Toddlers

[TheGreenBird]

I need some new ideas for people with toddlers!
While i have known for awhile the eating in a Vegan manner is really most healthy I have definitely fallen for the "he needs protein from dairy, etc" lines lately and I don't know why! UGH.

The only dairy my son (13 months) eats right now is cottage cheese - everything else he doesn't like, except Annies organic mac and cheese.

I hate giving him that crap. He also eats Dr. Preagger's spinach patties and that is one of the only veggies I can get him to eat, but they have egg in them

So I need some new ideas! He is a big fan of hummus so doing that on toast is good. I was so happy and surprised this morning when he chose my steel cut oats over his white pancakes so that is good. He loves fruit.

So what are your go to veggies and protein sources for your toddlers? I have no doubt that a veggie/vegan diet is healthy for him, except he really needs to eat veggies and a good variety for that to be true! Oh, he drinks hemp milk as well (we can no longer breastfeed, unfortunately).

[blessedmomof3]

I know this isn't fruit or veggies but right now my 2 year old loves to eat anything pasta. She loves Mary McDougall's Penne Florentine recipe! And loves pasta with pesto. As far as fruits and veggies, she loves fruit and I cook carrots and peas and she will eat that. She also will pick greens off of my salad and sometimes eat it, although sometimes she will spit it back out. I make zuchini-corn fritters and she loves though too. If you need any of the above recipes let me know and I'll post those.

Kelli

[circle city vegan]

My youngest is older than yours but he eats baked potatoes cooled down, just skin and all. The yams he squeezes out the top of half the skin, like those push ups pops. He walks around with them and when he drops it, the dog gets a healthy treat! Since your guy is younger, I would cube them up and give that on the high chair. Corn, green beans, tomatoes, all fruit. These things can be made small and soft for toddlers. I'm not even against the gerber toddler veg in the jars. The cubes are just the right size. My kids have all loved beans of every variety. They're just the right size and soft enough to eat. At this age they drink milk and graze the rest of the time. My toddlers definately got most of their food from my plate. Somehow if they see you eating it they become more interested.

[TheGreenBird]

Thanks for the tips everyone Debbie, hemp milk actually has quite a bit of fat, protein, and calories (one of the reasons I chose it over almond, rice, etc.) and it's vitamin fortified, so I feel he is good in that department. I am in no way comfortable giving him soy to drink, esp a soy formula since he is over 12 months. Even before that, when I had to stop breastfeeding unexpectedly, we did organic dairy formula.

He eats only table foods - he hasn't eaten purees in many months - just doesn't like to be fed and does much better feeding himself. We actually did somewhat baby led weaning which is skipping purees altogether and started them on large table foods, but didn't do it totally, so he had some. Their amount of teeth actually have no baring on what they can "chew" because if you think about it, for many months babies only have front teeth and we chew with our back teeth. I am constantly amazed at what he can eat and "chew" with just 4 front teeth, since I know he's not even using them.

I'm happy he's starting to eat more like me. I was surprised today when he shared my lentil and veggie stew! He ate carrots, white sweet potatoes, parsnips, brussel sprouts, onions, and lentils - it was all very soft and cut into chunks with Indian spices.

[lamazemama]

Your little guy was born the same day as my niece!

I have three boys and my youngest just turned 2. He is, by far, my pickiest eater (my other two ate pretty much anything I gave them).

Thankfully, he is still breastfeeding quite a bit so we don't have to really worry.

Some ways my picky guy gets some healthy foods...

-veggie soups

-green smoothies (basically a fruit smoothie with some fresh spinach thrown in- it turns the smoothie green but they don't taste the spinach)

-baked french fries (russet or sweet) dipped in organic ketchup

-pasta with sauce (can add diced, cooked veggies into the sauce)

-diced fruit

-pancakes or muffins with pureed sweet potatoes mixed in (or bananas or applesauce- makes them very moist!)

I hope that helps!