https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 22 May 2026 12:13:40 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-688231 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:48:31 +0000 sarac 688231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: I personally do sweet potato burritos like this:</p> <p>cube a few sweet potatoes, and saute those with some diced onions and taco seasoning. add black beans and cook until soft. add whatever kind of cheese you like in burritos - cotija is great. Wrap that all up in a burrito and it is delicious. I serve with corn and a salad. These freeze really well, too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-687639 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:45:59 +0000 Freckles 687639@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: That's awesome! Great work, mama! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-687594 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:36:27 +0000 Honeybee 687594@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: Good work today! This sounds really good! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-687103 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:48:17 +0000 looch 687103@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wish my son would eat this well...he doesn't want to try anything, so we're stuck on the same few things over and over. He's growing well and everyone thinks he is a year older than what he actually is, but I'd love to be able to give him more variety. </p> <p>I'll have to read this thread later. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-687089 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:46:08 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 687089@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just to update, today was a vast improvement from yesterday - thanks mostly to your suggestions! </p> <p>For breakfast, we had half a banana sliced up and a bowl of cereal with a tiny bit of milk, milk to drink. For snack we had halved grapes. For lunch, we had half of a sandwich - turkey, ham, and white american cheese -, some steamed-in-the-microwave baby carrots with a little garlic powder, and some frozen peas. Later on we'll try a new flavor of yogurt and may give him some string cheese cubed up.</p> <p>Thanks so much for the suggestions, I know I feel better on what I'm feeding him and based on his energy, I'm thinking he's feeling better being full! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684982 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:27:07 +0000 Lozza 684982@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO will eat beans (pretty much any kind- black, kidney, cannellini, garbanzo) and black olives straight out of the can, so that's an easy one- open a can, divide into a couple containers, stick some in the fridge. LO also loves hummus- he'll eat it with a spoon, or will also eat it off pita bread or carrot chips. Yogurt, cottage cheese, regular cheese= all easy. LO loves meatballs and sausage- we buy it all frozen, and then it's just a matter of microwaving for a minute or two and then cutting them up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684955 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:17:35 +0000 Freckles 684955@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: Cut yourself some slack!! I'm sure you have enough on your plate, and you don't need to stress out by comparing yourself to moms who bento. My suggestions would be to start replacing puffs/crackers with fruits. The fruits at least have more nutrition and it's a great way of expanding your little one's palate. Also, could you try making extra for dinner with your toddler in mind? Making a little extra is way less work than making an entirely new meal for him.</p> <p>i love kd m&amp;c also, but i think the reason why you're still so hungry after is because the pasta is so processed! :(</p> <p>Have you tried the 2-ingredient pancake? I will usually make a batch of 1 banana-1egg-1tbsp peanut butter pancakes and will give her a couple for a snack. At least i know she's getting something full of protein ( and tasty) for a snack. It's all baby steps!!</p> <p>@Mrs. Bee: LO loves steamed eggs because they have the same texture as tofu. I find that she prefers the steamed eggs over scrambled because of the texture. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684929 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:12:42 +0000 Mrsjets 684929@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS (10.5 months) loves broccoli sautéed in sesame oil, garlic and a splash of soy sauce. I make a bunch and use it for 2 or 3 days for us and him. Also frozen peas and corn can be defrosted in a Pyrex cup and hot tap water in minutes. He also loves cooked carrots.<br /> For dairy DS loves greek yogurt, cheese (especially cream cheese, mozzarella and havarti) and cottage cheese - all have pretty high protein amounts.<br /> Meats he eats well are chicken, sausage, eggs (I scramble with bacon bits), stew beef, ground turkey.<br /> Starches I use a lot are bagels, sweet potato/butternut squash steamed with cinnamon, crackers, toast, Cheerios.</p> <p>I don't do bentos (yet!) but here are DS's meals yesterday, I think they were pretty simple - he still nurses.<br /> Breakfast - Greek yogurt, fresh pear pieces, Cheerios<br /> Lunch - breakfast sausage, thawed frozen peas, mozzarella cheese cubes.<br /> Snack - banana, puffs<br /> Dinner - turkey meat loaf (made with grated zucchini, carrots and cheese), broccoli, mashed white potatoes. Prune purée and then an apple baby cookie. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684906 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:07:18 +0000 pelikila 684906@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: I buy the pre-cooked ones that you only have to microwave for like a minute or something. <a href="http://jimmydean.com/products/original-sausage-links.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://jimmydean.com/products/original-sausage-links.aspx</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684898 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:04:57 +0000 Honeybee 684898@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: The recipe for sweet potato burritos:</p> <p><a href="http://www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Addictive-Sweet-Potato-Burritos/Detail.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Addictive-Sweet-Potato-Burritos/Detail.aspx</a></p> <p>This recipe makes a ton of burritos. Even with the kids eating them a couple times a week, and DH taking them to work, one batch lasts a whole month!</p> <p>It's hard to balance two; it did get a lot easier for me around 8-10 weeks, though, so I bet you start seeing a real improvement very soon. :)</p> <p>Eta: You are so not lazy! Like I said, my first lived off of Beefaroni and fruit pouches for the first few months of DS's life. Taking care of a toddler and newborn is hard work. Just surviving day in and day out is a huge accomplishment! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684891 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:03:46 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 684891@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: I'm beginning to think I'm a lazy parent now :/ All these suggestions are so simple and yet I never thought of them. And I think my son might be like your daughter. Sometimes he takes scrambled eggs just fine. Other times it's like I'm offering him something absolutely disgusting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684842 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:52:55 +0000 T.H.O.U. 684842@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: Its great to let them try and play with lots of textures, colors, and temperatures!!! My daughter is crazy that she will eat peas frozen but not cooked, she will eat eggs fried but not scrambled, just silly stuff like that. </p> <p>She loves to go bring us the Goldfish but we push for her to eat something healthy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684833 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:51:13 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 684833@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@brownie: I will keep the freeze dried fruit in mind when I'm looking tonight - don't think DS has ever had any of that. And I love the Alexis stuff and I have a coupon! Double score. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684827 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:50:29 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 684827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Honeybee: I'm curious about the sweet potato burritos. And I personally am a mac and cheese fiend - I would eat it every day if I could. My mom used to joke that if they cut me open, I'd be orange on the inside from all the mac and cheese I've eaten over the years. Sadly, I can eat a whole box by myself and then still be hungry! </p> <p>But since the move and the new baby, we haven't had mac and cheese in the house and that's been a bummer. Going to have to get some tonight along with the pre-packaged fruits and veggies. I know DH might not be thrilled with the cost difference but he can either suck it up for my sake or take some time in the evening after DS goes to bed to wash, cut, and store the veggies for us. We both have to start eating healthier (DS and I).</p> <p>And I'm trying to give myself a break but DS is always hungry it seems and I hate to go instantly for the bunny grahms or puffs. I feel like I should be filling him up and giving him good stuff to keep up his energy and what not instead of giving him (and myself) fluff. It's fine a few times every day but when he starts handing me the canister of puffs for me to open so he can get a handful? We have a problem. I need something else to offer him and thanks to baby brain (lack of sleep), I just can't seem to think... Even two cups of coffee in the morning isn't getting me going anymore :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684806 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:45:32 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 684806@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@honeybear: I haven't tried frozen peas - will he just eat them that way? I'd always assumed anything too cold he wouldn't like because we're still trying to get him used to cold milk. Or maybe I'm just over analyzing and he's just not thrilled with milk... And the microwave is my best friend too :) It's my personal chef.</p> <p>@lisa1783: I honestly hadn't thought of that and I love sweet potatoes. He loves mashed potatoes too so that would be a great excuse for us to both eat healthier at lunch or supper! Thank you for the reminder.</p> <p>@pelikila: How do you microwave sausage links? </p> <p>@BananaPancakes: Thanks for the site suggestion, I've bookmarked it to look when they take a nap later :)</p> <p>@T.H.O.U.: Make ahead scrambled eggs? Unheard of! Tell me more. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-684785 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:41:12 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 684785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Bee: Thanks for the advice! Would you believe I don't know how to cook an egg? I know scrambled eggs are supposed to be idiot proof but somehow I always manage to make a mess of things and not in an edible way... I look forward to your egg recipe though. Maybe DH can help teach me.</p> <p>I love pancakes but have never messed with the recipe other than the usual plain jane. I'm pretty boring. How would you go about adding veggies? I've also never tried or made a green smoothie, though my SIL swears by them. And I have a blender!</p> <p>I do have an oven and we usually cook our turkey bacon in the oven but for some reason, DS doesn't seem to chew it very well. I may need to wait until he gets a few more back teeth in since he hasn't gotten into shredding things with his front teeth yet.</p> <p>For supper, we usually just share whatever we have - a meat, a vegetable, and a side dish of either another vegetable, rice, or pasta. DH just tends to take any leftovers we might have from that night into work the next day so I never have any left to divvy out for lunch for us at home. Have to figure out some one handed meals, as my mom calls them, for DS and me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683766 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:13:33 +0000 brownie 683766@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Meat we feed a lot of meat in this house. Hamburgers, hot dogs, lunch meats (he loves pepperoni), eggs, I buy Alexis sweet potato products so I don't have to make them. Freeze dried fruit from target is a great snack. And green bean chips from trader joes my kid loves them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683753 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:09:48 +0000 Honeybee 683753@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Here's some of the things that made it a lot easier for me to feed #1 once #2 came along:</p> <p>Most grocery stores sell pre-cut fruit and veggies. It's a little more expensive, but it makes healthier eating as convenient as pre-packaged foods.</p> <p>Greek yogurt and fruit/veggie puree pouches are pre-packaged foods I don't mind giving the kids for snacks, and they're very handy as a side dish, when I don't have time to make a bunch of extra stuff.</p> <p>I also make big batches of staples in our house (like mac and cheese or sweet potato burritos). The kids probably eat mac and cheese once or twice a week, but I have frozen containers of it in the freezer that are just as easy to make as a pre-packaged meal.</p> <p>Also, give yourself a break. :) when my second was born, DD ate a lot of Beefaroni and fruit pouches, lol, but as DS has gotten older, it's become a lot easier to go back to healthier eating. The phase where your second is a newborn doesn't last for very long, and it will get much easier, very quickly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683740 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:01:26 +0000 T.H.O.U. 683740@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NaturallyCathy: I agree with cut up fruit!</p> <p>We also love cheese sticks, scrambled eggs (make ahead in a muffin dish), breakfast sausage</p> <p>We too do a lot of veggie pouches. She likes them the same as the fruit ones but at least she gets veggies. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683738 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:00:46 +0000 BananaPancakes 683738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've just recently been introduced to this site and my son's been loving it.</p> <p><a href="http://nurturebaby.com/recipes/" rel="nofollow">http://nurturebaby.com/recipes/</a></p> <p>We just made the Gobble Me Up Turkey, added some kale, and then didn't puree it since he doesn't need it pureed (it was like a stew), and he loved it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683730 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:57:40 +0000 pelikila 683730@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We keep a lot of fruit (apples, grapes, raisins, oranges, peaches, pears, strawberries, etc.) and cheese in the house for snacks and side dishes. We feed DS the same meat as we eat for lunch or dinner. Breakfast is almost always scrambled eggs with sausage links (the microwave is your friend) or toast and sometimes we make muffins on the weekend for the week (pumpkin cranberry, apple wheat, blueberry, etc.). We also have plenty of the vegetable pouches since right now, he refuses to touch real vegetables. Chips, crackers, and cookies are rare as if they are there, I eat them too so we try to limit them coming into the house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683724 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:55:55 +0000 lisa1783 683724@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO gets sweet potatoes almost every lunch because it's sooo easy. I usually just microwave one sweet potato and it's usually enough for 2-3 servings. Just toss a little cinnamon on top and you'll probably end up having some for yourself too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683719 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:52:15 +0000 honeybear 683719@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For snacks at that age, LO really liked raisins. Also, smoothies are a good way to get fruits and veggies in and they're not too hard (although I am pretty lazy when it comes to cleaning the blender, so the aftermath is sometimes harder than it needs to be...I bought an immersion blender so I could just stick the blade part into the dishwasher! Worth the $20 it cost.). I use a lot of frozen fruit in smoothies so that I don't have to wash/chop every time. Have you tried frozen peas? My LO likes those, especially partially frozen! Also, I use my microwave a lot to cook veggies. Fresh baby carrots and string beans take very little time if they're nuked (plus, no steamer to clean...can you see a pattern in my cooking habits? ;) ), and I remember a nutritionist telling me that they probably retain more of their nutrients if they're nuked rather than boiled. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683709 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:48:18 +0000 Mrs. Bee 683709@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>maybe tackle one meal at a time so that it's not overwhelming? for instance breakfast is usually easy. how about eggs? i have a super duper easy steamed egg recipe coming up.</p> <p>you can also make pancakes and sneak in tons of veggies in there like pumpkin, squash, carrot, and they freeze well so all you have to do is batch cook them and microwave or toss them in a pan with some butter. you can prepare french toast the same way -- it freezes super well.</p> <p>try green smoothies to get in more veggies. a trick i use is to put it in a reusable pouch (like those squeeze pouches you buy). but charlie actually loves green smoothies and will drink it from a cup.</p> <p>bacon is another easy one if you cook it in the oven.</p> <p>then try tackling another meal. instead of a gerber meal for dinner, he could eat what you're eating. i cook a lot of simple dinners to accommodate the kids. i batch cook soups and freeze them into individual portions so i always have them on hand because the kids love soup. i bake salmon -- just toss some seasonings and bake. i bake veggies -- just salt and pepper and olive oil (sweet potatoes are usually a hit with most kids). olive loves baked carrots w/ salt and paprika.</p> <p>it doesn't take long to prepare a lot of the healthier foods if you slowly work them into your routine. just don't try to overwhelm yourself by making a ton of changes at once. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/help-me-feed-my-toddler#post-683682 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:40:41 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 683682@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I need help! I see all thr beautiful boxed lunches and bento boxes and then I look at what I feed DS and I feel guilty :( I know on the one hand that I don't have the time, with DD just four weeks old, but I am a SAHM so I feel like I should be doing more. Especially since they're my only job.</p> <p>Typically, DS has oatmeal for breakfast along with a sippy cup of milk. Then a GoGo pouch of apple sauce. Sometimes an Eggo or toast. Very easy one handed things to fix. Lunch is either a Gerber meal - main entry on one side, veggies on the other - or some of whatever I'm having. Puffs for snack or Annie's cheddar bunnies or grahm crackers or Earth's Best toddler cookies. Water in a straw cup. We haven't introduced juice yet. Then at supper, more of whatever we have or a Gerber meal with milk. </p> <p>I feel like what I usually give him is filler and fluff, things I can grab one handed that he likes that have no real nutritional value and I feel like the worst mother for it. He's 14 months and I want him to, of course, to have a healthy start but I get overwhelmes trying to take care of both kids and myself! DH and I are going grocery shopping tonight and I need suggestions on ways to make his eating habits - and maybe mine too? - healthier. </p> <p>Thanks in advance! </p>