Planning meals for toddlers

A well planned menu will provide meals and snacks with foods from all the food groups. It will make budgeting and shopping for food quick and easy, and help you plan time for cooking and preparing food.

Being a vegetarian and planning your toddlers meals can be difficult, they do need more protein in their diet as they are not eating meat. Here is a helpful guide to help introduce more protein to your toddlers diet.

Planning ahead

Make a list of meals and snacks and/or stock up on nutritous foods so that you can put together a meal in a minute.

Save money by just buying the foods for nutritous meals and snacks in your menu plan

Involve your toddler in planning, shopping and preparing food.

Include foods from each of the five food groups each day:

- Starchy foods at each meal and in some snacks

- fruit and veg at all meals and in some sncaks

- milk, cheese and yogurt three times over the day

- fish, eggs, nuts or pulses two ir three times each day (serve fish twice per week, one of which is oily fish) if you eat fish!

- only very small amounts of food high in fat and sugar.

Reducing food preparation time

Cook a double or triple quantity of food and freeze the extra so that it can be thawed in the fridge and then heated for a second and third meal.

Add leftover cooked lentils or beans to stir fried veg. They can be served with pasta, rice or noodles.

The Food Groups Are:

1. Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods

2. Fruit and veg

3. Milk, cheese and yogurt

4. Eggs, nuts, soya and pulses

5. Foods high in fat and sugar

Meals

Nutritous breakfasts

Are based on a starchy food such as bread toast or breakfast cereal

include milk, yogurt, cheese or egg

include some fruit

Examples

- Breakfast cereal with milk plus some fruit pieces

- Egg with toast and some diluted juice

Savoury courses

Are based on starchy foods

Include some vegetables cooked, raw or in sauces or soups

Include a food group from Food Groups 3 or 4 to provide some protein

Examples

- Shepherds pie served with one or two veg, we use quorn mince when making this (introduce quorn slowly)

- Lentils with rice and veg

- Leek and potato soup with grated cheese

- Cheese sandwiches with raw veg sticks

Second courses

Include fruit on its own or

Along side with yogurt or a pudding made with nutritous ingredients such as milk, flour, rice, bread, eggs or nuts

Examples

- Yogurt with fruit

- Fresh fruit with a biscuit

- Fruit crumble with custard or ice cream

Snacks

Combine foods from Food groups 1-4

Examples

- Fresh fruit

- veg sticks with dips based on yogurt, cream cheese or hummus

- wholegrain breakfast cereals with milk

- cheese cubes and crackers

- teacakes

Examples of vegetarian meals

- Potato frittata with veg or salad

- scrambled eggs on toast with tomatoes or veg

- vege omlette served with bread, potato, rice or pasta

- Baked beans on toast with 1-2 veg

- daal with rice/ chappati and a veg

- falafal burgers with a veg

- jacket potato with baked beans and a veg

- pasta with veg sauce including lentils or chickpeas

- rice and peas with an extra veg

- macaroni cheese and salad veg on the side