Toddler Meal Ideas & Favorite Feeding Products

September 30, 2020

I’m sharing some of my favorite feeding products for toddlers, meal ideas and the kid’s feeding schedule!

Some of my most frequently asked questions and requests come from moms asking for advice about what I feed my kids and what feeding tools we love the most! Since having my first child, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t as far as feeding musts, and what kinds of foods are best for each stage they’re in!  I have always found the best and most useful feeding products from the newborn stage all way to the older toddler stage at buybuyBABY. They have such a great array of products and I love how I can easily get new items I need for the kiddos online or with the convenient curb-side pickup. You can learn more about buybuyBABY’s store safety plan and what the curb-side service is all about!!

MOST USED FEEDING ITEMS:

These items we have found the most used & useful to our everyday feeding routine! We love these items for both young babies up to the preschool years: 

Bumpkin silicone suction bowl

Bumpkin silicon Chewtensils

Avanchy bamboo plate & spoon

Ezpz tiny spoon & placemat 

Munchkin miracle 360 cups 

Bella Tunno bibs 

OXO Tot Straw cups with Handles (these are my favorite for milk)

LouLou Lollipop Silicone BibSkip-Hop 2 piece easy serve travel bowl & spoon set

MEAL IDEAS:

Breakfast: 

For breakfast, I consider this such an important meal to start our day out right and healthful. I try to always include protein and fruit! 

Here is a list of some Breakfast meal ideas:

1. Scrambled Eggs w/ cheese 
2. Hash Brown patties (love the one’s from Trader Joe’s!) 
3. Blueberry Waffles with grass fed butter (also from Trader Joe’s) 
4. Kodiak Pancakes (add eggs & milk for added protein) we add bananas or blueberries for variety and for a treat we add Lily’s no sugar added chocolate chip baking chips! 
5. Peanut Butter toast w/ grass fed butter
6. Oatmeal 
7. Avocado toast 
8. Yogurt w/ chia seeds (try to find less sugar options if possible) 
9. Fruit

Lunch: 

Here is a list of some Lunch meal ideas that we normally rotate through: 

1. Macaroni & Cheese (add peas)
2. Turkey or Chicken meatballs
3. Sliced turkey breast & cheese 
4. Avocado pieces w/ turkey 
5. Chicken pieces 
6. Fish sticks 
7. String cheese 
8. Grilled cheese 
9. Chicken panini 
10. Peanut butter & jelly 
11. Pasta salad 
12. Vegetables (we lightly sauteed in butter) 
13. Fruit

Dinner: 

This is the meal of the day that we try to get the kids to eat what we’re eating to simplify our lives and time! Sometimes they will get picky and need something they like more, but we always try to offer what we’re eating first. 

1. Pasta w/ meatballs 
2. Steak w/ mashed potatoes and peas 
3. Chicken w/ couscous or rice 
4. Shredded beef quesadillas w/ spanish rice & sauteed peppers
5. Salmon with rice and broccoli 
6. Deconstructed tacos (chicken, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, shredded cheese) 
7. Pesto pasta w/ peas
8. Slider burgers w/ sweet potato bites or fries
9. Chili 
10. Grilled cheese with soup 
11. Shredded beef w/ rice and beans
12. Chicken taquitos (we love the Trader Joe’s ones)
13. Gnocchi (again a TJ’s favorite) 

Snacks:

We are normally out of the house when snack time comes around, but we still use these re(zip) reusable snack bags, this Skip-Hop travel feeding set and Munchkin snack catcher to bring them with us! For picnics or eating on the go in the car we pack their lunch in this Bentgo kids portable lunch box & at restaurants we love using these disposable place mats!

On the go snack ideas: 

• Happy Tot Super Start Multi-Grain Puffs
• Sprout Organic Cheesy Spinach Crinklez
• Beech-Nut Fruit Oat bars
• Happy Baby Veggie Pouch

At home snack ideas:

• String cheese
• Apple slices w/ peanut butter (super thin for Dane)
• Yogurt w/ berries 
• Banana
• Puffs w/ peanut butter
• Crackers w/ slices of cheese

FEEDING ROUTINE: 

Moving into a more established feeding routine is what we like to stick to now that Dane is older. It doesn’t have to be exactly at these times, but keeping it pretty close & consistent I notice adds to less meltdowns and more predictability in our day! It looks a little something like this (for both Kennedy & Dane): 

MORNING:

8am Breakfast

10am Snack

AFTERNOON:

12pm Lunch

3pm Snack 

EVENING:
5:30 – 6:30pm Dinner 

Bedtime Snack:

Sometimes I will give them a quick bedtime snack. This looks like a banana, banana with peanut butter, crackers with peanut butter or string cheese. Something extra before bed if we ate an early dinner! 

* always supervise your child eating at all times 

*This post is sponsored by buybuyBABY! All opinons are my own!