offered her pasta with salmon. She ate two noodles and said she was done. She asked for some of my food (spinach and quinoa) which she tried one bite of.
What's the reason for giving her different food to yours?
LOs are more likely to want to eat just the same as mummy or daddy which is why making sitting at a table together for a family meal is a good habit to make. It might seem initially that she doesn't eat more when you sit down together but that could well be that this is not her habit, you make it her habit by always sitting at the table together. Talk to her about how the table is set, which is her fork, which is yours, if she is walking ask her to take something to the table (some thing non-breakable, maybe her sippy cup) to help set the table and whilst eating together comment on how lovely it is to have her company and enjoy eating together. When Daddy is there for a meal make an effort to include her in your conversation, it's such a temptation to 'ignore' LO and do adult chat at the table, my LO notices straight away and tries to join in with the social chit chat.
Personally I would only ever give a small snack whilst DS is playing or watching TV and even then it would only be after a very busy morning out at playgroup, physically and mentally exhausting, and he needs a bit of chill out time. I don't mind him having the odd snack like that but at meal times all music, TV etc is off and we sit at the table.
When you sit with her I would eat the exact same food. Even put a main serving platter in the middle of the table, serve her one piece/pancake, serve yourself one piece/pancake. I often say something like 'mmm mine's nice, is yours nice?' but other than that I don't try to get him to eat. LOs are usually very good at managing their own appetite and if offered a range of healthy foods (across several days, doesn't all need to be in one meal) they will also balance their dietary needs. One of the risks of distraction whilst eating is that they don't necessarily stop when they are full, they are focused on something else. This can lead to over eating later in life because they learn to override the full feeling. It's also the reason why it's not really advised to encourage a LO to finish a full plate of food, so that they learn to respond to their feeling of fullness.
Maybe first thing in the morning you could offer a milk or breakfast straight away, sitting at a table, and when she wants to play explain that it's breakfast time and we will play after?
Do you think her milk intake might be having an effect on how much solid food she wants?