I found it very overwhelming when Emerson started eating three meals a day, and I still find myself staring into the fridge when she rejects the first meal I’ve made for her. Emerson has always been a good eater, but she doesn’t really like meat. Now that she eats everything we eat for dinner, I’ve been struggling to find recipes that she likes. Many of my go-to recipes with chicken, ground turkey, or beef get thrown on the floor, so here are a couple that I’ve been relying on lately:
- Crockpot Mexican casserole with ground chicken
Easy and flavorful. I usually leave off the cheese, go light on the chili powder, and serve with Greek yogurt
- Banza macaroni with red sauce or hummus + frozen veggie mixed in
I love that this pasta has so much protein and the variations are endless. I usually stir in chopped, frozen spinach and a little butter to make it more flavorful/creamy if I’m using red sauce.
Emerson devours this one and I love that it’s packed with veggies (I make it with brown rice noodles). Since this is one of Matt’s favorites, I can often talk him in to putting it together over the weekend and I just have to pop it in the oven!
I don’t cube and pre-cook the chicken – that way, it can be shredded and cut into pieces more easily than if it were cooked as cubes.
- BBQ salmon + Quinoa
I just pan sear the salmon for about 4 minutes per side and put a very thin layer of Stubb’s sauce on top (after the burner is off so it doesn’t splatter). I’m lucky in that Em oves most veggies and usually roast sweet potatoes or broccoli to go with this. Also, I add hummus to her quinoa because it holds it together and keeps it from getting everywhere:)
Lastly, this isn’t a dinner recipe, but these yogurt chips have been helping us get through weeks of molar fussiness. I think I read about these in a Parents magazine. It’s just dollops of plain yogurt (I mixed in carrot puree from a pouch) dropped onto a parchment-covered sheet pan and put in the freezer. Emerson sometimes spits them out because they are so hard right out of the freezer – I just remind her to give it another try so it will melt a bit, and then she loves biting into them.
Please share your secrets!
amanda
March 21, 2018 at 2:44 pmGREEN SMOOTHIES! I got my daughter used to green juice and smoothies at a really young age so now at age 7 she will drink them and her other friends and cousin think its gross. It is the only way she will get avocado into her diet and berries. She won’t eat most berries and won’t go near avocado. My daughter won’t eat meat except chicken nuggets and the one random time she devoured a cheeseburger. I don’t push it but always offer. She recently started eating pepperoni on pizza and a couple bites of hot dog.
Laura
March 21, 2018 at 10:17 pmThanks! Emerson loves spinach smoothies…it’s more me who hates clean the blender after we make them 🙂
Kate
March 21, 2018 at 10:08 pmLOVE this post! My 19 month old daughter is a good eater but recently started not wanting to eat meat. Our doc said at this age it’s not uncommon as it is usually a texture thing and most of their protein is coming from dairy anyway. Always looking for new ideas to mix things up – trying the yogurt chip idea now! Thank you!
Laura
March 21, 2018 at 10:16 pmI figured it might be texture. Be a little bit careful with the yogurt chip size – they obviously melt, but Emerson had one slide to the back of her throat today and I think it scared her and she coughed it up
Sarah
March 22, 2018 at 11:26 pmI add red lentils to pasta or rice at the end of cooking and they hide right in. If I’m turning it into mac n cheese (a favorite) I add Trader Joes frozen cauliflower mash cubes and yogurt and some nutritional yeast to whatever cheese i’m adding and it makes a really creamy flavorful sauce.
Laura
March 25, 2018 at 9:16 pmI’ll have to try those cubes!!