1. Garden salad
2. Order pizza and have it delivered pool-side. Have it delivered for the time you would like everyone to eat. It will be a hit and easy for you.
3. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (if there is no allergy concerns, of course).
4. Fruit kabobs
5. Goldfish crackers
6. Chips
7. Trail mix of some kind
8. Dried fruit (raisins, bananas, apple chips, pineapple, mango, etc) - SuperTarget has many varieties.
9. Animal crackers
10. Ritz bits sandwiches with cheese or peanut butter filling.
11. Cold pasta salad (kept properly chilled, of course).
12. Fruit salad (also chilled).
13. Veggie tray (be sure to keep any dips chilled, of course).

Be sure to also check out all of our photo birthday invitations for your party…

For all the busy moms out there…

6-8 pork chops
1 Cup Rice
1 packet Dry onion soup mix
3 C water
Mix soup mix and water together in a 9×13 baking dish. Stir in rice, and place pork chops on top, putting a little of the mixture on porkchops. Cover with foil.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, uncover and bake another 20 minutes.

• Avocados - you can even mash them up with some olive oil or soy milk for more protein/fat.
• Salmon
• Olive oil & flax seed oil mixed with/drizzled on food (don’t cook the flax seed oil, add it to ready-to-eat foods).
• Sunflower butter is an alternative to nut butters if your little one isn’t doing nuts yet - still high in fat & tastes similar to peanut butter. You can also chop up sunflower seeds and add them to their foods.
• Winter squash
• Kidney beans - other beans are good as well, also for iron and protein. My little guy eats a lot of beans, especially black bean soup and bean burritos.

On a previous post regarding getting toddlers to eat, I included a tip from a mother who, probably as a last resort, used bribery to get her toddler to eat. Of course, I debated about putting that one up, but if there is anything I’ve learned from mommyhood, it’s that you will try just about anything when you are desperate. Now, I’ve personally never needed to resort to bribery, I’d probably bribe with a toy or a privilege rather than food, but I also wouldn’t say I’d never do it either. Sure, too much of this and you can create food issues, but I highly doubt giving an already-on-the-menu food (like, eat all your veggies before you eat your applesauce) a bit of bribery power is going to make my child into the giant blob.

Anyway, Jesse, who doesn’t have children, took issue with my post enough to write about it on his own blog, which made me curious what all of you thought about bribery in this case….. tell me in comments!

Lil’ Duck is pretty good about eating things before about 4pm or so, but a lot of parents are having great troubles getting their toddlers to stop playing and EAT already! Here are some ideas from their mommies…

• I finally resorted to saying I was going to give her dinner to the dogs, which she absolutely will not tolerate.

(more…)

VERY spicy hot chicken wings (I like the boneless but DH picks the meat off the bones for him). He’ll grab them and stuff the whole thing in his mouth if you aren’t very careful…. who knew?! This is the child who has refused meat and most other things all his life….

• Leftovers from dinner!
• Sandwiches on whole grain wheat bread
  • Peanut butter and jelly if they are eating peanuts
  • Grilled cheese
  • Deli meat & cheese
  • Any sort of melt is especially good, since Lil’ Duck loves to disassemble his sandwiches.

  
  

• Fish sticks (especially with various dipping sauces, Lil’ Duck likes ketchup or bbq sauce but you can try anything you like, ranch dressing is a hit among many of his friends).
• French fries - we actually get the healthy potato wedges with the olive oil so it’s all real potatoes and not a ton of grease and sodium.
• Fruits - pretty much anything sliced up at this age is fine, barring allergies.
• Yogurt (we still mix pureed fruit in as Lil’ Duck isn’t a fan of plain fruit, also mix in cereals and vitamins).
• Crackers with cheese (melted in the microwave for a few seconds to keep them together) or cream cheese (you could do pasturized soft cheese, but I’m still wary personally).
• Rice cakes - Lil Duck would eat these all day if I let him. We get the unsalted ones and put anything on top or just let him eat it plain. I also showed him how to break off pieces and scoop up spinach dip and tuna.
• Low-sodium soups - veggie soup, chicken soups, etc - can be an easy way to get protein and veggies in. I usually offer the little guy the chunky parts and drain the liquid or eat it myself - if I want him to have broth, I put it in a cup with a straw. It’s just too messy otherwise, but it’s your house ;).
• Pasta and sauce is always a hit - I mix pureed veggies in spaghetti sauce, melt cheese (we use rice cheese for the dairy allergy) over top, mix in some shredded meat, etc. Mac and Cheese is a hit for many - we have to get the rice version, but there are a lot of healthy mac and cheese mixes out there now as well.
  • Lil’ Duck also likes the ravioli/tortellini from the pre-made store packages, with or without sauce. We get the chicken or pesto ones most of the time, but there are also cheese-filled ones for those without dairy issues.
• We also like the little microwavable meals from Gerber or the health food store - the adult meals like Chef Boyardee have too much sodium and junk, but the baby meals are pretty good.
• Tortillas - wraps, burritos, etc - an easy way to make leftovers interesting and can make for a wide variety of lunches.
• Speaking of burritos, we keep the frozen bean burritos in the freezer for a quick meal. Lil’ Duck likes them with chips and salsa ;).

Be sure to visit the rest of the Works For Me Wednesday tips for other great ideas as well.

Tricks that moms use to get healthy food into little ones:

• Let them serve themselves out of the serving dishes on the table (if they aren’t hot of course).
• Smoothies!




• Airplane or choo-choo train with the fork.
• Mix it into something they like already.
• Ask them if they want a cookie, then give them a Nutri-grain bar - calling them cookies makes them more appealing.
• Give them things to dip - meat in ketchup or dressing, fruit in yogurt, etc.
• Apparently shredded raw carrot is yummier than regular cooked carrot.
• Fruit snacks as a treat at the end if they try a bite of _______.
• Fill them up earlier so not eating later isn’t so much of an issue (maybe not the best solution, but I find I can get a lot of healthy food into Lil’ Duck in the morning much easier than in the evening).
• Take a bite of their food and make a big show of how yummy it is. They usually either get mad because you are eating their food and eat it themselves, or want it because you have it.
• Eat it yourself at a low desk or couch or somewhere accessible, don’t act like it’s for them, the forbidden fruit must usually be tasted ;).
• Give them the vegetables right before dinner and before they see the other food so that they’re more likely to eat.
• Make the beloved toy/stuffed animal take a bite and proclaim its yumminess - the duck eats everything and gets Lil’ Duck to at least try most things.
• Cut the food into shapes, or make faces or letters. Some little ones like it to spell out their name.
• Buy them a special plate and bowl set - one mom had great success with a Thomas plate & bowl set, he now eats everything on his plate!
• Sometimes, give them one food first - if they have noodles with meat and veggies, they are likely to fill up on noodles and not eat much of the other, so wait on noodles until after eating the other food.