One of the minor frustrations of parenthood is finding foods your child will eat, particularly if that child is a fickle toddler. I’m pretty lucky that Caleb is willing to eat almost anything, but he does get bored with the same meals over and over again. So, I find it fascinating to see what other moms (and dads) feed their children to balance taste, variety…and maybe nutrition too. (Elise has all sorts of great ideas!). Here’s a glimpse at a typical day of eating for my son at age 2 years + 1 month.

breakfast:

2% milk + clementines

snack (at Costco):

shot of carrot juice + trail mix

lunch:

homemade meatballs + apple slices

snack:

low-carb peanut butter bread + 2% milk

dinner (at my parents’ house):

ham, brussels sprouts, 2% milk, + (unpictured) macaroni and cheese

dessert:

peanut butter cookie (made with Truvia baking blend!)

A few notes:

• Caleb loves citrus these days. These clementines are a current favorite, but he’s also been known to suck on lemon wedges from my water glass too. (I know, not the best for his teeth…but good vitamin C!)
• Usually, juice is one of the things that I’m pretty strict about–we don’t keep any in our household, and we ask for water or milk when we’re outside our home. But, when we saw the free sample table at Costco with cups of this carrot juice, Caleb pretty much demanded a taste. So, I acquiesced–at least he got a dose of beta-carotene along with the sugar.
• In my (limited) experience, meatballs are great to have on hand with a toddler. They cook quickly and are easy for little hands to eat…with or without a fork.
• This peanut butter “bread” is one of the strangest recipes I’ve ever tried–it’s essentially just peanut butter, eggs, and some leavening. I’m not completely sold on it, but Caleb seems to like it just fine.