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Food & Toddlers.
Just the sight of those
two words together in one sentence can strike fear into the hearts of many!
I think most of us will,
at some point or other, have been on the receiving end of a food-related
toddler melt down - whether your child is a fussy eater or not, they all tend
to go through picky phases where they suddenly decide that the foods they loved
just last week are now disgusting and won't be tolerated.
In our house for example,
we have a 3 year old who has absolutely adored tomato ketchup for the past 2
years and would eat it on its own if I'd let him - but one day, all of a
sudden, he decided that he HATES tomato ketchup and point blank refused to eat
any of his dinner because it had simply shared a plate with the offending
ketchup!
Of course ketchup refusal
isn't the end of the world, in fact it's probably a good thing that he's gone
off it as it isn't the healthiest thing but the fact still remains - toddlers
and food can be troublesome and it can be difficult to keep up with their ever
changing whims and fancies.
As well as ensuring that
they're simply eating enough to fill them up (something I find hard enough it
itself as my children seem to flit from eating enough to satisfy a football
team one day and picking like a bird the next day!), you also have the worry of
ensuring that they're eating a healthy balanced diet and it can be tricky to
know how to do that - particularly if your child isn't a lover of fruit and
veggies in their natural form which many children aren't.
A 2011 study showed that
the estimated population prevalence of dietary inadequacy for children aged
18–35 months was 91% for vitamin D and 31% for iron while their energy
(calorie) and protein intakes were higher than required.
Obviously as parents to 2
toddlers, this is worrying and I have to admit that I don't offer my children
any vitamin D supplements at present as I hadn't been able to find any that I
felt suitable for my children at their young ages.
However, I have recently
learned that fortified milks are a great way of helping to ensure that your
children are getting their recommended intakes of nutrients and that just two
200ml servings of SMAPRO Toddler Milk provide 100% of a child’s
vitamin D, as well as containing calcium, vitamins A and C, Iodine to help
support normal growth and Iron to help support normal cognitive
development.
Since discovering this
I've begun to add it into my middle child Noah's diet and have been looking at
the foods I offer to him, to ensure that he's getting the nutrients he needs.
Noah is now 13 months old
and he's started to eat the same evening meals as us pretty much all of time
which makes dinner times much simpler - but does mean that we need to be
mindful that what we're eating is healthy and appropriate for him.
We tend to eat a lot of
pasta with hidden veggie sauces, roast dinners, and salmon dishes as he and his
brother both love all of these meals.
But where I really
struggle is lunch time.
I don't like to give Noah
much bread at the moment as I worry that he doesn't have enough teeth yet to
properly chew it and I've always been nervous about choking hazards, so I like
to try find lunch ideas other than the standard sandwiches and toast-based
offerings.
Over the past week or so
I've experimented with a few different lunch ideas, here are some of Noah's
stand out favourites:
*Veggie
Frittata Strips
This frittata is super
simple to prepare, and makes the perfect finger food for little hands - you can
disguise pretty much any veg you fancy in there - i've made it with aubergine,
courgette and roasted peppers before and all have gone down a treat - but
broccoli is a firm favourite as broccoli is such a great source of so many
nutrients including vitamin K, C, E and B6 as well as being a good source of
fibre.
To make, simply chop the
broccoli to small pieces (of a size that your child could comfortably handle)
and fry in a little olive oil to soften (or boil if preferred, but I think it
works better if the broccoli isn't too wet/soggy.)
Transfer to an oven proof
dish.
In a bowl, crack 3 eggs,
add 1 tbsp of plain flour and mix together - add a couple of handfuls of grated
cheese and mix again. Pour over the broccoli and top with a little more grated
cheese. Bake at 180 for around 15 minutes until golden. Allow to cool before
cutting into fingers.
*Banana
Pancake Bites & Sunshine Smoothie
Bananas are a favourite
with most kids and mine are no exception - they can't get enough! As the
pancake bites feel like a bit of a "treat", I like to serve them
alongside a fortified berry smoothie to make sure they're getting any many
nutrients into them as possible at lunchtime!
First step is to prepare
the pancake batter - Put 100G of plain flour into a mixing bowl and make a well
in the centre, crack two eggs into the well then pour in 300ml of milk and a
tbsp of sunflower oil. Mix well until a smooth batter is formed.
Slice a banana with the
knife at a slight angle to allow for longer slices which will be easier for
your toddler to grip - heat a little oil in a frying pan, dip each slice of
banana into the pancake batter and coat well and add to the frying pan. Fry on
each side until golden and serve! Yummy!
For the smoothie, add 1
ripe banana, 4 or 5 strawberries, 200ml SMA PRO Toddler Milk and 1 tbsp of
honey to a blender, whizz and serve!
To take a look at some of
Noah's other favourite meals lately, and how to prepare them in video form -
take a look below!
IMORTANT NOTICE: SMA®
PRO Toddler Milk is suitable for young children from 1-3 years, as part of a
healthy balanced diet and it is not a breast milk substitute. Breastfeeding
should continue for as long as possible.
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