Toddler Meal Ideas - Healthier Eating
Healthy Meal Makeovers for Breakfast
French toast: Make it with fiber-rich whole-grain bread rather than white, and mix the egg with low-fat or fat-free milk (a calcium boost). Instead of butter, spray the pan with healthy canola or olive-oil cooking spray. Top off the toast with sliced fruit, fruit preserves, or apple butter. To pump up the protein and calcium in this breakfast, make a French toast “sandwich” by cutting the piece of bread in half, then slipping a slice of reduced-fat cheese between the pieces as they cook.
Egg muffin sandwich: Start with a whole-grain English muffin, add one scrambled egg, a slice of turkey ham, and top with your child’s favorite reduced-fat cheese, like Swiss, mozzarella, or cheddar. Bonus: no drive-through lines.
Pancakes: Choose a whole-grain or buckwheat mix. Or if you’re starting from scratch, replace a portion of the regular white flour in the recipe with wheat or oat flour. Add fruit or vegetables (like pureed pumpkin or sweet potato) to the batter. Top the pancakes with a spritz of low-fat whipped cream or fruit preserves and sliced fruit.
Fruity waffles: Start with whole-grain frozen waffles. Spread the waffles with fruit-flavored reduced-fat cream cheese, and then top with fruit slices.
Cereals: Reduce the sugar in your kid’s breakfast bowl by offering up Rice Krispies, Kix, or Cheerios (all low in sugar and fat, and high in fiber) in place of chocolate or fruit-flavored puffs/Krispies/Pebbles…or any cereal, for that matter, with the word “cookie” in its title. If your toddler refuses the cereal of your choice, help her transition to healthy cereal by mixing in a little of her favorite sugary cereal.
Breakfast pastry: Instead of doughnuts or Danish, toast a honey-wheat or berry-flavored bagel, then spread it with reduced-fat cream cheese or low-fat ricotta cheese, and top with fruit preserves.
Healthy Meal Makeovers for Lunch and Dinner
Pizza: Ladle tomato sauce onto a whole-grain bagel or English muffin, and sprinkle with reduced-fat mozzarella cheese. You can doctor the sauce by stirring in some vegetable purees for extra nutrients. Give it some zing by topping with slivered pineapple pieces.
Chicken nuggets: Swap regular chicken nuggets for soy chicken nuggets. Dunk them in low-fat honey mustard sauce and your kid may not even taste the difference. Or make your own version by dusting chicken pieces with whole-wheat bread crumbs, then bake ’em, don’t fry.
Hot dogs: Grill up a reduced-fat all-beef hot dog, turkey hot dog, or soy hot dog. Dress it up with your kid’s favorite fixings and she’ll swear it’s the real deal.
Cheeseburger: Make your own patties using lean (96 to 98 percent fat-free) ground beef or ground turkey. Mix bean puree or shredded beets, zucchini, or carrots into the ground meat to make patties even healthier. Top the patty with reduced-fat cheese. And for the tot who doesn’t cringe at the sight of vegetables, add some lettuce and tomato. Serve with a whole-grain bun and a side of oven-baked fries.
Spaghetti with meatballs: Cook whole-grain spaghetti, made from either whole wheat or other grains like spelt or quinoa. (Make it even more nutritious by using pastas fortified with extra protein and healthy omega-3 fats.) Or ditch the noodles altogether and serve spaghetti squash instead for an extra serving of vegetables. Add pureed squash or carrots to regular marinara sauce. (The tomato sauce hides the flavors nicely, and this is also a great way to use up leftover baby food!) Toss in some meatballs made of lean (96 to 98 percent fat-free) ground beef or turkey. And if you want to pack in even more nutrients, roll shredded vegetables into the meatballs. Your kid will never know they’re there.
Stackables: Use cookie cutters to cut slices of lean deli meats and reduced-fat cheese into fun shapes, then set out on plates with whole-grain, trans-fat-free crackers, and let your toddler create her own stacks to munch.
Healthy Snack Makeovers
Soda: Fill a cup with 100 percent fruit juice, then add some seltzer or club soda for fizz. (Not only does this save your toddler from the sugar in regular soda, but it cuts the sugar in fruit juice too.)
Chips: Set out bowls with baked pita chips or soy crisps rather than tortilla or potato chips.
Cookies: Put out a dish of trans-fat-free animal crackers or graham crackers with a side of vanilla low-fat yogurt or creamy peanut butter for scooping. (Check with your pediatrician to find out when to introduce peanut butter into your toddler’s diet.)
French fries: Toss sliced new potatoes or sweet potatoes (with the skins on) in olive oil and your choice of seasonings (like sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, or parsley), then bake at 475°F for 35 minutes, turning occasionally so that the fries brown on all sides.
Sundae: Make a yogurt parfait instead of an ice-cream sundae using your child’s favorite low-fat frozen yogurt, chunks of fresh or frozen fruit (like strawberries, blueberries, or mangoes), and a dollop of fat-free whipped topping. Colored sprinkles make it festive and fun without adding lots of sugar.
Chocolate: Satisfy a budding chocoholic’s cravings without resorting to candy with some “trail mix” made with granola, dried fruits (like raisins, cranberries, blueberries, apples, or banana chips), mini fat-free pretzels, Cheerios, and a smattering of mini dark chocolate chips. (Dark chocolate contains more antioxidants than milk chocolate and doesn’t boost cholesterol.)
Cake: Serve slices of banana-nut, zucchini, or pumpkin quick breads instead of traditional cake. Or offer fruit-sweetened bran muffins in place of frosted cupcakes.
Milk shake: Blend a smoothie with low-fat yogurt and assorted fresh or frozen fruits. What if your child’s a chocolate lover? Blend low-fat chocolate ice cream or frozen yogurt, reduced-fat milk, and a bit of chocolate powder (which adds some calcium) with a little ice.
