Hellobee Boards

My LO wasn’t a meat eater at that age. He loved berries, cheddar cheese, peas and Club whole wheat crackers which are a little softer for some reason than Ritz WW.

My kids are way older, but some of these things haven't changed.

-Fruit, obviously. They have always eaten a ton of fruit.
-Eggs. Scrambled or "eggs in a hat/eggs in a hole" are a favorite for weekday breakfasts and it's easy to eat with their hands.
-yogurt
-Aidell's meatballs (specifically the onion ones. Organic, no weird ingredients, and not spicy).
-fresh broccoli, good to steam and easy for little hands to pick up
-Kidfresh chicken meatballs
-Penne pasta/bambino mini penne (I make a variety of sauces but usually pick these bigger shells because they are easier to pick up, even with a fork.)
-Earth's Best mini beef meatballs (yes! We eat a lot of meatballs in our house, haha. And I don't make any of them from scratch).
-Garden lites zucchini chocolate muffins for breakfast
-frozen salmon fillets (both of my kiddos took to salmon big time around 12 months)
-frozen sweet potato fries
-Frozen TJs potato/green bean mixture
-frozen TJs haricot vertes (the skinny green beans)
-TJs fresh brussel sprout package (it's a sautee package with the sprouts already washed and halved with seasoning and garlic).
-Cheese cubes or sticks
-Oatmeal
-Kix and Cheerios

Snacks
-breakfast bars and granola bars from TJs
-kids Rx bars
-mandarin oranges
-Inner Peas
-popcorn from TJs
-pretzels
-more fruit/bananas especially

@SweetiePie: String cheese, yogurt, apple sauce(the cup and not the pouch because of less sugar), quinoa, brown eggs, couscous, brown/white rice,sweet potato puffs(by Alexia organic),cold cereal (usually Kashi) he likes mine, whole milk, Kefir and tofu dogs, sockeye salmon, broccoli and spinach - my LO has not been interested in meats lately. He is about to be 21 months so I just keep the above foods always in the fridge and freezer.

I have one pickyish 20 mo (but kind of like you're saying - she loves stuff with tons of flavor/a little spice) and an easygoing 4.5 yo. Staples/things that are usually in the rotation:

meals:
- chicken sausage or meatballs (applegate farms, aidells, or the earths best ones. my kids especially like the applegate farms chicken & sage)
- TJs fish nuggets
- tuna (mixed with avocado and mayo for "tunacado")
- veggie fries or patties (I like the farmwise brand carrot fries, praegers broccoli or spinach littles). occasionally veggie burgers as well
- eggs (both kids love scrambled or fried)
- ingredients for tacos/enchiladas (I just do ground beef/chicken/turkey with plain tomato sauce + add chili powder, cumin, and garlic)
- mac and cheese (boxed annies - add butternut squash puree and plain greek yogurt for protein. or this stuff from the freezer section: https://www.birdseye.com/product/zucchini-lentil-pasta/)
- tikka masala (we get from Costco and then freeze. my 4.5 yo declared it the best food he had ever eaten upon eating a sample at Costco)
- ingredients for homemade pizzas (pepperoni, finely diced bell pepper, pizza sauce, naan or english muffins, mozz. cheese)

breakfast:
- frozen waffles/pancakes (WF brand or earths best)
- cereal (my kids love chex - any flavor but esp. cinnamon)
- occasionally eggs but I like to save that for dinner bc they eat them so reliably and dinner is a pain

snacks:
- larabars (I get the mini size in PB cookie/PB choc chip variety pack - my kids eat them pretty much daily)
- greek yogurt
- pirates booty or veggie straws or bamba
- banana w/PB
- raisins (4.5 yo loves raisins/peanuts combined. the little one isn't there yet)

other rando things my pickyish one loves: pimento cheese (the spicier, the better) by itself or on crackers, garlic hummus, sliced raw mushrooms. our nanny discovered she will eat most things if we mix in pimento cheese, salsa, or hummus.

Meals: frozen meatballs, puff pastry pinwheels (add whatever meat/cheese/veggie/condiment combo and bake til crispy) chicken sausage in whatever flavor sounds good to me so we eat as a family, tortellini, peirogies, egg muffins for daycare actual scrambled eggs for at home, frozen eggo type waffles, baked oatmeal muffins with fruit.
Snacks: string cheese, applesauce pouches, frozen fruit (mainly strawberries and blueberries), goldfish, greek yogurt, veggie tots (store bought or homemade right now we have cauliflower and sweet potato)
ETA this is the sweet potato tot recipe I just made and they are really good
https://alphamom.com/family-fun/food-home/citrus-sweetpotatoes-tots-mash-recipes-cooking-for-kids/

@SweetiePie: my kids are weird about leftovers. They’ll devour it fresh and then I go to serve it again and they refuse it or eat very little. My second also absolutely refused eggs until 16 months. Gave them first at 7 ish months and he looked at it and sniffed it from the tray and refused. I tried feeding different styles about once a week or once every two weeks and as soon as he saw it or smelled it he instantly vetoed so he has only eaten them mixed into pancakes or an egg fried rice. Now he’ll sometimes eat some if it’s off my plate. I found it really weird. I love eggs!

Oy the fact that your LO isn't into cheese or eggs is hard! I have noticed with my one year old that if he puts something in his mouth that doesn't instantly taste like something then he'll spit it back out, like scrambled eggs or pieces of avocado...but if the avocado is guacamole then he's fine.

Anyway, here are some of our staples, minus all of the cheese

-frozen pancakes or waffles
-minimuffins
-mini bagel with peanut butter or cream cheese
-whole milk yogurt
-applesauce
-peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
-fruit, fruit, fruit
-hummus (spread onto pita)
-guacamole (honestly, i feel him guac with a spoon)
-goldfish
-cheerios
-soft breakfast or granola bars
-peas, corn, edamame
-chicken nuggets
-meatballs
-sweet potato fries
-mashed potatoes
-butternut squash zig zags
-PASTA, i keep elbow macaroni on hand because it's the easiest for him to pick up and he'll eat any kind of sauce except plain butter. Also loves ravioli.

G’s favorites at the moment are:

Avocado
Rotisserie chicken
Annie’s mac and cheese
Banana
Muffins
Sweet potatoes

Other things he eats regularly:
Just about any fruit or veg really
Waffles and pancakes (frozen)
Ritz crackers (sometimes with peanut butter)
Graham crackers
Deli turkey
Shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla (sometimes plain; sometimes with refried beans)
Yogurt
Applesauce
Scrambled egg
Toast
Ground beef or ground turkey

I try to batch cook things he likes, especially meats, and keep them in the freezer in tiny portions. Except this backfired on me recently when he decided he doesn’t care for my homemade chicken breast as much as the rotisserie chicken we ate the week before. He threw it all to the dog.

And now I need to go back and read everyone else’s ideas. I love these kinds of threads. We often get stuck in a rut!

@SweetiePie: you can also buy oven baked sriracha tofu at TJs and maybe some other flavors too - you can eat straight from package so it’s easy to keep around. I think there might be a plain oven baked one you could throw in sauce.

Also I love chicken poached in salsa (you can do slow cooker or just make it on the stovetop pretty quickly). You pick the salsa to your desired taste/ingredients and add some water. Would be good to batch, pull apart and freeze.

Not that my kids will eat either of these suggestions

@SweetiePie: technically you could make one trip to Trader Joe’s, buy only those items you could only get there, since that stuff is mostly frozen and will keep a while, and train or cab home, separate from your grocery shopping. Just a thought. But I think what you really have is car/ parking envy, not TJs envy, since i guarantee you live closer mile wise to TJs than I do. It’s just I have to drive everywhere anyway deep in the burbs.

I forgot both my kids loved avocado at that age. Younger still loves it, older wont taste it. But that’s messy and not easy t keep on hand. Oh- and beets. I buy the vacuum sealed “I love beets” brand and both kids love it. Just can be a little messy.

@SweetiePie: I just mean you could just buy one, maybe 2, bags of things you can’t get elsewhere and still take it on the subway. But, not so much with a one year old. Maybe with a stroller if there were elevators on both ends but not really worth it. But I just mean not a weekly trip, a special trip. If you wanted to.