Toddler favourite dinners

[graysor]

I am looking for inspiration to expand my 18mo dd's meal repertoire. We currently seem to rotate a very limited menu of eggs, casserole and couscous, and not much else!

Hit me with your best suggestions!

Ds1 is 23 months. His favourites are omlette, pasta with either bolognaise or any tomato based sauce, he's much less keen on cheese sauce, he likes any meat/veg dinner (roast, casserole etc) if it's chopped up in a bowl with gravy so he can spoon himself. (as opposed to chasing it round a plate) sausages, mash, peas, or beans, waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs, beans. Recent revelation was pizza!

He's not keen on salad, crudités etc.

Jacket potato, cheese/beans/tuna.

Oh and salmon, and fish pie, likes cod but doesn't like batter or breadcrumbs really.

Quesadilla- 2 wraps filled with grated cheese and whatever else you fancy and toasted in a dry frying pan. Current favourite here is cheese, chicken and sweetcorn.

Risotto is also a favourite in our house.

Dd is a veg dodger so most dinners are dinners I can hide veg in! She loves fish fingers, omelettes (I can hide loads of veg in a cheesy omelette), pasta with veg+tomato sauce, cheese sauce, bolognese. She also likes fish pie but I have to mix it together a bit so she can spoon it easier. Lasagne. Cottage pie (again a good one to hide veg).

Have tried jacket potatoes but she wasn't keen, but I did put beans on them and I think it's the beans she doesn't like.

I'm going to try her with a stir fry with noodles tomorrow.

How do you get a toddler to eat cous cous!?! Dd had it once and just spread it for miles!! It went everywhere!

I thought the same about cous cous!

DS is two and loves baked macaroni cheese. I put veg in it so it's not just cheese. Bigger pasta pieces seem to work better so he can spear them with a fork or pick them up.

He also likes toasted sandwiches with omelette, cheese and relish in, and weirdly roasted veg soup - I do creamy pumpkin or cauliflower so it's quite sweet.

He's a big fan of spaghetti (so bolognese) and noodles, I do these in a savoury broth with tofu.

Loves pizza.

He also likes things he can hold and eat, so I make a beany tomatoey rice mix and put in wraps with cheese, then toast them so the cheese melts and cut in half so not too big.

Halloumi also goes down well.

And egg mayo sandwiches.

Despite this list he can be very fussy!

Risotto - I like adding chicken breast chunks and peas or mushrooms.

Sweet and sour chicken, maybe try a very mild curry? Veg soup with cheesy toast soldiers to dip in it - you could get all sorts down them by liquidising it up!

I'm trying some of these, they sound delicious!

Quick and easy one -

Pasta, add peas to pan halfway through, drain, add Philly and smoked salmon. Stir.

Haha, the couscous does indeed go everywhere! But if you leave it a bit soggy (or mix in a little cream cheese) it clumps together enough to spoon ok.

I think my biggest problem is that dd seems to dislike all types of pasta, so that cuts out a load of easy options!

She does like a mild curry with rice. And today a veggie bean chilli and rice went down well.

Thanks for the suggestions, definitely some worth trying.

Keep em coming!

Fish cakes, easy to batch cook and freeze can mix things up a bit with different fish and add different veg. You can do similar with falafel.

DS2 is 19 months and his favourite thing to eat is bbq pulled pork

He also likes;

• omelettes/scrambled egg
• quiche
• pasta bolognese
• chilli and rice
• enchiladas
• stir fry/fried rice
• beef stew (he loves this actually)
• cod in parsley sauce (from a packet)
• toad in the hole
• chicken curry
• cottage pie
• jacket potato, cheese & beans

He's a pretty stodgy eater and very much a meat and two veg kind of guy which is fine in winter but I'm finding the warmer days a struggle

Dd2 favourote meal ever is fish fingers, chips and peas.

She also likes veggie fingers (veggie style fish fingers)

'picky food's' - cocktail sausages, hummus, avocado, ham, any cheese (my weirdo will even eat goats cheese), boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, crackers, pate

Large pasta with pesto sauce. She's gone off tomato based sauces which is annoying as spaghetti bol/lasagne and cottage pie are being refused.

Fish pie.

Roast dinner with a decent amount of gravy.

Fry-up Hash brown, bit of bacon, roasted tomatoes, beans, sausage, fried egg.

Egg fried rice (usually add in left over roast chicken which she avoids)

Vegetable soup. I usually stir in some quinoa or hard boiled egg yolk for protein then blitz it.

Savoury rice.

Written down it sounds like dd eats amazingly well but she can be really difficult to get to eat dinner and will avoid any veg served sepately other than peas, sweetcorn and peas so I end up mixing broccoli into pesto, hiding it in mash and regularly serve soup!

Macaroni cheese is a favourite with all 3 of my young grandsons

We're veggie and DS had dairy and soy allergies so

DS really likes falafel and homous with pitta bread (but it has to be one of the individual pots of homous with a spoon to eat it like a yogurt, so I save the pots and put big tub homous in one!).

Anything with fried mushrooms is food of the Gods. I'm going to make some chickpea, onion and mushroom burgers this weekend for him.

Any kind of fritters (just any veg/beans with gram flour, smoked paprika and lemon juice) with baked sweet potato fries is a winner.

I do a veggie shepherds pie with a less spicy version of this pumpkin chilli as the base: www.thekitchn.com/vegetarian-recipe-pumpkin-chili-recipes-from-the-kitchn-196046

Veggie sausage rolls made from bought puff pastry and filled with stir fried beans/ground up nuts and veg with herbs or spices. I make a batch and freeze uncooked then cook for twenty minutes when I want one.

Quorn sausages cut in long quarters as the skin can be hard to tear otherwise, usually with new potatoes and peas but sometimes as hot dogs with onions and homemade salsa.

Lentil and chickpea soup: tin of chickpeas, 1/3 cup red lentils, tsp paprika, one medium potato, one large carrot, two cups chopped up other leftover veg, handful of spinach, stock cube and water to cover in the pressure cooker for ten minutes. Blend and it's really thick so easy to spoon for a baby or toddler. If it's too runny, dunk toast until it's spoonable and adjust water next time!

Chicken pasta bake, made with the leftovers of the roast chicken, cheese sauce (use philly or similar) and any veg. Peas & sweetcorn are a favourite.

They also love pizza wraps - just tortillas with tomato puree, mixed herbs, powdered garlic, grated cheese, ham & sweetcorn. Rolled up & put in the pannini press.