To give toddler oven meals from Tesco/M&S?

[rubbishmum33]

I’ve tried to batch cook from scratch for my now 18 month old toddler since he was weaned. The issue is I find cooking difficult and time consuming (I’m not very experienced and am slow) and I worry my DS is not getting enough variety with his meals.

Would it be OK to buy him something like a shepherds pie from the supermarket for dinner, which I could serve with fresh veg? Or do these sorts of meals contain too much salt for a toddler?

@rubbishmum33 yes bisto is too salty x

You can get reduced salt bisto

I'm lost? You think ready meals are too salty...are you talking about adult ready meals?

You do know they make toddler ready meals with massively reduced salt and veg packed sauces? I cooked a dish for us that contained a lot of wine last night, so DTwins had the (Annabel Karmel, I think) chicken pie ready meal. Plenty of veg in it and topped with potato. You can buy them chilled, or even cheaper frozen. About £2 each chilled, £1.50 frozen, often on offer.

You do know they make toddler ready meals with massively reduced salt and veg packed sauces?

No, I genuinely didn’t know this! Are they just as good as cooking from scratch then?

I'm genuinely confused by this thread, your DS's diet and what you're cooking looks fine, really varied and healthy.

Thanks! I just find cooking quite hard and time consuming as I’m not very good at it, so was looking for ways to make my life a bit easier I guess.

The fat and salt content in ready meals are horrific.

YABU

When I make things like chilli, I make about 8-10 portions and freeze them in portions. Is that something you can do? Then in the week, just defrost one (can take it out in the morning) and all you have to do is prep the veg/rice/pasta etc.

I used to have a stash of toddler friendly ready meals in the freezer. There's a brand called Little Dish which my son liked. I also used to make my own in bulk and freeze them.

I wouldn't worry about it at all.

The one handed cook books are useful and pretty easy to follow. I seem to remember Aldi doing decent children’s food but maybe it was just baby food.

When I make things like chilli, I make about 8-10 portions and freeze them in portions. Is that something you can do?

I do do that, which helps a lot.

Cooking fish is actually really easy and quick. The key is not to overcook it. Salmon fillets (or any fish fillets) can be done in the oven in a foil parcel to keep them moist. Sprinkle with a little cajun spice mix, or just black pepper and a tiny bit of salt, and a lemon slice before folding the foil over the top. Take maybe 15-20 minutes in a hot oven. Serve with veg or salad and carb of choice - new potatoes, mash, rice, couscous, chips, wedges. Your toddler would probably not eat a whole fillet yet, so maybe if you are cooking for two adults and toddler do two largeish fillets and give toddler a bit off each fillet. If cooking for one adult and one toddler, one largeish fillet between you? Leftover cooked salmon is good for a sandwich or salad the next day. Cooked white fish can be made into fishcakes or a very quick fish pie (you could freeze the cooked fish until needed).

Thank you @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g, I will try that.

@rubbishmum33

His diet currently looks like this:

Breakfast options:

• Brown toast with butter or peanut butter
• 20g porridge oats made with whole milk and mixed with fruit purée
• Scrambled eggs with brown toast

All followed by fruit and sometimes a Petit Filous yoghurt

Lunch options:

• Mashed avocado on brown toast
• Cheese and tomato omelette
• Cheese toastie
• Scrambled egg on brown toast (assuming he hasn’t had this for breakfast!)

Again with fruit/yoghurt for afters

Dinner options:

• Beef stew with potatoes and veg
• Spaghetti bolognese
• Tomato and veg sauce with pasta
• Veggie curry with rice
• Chilli con carne (meat or veg) with rice

Fruit and/or yoghurt for dessert

If this is his current, home-made, diet then you are doing really really well and I don't see any reason to change things up at all.

That said, a wee pizza cut into strips with some chopped up veg or some chicken strips won't do him any harm at all if you want to take it easy one night.

Or beans on toast in front of the telly on a Friday night!

You’re doing great already.

But if buying a few toddler ready meals helps you out, don’t overthink it. They make them in tiny portion sizes with low salt etc precisely to fill this gap in the market. Fish pie, shepherd’s pie, all sorts.

Don’t beat yourself up trying to be perfect. Balance is the thing.

Also, OP, change your MN username to something less Negative Self-Talk! You’re not a rubbish mum.

I brought the Lakeland slow cooker last year when it was reduced. It makes cooking all the meals you have listed so easy.

You can brown the meat on the hob in the dish, which then goes in the slow cooker. Throw in the other ingredients and leave it.

You can make up large quantities and freeze.

www.lakeland.co.uk/61767/Lakeland-Digital-Slow-Cooker-6.5L

If this is his current, home-made, diet then you are doing really really well and I don't see any reason to change things up at all.

Thank you, reading that has definitely given me a confidence boost! I’m going to try a few suggestions from this thread if I can to add a bit more variety, and see how it goes.

Asda do some nice kids / toddler meals. Just add veg .
Most gravy’s and sauces you can get the low salt/sugar varieties.

Do you eat the same food? I used to use kids ready meals when we were having something that wasn't suitable for whatever reason. A varied diet is the key.

@rubbishmum33

If this is his current, home-made, diet then you are doing really really well and I don't see any reason to change things up at all.

Thank you, reading that has definitely given me a confidence boost! I’m going to try a few suggestions from this thread if I can to add a bit more variety, and see how it goes.

If you want to add a bit more variety then that's great. And of course, we all want to produce non-fussy eaters who'll eat anything we put in front of them. But when I was growing up, we literally ate the same meals every week: roast meat on Sunday, served cold or minced on Monday, egg and chips Tuesday, pork chops on Wednesday, mince on Thursday, fish on Friday, something from the freezer (oooh exciting) on Saturday.

All served with either chips or potatoes and tinned veg. I mean, it wasn't optimal but no-one died and my mum and granny managed to feed their families and hold down full time jobs at a time when that wasn't terribly usual.

Cut yourself some slack. Oh also here's my made up recipe for a two minute pasta sauce: put pasta onto boil, chop up a head of broccoli. Add broc to the pasta water when there's 4 mins left on the cooking time. Drain when ready. Pick out the broccoli with tongs, put it in a bowl, chop roughly. Add pasta, pesto and cream cheese. Mix. DS loves this and it freezes.

Your menu sounds great! If you are feeling like trying something different, tray bakes are a great way to go as can use whatever you have on hand, chuck some seasoning on it with veg and shove it in the oven for 45 mins

Chicken thighs or drum sticks, with cherry toms cut up courgette with olive oil garlic and balsamic vinegar maybe add pumpkin or sweet potato

Another favourite at our house is Spanish chorizo chopped up into large chunks with red peppers, potato and onions, loads of sweet paprika and garlic yum serve with salad.

Soups are also a great shout for using up ingredients and broadening his palate, and really easy! So many options, chicken, tomato, pumpkin, potato and leek, minestrone etc.

Don't stress you are doing great, cooking doesn't have to be hard!

Can't he just have what you have?

My ten month old DD literally has what we have. Every evening. We just don't use salt and chop hers down to an appropriate size.

Soooo much easier than batch cooking separate meals.

And Ella's pouches when we're out and about or a sandwich cut into soldiers

I used toddler ready meals from Sainsbury’s and Asda when needed, they are low in salt. I wouldn’t give adult ready meals.

I did two separate meals for us and baby for a long time but have recently started doing just one meal for all of us and it’s working out better for me. Quesadillas is a good meal - I use canned mixed beans (mashed), tomato purée and grated cheddar cheese in mine.

Good luck - sounds like you’re already doing a great job!