Our Toddler Food Tips

Many darling parents bend over backwards to get that toddler to eat nutritious food! Since we've recently had some successes in this department -- I thought I'd share a few things that we did!

1. Don't assume or label - Keep offering new foods

We thought our son was just "a kid that didn't like meat". Every time we offered poultry, red meat, fish, whatever -- he would either refuse entirely or pick it out of his mouth and remove! Thankfully, we continued to offer, and in the last couple of months he has ENJOYED chicken AND turkey bacon -- asking for more! I'm glad we didn't assume-he-would-never and instead continued offering and eating meat during meals and were pleasantly surprised with his breakthrough!

2. Mix with the familiar - Chop it small and hide!

If your child is spotting their least favorite foods in their dish, they may refuse outright. Depending on the age, there may be little you can do to get them to change their mind. We've mixed all sorts of healthy chopped or even pureed in with cheese scrambled eggs or Plain Greek Yogurt! He'll eat just about anything when combined with those two favorites. 

3. Spin off of favorites - Broaden your shopping list

So maybe your child isn't liking any vegetables or much past peanut butter, for that matter. Here are a few spin offs that our son enjoys based off his favorite staples. 

What he liked                             . . .             Which led us to add       

• Peanuts/Peanut Butter       . . .         Cashews, Walnuts, Almonds   (and corresponding butters)
• Peas                                     . . .            Edamame
• Parmesan Cheese               . . .           Nutritional Yeast 
• Cuties                                  . . .          Tomatoes, Oranges, Grapefruit
• Cookies                                . . .          Healthy Granola/Protein Bars
• Raisins                                . . .             Prunes, dried Apricots
• Guacamole                         . . .             Hummus, Bean Dip 

*I would recommend checking out Vitacost for a lot of these healthy products -- I ordered from them for the first time last month and was SO pleased with the selection and fast delivery! Here is a code for $10 off your first order: http://goo.gl/rj6rfq. They have such great prices! Thank you in advance for using my referral!

4. Don't let allergies or diets limit negatively
Here's our story that I put together for a guest post -  Raising a Gluten-Free Toddler on a Playground of Animal Crackers and Cheerios 

I hope these tips and tricks help you and your family! 
Comment below:: What are some of your family's ways of adding health into your diet?

    

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