Because of this I decided to put together a sample menu for you (the menu I created for DS this week) as our next edition to the Nutrition for Toddlers Series. Hopefully you can read it... it was way easier (in my usually wrong opinion...we'll see) to save a "picture" of the chart, than to re-type it in here.
Keep in mind that I am not striving for perfect (I think I would go mad), and that I too am still learning the ins and outs of feeding my little one the right balanced diet. I strove for getting the right number of servings in each category and tried to make the foods somewhat diverse. That is definitely something I will need to work on. Take a look and let me know what you think.
You will notice there are several foods that appear and reappear throughout the week (i.e. cottage cheese and mashed potatoes). This is because I have them this week... so we eat them. I will be making up a big batch of mashed potatoes to eat throughout the week... and the cottage cheese we will eat while we have it. Next week we may skip the cottage cheese and have something else.
You will also notice bananas on the menu every other day because they really are DS's favorite. I have to hide them during the day because if he sees them he will want one... whether he's hungry or not. :) I try to separate the potatoes and the bananas into different days since they are both high in potassium. (More nutrient details will come down the road.)
The dinners are our regular family dinners. DS eats almost everything we do (though DH and I will have salad a couple of those nights). Want more family dinner ideas??? Visit Meal Plan Monday!
For more ideas on healthy lunches for the family, visit Keeper of the Home!
Wow, that's really impressive! Hope your colds will be gone soon!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter will start eating table food in a few weeks once she turns 6 months old. I will definitely be coming back here to get helpful ideas of what to feed her growing body!
ReplyDeleteThis is really helpful, thank you! My little guy (9 1/2 months old) just recently went to three meals a day plus two snacks and I'm beginning to make him some more meat based baby food . . . slowly ramping him up to going primarily table food in a few months! I look forward to reading more in this series, and best of luck in the last few months of your pregnancy!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Wow...this is great. Thanks for posting it. I am always looking for different things and ideas for my 2 little ones. Please keep posting your ideas!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! My twins are so picky and it is so hard to make sure that we are feeding them all of the nutrients that they need!
ReplyDeleteblessings on you!
I love your Toddler Menu!
ReplyDeleteI have a 20 month old and a 10 month old and the little one eats more than the big one!! I am always looking for more ideas for feeding them.
Thanks and have a great week!
That's a great menu! Sadly, my toddler's weekly menu wouldn't take long to type; she won't eat much other than veggie sausages, bread and rice.
ReplyDeleteSo organized! That's great! I bet is must take so much stress out of your day having a menu of exactly what your baby is eating. Although I pre-make and freeze baby food, I've never pre-planned toddler meals, but I think it's a helpful idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking on my Raising Healthy Eaters post!
Hello! I just decided to check out some other blogs from my friend Nikki's site and found yours. This menu is wonderful! I was just talking about on my blog how I would love to see other toddler menu's and how I was running out of ideas! Thank you! Thank you!Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteHa! I have the same problem with bananas at my house. I have to hide them! Trying to buy them at the store with Peanut in the cart is almost impossible. I literally have to buy a bunch a week to keep him happy. And I'm so glad I'm not the only one a bit 'nutso' over feeding heathly foods to the kiddos. I have more books on baby and toddler nutrition than anything else right now! :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the menu.
Ok, I've been missing out. I love this idea! Not that I currently have time to make menus... :-P It is so nice to see that my dinners very closely match up with someone else who is at my stage in life. Makes me feel normal. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. Nutrition is very important to me, and I've also been trying to create balanced meals for my 13-month old.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, thank you!
ReplyDeleteJust to add some info re: the Toddlers Food Pyramid
A balanced toddler’s diet should include:
- 6 servings of grains
- 3 servings of vegetables
- 2 servings of fruits
- 2 servings from the milk/dairy group
- 2 servings from the meat and protein group
- A small amount of good fats
Another option for baby and toddlers weekly menus (by age) for mothers interested in healthy diet for their loved ones: http://www.greenkiddie.co.uk/Sample_menus.pdf
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you
ReplyDeleteknew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet
my newest twitter updates. I've been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
my page - safe diets