toddler meals | week 4

Welcome to Week 4 of my Fall series all about Toddler Meals! With a curious 15-month-old on my hands who is always hungry & on the move, our days are busy! As an RN turned Stay at Home Mom, my goal is to create balanced meals that are not only easy to prepare and serve, but nutritionally sound and delicious as well! I focus on meals that are simple with minimal ingredients and that can be prepared in 10-15 minutes. Each week I offer three meal ideas & one simple snack. You can find each of the previous week's meals in the links below!

Week 1 / Week 2 / Week 3

breakfast || omelette wedges, diced avocado & peach yogurt

+ Olivia loves eggs! They are one of her favorite foods and we eat them almost every day. I am always looking for creative ways to amp them up and keep them exciting. One way I love to do that is by creating a mini omelette and filling it with different ingredients that we have on hand. Olivia's favorite? Cheese of course! +

the how to ||

      » Cut a ripe avocado in half and scoop out one side; dice into appropriate sized pieces

      » Serve your child's favorite yogurt [we love YoBaby & YoToddler by Stonyfield Farm and I serve half a container at meals instead of the full container]

      » Scramble one whole egg in a bowl; heat avocado oil in a small frying pan; once warm, pour egg into pan so that it covers the pan completely; cook 1-2 minutes and add your child's favorite cheese onto half of the egg; fold the other half over the top and let cook another 1-2 minutes; flip the omelette and finish cooking then cut into wedges if your child can feed him/herself or into small bite-sized pieces for a younger child; let cool slightly before serving

lunch || simple chicken salad, steamed asparagus & cinnamon applesauce

the how to ||

      » Make or buy your child's favorite applesauce // We get ours from a local orchard each Fall and all it has is apples in it without any added sugar [super important!]; I keep it frozen in small batches until I'm ready to use it and then add cinnamon just before serving

      » Steam asparagus and cut it into age-appropriate sized pieces; Olivia loves to hold onto the spears at this size and take a bite out of them but you can steam them and then dice much smaller depending on your child's age and self-feeding ability

      » To make the chicken salad: Grill or Boil boneless skinless chicken breasts in chicken broth until cooked through [approximately 9-12 minutes depending on heat level and thickness of breast]; finely mince celery and raw pecans; cut both chicken and grapes into tiny bites; toss lightly in a high quality [short ingredient list!] mayo / Our favorite is Just Mayo // You can also omit the pecans altogether or swap them for cashews [Be sure your child is at least 1 year of age before including nuts in this recipe]

snack || easy bake octopus rolls 

+ This is a super simple snack that can be made in less than 15 minutes and is definitely one that your toddler will have fun eating. Made with crescent roll dough and baked for about 12 minutes, add butter or jam to these for an afternoon snack or pair them alongside some turkey & cheese for a heartier snack. Depending on your child's age, you can cut them into tiny pieces for little fingers +

the how to ||

      » Take a single crescent roll and lay it flat on a cutting board; using a kitchen shears, cut the shortest end of the triangle  into 8 3-inch strips [make 7 total cuts] 

      » Roll the remaining dough from the top onto itself to form the head/body and shape each of the legs as desired

      » Bake on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees or until lightly golden brown
     » As soon as you remove them from the oven, add octopus eyes: use a black bean cut in half for each eye or a tiny piece of a black olive; you could even use a raisin! Get creative and use what you've got!

dinner || burger bites [grilled grass-fed beef + cheese], fresh diced pear & grilled zucchini

+ As a busy Mom, it's so important to have healthy foods on hand for your toddler that can be prepared in no time at all, but I also think it is important to feed your child what you're eating. Dustin and I agreed when we started Olivia on finger foods that we would not be making her 'separate' meals as she gets older -- she would eat what we were eating. All the meals you see are just modified versions of what we eat on a regular basis. I want Olivia to grow up knowing how to make healthy choices and how to keep an open mind when it comes to food instead of being a picky eater; this week's featured dinner is a great example of taking what you're eating and modifying it for your toddler without having to make an entirely separate meal +

the how to ||

      » Dice a ripe pear into bite-sized pieces 

      » Grill grass-fed beef burgers and zucchini [or any vegetable you have on hand] until cooked through and cut into age-appropriate sized pieces [We had burgers + zucchini for dinner and I simply cut part of a burger into small pieces and did the same with zucchini]

      » Serve the burger warm alongside diced cheddar cheese [or your child's favorite] or add cheese to the burger while still on the grill and allow it to melt

I'll be sharing lots more meal + snack ideas throughout September and also have a special collaboration planned with Re-Play, the maker of my absolute favorite plates and utensils! If you have any questions about this week's meals or topics you'd like me to address next week, just leave them in the comments below. Happy eating!