What are your toddlers eating?

[Buntybear]

Help - please inspire me ladies!

There are times (I am sure we all feel the same) when I get a bit despondant about Olly's diet. I am a real foodie and love trying recipes but often have 'writers block' when it comes to Olly. Today for example I boiled quinoa for lunch then was stumped with what to go with it!

I also worry about giving a balanced diet.

Would you mind sharing maybe some ideas of what you are giving your intolerant/allergic LOs? How you balance their diet during the day/week?

Any advice would be great 

[Jimbob]

James is no longer a toddler but we do lots of soups and casseroles. We also make cottage/shepherds pie which he loves. James loves chicken, turkey and beef which he is able to tolerate now he is older. This makes things easier as he used to react terribly to chicken & beef when younger.

James loved rice cakes as a snack.

Are you avoiding any other foods apart from whats stated under Olly's pic?

I will come back with some more ideas once I know for sure what he can and can't have.

Kelly x

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I find it gets easier as she gets older, recently she has actually been tasting all the foods I have been putting in front of her for the last year (raw veggies, pork roast)

I do alot of hidden foods - Spencer loves spaghetti, so I toss things like sweet potato or beans in the blender with the sauce. Oh, and I recently added a very ripe avocado to pizza sauce, no one could tell!  I use chicken breast and make my own "nuggets" with GF flours, also works well with fish (I've used tilapia).

I try to look at her diet over the week, not daily, as I can see that way that she is mostly getting a balance (well, as good as she ever will get - I still give a sippy of formula in the am for the nutrients)

[Buntybear]

Thanks for your replies 

Olly is fussy in that he doesn't like anything 'saucy' esp gravy. He is OK with soy cream over pasta and I have just discovered a lemon chicken pouch I also use as a pasta sauce but that is pricey. Last week at nursery he actually ate pasta in tomato sauce which is a first but I haven't tried it here yet. He also doesn't like potato 

Allergywise I am steering clear of nuts, seeds, shellfish. Fructose wise we steer clear of apply, pear, dried fruits, melon, mango. He may be able to tolerate in small quantities but they wouldn't make a huge change to his diet anyway.

Had a breakthrough tonight that he ate the same dinner as us - chicken fried rice - so that is fab! Gave me a bit of confidence back 

Re balancing his diet, I think over a week it is good. Very good I guess in that he has very little that is ready made or processed. I just struggle when preparing meals that he needs a carb, protein, 2 veg etc

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Re balancing his diet, I think over a week it is good. Very good I guess in that he has very little that is ready made or processed. I just struggle when preparing meals that he needs a carb, protein, 2 veg etc

That is good that he isn't eating processed, ready made stuff - half the battle right there!  As for trying to make every meal balance, I don't really try to do that. Usually the meals involve carb, protien, veg, but not always and I make up for it with the snacks.

[Buntybear]

Carbs I am OK with. Have a stash of GF bread and pasta he will always eat. He will eat rice, quinoa, roast squash fingers and potato waffles - the frozen kind  .

Protein I usually do a roast once a week so have leftovers for a couple of days. Buy the ready roasted chicken breasts. Soy cheese. GF fish fingers (once a week max).

Veg - peas, sweetcorn, avacado, cucumber. He has gone off carrots. Am too scared to give him anything that could produce 'gas' (his main reaction to allergies and fructose and cause of horrendous NWs).

He eats loads of fruit. Heidi, I make those panckaes of yours and have a stash in the freezer! He had some today for his snack 

Did try the 'famous sausage recipe' but they dried right out. Going to try meatloaf next and freeze in small portions.

Sorry for the detail but it actually it helps sort it out in my head to type it out 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

That's ok!  I have to write things down too!  So glad the pancakes are a hit, I make and freeze them too (and I supply daycare).

I do buy the packaged fish fingers and nuggets, but I find she loves my homemade ones just as much. I mix a few gf flours with dry mustard, paprika, and pepper and coat tha meat. Its very yummy, we all eat it that way now.

I can totally get not wanting to feed things that ay cause a reaction!  Spencer is 3 now and I haven't bothered to try milk in ages though for all I know she has outgrown her MPI!

[Jimbob]

We do turkey and apple meatballs which are a huge hit with James. You could add carrot or any other veg instead of apple. We often add veg to the meatballs aswell as apple and James still really likes them.

Kelly

[Buntybear]

A bit of apple would be ok. I think it would need it tbh to give some moisture as we can't add egg. Thanks for the idea

[Jimbob]

We don't add egg either and they turn out really well. We are used to cooking without egg as James is highly allergic to it.  We make burgers with lean minced steak aswell and just add a bit of onion and a few veggies and James really enjoys them. We don't serve it in a bun as James will not eat bread of any form.

Kelly