Cooking for Pre-Toddlers / Toddlers?

How fortunate I am to have found this place to pose this question (thanks Ronny S)!

We have also been blessed with twin boys, now aged 21 months. In an effort to a) help out my wife by providing pre-made meals, b) better control what my boys eat and c) expose them to a wider variety of food than what comes out of the supermarket Gerber jar, I've been making a lot of what they eat - and they share off our regular dinner plates as well (I cook about 5 nights a week). I am not a chef but in fact your regular Joe that can bang out a respectable meal with some regularity and throw the occasional dinner party that prompts the ill-begotten "you should open a restaurant!" comment. In short, you're way ahead of me culinarily, if not in most other ways (just came from the ptarmigan thread, wow).

My question is, basically, what reheatable go-to meals did you make that your kids loved, and that you felt good about feeding them?

As backstory, here's what I am doing/have done - I try to mix it up as much as possible. I'm only covering what I actually make - they get some jarred and frozen veg, breads, fruit, etc., as a note to any nutritionists reading this.

1. Breakfast: Every 8 or 9 days I make a cheese strata casserole. It's the standard one you're thinking of - with eggs, shredded bread, milk, mushroom soup, the omnipresent mustard powder, and shredded cheese. I also add in a mix of mild breakfast sausage and some finely diced sauteed red & green pepper and onion for protein and vitamin C. They eat this every day, along with mini pancakes, applesauce, etc., and I believe I might have a revolution on my hands if I stop. Of course, they do not speak and neither can fry an egg so I could be wrong, but neither push it away.

2. Lunches/Dinners: We're fortunate that they eat pretty much everything we give them, although I suspect that may change at some point. But for now, I pre-shred beer can or smoked chicken (a favorite), often fashioning them into quesadillas, and I make many small (4 or 5 oz portions) of pasta - usually a finely ground beef or veal red sauce, easy on the spices, with a macaroni noodle as the pasta. They'll also eat grilled or steamed (en papillote especially) fish and vegetables. I think they think roasted parsnips, carrots, and brussel sprouts are candy. We usually share whatever dinner starch we're having which is also well received.

But I am feeling like I might not be thinking of something else that I could be doing. Knowing what's currently going on from the above, and knowing that everything still has to be in very small pieces (we're not ready for soups yet!), what ideas might you wish to add for us?

As an aside, and I bet some of you Dads might agree with me, it's very ironic yet satisfying to realize that the cooking skills you honed (term used loosely in my case) mostly for "first dates" has now evolved into your children eating - and enjoying - your own food. At this early stage of parenthood for me, I can think of few things that warm my heart more.

Thanks much in advance.

Our 2 year old daughter luckily eats pretty much everything I cook or that we get when we go out to eat. She does not like spicy foods, hot sauces, or hot peppers.

Her breakfasts consist of cheerios, and whole milk most days, and we have her babysitter prepare her scrambeled eggs, bacon, and toast every other day.

Lunches consist of leftovers I have prepared the previous nights, or leftovers from restaurants: This week was deep fried alligator, shrimp, and white rice for one meal. Leftover bratwurst, and beans for a second lunch. The rest of the week will be chicken tacos, leftover spaghetti and maybe some fried chicken.

Soups are a favorite, homemade: cream of broccoli, chicken noodle, gumbo, navy bean, chicken and dumplings, etc.

Ham and scalloped potatoes is another dish she enjoys.

Any pasta dish is also tops on her list, she would eat pasta every day, and every meal if it was her choice, sauce or no sauce it does not matter

White Rice, or Fried rice, another daily favorite.

Any kind of roast(beef, chicken, pork)

Seafood, she loves shrimp, scallops, fish(mahi, orange roughy, swordfish - typically grilled, or baked). Also she is a big fan of crab legs and lobster(steamed of course).

Luckily I cooke for years, so I can make anything, and it is a pleaseure to cook for a daughter willing to eat almost anything.

We try to expose her to alot of different foods. Thai, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, BBQ, Mexican, etc., and she is very good at trying and eating new things. Of course she gets plenty of fruits, and vegetables, but I am focusing more on the main courses she likes.

We just share & let her try everything we are eating, and let her go at it, so far so good.

Good luck, and have fun.

jimswside wrote:Any pasta dish is also tops on her list, she would eat pasta every day, and every meal if it was her choice, sauce or no sauce it does not matter

Great question! My daughter is almost four and we also try to mix it up a bit and not get stuck in a food rut. That said, she loves noodles too. Pasta with marinara, pasta carbonara, chicken noodle soup, pho, lo mein, macaroni and cheese.

Other dishes we have had good luck with are black beans and rice, stir-fried tofu, any kind of sausage (or steak), chicken legs for knawing Henry VIII-style, teriyaki salmon, and soft tacos.

One thing that helped us out of our food rut was subscribing to a CSA-- my daughter tried so many new veggies. I would never have guessed she like kale, for example.

I look forward to hearing other suggestions!
Cheers, Jen

I agree with JenM, trying to stay out of a rut takes effort sometimes.

Luckily the broad list of GNR's allows us to expose our daughter, and ourselves sometimes to things we might not make at home, or have not tried before. From Middle Eastern food @ Semiramis, to Pho, and the other dishes @ Tank Noodle, to Chinese bbq duck, etc @ Sun Wah, to the noodle dishes @ Katy's, and Fabulous Noodles, & the braised ribs and other dishes @ Amanacer Tapatio.

Add those things to our staples of crab, shrimp, prime beef, bbq from my smoker, crawfish boils, alligator, frog legs, etc. and I kind of feel sorry for any distant future boyfriend of hers wallet.

Sparky's favorite food remains inarizushi (or yu bu cho bap, depending on where it comes from) and sometimes maki rolls with veg inside (california, cucumber, etc.) Another noodly type thing he loves are Asian dumplings, especially soup dumplings (we get them frozen from H-Mart)

When my daughter were that age we had a lot of variants on noodle dishes. Marinara, carbonara, and then thanks to my Hungarian in laws we tried things like Turos Teszta (noodles, sour cream, farmers cheese), there are variants on that where you add bacon and cook cabbage as well both my kids like. They also liked a polenta-ish dish that is called puliszka, which is basically a baked polenta with some type of tangy cheese.

When my oldest hit 4 she took a turn towards the picky, but luckily my youngest is still up for mostly anything that we can give her.

My son loved simple things like pizza, pasta, and his favorite, macaroni and cheese that was homemade. Grilled cheese sandwiches. Chicken noodle soups.

My son turned 22 today. He still likes those things but lives a block away from Tank Noodle, and he eats there and at Hopleaf, etc. He works at Homemade pizza on Armitage --still eats pizza everyday almost!!! But, his palate has changed!! He now eats stuff like mussels and duck!!! He also likes Blue Moon beer with orange slices.

Enjoy the toddlers while you can!!!

I try to include my daughter, now almost 3 in all my cooking, but a hot "smoker", and pots and pans dont always lend the best environment. She has a book of Halowwen recipes, and I decided to tackle one as a practice run. I suck @ baking and do my best. The most imprtant thing is spending time with my daughter and doing something together. Here is our attempt @ a Frankenstein cake.







will it win any awards...? nope, but it was a quick reminder for me of what life is really about. thanks for looking.

Jim, congratulations, that is a great cake-- I love your daughter's look with the giant spoon, and she looks so proud with the cake. You have really hit on something, which is that cooking with kids is just as important as cooking for kids. Indeed, it might be worthy of its own topic. My daughter, now almost 5, loves helping me shape loaves of bread-- something to consider for the future. She likes to "karate chop" the baguettes as I am folding them into shape. Shaping pizza dough and scattering toppings is also a big hit.

Alas, on the cooking for kids, my daughters latest favorite is pasta puttanesca (tomato, caper and olive sauce). She also loves rice and black beans and (of course) pizza. We are in a major rice and noodle rut, though-- she won't eat potatoes, alas. Luckily I am on a major Vietnamese food kick. We even dug potatoes while visiting my parents and she wouldn't eat them.

Jen

thanks jen, it was a great experience.

the cooking/eating adventures you mention are something I can look forward to. Luckily Shay eats alot of pasta, rice, and potatoes, its the protein elements(other than chicken) we have to work on.

My 5 (almost) 6 year-old son is a picky eater and his latest "invention" is a potato burrito with bacon. Picture a microwaved potato thru a box grater (skin and all), some leftover bacon crumbled rolled into a flamed-toasted flour tortilla. He also likes a bit of flake sea salt (no kosher for him...)

My kids liked the following when they were toddlers:

refried bean burrito with guacamole and cheddar cheese
omelette with ham, onion, mushroom, cheddar cheese, and green pepper
mac + cheese with crumbled sausage and tomato
grilled cheese sandwich with tomato
grilled or baked salmon (marinated in brown sugar, maple syrup, dijon mustard, and soy sauce)
baked catfish coated in cornmeal
sweet corn soup with ham, egg and potato
banana pancake
oatmeal (with banana + maple syrup or
apple + brown sugar)
fried rice (very messy to feed since the rice got all over and was sticky)
bowtie pasta + italian meatball
lasagna (spinach or meat)

It is good to expose kids to all sorts of food. I think that it helps to encourage them to try different types of food later in life.

That cake looks great!

I have a 3 year old daughter who loves to help out in the kitchen, but it has made me aware of how much of my cooking involves high heat and sharp knives. This summer she's helped out at all our BBQs by making corn bread, it's a nice safe thing for her to make. Recently she's gotten really into all types of Japanese Noodles, I think it might be due to all the Miyazaki films she's been watching.

Attrill wrote:That cake looks great!

I have a 3 year old daughter who loves to help out in the kitchen, but it has made me aware of how much of my cooking involves high heat and sharp knives. This summer she's helped out at all our BBQs by making corn bread, it's a nice safe thing for her to make. Recently she's gotten really into all types of Japanese Noodles, I think it might be due to all the Miyazaki films she's been watching.

thanks,

after my daughter burnt her hand on my weber kettle at the begining of the year(her hand is ok now), I have tried to keep her away from my toys on the deck.

Any pasta, and any rice dish are a winner with her, and anything she can put ketchup on. She shared a few cab legs with me Friday night as well. Also cold cuts like mortadella, capicola, and salami without bread are an easy sell.

Delightful thread-

Home food prep is NOT dying out, no matter what Michael Ruhlman thinks, and many kids are getting to know all kinds of good food. I've told how our youngest - now approaching middle age - experienced his very first solid food by gumming down an entire chicken enchilada at a nice little mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant in Santa Barbara.

Almost all the grandchildren - in or approaching their teens - have been eager to try most any kind of food, and their parents are all devoted cooks - foodies, even - and family meals are the rule in their households. My wife mentored them very well and, now that i'm retired, I like to play in the kitchen , too.

A high point was when a granddaughter was offered the restaurant meal of her choice for a sixth birthday treat, and specified a local Korean place for Bo Bim Bop.

What you're doing is very well worth doing!

My respects!

Two things:
1. I bought Abby Dodge's "Around the World" kiddie cookbook and it has been very successful for us-- my daughter picks a recipe (cod with buttered breadcrumbs most recently) and we cook together. She's not ready for high heat, having recently gotten a little burn attempting to flip pancakes. However, tasks like pressing on breadcrumbs, or assembling pizza dough, are right up her alley. I recommend this cookbook-- the recipes have turned out very well for us.

2. Miniatures! My daughter is also enamored of all things small and cute. We scored an Easy-bake oven at a yard sale and used the pans to bake off some batter from the Cook's Illustrated "The Best Recipe" yellow cake. Here is the cutest birthday cake ever:

On a salad plate, with penny for scale:


My husband's slice of cake, dwarfed by his fork. He only wanted a "little taste", so he got it.


We used the "Fudgy Frosting" from Abby Dodge's "The Weekend Baker". This cake was loads of fun to make and to eat.

Cheers, Jen

jen,

thanks for the tip on the cookbook, Ill have to get a copy.

I borrowed the Around The World Cookbook from the library. It looks really good. I plan to buy a copy.

beyond alot of cookie making, batter stirring, and helping me mix anything, and everything including my rub, my daughter is now helping me apply the rub to my ribs. Its great to have a helper

jimswside wrote:... Its great to have a helper...

Great ribs and adorable helper! Yesterday my daughter helped me salt and tamp down my cabbage for sauerkraut-- it is a lot of fun and she is actually helping, rather than "helping".

Jen

JenM wrote:

jimswside wrote:... Its great to have a helper...

Great ribs and adorable helper! Yesterday my daughter helped me salt and tamp down my cabbage for sauerkraut-- it is a lot of fun and she is actually helping, rather than "helping".

Jen

thanks, it is great, and a good tool for child development. Kids that age are seeking to help, and learn.

We are about to start a few batches of cookies, and for teh cili rellenos I am doing later I will find afew steps she can ehlp with.

my daughter helped with a cake she has been asking for. She assisted with the mixing of the batter, the coloring of the frosting, and adding the final touches. i am not abaker, but I did my best







thanks for looking.

happy halloween.

jim-

You and your daughter did a fantastic job!

-Mary

thanks Mary,

she had been showing me pictures of tha cake for over a month now, and it was fun to give it a try.

jimswside wrote:my daughter helped with a cake she has been asking for.

Cake looks tasty and your daughter could not look happier, which is what counts.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Cake looks tasty and your daughter could not look happier, which is what counts.

Enjoy,
Gary

thanks gary, not having much of a sweet tooth, I didnt even try any, I heard it was good though.

had my assistant pit master helping out today, she helped with the mustard slather, and the rub application on the ribs.

Are these the rib ya got from Brookhaven for $3.00 a lbs?
Looks great even B 4 cookin'
Do you cook or do much beef ribs?

Cbot wrote:Are these the rib ya got from Brookhaven for $3.00 a lbs?
Looks great even B 4 cookin'
Do you cook or do much beef ribs?

yes, $2.99/lb, fresh, un-enhaned, outside of small meatmarkets and pork processing houses they have probably the best pork and beef anywhere I have found for the price.

I have done beef ribs a couple times, but prefer pork.

these have probably another hour to go.

good to have help, and a bbq apprentice:

glazin the ribs while they rested: