What Do You Feed Your Toddler?

Everyday I am trying to think of what my 2 year old might want to eat. It is such a struggle to find something that he will like but will also serve a nutritional value as well. I don't have any tips on sneaking healthy foods into their meals, I just can tell you what I give my son to eat. He weighs in at about 33 pounds and is healthy and strong. Here is my list of foods.

For breakfast he eats different things. Sometimes he likes to split a banana with mom or dad. Or sometimes he will eat the whole banana by himself. On the weekends he will usually eat a toasted bagel lightly buttered. When my mom was visiting she gave him jelly on the bagel but I feel that is way too messy and sticky. He ends up just licking the jelly off and not eating the bagel. During the week when he goes to the babysitter she can get him to eat scrambled eggs. I don't know how she does this because I can't get him to eat them when I make them.

For lunch and dinner I usually mix and match. He loves pizza of course. He only likes the pizza from certain pizzerias though. I don't know if it's the different sauces or what but whatever makes him happy. Just recently I discovered that he loves baked ziti from our favorite Italian restaurant. I had gotten it for myself and asked him if he wanted to try it. He ended up eating my entire meal. I couldn't believe it. Now when we order from there we get him his own baked ziti dinner. It usually will last him for a few days and he really enjoys it.

If you don't have time too cook up a masterpiece from scratch I have found that Gerber Graduates are great. He loves the spaghetti in a meat sauce. He doesn't like the mini meatballs and ends up picking them out and throwing them to the dogs, very annoying. He also loves their macaroni and cheese dinner. The Gerber Graduates meals also come with a variety of vegetables. Getting my son to eat the vegetable is a challenge within itself. I can't get him to eat them but the babysitter does. I know this because I see corn, peas, etc...when I change his diaper that night. Well, at least I see he is getting his vegetables.

If your child loves french fries like mine does and you don't want to put the oven on I have discovered a great idea. Ore Ida potatoes come microwavable now. They are called Easy Fries. You put them in the microwave for a minute and 30 seconds and you have fabulous french fries. Sometimes I end up eating them if my son doesn't finish them all. They are delicious. They even come in crinkly fries. Ore Ida also has breakfast microwavables but I haven't tried them yet. I am sure they are just as delicious. My son will also eat potato perogies. I actually just made some for myself and he had some.

Hot dogs are always are favorite for my son. Just be careful when you serve them. You should always cut them in half and them smaller pieces. They can get lodged in their throat if you don't cut them up correctly. He was eating a lot of hot dogs during the summer at our barbecues. Oh I almost forgot turkey breast. Whenever we go to the supermarket we go directly to the deli counter. He loves deli meat turkey, It has to be Honey Maple Boars Head, of course. My son is a little picky when it comes to that. He won't eat American cheese at all though. Just the turkey meat.

He is not a big fan of chicken nuggets but my sitter can get him to eat them. He would just rather eat the ketchup when I serve them. He loves ketchup. When we go out to restaurants we order him is own plate of ketchup. He actually eats it with a spoon. I know, gross. But it gets us through the meal and he loves it. So we pick our battles.

Getting your toddler to eat is impossible. Just try to find something they like and stick with variations of that kind. For example, my son loves sauce. So we give him pizza, baked ziti, spaghetti, anything to do with sauce. It might not always be the healthy choice but at least he is eating and it's not chips or candy.