I need healthy meal ideas for my toddler. She's 3 and a really picky eater. I would like her to eat healthy. ?

I cook almost every night, I have 4 year old. I involve my son in the shopping for the foods, and often in cooking the food. We've got a garden, and he's learning how things grow, where it all comes from, those sorts of things. I think the more you involve them in the whole process, the more willing they will be to try something new. I also make just one option for dinner. He either eats it (and gets desert) or doesn't eat it and goes to bed hungry. If it's something really different, and not all that kid friendly, I at least expect him to try everything on his plate. It sounds pretty strict, but I'm not a short-order cook, and there's no reason for him to fill up on snacks after dinner, when I've prepared a meal for him. I'll always leave his dinner out and tell him that there are no snacks, its either that or nothing. (same with breakfast and lunch)

as for healthy meal ideas,

I LOVE Jamie Olivers "Food Revaluation" cook book - awesome. everything is pretty simple (he even has step by step pictures), made from fresh ingredients.

there's another great one called "Simply In Season" - that goes season by season, giving recipes for...well...the foods that are in season.

good luck to you - I don't know why food has to be a struggle. Getting little people to eat well, and sleep well seems to be what I have to work the hardest at. I also have a 9 month old, who's starting to eat table food...so, here we go again :)

Our drawback at my location is not such a lot consuming healthful, it is time restraints within the morning as I paintings complete time. What we do is I make pancakes up at the weekend, approximately two dozen or so after which layer them with wax paper and freeze them in a ziploc bag. Take em out and pa em within the toaster and voila - breakfast. You can upload almost any form of berry into the pancake combine to provide it extra flavour, and if you happen to fairly wish to move nuts, lead them to from scratch with complete wheat flour. You too can make French Toast and freeze them. We additionally cheat and purchase the frozen waffles with fruit in them - Eggo makes complete wheat ones. Also we do not placed any syrup on them, as all of them make exceptional breakfast at the pass units once we are fairly rushed. Also, there are not any legislation pointing out that you just are not able to provide your youngster fruit and cheese for breakfast and bacon and eggs for dinner. Try no longer attention on man or woman foods, however instead what they devour over the path of per week. So if someday, all they wish to devour are chocolate pop truffles for breakfast, it will not hurt them so long as they're consuming well the vast majority of the time.

If she loves fruits and veges, your battle is won. I fed my kids anything they could pick up and eat with their fingers - corn, peas, green beans, blueberries, cherries (pitted of course) strawberries, even broccoli. Try some beans like garbanzos and edamame (boiled green soybeans - kids love those). Cut slices of bread into small pieces for her. I see others have suggested cheese. Most kids have problems with dairy products, that's why infant formula is made of soy milk. Cheese and milk can cause digestive upsets, gas, hives, stuffy noses and acne. If you want to try some meats, roll up small strips of ham or chicken and put a toothpick in them for her to pick up - keep an eye on the toothpick so she doesn't try to swallow it too; you could use long bamboo skewers instead. If she doesn't like meat, no problem, keep the fruits, veges and bread coming.

I always keep around cut up cheese, strawberries, rolled up lunchmeat (from the deli of course, not the preserved crap) and trail mix. Son LOVES it. Preschoolers tend to nitpick rather than eat a whole meal.

just give her what she'll eat. my 2yr old daughter is really picky too. they will grow out of it.