Baby and Toddler Friendly Recipes

One of the challenges you'll face as a new mom is what to feed your child once she grows past breast milk or formula and simple purees. Below is a list of a variety of different meals and snacks that are easy to make for Mom that baby will love! 

Baby – 2 years:

Fruits – avoid those that are tough to chew as they till pose a choking hazard. Oft fruits like oranges, peaches, watermelon, kiwi, pineapple and tomatoes. Harder fruits like apples or pears can be diced and mashed.

Vegetables – raw veggies need to be steamed until tender before serving. Steaming helps maintain the high nutritional content while making them easier to chew. Carrots, peas, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower are all great options. Pay attention closely to the first few times serving veggies to see how your child can handle chewing them.

Protein – follow your doctor’s orders on when it’s appropriate to add cow’s milk based dairy products. Until you are sure – soy options are very nutritious. Other healthy protein sources include boneless fish, finely diced meats, soft cooked beans and eggs.

Grains – expand your horizons beyond the rice cereal you have been feeding your baby. Now you can entertain options like whole wheat pastas (cut up), whole wheat bread wedges, wheat crackers and other whole grain cereals.

Fats – introduce healthy fats to your child like those found in fish, avocado or oils that you cook with

Follow the 3 day rule: allow at least 3 days before introducing a new food into your child’s diet to rule out a possible allergy.

Breakfast

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal

Oats, unsweetened applesauce, small apple chunks (optional) and cinnamon

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Oats, almond milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, pumpkin spice

Fruity Parfait

Plain yogurt, blueberries and mandarin oranges. Drizzle honey and sprinkle cheerios on top.

Sunrise Cottage Cheese Cup

Cottage cheese with diced peaches and or pineapple chunks.

Steamy Creamy Eggs

Scrambled egg yolks/whole eggs with avocado and diced tomato

Lazy Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 or 2 ripe bananas (not overly ripe or mushy bananas)

Pancake Batter (try whole wheat varieties)

Directions:

Slice bananas into coins or diagonally
Coat with pancake batter
Lightly fry in pan until golden brown
Serve as Baby Finger Foods for snack or at breakfast time

Mini Bagel Bites

1 whole wheat mini bagel, lightly toasted or untoasted

Add thin layer of cream cheese and top with natural fruit preserves.

Snacks

Banana bites

Two slices of banana

Peanut butter (and jelly if desired)

Put in freezer

Fun-Size Sandwich Shapes

Make sandwich of choice and use cookie cutters to make fun appealing shapes

PBJ sushi

One piece of whole wheat/grain bread, crusts removed. Spread all natural peanut butter on one half and jelly on the other. Roll up and cut into equal parts

Peanut Butter Crunchies

Mix all natural peanut butter and cornflakes/rice crispies in a bowl. Shape into small balls and roll in crushed graham crackers

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

2 medium to large sweet potatoes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F)
Scrub sweet potatoes, clean and/or peel them. Cut the sweet potatoes into sizes that will suit your needs or, cut into strips that you may then cut down after baking.

In a large bowl, add about 2 Tbsp of olive oil.
To this you may add cinnamon, ginger, a pinch of brown sugar, etc

Toss the cut up sweet potatoes into the bowl and stir so that the potatoes are coated in oil mixture.

Dump mixture onto a baking. Bake for approx 30-45minutes or until tender.

When removed with oven, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.

Tofu Tid-Bits
Ingredients:

1 package firm tofu
1/4 cup wheat flour (more or less)
2 egg yolks
1 cup fine dry wheat bread or wheat cracker crumbs (mixtures are fun)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 dash or a few grinds of pepperDirections:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cut tofu into your favorite configuration (my toddlers like fingers)
Spread flour on a small plate or flat dish.
Beat egg yolks in a shallow dish.
Mix remaining ingredients in shallow dish.
Coat each piece of tofu in the flour to cover, then into the egg, then crumbs, and then to the rack.
Chilling will help to set the coating, but you can just bake right away.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes until crisp.

Quinoa Nuggets

1 cup cooked quinoa (we used a mixture of red and regular quinoa, but either will do!)
2 small eggs, beaten
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
pinch freshly ground black pepper
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and allow to rest for 5 minutes, to give the bread crumbs a chance to soak up the liquid.
The mixture will still be very damp and loose – this is what you want. Do not allow it to be too dry, as the mixture dries out significantly whilst cooking. With your hands, form into around 16 loose patties.
Heat a little olive oil in a non stick pan over a medium heat.
Add the patties to the pan. Press down on them lightly.
Cook for around 5 minutes until golden, then carefully turn and repeat on the other side.

Baby Friendly Humus

1 can chickpeas (or the equivalent amount of chickpeas you have cooked yourself)
2 tbsp tahini (omit this altogether if you prefer)
2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 to 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

If these flavors are too strong for your baby, lighten up on the garlic and lemon and omit the tahini. As the age you can incorporate more flavors.

Simply drain the chickpeas (if using canned) and combine all the ingredients in a food processor.

Blend on a low speed for several minutes until the hummus is completely smooth. If the mixture seems very thick, add extra olive oil or water to loosen it up. The resulting hummus should be nice and creamy.

Hummus is best served as soon as it's prepared, but you can store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Try serving with whole wheat pita wedges!

Kelly O'Hara, R.D.