I am seriously in need of some creative ideas to feed my 1-year-old. So many people have just told me to "feed him what I eat"...but in my current situation (my husband is deployed and we don't have any other children), I'm not likely to cook a full meal. So I need healthy ideas for things to cook for him that will not require too much time/planning/preparation on my part, but still offer him a wide variety of foods/textures. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!
I have a book called "The Natural Babyfood Cookbook" that will give you tons of ideas and tricks (like making extra and freezing into portions). Let me know and I can send it to you :]
I cook like I am making enough dinner for 5 or 6 people for my son and I and I freeze the rest in small portions so one big meal makes 3 dinners. The hardest part is getting started. But once you do you can cook one big meal a week and the rest of the week you are just heating up meals that you cooked previously. The best thin is that you know the ingredients and not to mention the quality of the food. I make meatloaf cup cakes they cook faster and super easy to reheat, with is getting colder you can make soups stews beans (my son loves 15 bean soup)and honestly I think spaghetti is much better the 2nd and 3rd time!!!!! I really don’t know that this helps but I have found being a single mom of a 3 year old this makes my life a lot easier.
My kids love chicken nuggets. Tyson's all white meat chicken nuggets are great. They have no trans-fat and they taste great (my husband and I eat them too!) If you need them quick you can microwave them in about a minute or they only take 12 minutes in the oven. They get nice a crispy in the oven!
In the frozen meal section there are skillet meals by bertolli, stouffer's and a lot of other new ones. We like the bertolli ones. They have a wide variety of flavors and different meats and veggies in each one. They take about 10 minutes in the skillet. They also have oven bake meals. Each one is meant to feed 2 people.
Get your self a George Foreman Grill. We cook frozen chicken breasts or tenderloins on ours all the time. The tenderloins take 10-12 minutes from frozen to fully cooked. You can cook as much as you need and have a little salad or other veggies with it.
Good Luck!
I guess I don't understand the creative part. I do make things for my kids but I keep it simple. Noodles or bread or rice(carbs), one or two vegetables (sometimes cooked and sometimes raw. I am very lucky to have kids who love veggies. You'll probably have to steam them in the microwave for a 1 yr old), and then a protein (meats, cheeses, or beans) and then fruit for dessert. Simplicity has worked better for me than making a meal on nights my husband doesn't eat with us. The only drawback to this is that casseroles do not go over with my kids. lol. Too much stuff mixed together. My kids have never been canned soup eaters. They just don't like the way it tastes. So no spaghetti-o's or what ever shape is the latest fad. Cheesy tortillas (quesadillas) are a big hit with or without shredded chicken. I make homemade meatballs and freeze them as my kids didn't like the frozen store bought kind. We still have hotdogs, corndogs, lunchmeats, & popcorn chicken(frozen) and pizza but I try to have a healthy side to balance it out a bit. Good Luck and thanks to you and your husband for his military service.
