Toddler Meals: Healthy Lunches

Pita Sandwiches w/ Chips and Guacamole

Pita Bread is our Go To for lunch. we like it with cheese, turkey meat, avocado, PB & J, Egg Salad, etc.. Its easier for him to eat than bread. 

Have you tried Dragon fruit? Its like a mild kiwi, High in vitamin C, fiber and antioxidants. I like it because it's sweeter and not as tart as a kiwi. He can eat about 1/2 a dragon fruit. 

Chips and Guacamole is also popular in our house. I mash an avocado and add a little salt, pepper and diced tomatoes... quick and easy and super yum!

we love string cheese as a go to snack or with meals. We eat organic string cheese from Wholefoods. There are days where we eat 3-4 in a day!

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Almond Butter Sandwiches & Crackers and Hummus

Now that Landon is 1, we are testing different types of nuts... Last week, we tested cashew butter.. This week is almond butter.

Almond butter is an alternative to peanut butter! It contains significantly more fiber, calcium, potassium, and iron. At our local whole foods, we make our own almond butter... It definitely tastes better!

We also give Landon almond milk because it has a higher calcium intake than cows milk. 

There are days where I just throw quick meals together... 

So before we headed to the park, I made Landon an almond butter sandwich with whole wheat bread. I cut off the crust because it was super hard. 

Gluten free rice crackers with roasted pepper hummus.. 

Cut string cheese (his favorite) 

Watermelon & blue berries... Now, if your lil one is a constipated, watermelon hydrates you and really cleans out your system! 

I rarely give Landon sandwiches, he's not a big fan.. But it's easier than carrying soup or rice to the park. :)

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Pasta and Egg Scramble with Meatballs

for a quick and easy meal, cook up some pasta.. sauteed it with some frozen veggies then add 1 egg. scramble it up and serve. Its pretty tasty for a toddler. he loves it! 

we make homemade meatballs and freeze them in small batches so they're always readily available... earths best also makes tasty meatballs located in your freezer section.

we eat this at breakfast or lunch. to alternate, you can use rice, quinoa or even buckwheat.

Enjoy!

Toddler Meals: Healthy Dinners

Here are 4 easy meals for you and your little ones... 

Sautéed chicken & veggies

I'm super asian when it comes to dinner. A meal is never a meal unless it has rice... since we are eating green in our home- Landon gets a pretty healthy diet. Everything is sauteed and we use No salt when cooking and very little soy sauce (99% of the time, we use ZERO soy sauce.. and let me tell you, IT IS HARD!!)

we make Quinoa in large batches, enough to last us 2-3 days. I just pre-cook it and pop it in the fridge. 

I've been cutting out chicken breast in itty bitty little chunks- makes it super easy for Landon to chew and eat. 

3 tbsp coconut oil

2 pc chicken breast- diced small

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 cloves of garlic- minced

1/2 cup water

cut green beans

cut broccoli 

cut cauliflower

- heat coconut oil on medium in a skillet...

-sautee chicken with garlic.. season with your favorite seasoning. 

- add water to create a broth

add green beans, broccoli, cauliflower.. 

lower heat.. cover with lid and let steam until veggies are cooked to your preference. We eat our veggies crispy.. So, I will remove most of it and leave about 2 cups of food for Landon to enjoy for dinner and lunch the following day.

served with 3oz almond milk, watermelon and Blueberry coconut yogurt.

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Sweet & Sour Chicken Dinner

Dinner: sweet & sour chicken with brown rice trio and butternut squash/ kale soup.

Butternut squash soup: 

We buy pre-cut organic butternut squash at Wholefoods.. I put it in the our baby Breeza to cook (yes, we are now using our baby food processor as a soup maker!) 

Put squash in the processor with 2 cups kale.. Press "squash" it will steam for 20 minutes & blend.

Once cooked, I add 2 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup almond milk.. Steam 5 minutes.. Serve! 

Sweet & Sour Chicken: 

Chop 2 pieces of chicken breast in small cubes..

Cook on medium with coconut oil..

Once chicken is cooked, add 1/3 bottle if "grandmas sweet and sour sauce".. Cook for 5 minutes & serve.

It's has kick of spicy but Landon loves it! I offer it shredded and I throw some in our bullet and give it a few swirls to ground it up.. It makes it easier for Landon to chew and eat. 

Brown Rice Trio:

Brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa, lentils with sweet potato..

Dinner was served with: blueberries, 1 apricot, blueberry coconut yogurt, 2oz almond milk. 

Lately, we've been giving Landon a fork to use during his meals.. It's hit or miss. He really loves stabbing his food but gets frustrated because he can't feed himself fast enough.. He also refuses to touch food with his hands.. He will only use his hands to eat snacks and fruit. 

**after about 5 minutes of self feeding.. I threw the chicken, rice and soup together and spoon fed him.. Much faster!**

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Pretty easy meal for a starving toddler. My kid loves fish with rice. 

Place Cod on a large sheet of foil- add fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper and a little white wine. wrap foil and bake in oven @ 375 for 25 minutes. 

steam green beans with garlic, coconut oil and 1/4 cup of water. simple and healthy. 

We make sure our veggies are sauteed super soft.

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Quinoa & Sweet Potato Chili

I found this amazing on Pinterest! I've made it about 4-5 times and we are obsessed with it!!

I've switched up the recipe a few times and it always tastes just as yummy! It's so hearty and cozy! 

we make our chili in the crockpot too! It takes about 3-4 hours on high, 6-7 hours on low, and about 1 hour on our stove top.

for my family- we use the following ingredients:

1- medium sized sweet potato diced

1- small onion

3- cloves of garlic

1-cup of quiona uncooked

1/2 pack of uncooked peas

1- can of kidney beans- rinsed

1- carrot diced

1 lb ground beef, turkey meat or diced chicken breast

1/2 can of tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce

2 cups of water or chicken broth

cook meat with coconut oil on medium... add in onions and garlic with a skillet

Grease crockpot with coconut oil:

Add cooked meat & all ingredients into crockpot.. Set on low to cook 6-8 hours or high to cook 3-4. 

serve with sliced avocado. 

its soOOoooo GOOD!

Teething Pacifier Pops

We have a teething baby... He is going nuts! Sometimes our amber necklace can only go so far, so a few months ago, I decided to make him some popsicles!

He loves this! It keeps him super busy for about 15-20 minutes, soothes his gums and super nutritious.

So wether or not you're using breastmilk or formula.. or a fruit smoothie, this is super easy to make.

I fill his bottle cap with some milk, throw in a pacifier and pop it in the freezer over night.

once you're ready to use one, run it under some water for a few seconds to loosen the ice cube.. pop it out and it looks like this:

hand it to your teething babe and let him enjoy!

he loves it! he gets super excited when frees his pacifier!

this cube makes about 1oz of breast milk so its a great snack! 

Enjoy!