We like to think that Miss H is a pretty good eater for a 19 month old – both in what she eats and how much she eats. She still can be skeptical of new foods, but she definitely chooses fresh fruits and veggies over anything else. This is a great relief to me because I was such a picky eater as a kid! I read somewhere that you shouldn’t limit what your LO eats if they keep on requesting more of a healthy food. So if Miss H wants more peas when she’s finished her dinner, she gets them!
I thought it would be fun to share a day of Miss H’s meals from a typical Saturday at home.
Breakfast – 8:00am
Miss H had fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, 1 slice of whole wheat French toast (no syrup – she’s not a fan!), and a big scoop of full fat plain Greek yogurt. Miss H didn’t leave anything behind on the plate! (Note: we spoon feed the yogurt – otherwise she puts it in her hair.)
Morning Snack – 10:30am
Miss H had a full piece of string cheese, shredded into small pieces for her so as not to be a choking hazard. Miss H usually has all of the string cheese, possibly sharing a few bites with me.
Lunch – 12:00pm
Miss H had a cheddar, broccoli and chicken quesadilla on a whole wheat tortilla (we use 1 tortilla cut in half), and fresh strawberries and mango. She loves her “dillas”! And as usual, she ate everything on the plate.
Afternoon Snack – 3:30pm
Miss H had a big bowl of red grapes, sliced into quarters. Miss H finished these quickly; they’re a favorite of hers.
Dinner – 6:00pm
Miss H had an egg scramble with peas and broccoli and fresh blueberries. Miss H had no problem cleaning her plate at this meal either. Sense a pattern with our little eater?!
Milk and Water
And of course Miss H has plenty of whole milk and water throughout the day. On a “good” day she’ll have about 15-16 ounces of milk, but many days she wants nothing to do with milk and will only have about 10 ounces. When that happens, we make sure she has a little extra yogurt and cheese. We keep her straw cup of water out for her throughout the day – some days she guzzles water and others we have to encourage her to drink more.
Making food for Miss H is fun and I love seeing all of the colorful fruits and veggies on her plate! I still often wonder if we’re not making enough “meals” for her, but she is such a happy camper with simple and healthy foods – steamed broccoli, pan fried zucchini, cooked peas, fresh fruit – that I don’t want to rock the boat at this moment in time. I say, let her eat broccoli – as much as she wants!
What trends have you noticed about your LO’s eating habits?
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
Ooh this is really helpful! We are doing BLW and I have started wondering recently about ideas for meals now that he is “eating” more. Thanks for sharing
grapefruit / 4819 posts
I am so jealous. Our 17 month old used to be a wonderful eater but she’s now in a picky phase where she refuses to try ANYTHING she doesn’t recognise! Her dinner repertoire consists of pasta (all kinds so we load it with veggies and meat), butter chicken, and pizza. Lunch is a grilled cheese or pb&j, and breakfast is cereal, pancakes, or waffles. She loves all fruit and has many servings throughout the day, but won’t eat veg unless it’s in her pasta. Oh and have I mentioned she won’t drink milk, nor will she eat yogurt or cheese except what’s in her grilled cheese sandwich? I swear, this child is giving me an ulcer with her eating habits!
grapefruit / 4584 posts
It’s fun to see that Miss H shares quite a few food favorites with my 17 month old (who,funnily enough, is also “Miss H” in our household). My LO won’t drink milk during the day, probably because I refuse to give her a bottle during the day, so she has yogurt or cheese (or sometimes both) at pretty much every meal.
I love the plate you’re using – what brand is it/where did you buy it?
pear / 1837 posts
Also jealous. My 16 month old also used to be a great eater and now is obsessed with toast and pasta. If we put veggies in it she picks those out…. she’ll eat sweet potato by the pound though, so we try to give her as much of that as possible. And she loves beans (which is good because we’re vegetarian). I wish I could get her to eat eggs- I even tried to get her to dip her eggs this morning in ketchup because she loves to dip, but she wasn’t fooled…
GOLD / apricot / 341 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch: Do you serve the meals just as you’ve shown? Our kids (16 months old and almost 3 years old) eat the same kinds of foods, but if I served their fruits along with their meal, I’m pretty sure they would just eat fruit and reject the rest. We usually serve them their meal and then end with fruit. Is this never an issue for you?
pomegranate / 3053 posts
Aaah…I sure miss the days when my 20-month-old toddler eats everything off his plate. He is still a good eater but is starting to have less and less interest in eating on his own. He’ll say “done!” within minutes of me putting his food down. I hope it’s just a phase and he outgrows this. I don’t need a repeat of what my oldest… we fed him until 2.5! Yikes!
squash / 13764 posts
When did you start using plates with Miss H? My LO is almost 14 months old and I’m afraid if I give him a plate everything will end up on the ground!
pea / 8 posts
@Mini Piccolini: I was wondering about the same thing too. My son is a great eater, but I still manage the order in which certain things appear in front of him. At his daycare in Japan, his food comes out as a set on a tray and his teachers say that he always finishes his rice, and vegetables or all the goodies first. At home, I make sure he gets veggies and meat first, then rice (which he can eat unlimited amount of), and then fruit or sweeter stuff.
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
@Mini Piccolini: C is the same way – I have to withhold fruit until the end or he won’t eat anything else!
Where are those plates from? They are so cute!
olive / 64 posts
Where are the plates and the straw cup from?
pomelo / 5791 posts
@Theresa: I was going to ask the same thing!
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@PinkElephant: @Mrs. Confetti: @Theresa: the plate is a brand called “spuds” and it’s made from potato bi-products!
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Beginner-Section-Plate-Spuds/dp/B007QXSO4I
They have a variety of other products, the little bowl is really cute, but we don’t love the spoons/forks – at least not for this age. The plate works SUPER well for Miss H!
@Theresa: it’s an OXO straw cup. We have two:
http://www.amazon.com/Oxo-Straw-Cup-Pink-Ounce/dp/B004T8NN0S
and
http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Twist-Water-Bottle-Ounce/dp/B00ANJIE42
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Mini Piccolini: yep we usually just give her a mix of everything! Almost all of the time it’s fine and she doesn’t reject one thing over another. I mean, she definitely has her favorite foods, but overall she’s fine. And to have full transparency, last night she was being a stinker and threw her entire plate of egg scramble on the ground. She is not always a perfect eater! I’d say 80% of the time she’s good.
@hilsy85: we started maybe around a year with a plate? We bought one of the plates that suction cups to the table/tray so that she got used to a plate but couldn’t throw it. After a few days she would demand that she had a plate, haha. Now we use little melamine bowls and the plate in the picture for her meals and she normally does great. We talk about how “big girls don’t pick up their plates” to encourage her to keep it on the tray. And she normally does fine, although again, last night she was stinker and threw the plate. That happens occasionally
squash / 13764 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch: thanks!
guest
Thanks so much for this post! We have a 1 year old and some times I have such a hard time coming up with well rounded meals for an entire day. It’s always great to see someone else’s take on a full days meal.
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
Wow I am saving this as its a great list. I made a lot of mistakes with feeding Drake I felt and now he is a picky toddler (Im a picky eater myself so its hard to be mad) but Im hoping to start Juliet on a better footing so its easier with her.
apple seed / 4 posts
My first comment.
(Just found this site–really enjoying the mom community as a first time mom of a 1 YO.) Anyhow, thanks for this post! It is simple but gives me ideas as I try to get out of a rut of offering the same old things to my daughter.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
we also have to withhold the fruit. fruit is dessert. otherwise charlie and olive have such small appetites that they will only eat the fruit and be done. you’re lucky to have a great eater!
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
Great ideas, sometimes I get into a huge food rut and have them eat the same thing all the time. I love new fresh ideas.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
what a good eater you have!
the hardest part about my toddler is that she likes to deconstruct her meals. she meticulously tears her quesadillas and sandwiches apart. when i give her scrambled eggs with veggies, she will go through and pick out the green stuff one by one. drives me crazy!
kiwi / 550 posts
I love plated toddler meal inspirations. My nannied kiddo loved his veggies until we hit toddlerdom around 13 months and has only eaten chicken and carrots since. Fickle little creatures.
That plate is so neat! Potato byproduct, who knew?
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
You’re such a good mom! I love your meals
Gemma is a fruit-o-holic as well and will binge eat fruit if I let her. She’s pretty good about trying the other foods on her plate but sometimes it takes a pep talk.
I like the idea of the veggies in the eggs
apricot / 279 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch do you feed her organic blueberries? We have been getting her the organic because it’s one of the dirty dozen. When blueberries are not in season, it’s a little bit harder to find organic.
LO is becoming a very picky eater. She used to love blueberries and bananas, but now she throws them off the tray :(. Thanks for the post, it has me thinking about meal planning.
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
Love these meal ideas.
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Snowybreeze: We almost always try and do organic blueberries but I agree, they are hard to find now that they’re out of season (and expensive)! Oh how we are missing our lovely local farmer’s market this winter. And isn’t food throwing the worst? Miss H has definitely had her share of throwing food high and low when she gets into a sassy mood!
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
mmm fruit!
cherry / 130 posts
I like the plate! I’m going to order one for my daughter. Hopefully she will eat more variety with this plate. Thanks!