toddler meal planning

It is helpful and beneficial to meal plan for your family meals, but have you thought of meal planning for your toddler?

www.wholesometoddlerfood.com (the title is a link) has some excellent information about meal planning and some sample meal plans for your toddler. One very helpful hint from this website is to use a muffin pan to prepare toddler meals for the week-ie- fill muffin cups with fruit, vegetables, meats, cheeses, ect. that way you have a variety of food on hand and prepared in advance to ensure a wholesome week of eating. I find this particularly helpful because I know I am more prone to grab what is easy and put it on Ethan's tray- ie raisins, o's, string cheese... but this makes more vitamin fortified foods easy to serve.

Here are some ideas to fill up your muffin pan:

Fruits:
blueberries
grapes
kiwi*
prunes
apples*
banana*
peaches*
avocado*
pears*
raisins

Veggies:
carrots
spinach leaves
squash
broccoli
mushrooms
bell peppers
snow peas
sweet potatos*

Dairy:
yogurt
cheese
tofu
egg*

Meat/Protein:
chicken (cooked, obviously)
turkey (bake turkey breast, not deli meat)
lentils (cooked)
beans (cooked)
canned salmon

*Keep food item whole to prevent browning, or cut fruits in half- and definately keep the egg in it's shell!

Fill up your pan however you like and now you have easy snacks/meals for your toddler! I use those little colorful take and toss containers (by The First Years) to put the food in and then put the container in the pan. AND that way if you are going somewhere, you have an easy snack to grab! You can even keep a pan of pantry snacks (raisins, o's, etc...).

Your little one will benefit greatly from this extra step of planning and it will save you a little time and brain power!

meal planning

I am a big fan of meal planning. Since I am married to a man who enjoys family meals every night, meal planning has made this a much less stressful and more enjoyable experience. When we were first married, I used to cringe at the daily question "what's for dinner?"... but now I am fully prepared and no longer left to, quite literally, make something up.

Throughout the winter, I stuck with having one soup a week, one chili a week, and one more specific meal a week. I have found this to be a nice pattern for a few reasons: 1) soup is cheap to make!, 2) both soup and chili can be made in the crockpot, 3) These meals promote leftovers, 4) it saves money- and nothing goes to waste, and 5) it's a nice pattern to follow so I don't have to come up with something totally different every single day.

ie: March Looks something like this:

Week 1:
Monday: French Onion Soup
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Chili and Rice
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: Leftovers

Week 2:
Monday: Potato Soup
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Leftovers (it makes a lot and Carl doesn't mind!)
Thursday: White Chicken Chili and Rice
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Rice and Beans

Week 3:
Monday: Spinach and Lintel Soup
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Crockpot Enchilladas
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Chicken Panini's
Saturday: Leftovers

Sundays are a little different because sometimes people bring meals over or I cook-every week is different. I keep "extras" on hand for those weeks.

I only plan for three weeks because, as most things go, this does not always go according to plan. Sometimes we go to someone's house and eat there, sometimes I make something else or the leftovers carry on another day.. so the last week of the month is "catch-up" week. I make whatever is left to make, or use an "extra" on hand; such as Breakfast or Spaghetti.

Also, as you can see, I like one dish meals. It is just easier for me to throw stuff into one pot, or crockpot rather, and be finished.

Happy planning!