Cooking for a 2.5 year old and 9 month old

[northernstarsoutherncross]

I'm finding myself spending increasing amounts of time cooking separate meals for my children. The 9 month old is spoon refusing. The 2 yewr old is a pretty good eater. I'm looking for something they can both eat that cuts down on my meal prep time. So something the 2 year old will like and i can mash up for the 9 month old. Any ideas of how to cut down the time gratefully received.

I would just cook normal food you always cook, mash what is mashable for 9 month old and offer the rest as finger food. My older one was older (5), but we just made normal family meals and everyone ate the same, no need to do anything separate.

Pasta and cheese with french beans or broccoli (or peas if your baby can pick them up)
spaghetti and meatballs with same sort of veg
roast chicken (my little one loves roasted chicken wings, I just pull the meat off the bones so it’s safer), roast or mash potatoes, veg
baked salmon or another fish, chips (roast your own), etc.
any sort of soup with bread fingers with butter (last night we had creamy chicken soup with carrots, celery and turnips)
chicken or veg fajitas (my littlest one mostly eats just the wraps filled with grated cheese and creme fraiche), then sliced tomatoes on the side.

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I'll definitely try those recipes. It's exactly what I was hoping for - some tried and tested favourites!

Risotto - use an ‘oven baked’ recipe so you can just forget about it for a while! www.myfussyeater.com/easy-baked-cheese-tomato-risotto-recipe-kids/
Fish pie www.mummycooks.com/blogs/recipes/mini-fish-pies
Omelette www.babyledfeeding.com/recipes/spanish-omelette-baby-led-weaning-recipe/
Irish lamb stew www.organix.com/recipes/irish-lamb-stew
Fish cakes www.healthylittlefoodies.com/tuna-and-potato-cakes/
Chicken pie www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/chicken-potato-pie/

Love the idea of oven risotto . Thank you so much for your help and other recipes look great too. Going to revamp my meal planner

Orzo pasta is good for spoon feeding. These are my top recipes
Pea and Parmesan www.mummypages.co.uk/recipes/mummycooks-orzo-pasta-with-peas-and-parmesan
Chicken and tomato www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/chicken-tomatoes-orzo-pasta/
Lentil bake www.healthylittlefoodies.com/curried-lentil-bake/
The recipe says it makes 20 pieces but that’s for a baby! I’ve found that one batch is perfect for feeding a family of four including two adults.

We make baked porridge (one of the no sugar recipes) with blueberries as a main meal once a week. You can slice it and they can eat it with their hands. It takes about 30 seconds to make.
Mix one part oats, one part fruit (can be frozen), one part liquid (e.g. milk) and one egg. Bake at 200 for 30 minutes.

Oh and you can whizz the oats in a blender to make them easier for the 9 month old to eat, but they are still quite soft if you use them as is

I mean whizz the dry oats in a blender.

That baked porridge sounds good!

I came on to say that my dc2 was mainly weaned on dc1's leftovers

Have a look at the baby led weaning app series. There is a fussy toddler app, a lunch box app as well as the main one. They are paid apps, but are brilliant and cheaper than a cook book!

So many grrat suggestions. This is fantastic and I'm no longer tearing my hair out trying to think of what to cook. Baked porridge is next up. Im going to compile all these recipes in an online folder which i can share if anyone wants.

The baked porridge went down really well! I made it with apple as that is what I have in but I'll give blueberries and other fruits a go too.

Oven risotto tomorrow. Thank you everyone

So glad it went down well!
I would love the link if you could share.
I make a lot of risotto as my dd is obsessed with it, but have never tried it in the oven before, am planning to tomorrow.

This thread inspired me to try and think of some new easy meals rather than making the same thing again and again. Yesterday I made a strata (cubes of stale bread mixed with egg and milk and cheese and veg, lots of recipes online) and it went down well.

I'll send it when i compile the remaining recipes. Thanks again!

I have a 2.5 year old and a 10 month old

The 10 month old will only accept a spoon if she is holding it herself. She's doesn't have any teeth yet but seems to manage most things with gums and tearing with her hands.

They both will eat

Fusilli pasta with cheese and tomato sauce
Stir fry (younger one just uses her hands to cram it in her mouth)
Spag Bol (ditto)
fishfingers and waffles with peas
Rice and meatballs
Sausage and mash and peas
Cottage pie
Omelette
Beans on toast
Mild Chilli con carne and rice or nachos (or both)
Pizza
Lamb stew and potatoes
Jacket potatoes
Wraps with leftovers in
Picky stuff like cucumber, boiled eggs, sliced tomato, sliced apple, grated carrot, sticks of cheese

Obviously some things I cut up into bite size pieces for the 10mo but after that I leave them to it. No mashing anything certainly!

I downloaded the app for fussy toddler and am making lemon turkey meatballs and oven roasted carrots and potatoes. Let's hope it's a success. It was minimal prep and requires putting in the oven with no further input from me. Very simple. Thanks for the suggestion.