What to feed my 17 month old?

[wattie]

I need some ideas on what I should be feeding my LO. We have a rather hectic family life which often means that we don't all eat together and I eat at work before getting home. So meals for 17 month old need to be planned and left if possible for carer or be easy to sort out.

She is pretty good and eats most things put in front of her still. She loves vegetables especially peas, brocolli and corn. She has chicken breast dippers, sausages, fish fingers, pasta, baked potatoes, tuna fairly regularly along with other veggies but I think I need to vary the diet a bit. I am always conscious about the salt levels and try not to give her too much ready made or processed food that might be high in salt.

she loves porridge, yoghurts and all fruit.
Any ideas would be greatly welcomed or confirmation that this is not a restrictive diet?

my 18month old loves spag bol and this can be made and frozen in batches. she also loves a stew, and home-made pizzas.

my ds used to love pasta and pesto at that age quick to cook and nutricious

you could do steamed chicken breast with mash and veg

spag bol

mince veg and potatoe

stew

I make fruit smoothies which i just bung some fruit in the blender, lentil casserole with sweet potato, cauliflower cheese, individual cottage pies, I cook batches and then freeze.

Current faves of my daughter who is 18 months are...
Butterbean caserole
Veggie stew
Lasagne
Moussaka
Pinto bean wraps
Chick peas
Egg and spinach curry

Oh, and my all-time stand-bys for when I've forgotten to get something sorted in time are...
Avocado and tomato (on toast or in a wrap or just by itself)
or
Boiled egg with soldiers.

It sounds like your LO has a very varied diet to me. When I went back to work and had to provide 'packed lunches' for dd I bulk cooked at the weekend and froze tiny portions.

I wish my ds would eat all those things.

My favourite standby when time is of the essence is an omelette. Sometimes just plain or cheese. Throw in cooked potato cubes and veg if there is more time.

boiled egg mashed in a cup with a knob of butter is a good standby too.

scrambled eggs with beans or spaghetti hoops always work as a stand-by for us.

Thanks that is really helpful. When you make your stews, spag bol and casseroles do you use any salt or stock cubes or do you just rely on the flavours from the veg and meat? I am so used to cooking for 'adult' tastes that I wonder if I am a bit too hung up about worrying about salt in take for LO.

i do use stock cubes, but try to stick to the lo-salt varieties. I never add any salt.