I know it seems like I’ve been on a cooking spree lately, but the truth is that I cook almost every day. The problem is that I don’t have day light to take pictures of the food I cook on weekdays, and therefore I have to settle for weekend meal photos only.
I wanted to put together a weekly meal plan for a 1 year old for a while now, but I needed a couple of weeks in order to get my photos in. And! I’m finally here!
Our meals very week to week, but here are some “rules” that I like to stick to
- Aim for a serving of veggie, fruit, grain, and protein at least throughout the day
- Limit (if not eliminate) added sugars
- Have at least one serving of calcium in addition to milk (Peanut rarely drinks all her milk)
- Limit take out to once a week at most
- Limit pasta dishes to once a week
- If possible, always choose low sugar, low sodium, low additives
I don’t succeed with this every single week, but for the most part, we do ok.
As you can see, a lot of our dinner left overs become next day’s lunch. It’s true for us and for Peanut. On days that we don’t have leftovers, I end up grabbing something quick for her lunch like frozen veggies, chicken nuggets, or hot dogs. Almost all of the store bought things like yogurt, chicken nuggets, and even hot dogs are all natural, low sodium, and nitrate free. We stock up on items like that when we drive out to Whole Foods. I also make some items, like the zucchini fritters, in large quantities and free small portions that I can give Peanut when I’m low on time or won’t be able to cook.
We’ve been lucky that our kid isn’t a very picky eater and her favorites are fruits and veggies. We still have a very hard time getting her to eat any meat, so I often substitute tofu for meat in her meals.
In case you missed it, here are links to some of the recipes mentioned:
Baked sweet potato fries
What is your and/or your kid’s favorite food?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Um, Thatcher would not touch HALF of that stuff! A good day around here is him eating some peas and banana – otherwise, he still prefers pureed. I don’t get it! It’s kind of frustrating because he won’t eat much “real” food.
Happiness Is… recently posted..Yet another milestone
Really??? She LOVES to eat but she’s also picky from one day to another. It’s weird. Other times she just eats string cheese and fruit lol. But we always try!
woah. you cook way way way more than me! even with no teeth Peanut chews all of that!? I am impressed!
laurenbtrain recently posted..Valentine’s Day Gifts For Her
You know, we cut everything to pea size or smaller and she’s ok. If it’s soft, like string cheese or soft fries, we can leave it big and she’ll actually bite with her gummies. Crazy, right? The kid sure does love food though!
I miss Bubba being one and eating good like that. He hit 18 months and all of a sudden my kid who would eat just about everything I did started to refuse things a bit at a time until six months later when he’d hardly eat anything at all. Now at three he’s finally starting to branch back out, but he’s still not up to this level again yet. *sigh* I’m jealous.
Miss M! recently posted..February Mish Mash
What a great meal plan! Great ideas. Peanut is so adorable
Even though Morgan is. 20 mths I’m still learning about the toddler eating. Her favorites are Lima beans, corn, grilled cheese.
Thanks for some extra ideas!
Amber recently posted..Fitness Friday-Week 1
Thanks for the great ideas! My son would eat bananas all day if I let him and sometimes it’s hard to come up with healthy, yummy alternatives. Gotta try these!
Maria recently posted..My Funnyface
Hmm….I’ll have to try some of these. Robby’s pretty much decided that he’s done with purees. Suggestion (and one of his favorites): pierogies. My goodness does the kid love those.
Katy @ MonsterProof recently posted..Do my feet smell? – Photo Challenge
ha! I actually made those this past week too and she wasn’t that interested in them. I might try them with cabbage next time because I made them with pureed potatoes. The whole no teeth thing and all
Good ideas. Thx for sharing. Ryan likes all foods but I need ideas to mix things up a bit and this helps. Hope you and your family are feeling better
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