by hand, into walnut size balls. Place in shallow ovenproof dish, spray with olive oil and cook in high oven for about 20 minutes until cooked, turning once. Serve with pasta or mash and with sauce poured over. Can substitute with beef mince, pork mince if you like.

Yum yum I'll try those too, thanks!

You could try putting flaked tuna or salmon into cheesey mash, although it smells quite fishy my fussy boy doesn't complain. Also on the Annabel Karmel front are chicken strips with cornflakes.
Take some small slices of chicken breast, dip them in beaten egg and roll in crushed cornflakes. Then fry gently in butter/oil. My DS likes these as finger foods. You could do them pretty small for minimal chewing. A nice bit or organic tomato sauce on the side goes down a treat!

thats would be a quick idea for me too as ds3 wont eat sandwiches yet ( to oyung really) and I often hav to provide a cooked lunch for just him

I mix smoked mackerel(!) or tuna with cream in ds's sandwiches (I flatten the bread a little and cut crusts off.) Maybe this is taboo but have you tried peanut butter yet? Chances are she'll be OK if she's not allergic to anything else. Maybe your gal will love them but my little man wouldn't touch those chicken apple balls! If she likes potato you could try making shepherds/cottage pie, run the cooked meat through the processor before adding the veg.

that should say tuna with cream CHEESE not just cream!

some great ideas here, DS will eat rice so I add variations of minced chicken, lentils, quinoa into brown rice for calcium and protein. I think with DS it was a texture thing as he would eat chicken if I minced it and hid it in rice or pasta but until recently wouldn't eat any chicken pieces. He lives on heaps of cheese and egg based dishes. Falafals are good too.
oh and he was anaemic at one stage despite all my efforts so I now give him floradix fro the health shop every day which he drinks no problem.

It was a texture thing for my DS too. I pureed it up and hid it in stuff ie bolognaise sauce. He would eat casseroles whcih helped but even then I struggled for a long time.
Have you tried beans and lentils of one sort or another as the texture is different and they will often eat these. Also will she at rice as there is some protein in brown rice, and you could also try cous-cous and cracked (bulgar) wheat as a change. As a guide a mixture of a grain and a pulse gives a reasonably complete protein.
Eggy bread?

my son used to chew on strips of well done steak for ages, he sucked/chewed all the goodness out, without having to physically eat it. Also we used to make fried steak strips in breadcrumbs which he adored, can do it with chicken too.
Fried rice is a huge hit with my 19mth old dd... put in a fine egg omelette, little bit of ham and chicken very finely diced, small onion.. peas and corn, and away you go.

Thanks for these other suggestions. I feel like such a killjoy as they're great suggestions but also it makes me realise how limited my fussy little dd really is! I've tried all the things like shepherd's pie etc. but she won't eat that because of texture (sloppy), same with mash with / without anything in it. Same with bread with anything on it be that sandwiches, butter or anything else. It has to be wholemeal and dry and then she'll only eat about a quarter of a slice at a time. She did have a phase of eating egg fried rice which was great but has recently rejected that. I think I'm going to go for hiding things in her pasta sauce option seeing as pasta seems to be the one food she eats consistently. It's hard work isn't it?

It is hard work but if it's any consolation DS was 4 in Feb and has only recently started to eat anything other than, fruit, veg, toast and cheese sandwiches (apart from what was hidden) and he is ''average' height, and healthy as can be. Good luck.

Yes, I know, and at least what dd does eat is pretty healthy. It's just SO limited.

Don't worry, they do go through eating phases. My dd was fantastic when first weaned - would try virtually anything. I agree on sandwiches though - she's now and still mostly just picks the filling out. Things she used to love she now won't eat but then suddenly she'll find she does like something she's always rejected. Favourite meat things are sausages and bacon and she does like cheese, but eggs are fairly recent. She does like hummous.
As long as your dd is eating plenty of healty things I wouldn't worry. Normally the hardest bit is to try and get them to eat some fruit and veg. Keep trying new things but don't make her eat them if she doesn't like them. She'll then come to things when she's ready.

That should read "she's now 4"

I meant also to add that liver has a different consistancy and I found that DS always ate this mashed when he wouldn't eat other meats

Thanks! So this weekend's big experiments are going to be lean bacon and scrambled egg. Hmmm ...

Tried scrambled egg for tea. Yuck yuck yuck. 'Bin, mamma, bin' she said.