Super Simple Food Ideas for Your Toddler
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One of the things that I think people get caught up on rather unnecessarily, is at what age children should or should not be eating specific foods.
Its during those early years when you can establish good eating habits in your son or daughter.
Its in those early years where your child had not yet established a pickiness because they’ve not yet been exposed to snacks and junk.
You want to know something weird?
My kid will very happily carry a snack container full of steamed vegetables around the house while shoveling peas or green beans in his mouth.
Odd, right?
Its partially because we expose him to whole, healthy foods on a regular basis.
And because he witnesses us eating those foods.
They’re part of his normal.
Now, if I offered him the choice between peas or fruit snacks, he would never choose the peas.
Getting your one year old to eat vegetables
So how do you incorporate vegetables into your toddler’s diet on a regular basis? What kind of simple food ideas can we, as parents, come up with for our toddlers that we can feel good about?
Frozen Vegetables
What I’ve found, especially as a working mom strapped for time is buying steam bags of vegetables can be a lifesaver.
I mean, seriously, you should take a look in our freezer. It is jam packed with frozen vegetables.
Anyway, our son is given vegetables for lunch and dinner. And often, if there are leftovers from the previous evening’s dinner, he gets some for breakfast as well.
But the key is to give him veggies he doesn’t dislike. If you don’t know which ones your kiddo has tried and whether or not they seemed to like them, you can grab a free food tracker.
Roasted Vegetables
Another way that our son absolutely loves to eat vegetables is when we roast them. Especially broccoli and asparagus.
Nothing fancy needs to be done here. We just toss the vegetables in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast them at 375 degrees.
They are flavorful and, depending on how long you cook them, both softens the vegetable and gives them a slight crispiness (which my son loves).
The nice thing about roasted vegetables is you can cook them in batches and serve them throughout the week.
Its not unusual for us to roast a big batch of vegetables including a mixture of some of the following: carrots, shaved brussel sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, and potatoes. They’re great to have on hand.
Fresh cut vegetables
The biggest thing you need to watch out for when offering your one year old fresh, unsoftened vegetables is if they’re in manageable, bite-sized pieces. Using a vegetable peeler or a mandoline is a great way to get the vegetables nice a thin. In our house we refer to these fresh cuts of vegetables, fruit cut up the same way, and the white, crisp end of piece of romaine lettuce, as “crunchies.”
Fruit Idea for a One Year Old
I don’t know about you, but sugar in any form is a hit with our kid. Getting him to eat fruit is no problem at all, but keeping him from eating too much is another story.
As with all other foods you’re offering to your one year old, no matter how proficient your kid is when it comes to eating you still need to keep the food in bite-sized pieces. For example, grapes should be cut into quarters – a one year old should never be given whole, or even halved, grapes.
Most fruits are soft and easily chopped up in order to be offered to your child, but if you want to offer them a bit of the apple you’re eating, as with the vegetables, shredding it into translucent pieces and cutting it into strips makes it a fun, crisp, healthy snack.
Super Simple Lunch ideas for your toddler:
Lunch Idea #1
Cubed or shredded chicken
Roasted broccoli
Chopped up strawberries
Lunch Idea #2
Black beans
Steamed corn kernels
Plain Greek yogurt
Tortilla
Lunch Idea #3
Crackers with nut or sunflower butter
Shredded carrots
Blueberries
Lunch Idea #4
Cubed ham
Noodles
Steamed broccoli
Clementine
Lunch #5
Shredded chicken and cheese quesadilla
Roasted asparagus
Watermelon
Lunch #6
Hamburger
Toast
Steamed or roasted carrots
Cantaloupe
Lunch #7
Quinoa
Thinly sliced bell pepper slices
Feta
Lunch #8
Humus
Pita
Shredded Carrots
Steamed green beans
Lunch #9
Greek yogurt
Raspberries
Steamed broccoli
Lunch #10
Shredded or cubed chicken
Roasted bell peppers
Tortilla – plain tortilla or cheese quesadilla
Kiwi
Lunch #12
Toast with nut butter or sunflower butter
Shredded apples
Steamed brussel sprouts
Lunch #13
Tuna
Crackers
Steamed broccoli
Clementine
Lunch #14
Hard boiled egg
Toast
Strawberries
Roasted carrots
Lunch #15
Hot dog (I prefer the Applegate brand due to their limited ingredients)
Roasted potatoes
Watermelon
Roasted brussel sprouts
Lunch #16
Shredded or cubed chicken
Rice or quinoa
Roasted carrots
Pitted and chopped cherries
Lunch #17
Refined beans on tortilla
Roasted asparagus
Cantaloupe
Lunch #18
Noodles
Chicken sausage
Steamed broccoli
Blueberries
Lunch #19
Fish
Mashed or roasted potatoes
Steamed green beans
Clementine
Lunch #20
Quinoa
Roasted broccoli
Watermelon
Cheese
