Step AWAY from the Goldfish

6

EXHIBITION

Back away from the goldfish crackers mama…put them down slowly and no one gets hurt!!

There are better options…but what they heck are they? Check out some Toddler Tips for Clean Eating. We’re not looking for perfection, but improvement. Plus, when you eat all the leftovers or extras thrown at you- you’ll be eating clean too 😉

Toddler Clean Eats Cheat Sheet

Black beans (any type of beans!) – rinsed and ready to rock. Organic canned is easiest – but you can also cook a pound of dry beans in the crockpot pretty easy!  I think Cooper is built on beans. 

Baked organic chicken – cut into chunks/shredded. Make ahead and store. Good for you, good for baby!

Ground organic turkey/beef/chicken – easy to make a pound of it and use as needed.

Hard boiled eggs – great make ahead item for the week. Bake a dozen or two for you and your kids in the oven on 325 for 22-30 minutes. No boiling required. See how here.

Wild-caught sardines – seriously. Super easy, kinda stinky – but amazing omega-s and calcium for toddlers. Also, very inexpensive.

IMG_0281Lightly steamed carrots – a favorite in our home. 

Lightly steamed sweet potatoes or regular potatoes even.

Any Steamed Veggies – we find brussel sprouts and cauliflower go over VERY well!

Popcorn – air pop your own, or sometimes we get the Skinny Pop (non-GMO corn, oil, and a little salt) for on-the-go. Very easy for when we are out.

Whole wheat penne pasta – cooked and ready to go. We get the organic kind, because its like 10 cents more, not making a huge dent in our budget 🙂 If you prefer, do the quinoa or black bean pasta – YUM.

Cut up red bell peppers – crunchy and sweet.

Olives – if your kid will eat them! Good fats for baby brain!

Avocados – cut into chunks.       Check out my sexy avocado stash ladies:

Avocado Stash

Apples – easy, portable, sweet, crunchy. Buy organic apples – they are always available and the same price!

Raisins – sweet treats, but lots of sugar so watch portions. These are SO convenient to throw a box in your bag ready for that cranky toddler while you finish trying clothes on at Target.

Summer Sweet Corn – what kid with chompers doesn’t love crunching into corn on the cob? Cheap, easy, fun. Try roasting corn in the oven – this is my favorite way of doing it!

Oatmeal – PLAIN please, pretty please. They DO NOT need brown sugar or maple syrup added. Seriously, mama…don’t set them up for failure with the whole added sugar thing already. IMG_0639

Hearty, Organic Whole Seed Bread – When doing the bread thing, go for organic and go for something hearty with lots of seeds and nuts to slow digestion. We don’t do it a lot, but when it’s on sale – we buy this (and P.S. – found it at Kroger.)

Spinach   ok, so not too many toddlers I know will eat a spinach salad. SO, what’s a green mama to do?? BLEND IT!  I modify my own green smoothie recipe to be a little easier on baby. I decrease or omit the pineapple (too much acid for little tummies) and up the fat content for happy baby brain and hormone development. Make several smoothie packs to freeze. That way, you can pop one out of the freezer, add water and blend.  Like this:IMG_0111

Toddler Green Smoothie:

  • 1 handful spinach
  • 1 handful kale
  • 1/3-1/2 green apple – with skin (keep the nutrients!)
  • 1/4 cup + coconut milk (the thick canned kind, not the thinned out drinking kind)  OR 1/4 avocado. Sometimes both!
  • 1 tsp chia seeds, 1 splash or squeeze of lemon juice
  • Sometimes if I have leftover banana- throw that in, just don’t overdo it.
  • 8-12 oz water, depending on how thick you prefer.

Blend in high-speed blender until very smooth!

IMG_0567

He thinks he is a hot shot sipping his green smoothie like mama bear. Rock on with your bad self little dude! Rock on!

 

Give us your toddler eats suggestions, quick tips, and favorites below:

 

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Kate
I’m the most extroverted introvert you’ll ever met. I’m happiest curled up reading and not talking to anyone. But, find immense reward in taking BOLD chances. My background is as a physician - I am a hardcore science nerd, spending my former years attending medical school and being all things “doctor.” Then I traveled the country with my husband being an official baseball wife - which is hilariously not glamorous. Once back in Dayton, spent a few years as a personal trainer working with clients suffering from cancer, chronic illness, and the “I can’t do it syndrome.” In 2014 I co-founded Kate’s Plate, which is a healthy cooking service here to transform lives and the way we do family dinner. Also, I am the ‘CEO’ of Beyond The Game Sports Training, my hubby’s sports facility, and teach healthy cooking classes at Dororthy Lane Market’s Culinary Center. I very much struggle to switch modes from balls-out entrepreneur to gentle mommy mode on the daily. My son, Cooper, is 1 and a spitting image of his father, Jeff. He is obsessed with his grandpa and has the darndest little smirk. Jeff and I are Centerville natives, and came back here to plant our roots and give back to the place who made us who we are today. Random facts: I hate to shop, I eat a lot of butter, I'm a hippie at heart, I’ve taken flying lessons, I don’t watch TV or do Pinterest (gasp!!) Favorite things about being motherhood: Nursing (calorie burning bonus, hello!), watching daddy make the kid laugh so hard he can barely breathe, and the way the moments of parenting bring me back down to earth, back to the here and now

6 COMMENTS

  1. Love Love Love this list. I get caught up & brain dead after a long day/week/month at work and I just cannot think of these things on the fly. I am going to print this list and keep it in my wallet. Curiously – how do you feel about tofu?

  2. The soy debate! My policy on soy is, if it’s in its natural or fermented form – that’s cool with us. We avoid the soybean oil and the soy in processed junkeroo. We do some tofu, definitely organic. It’s easy – cheap and can be cut to any size. I’d maybe prefer to give him some shelled organic edamame to munch on. But for reals, I think organic tofu is better him than processed cracker/nutrigrain/sugar crapola bars of any kind. I will share a recipe for tofu stuffed shells that my husband freaking loves!

  3. http://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/dairy-free-spinach-stuffed-shells/

    This is one of my favorite recipes when we want to indulge in some pasta – but we avoid most dairy so this makes delectable, hearty, dairy-free shells with loads of good protein (I usually add lots of chopped spinach – get the water out – and cooked portobellos or onions to up the veggie content). Hubby had no clue it wasn’t ricotta cheese until I told him. *FYI, don’t ever buy the ‘tofutti’ anything – bleeeech.

  4. Love! I think these tips are great. Here is my dilemma : what to bring to baseball when it is our turn for snack? My guy will eat all if the healthy stuff, but it doesn’t go over well with the team…it kills me a little to buy bags ot cookies/ chips.

    • Gah, that’s a tough one. Our little guy isn’t there yet – but my husband owns a sports facility and talks to parents about this all the time. The mama who brings the orange slices is looked at like they have 3 heads. You either hold your standards high and keep bringing the dang oranges. “Be the change you wish to see in the world”, right? You don’t have to be on your high horse with it, but I feel strongly that one person can be a leader in changes like that.

      What about the Skinny Pop Popcorn mini-bags, grapes, and cheese sticks? Not great, but not double chocolate mini-muffins and hugs tumblers!

      Let me know if you have some things that go over well..I’ll need a few tricks with sports on the horizon for us!

Comments are closed.