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@MsLipGloss: have you tried peanut butter or beans? My LO loves hummus, refried beans, black beans, etc.

Things like quinoa and beans or lentils have a lot of protein. So does polenta. If you want it to be animal protein then ground is the way to go. You can put ground beef in various pasta and rice dishes and it can hardly go noticed. Eggs are also a great animal source and most babies love them!

The other night our cabinets were looking pretty bare and I didn't have any great options for m. I ended up cooking up some ground beef and mixing it with rice and tomato sauce... She went NUTS for it. Like, trying to launch herself out of her chair towards me so I would shovel it in her mouth faster!!

My 2yo loves cheese omelets, maybe because I let him sprinkle the cheese in the pan so he feels involved.

We typically feed our son (15 months) exactly what we are eating for dinner. The only food we haven't introduced to him is shellfish. If you don't have a history of allergies in your family, I'd say it's safe to start experimenting with food! There's really no need to cook separate meals for your LO.

Oh, and if you add cheese to it, they will eat it! Lol.

DD loves chicken in bone, so the drumstick part of the wing for instance, or the drumstick itself without the little cartridge/hard parts, but with the skin on. She's so picky and does not eat enough normally - she needs all the calories she can get.

She's allergic to eggs, but I look forward to the day she can have it. As for breading, she's allergic, so the only breading she can have is if I bread something myself with gluten free flour -- which hardly ever happens.

Last night we made a vegan pumpkin pie and the main ingredient was tofu. I didn't love it, but the girls went crazy for it. It was just pumpkin, tofu and seasoning basically. Tons of protein and the girls thought it was a huge treat since we don't do a ton of desserts.

Greek yogurt smoothies; greek
yogurt, banana, + mango, strawberry, papaya, or a combo. Blend in blender and serve in a straw cup. Also, jus plain cottage cheese. For whatever reason LO did not want his spaghetti and meatballs last night, so he ate an insane amount of cottage cheese instead. Hummus is also a big hit with a lot of kids. Don't be afraid of salt free spices or just use garlic in some ground meats.

We feed Loo what we are eating and give him leftovers the next day for lunch or dinner. He will pretty much eat anything but we don't shy away from spices unless they are too hot/strong. He likes peanut butter, hummus, ham, cheese, beans and ground chicken the best.

@MsLipGloss: Sorry, one more popped into my head as I was in the pantry- quinoa! You can use applesauce and cinnamon to make a breakfast cereal, or use it anywhere you'd use rice. I know you work a lot of hours; maybe making batches of muffin tin meatloaf, chicken pot pies, quinoa stirfry so you can just freeze/thaw out each night? I do hummus in ice cube trays with frozen buns too. Flaxseed can be a good egg replacement if you're frustrated looking at recipes that call for egg.

My LO isn't picky but her favourite proteins by far are ribs and chicken on the bone.... She's not even half as interested in it without the bone to hold onto and suck on after. It also makes a difference if she sees me eating it too. I know you don't have time to cook your dinner before she goes down but maybe she might like seeing you eat a bit of hers?

@MsLipGloss: DS is also tiny (18lbs at 14mo) and probably one of the fussiest eaters ever. He refuses to eat any meat at all. He LOVES yogurt so we makes sure he gets that everyday, plus he is starting to drink cow's milk. They both have a good amount of protein. He is also crazy about hummus and will sometimes eat black beans. He loves grilled cheese with hummus spread on it cut into bite size pieces. He'll sometimes eat homemade veggie burgers (made with sweet potato and black beans). I've also made muffins and put cooked lentils in them and he gobbled them up. Only problem with the beans and lentils is that I have to give them to him for lunch only or they make him too gassy while he is trying to sleep at night. We also give him sunflower seed butter. I think that is less allergenic than other nut butters. He's not as crazy about it but will eat it spread thinly on graham crackers.