i need some 'healthy' advice

[Evesmama]

my dd(21 months) eats plenty of fresh fruit, raisins,yogurts and cheese.
she has a sandwhich(chciken or ham) for lunch with dairlylea spread on accompanied by cheese, chedders and followed by a yogurt, but for tea, i want her to eat something more substantial
a typical tea would include:- slimming world chips(make them myself, just chop, boil till soft then brown in oven) with either fish fingers/chicken dippers/crispy pancakes/meatballs and mixed veg(turnip and carrot normally).
started doing my own chips as at least i know they're ok but the rest !!!!!!, tried her with lasagne tonight, but she just dipped her chips into the sauceis even going off the veg now...she tends to go for things she can 'pick up' but i want her to eat better....im sorry i seem like a bad mother who feeds her dd crap, but i really do try and want to do something about it...please help

am going to bed now girls..butthanks for the advice, tips and words of wisdom
and ..please...anyone feel free to add more
thanks again

Message withdrawn

well today, dd has been eating bread sticks dipped in dairylea! as little snacks and for her tea she had s.w chips with mini chicken kievs and pizza kiev thingie's(not massivly healthy, but good content of chicken in both) and she loved them!!, even had some of mine, she then had two yogurts and a banana!!! she must have hollow legs today

Evesmama, I wouldn't worry too much - sounds like she's getting a good mix! My ds (18 mo) is the same though. Can I just cast a vote for the dreaded Annabel Karmel - her chicken nuggets are tops and much healthier if you're worried about that side of things. I think Amanda's recipe is the same thing.

My ds also loves pasta - I buy pancetta and fry it up, bit of cream, bit of cheese, some peas - voila - carbonara! And he eats it all with his fingers... Thing I try to remember is a) just bung some veg into whatever sauce you're having and get it into them that way and b) that I'm always surprised by the way ds will go for quite strong 'adult' tastes - he loves pesto, smoked fish, olives etc - sometimes I think I am guilty of giving him the blander stuff just because I think 'that's what kids like'.

thanks moomina, am going to make her some 'dips' up with veggies and try to get more into her that way..am trying to find a sauce for pasta that she'll like as i want her to eat more of that..also what other meat and in what way..could anyone suggest iepork, beef, lamb whatever..am not a big meat eater myself, but she pinched my bacon sarnie of me the other weekend!!but was worried it would be too salty for her?

I've always had trouble trying to get ds to eat red meat - not keen on the texture of mince etc (don't blame him) but he will also nick a bacon sarnie! - hence putting the pancetta in with the pasta. It's quite salty but I think past 12 months it's not quite such a big deal now and then. Tbh I don't worry too much about red meat - she will be getting her protein from cheese etc and iron if she's eating green veggies.

I am a big fan of Seeds of Change pasta sauces - they have a really yummy sun-dried tomato and basil one that ds laps up. Plus Sacla do a good range of pestos - lots of different flavours. Ds also seems to like Cauldron veggie burgers/sausages - they have some interesting varieties. Also, smoked salmon in little bits, cherry tomatoes, mange touts, oatcakes - it's a bit hit and miss but I just keep experimenting and see what he goes for!

what a good idea..veggie burgers! never thought of them!, i suppose they'll still have fat n stuff in but no more than anything else i feed her we're gonna go to supermarket and scoure the place for stuff for dd...just thought when you mentioned the sundried toms...those pasta in sauce thingys go quite stodgy dont they??, im sure i tried her with something like that when she was younger...will also get some of those in..sorry to be ignorant, dp and i both thought pancetta wasa bread, is it some kind of ham/meat?

It's sort of bacon, basically, bits of cured pork in little chunks that you fry up and add to pasta - delicious! The Seeds of Change stuff is just a jar of sauce to go on the pasta - all organic blahblahblah - and very tasty indeed. There are a few different varieties. My local Sainsbury's, Tesco's and Waitrose all stock it.

Wouldn't worry about the fat content though, not at this age. As long as it's 'good' fat and not tons of vile hydrogenated vegetable oils, it's not really a problem. That's why they have full-fat milk after all - toddlers need the calories!

she 'wont' have a bottle at night time now and 'wont' drink milk through the day..however, she laps it up on her cereal, loves yogurts and cheese so think that should be ok on the dairy front?

My ds has always liked pizzas, I buy small cheese and tomato ones from sainsburys, then add my own ham, mushroom, tomato slices etc. DS also likes piles cucumber slices tomato chunks and raw carrot with pitta bread - sliced in half and covered in dairylea.

Yup, reckon that should be totally fine (btw, I should point out I know bugger-all about nutrition!) With the milk during the day, if you are worried have you tried giving it to her through a straw? Sometimes that's the only way ds will drink...just a novelty thing. But tbh, again, she's probably getting more than enough from food so don't fret if she won't take it.

they sound nice(pitta bread) and i did do that with mini pizzas to but then started using sliced muffins, tom sauce and chedder and ham..but forgot about those, so thanks for reminding me

she doesnt 'get' straws at the mo!, likes to pinch mine when ive been to maccy dees and flick coke at me
thats what worried me reallt, we dont get her takeaways all that often (macdonalds, burger king) but because she enjoys it when we do as soon as we approach teesside park she shout ..donalds..donalds!!(macdonalds) felt very guilty that a 21 month old baby shouts for fast food

Evesmama - I wouldn't worry about the cutlery thing - she's only little - just a gentle reminder every now and then, and eat with her and she'll get the hang of it. DD2 is 3 in May and still pretty sporadic in her cutlery use. Home-made chicken nuggets are v. easy - chop up chunks of chicken and dip in beaten egg and breadcrumbs, stick them on a baking tray and put in oven for about 15 minutes; risotto is somethnig my girls like - I call it sticky rice - if you buy risotto rice the basic instructions are always on the box, and you can put chopped veg, peas, ham, grated cheese in, anything really - sweet potato is nice with it. Eggs are another healthy option - I stick a cube of frozen spinach in with scrambled eggs. Whole Earth baked beans are fab - no sugar or salt, they are literally beans, tomatoes and apple juice (which makes the sauce sweeter) so dds get these a lot with no guilt pangs at all - they like them with jacket potatoes. Fish pie is another favourite - fish in white sauce with mashed potato on top.

thanks hatstand, like the rissotto idea(dont know if dd would tho'!), but will give it a try

Evesmamma

If she likes the taste of lasagne but wont eat it with a spoon/fork. Why not make it, let it cool down overnight, then cut it into small chunks the next day once it had firmed up. I used to do this with dd when she was younger, it worked with canelloni also. The pasta and sauce solidifies (sp?) overnight and there was no need to heat it the next day (as long as it went straight into fridge after it has cooled down) just leave it out for a short while before serving so it comes up to room temperature. My dd used to woolf id down.

Have you tried boiled eggs cut into quarters? or pieces of omlette (with whatever you have lying around added) cooled and cut into chunks.

really well cooked beef in small cubes. I cook mine in the slow cooker nearly all day, so when it comes out it is almost melt in the mouth. Should be easy to pick up and eat. Does she eat peas and sweetcorn? very easy to pick up with small fingers.

My dd is now 2.5 and she still uses her fingers quite a lot. It doesn't worry me. As long as she is getting a healthy and varied diet then I don't mind how it goes "down the hatch" so to speak. Sounds like you're doing a good job to me!! Keep up the good work. Don't worry too much about salt and flavours, she is almost 2 and will probably surprise you with what she eats now.