Nutritious Meals for Your Toddler
Kelly Albarran
Food Pyramid For Children
Inforamation on Food Guide Pyramid
Healthy Breakfast for Toddlers
Breakfast Egg Cups
Ingredients
- 6 large – egg
- 1/4 cup – milk
- 1/8 teaspoon – salt
- 1/8 teaspoon – black pepper, ground
- 1 medium – bell pepper, red
- 3/4 cup – spinach
- 1/4 cup – cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions
- Whisk the eggs and milk together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Dice the pepper into small pieces. Stack the spinach leaves, roll them up, and slice them thin. (This method is called chiffonade.) Add the peppers, spinach, and shredded cheddar to the egg mixture.
- Grease a muffin tin (cooking spray, melted butter, or melted coconut oil) and fill cups 3/4 full of the egg mixture.
- Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes until centers are set/firm. Can test doneness with a toothpick.
Pancake Lollipops
Ingredient:
1 1/2 Cups Dry Mix.
(Will about about 20 Pancake Lollipops)
Directions:
1. Heat a griddle to 350 degrees and put one tablespoon of batter for each Pancake Lollipop.
2. Place the lollipop stick directly into the wet batter.
3.Flip when a few bubbles pop at the surface.
The pancakes are finished when both sides are golden brown.
Strawberry Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Frozen Strawberries, thawed, keep the juices
- 2 Tablespoons - 1/4 Cup Honey,Sugar, or Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
Instructions
- Puree your thawed strawberries and juices with a food processor, blender, personal blender, or hand blender. Put into a medium sized saucepan and heat on medium high. Add the sweetener and continue to stir until it's just about ready to boil. In a small bowl, put your corn starch and a tablespoon of cold water. Stir until corn starch is completely dissolved. Add the dissolved corn starch into your strawberry puree and stir. Continue to stir until the syrup has returned to a low boil and thickened a bit. Serve with pancakes, waffles, crepes, and ice cream. You can also use it to flavor milk.
Nutritious Snack Time !
Apples with Maple Cunnamon Greek Yougurt Dip
- 2 medium – apple
Directions
- Mix ingredients together and serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon and drizzle of maple syrup.
- Eat plain or use as a fruit dip.
Blueberry Date Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup - whole dates, about 10)
- 1/2 cup - rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon - baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon - salt
- 2 tablespoon - ground flaxseeds
- 2 tablespoon - sesame seeds
- 3 large - eggs
- 1/2 cup - creamy almond butter
- 1 teaspoon - vanilla
- 3/4 cup - frozen or fresh blueberries
- Place the dates in a bowl, cover with water, and soak for 1 hour. Drain, pat dry, and remove pits.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8x8-inch square baking pan.
- Place the oats into the bowl of a food processor and grind into a coarse flour, like the texture of instant oats. Add the baking powder, salt, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, eggs, almond butter, vanilla, and dates. Process until smooth, about 15-30 seconds. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
- Sprinkle the blueberries over the top and press gently into the batter. Bake for 32-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the pan comes out cleanly. Cover with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent the edges from browning too deeply. Place the pan onto a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing.
Tasty Lunches!
Risotto Primavera
Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups (2 inch) diagonally cut asparagus
2 cups chopped yellow squash
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup water
1 (32-ounce) carton fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped leek
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme
Preparation
1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and next 4 ingredients; sauté 10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Set aside; keep warm.
2. Bring water and broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.
3. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 1/2 cups broth mixture; cook 4 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 20 minutes total). Stir in 1/4 cup cheese and thyme.
4. Top risotto with vegetables; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
Tips for your toddler:
• Serve a spoonful of risotto and vegetables.
• Cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces.
Creamy Pork and Cauliflower Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 each – pork chop, boneless
- 1 large – russet potato
- 1 head medium (5-6" dia.) – cauliflower
- 1 stalk – celery
- 1 medium – carrot
- 1/2 medium – onion
- 1/2 teaspoon – thyme, dried
- 2 cup – chicken broth, low-sodium
- 1/4 teaspoon – paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon – salt
- 1/8 teaspoon – black pepper, ground
- 2 cup – milk
Directions
- Chop up pork chop, potato and cauliflower.
- Slice celery and carrot.
- Chop onion.
- In a large sauce pan combine all of the ingredients aside from milk.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, remove most of the cauliflower.
- Place the cauliflower into a blender with the milk.
- Pour the cauliflower mixture back into the soup and stir.
Vegetable Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon – olive oil
- 1/2 cup, chopped – onion
- 2 clove – garlic
- 3/4 cup chopped – carrot
- 3/4 cup chopped – celery
- 5 cup – vegetable broth
- 1 can – diced tomatoes, canned
- 1/2 teaspoon – oregano, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon – basil, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon – parsley, dried
- 1/8 teaspoon – thyme, dried
- 9 ounce – tortellini pasta
- 3 cup, chopped – kale
- 1/8 teaspoon – salt
- 1/8 teaspoon – black pepper, ground
- 1/4 cup – Parmesan cheese, grated
Directions
- In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the onions and cook until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic, carrots and celery and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
- Add the broth, diced tomatoes, oregano, basil, parsley and thyme to the pot.
- Bring the mixture to a boil then add the tortellini to the pot and cook according to the package instructions.
- One minute before the tortellini is done, stir in the kale and cook for one additional minute.
- Remove from heat. Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan and salt and pepper, as desired.
Mexican Pinwheels
Ingredients
- 8 ounce – cream cheese, low fat
- 1/3 cup – salsa
- 1/2 cup – cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 pound – chicken breast
- 3 stalk – green onion
- 2 clove – garlic
- 1 tablespoon – taco seasoning
- 4 medium – tortilla, whole wheat
Directions
- Put everything but the tortillas in a bowl and mix well.
- Spread some of the mixture onto the entire surface of one of the tortillas, and roll it up tightly. Continue with the rest of the tortillas the same way. (I used the Food For Life Rice Wraps and made 4 tortillas - I think these are small compared to some tortilla brands so if they are larger you may have enough filling for 3.)
- Cut the rolled up tortillas into 1 inch sections.
Delicious Dinners
Crunchy Falafel
- 2 cups of chickpeas soaked in water overnight
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp lemon
- 2 - 3 handful of fresh parsley
- 1 handful of fresh coriander (optional)
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp of salt
- Organic rapeseed / canola oil
Directions:
- Drain and wash the uncooked chickpeas thoroughly and blend it well in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients until it turns into a coarse pastry. The texture of the chickpea mixture should be firm enough to easily hold its shape.
- You don't need to cook the chickpeas, that happens during the frying or baking process in the last step of the recipe.
- Form the falafel into small balls or flat mini burgers it's up to you. Just don't make it too thick in order for it to cook properly in the middle.
- Heat the oil in a small or medium sized sauce pan and fry them until the surface becomes crispy (around 5 min). You can also bake the falafels for a healthier option.
- For a baking option - preheat the oven to 375 F while in the meantime you just place the falafels on a baking sheet, butter the falafels with some olive oil on both sides. Bake it for a total of 30-40 minutes, flipping once at the halfway through the cooking process. the longer you bake them the firmer they'll become.
- If the mixture becomes too loose add some breadcrumbs or wheat flour to the pastry. If the mixture becomes too firm add more olive oil.
White Veggie Lasagna
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp – butter, unsalted
- 4 tablespoon – flour, all-purpose
- 2 cup – milk
- 4 medium – carrot
- 1 medium – onion
- 2 cup, pieces or slices – mushrooms, white
- 2 cup chopped – broccoli
- 1 tablespoon – olive oil
- 2 oz – mozzarella cheese
- 2 cup (not packed) – COTTAGE CHEESE, LOWFAT
- 1/2 cup – Parmesan cheese
- 1 large – egg
- 1 tsp – salt
Directions
Prepare White Sauce:- In a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Add 4 tablespoons flour, and stir constantly until bubbly and thick.
- Slowly add 2 cups of milk (in 1/2 cup portions). Stirring and waiting till it thickens after each addition.
- Set white sauce aside.
- Chop all veggies.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a skillet and turn on heat to medium. Add veggies to skillet and cook till just under done, about 5 minutes. Set veggies aside.
- Combine 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese with 2 cups cottage cheese and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Mix an egg and salt into mixture.