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?

Gusto is great if you don’t enjoy cooking and lack ideas.

Don't give your toddler sausage - I'm really shocked to see people suggesting that as a routine option. Processed meat is a group 1 carcinogen. Obviously not the end of the world to have it occasionally if out or at a party, visiting family, etc, but why would you introduce it to a child's diet on purpose...?

Try making at least a couple of plant-based meals a week. It's an increasingly common way of eating and will likely be more so by the time he's a tween/teen and starting to make his own choices. I'm not suggesting you go vegetarian or vegan, but it's better for the planet and for health not to rely too much on animal products.

Be careful with how much brown bread you're giving him. White is better for young children due to the lower fibre content. Brown fills them up more and you risk them not getting enough nutrients from other sources.
Toddler ready meals are fine now and again. Adult ones will tend to contain too much salt.

I don't give my children adult ready meals but they do have the toddler ready meals from Ella's Kitchen, Little Dish, McIntoshs, Morrisons, M&S and Sainsbury's.

At £2.50 a portion they're quite expensive but for me they are a life saver to have one for each of them in the fridge at all times. They tend to have a few weeks' date on them and my kids probably have 1 every week or 2 depending on what else we have on the go. It's not always possible for them to have a bit of what we're having, or something cooked from scratch.

Other top tip is to get an air fryer and give them frozen stuff - fish fingers/shapes, veg/potato shapes and beans can be cooked quickly and easily in the air fryer, straight from the freezer, no mess, and the kids love that kind of dinner.

His diet looks great. Don't worry about repetition. Don't worry about an easy option every few days....chips, egg and beans (low sugar/salt) etc
My kids have always loved a shepherd's pie....a bought one occasionally won't hurt.
Bisto reduced salt instant gravy made quite runny is OK for little ones.
Things like stew, bologbaise, curry, tagine etc can be made in the slow cooker - chuck it in first thing and it's ready for tea. (I don't brown meat just add it cold. Or do a veg version - root veg slow cooker well.)

*beans in the microwave, not the airfryer!

You don't need to batch cook or spend hours cooking. I cook for my DC every day and it takes no time at all.

I basically choose a protein, a carb and two veg.

So protein... chicken goujons, fish fingers, sausages, grilled chicken breast, roast chicken, salmon... drizzle with olive oil, stick in oven

Carb, boil some rice, pasta, stick a potato in the microwave for a jacket potato, boil some new potatoes, cut up a potato, drizzle with oil and bake for potato wedges

Veg, boil any green or frozen veg, cut up some cucumber or peppers or stick some lettuce on a plate

Other ideas, beans on toast, egg on toast, sandwiches, sausage roll

Honestly, I cook like this every day for my DC. Takes no time at all and couldn't be easier.

Don't give them ready meals.

I went crazy with my pfb and made everything and he is now officially in the fussy phase it made no difference, the occasional kids ready meal will not hurt him at all. The anabel karmel and little chef ones are great and all low salt.

Be careful with how much brown bread you're giving him. White is better for young children due to the lower fibre content. Brown fills them up more and you risk them not getting enough nutrients from other sources.

Really?! I’m so surprised by this, I thought brown was always preferable to white! Does everyone else choose white bread over brown for their toddlers?

Yes I gave white bread to my DC when they were toddlers over brown

We do white or half and half, on the recommendation of a dietician. Also not too much fruit.

DS has suffered with diarrhea for his whole life (now 5) and the dietician advised no brown bread/pasta/rice and cut down on fresh fruit/fruit juice.

It does make life difficult as DD suffers from constipation and we try to keep her fruit intake up...

For ease, we sometimes used to use the Little Dish meals....basically microwave meals for toddlers.....I found them handy to send to my Parents' when they looked after my LO....no faffing!

I often added an extra potion of veg on the side when they got older, however the meals do have a good mix of everything and always went down well...they can be found in every supermarket too, and are freezable.

What you’re feeding looks great @rubbishmum33 😊
Each month I have a couple of days cooking for DS (11months) and fill the freezer with a wee variety of meals. I maybe batch cook 5/6 different dishes and freeze them into portions for him. Sometimes he eats what we have in the evenings but we have a bit of a funny home routine due to DHs job so often I’m here alone with DS and I’m just in from work in time for his dinner or we don’t eat until late so I like having home cooked meals for DS that I can just defrost, heat through and cook pasta/rice/veg to go with it.
I try to keep them super easy and put lots of veg in them so that I know he’s getting plenty veg 😊 some of his favourites are:

• Beef casserole (made in slow cooker with carrots, peas etc)
• chilli con carne
• chicken pie
• spag bol
• cheesy chicken courgette sauce (grate courgettes, soften them in a pan for 5 mins and stir into a homemade cheese sauce along with cooked chicken) - I then serve him this either through pasta or with potatoes/veg etc
• mild chicken curry - I use chicken, veg and spices and a tin of coconut milk
• cod in butternut squash and cheese sauce

We use the “What Mummy Makes” and Annabel Karmel Weaning recipe books and Instagram pages for lots of quick easy recipes 😊

You are cooking a lot more fresh food then I am for my 19 month old so don’t worry! You can get the kids instant meals to have in for days where you don’t feel like cooking !

Mine loves chicken stir fry which is easy, I just put a couple spoonfuls of smooth peanut butter and water in the pan for a satay sauce (just started adding a tiny bit of sweet chilli and soy sauce too) I always make extra so she can have it for lunch in the next few days.

She did like pizza I made using a mini tortilla as the base, bit of tomato sauce and cheese and sweet corn on top.

M&S and tesco also sell kids small pizzas which can be frozen and are handy to have in. It’s good as they can pick it up - I always try to give with salad (if we have it in!)

Oh and can add pineapple onion etc on pizzas !

Re: bread for toddlers. I have white and brown loaves in the freezer and alternate. Today DD is having eggy bread for lunch and I’ll make one white slice and one brown slice. Obviously if she’s having a sandwich she’ll have the same for both slices, but I alternate between brown and white.

I’m so surprised about the bread thing, it’s good to know tho!

Thanks to everyone for the tips and ideas, really appreciate it x

OP, I wouldn't worry about toddlers' diet being "samey" at this age. You are giving him good, nutritious food, which is exactly what he needs. He is getting used to the good kind of food (getting the basics right!!) and he really doesn't need to have a different meal each day of the week. There will be plenty of times for that when he gets older. Don't worry!

On a side note: I'd maybe add a bit more fish in there, salmon fillets for example with a dash of oil & garlic and dill are the easiest of things to oven bake, wrap it up in foil and bake for 20 mins on 180-20 C - so delicious with mash and greens!

I also buy my toddler "Little Dish" and "Hipp Organic" ready meals every now and then, he seems to quite enjoy those and takes the pressure off cooking when we are pressed for time. Good luck x

I occasionally get the children's ready meals from M&S. They do a pasta bake that my daughter likes and mini pizzas. But that's for days I'm a bit desperate.

I think your meals sound great. You sound like a good mum.

You can always slice up some cold chicken breast, serving with a lovely messy dip and a salad just cucumber tomatoes peppers celery and such.

Ham sandwich/wrap/pitta with a yogurt, some cheese, hummus and dip and a satsuma.

Tuna pasta / pesto pasta both good cold or hot.

Dippy eggs and toast

It doesnt always have to be a fancy home cooked meal!

I mean mine get ' picnic ' teas all the time where ill shove them a sarnie dunkers crisps and banana and I sleep ok about it.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself over thinking you always need to be cooking the best thing. You're doing just fine.

By 10 months mine ate with us, same food - it's a lot easier than cooking twice. I would freeze portions of things like shepherd pie for when our meal was unsuitable eg salad but by 18 months this was rare as they love curry, chilli etc by then

I wouldn’t get an adult ready meal for a toddler, but I’d think that one of the ready meal ranges specifically aimed at toddlers / children would be ok occasionally.

Have you tried batch cooking op?

I have lots of left over portions in the freezer for DS. I also use the slow cooker a lot which is good for big batches.

Failing that, fishfingers and chips occasionally is fine!