Healthy & Tasty Brands Your Toddler Will Love

Mommas I’ve heard your cries and requests for healthy toddler options! My kid is 2 now and he has officially entered the picky stage!😭🤦🏽‍♀️😫Now, we may not agree with my choice of foods but to each its on. For starters, my kid eats a lot of plant based meals but yes he has meat and dairy about 2-3 times a week in total. He drinks water about 98% of the time. He doesn’t have a choice on the water or what I prepare. That’s how I run my household. I let him choose whatever else he wants to eat throughout the day because there’s nothing terrible that he has to choose from.  However, I’ve started him off like this so it’s not as hard...

In essence, I try to find brands that don’t have high fructose corn syrup, empty calories (meaning, lack of nutrition), and are processed; but they must have lots of real fruits and veggies and organic if possible; the less harmful chemicals the better. I also look for protein and fiber as well. Now I may get one and not the other but I like to have most. Also, NOTHING compares to a good home cooked meal so of course I make filling meals as well because my kid LOOOOVES to eat... ALL DAY! ... And by all day I mean about every 15-30 min. *Pause for a moment of silence... I’ll get a longer break if I can find something super fun and interesting for him to do or if we’re not in the house. I have a TON of snacks for him to eat when we’re out the house too. With that being said, He was born big, was greedy then and still is now. Where the food goes, I DONT KNOW! His bones clearly because he grows like a weed! Even though he is in a picky phase, shockingly, with his veggies of course... (Aren’t they all at this age!!)... He still can put it down when he does eat. 

There are a couple more items not pictured but these are most of them that I buy. Only do I have all these at one time in my house just to show you guys! Also, he eats bananas, blueberries, raspberries, pineapples, apples, oranges, strawberries, kiwi, mango, grapes and of course MEALS I prepare.

Stores to Purchase Items: Whole Foods (yogurt and frozen items), Publix (regular and dairy-free yogurt called So Deliciois, Silk Milk, Bolthouse Pea Protein Milk), Target (mostly all dry snacks pictured), Sprouts (dairy-free yogurt)

Tips For Greedy Toddlers:

1. Try to make filling dinner meals using whole grain pasta, rice, or beans with most dinner meals

2. For breakfast, I like to do high fiber meals such as homemade oatmeal, whole grain waffles, oat based or whole grain based pancakes.

Tip: I add chia seeds to his oatmeal & pancakes; and sometimes goji berries. 

3. I buy the little yogurt cups because they have a good amount of carbs & proteins. The no-dairy kinds have more fat which is ok too for them too as long as they’re diet is pretty healthy. 

Tips For Picky Toddlers:

1. Play with seasonings and different textures until you find what works. 

2. A lot of times if I make veggies for me, he is more likely to eat off my plate than to eat them on his own. Weirdos!

3. Try cutting veggies up really tiny and cooking them into whatever you’re making so they’re not so noticeable. With meats, I cut them up too because sometimes it just works better. He acts funny with eating meat sometimes as well.

With my kid...

I pretty much let him eat all day and I ALWAYS have snacks & fruits with me too when we are out and about as well. I used to feel bad because because he ate waaaay more fruits than veggies but at this age, I have to be happy that he is eating and also that fruits contain just as many vitamins and minerals and is the easiest thing for the digestive system to break down anyways.  

The Truth Is...

It’s my fault he’s not as interested in eating veggies like he was before. Reason being is my 2nd baby ruined it! No I’m kidding! Ha! It wasn’t the Baby himself, it was that Crazy Wainch called  1st trimester! Y’all it literally felt like I was DYING! I was crawling because I couldn’t walk and I was living like the Bible days eating crackers and water to survive and even that made an exit! In real life, Hubbie looked at me and said, “You look like death.”😳... I was pale and everything. My nephew saw me on FaceTime once in the dark and came for me. He said, “I can see you in the dark Tee!” LOL!  “Really Alex Really!” Kids I swear! 

So as you can see, She (as in “I”) was NOT cooking because not only was She not able to hold down a lot of food but because I had an aversion to meat, sweet tasting stuff except for a few fruits, and smells terribly! ... And that’s when at 18 months old, my child learned what a French fry was from Wendy’s! YES I’m not perfect either. Judge Me NOT! He had NEVER eaten any fast food before that and my husband could not work, cook, take care of me and Poppi at the same time by himself! He did his best and I was just so grateful that I had him there because I couldn’t do anything. I was on the countdown until he came home from work. Talk about being afraid to be home with your kid alone! 😫🤦🏽‍♀️😭

That experience was another blog post for another day so be on the lookout!

Well that’s that. In the meantime Beauties, have a wonderful week and remember you’re already absolutely AMAZING!!!