*as a chef mom striving to serve real food ingredients and balance blood sugar*
The toddler brain is growing and changing so much around 2-years-old and I try to be mindful about blood sugar regulation when serving meals so he’s not on a hormonal roller coaster. Try balancing healthy fats, complex carbs & protein with each meal or snack to help prevent the crash & burn. This could be as simple as apples, (complex carbs), with peanut butter, (healthy fat), and deli turkey, (protein).
food is a top passion in my life being an entrepreneur and trained chef in the service industry. I introduced my son to baby led weaning at five-months-old and introduced him to 100 foods by the age of 9 months following all the tips & tricks from solid starts. We carefully introduced all major allergens including gluten because although I’m gluten-free, I didn’t want him to develop an intolerance while avoiding it all together. I’m also teaching food autonomy to my son- we talk about what food looks like, what children might eat around the world, how it makes us feel and how it strengthens our body in different ways.
I’m not offering food dyes, seed oils, (when at home), or refined sugar to my toddler, but he is familiar with common kiddo favorites like cookies, for example. we will bake them using real food ingredients without a negative connotation to the term. all he knows is a cookie is delicious!
breakfast
Meal prep is *key* for low-maintenance weekday breakfasts. My almost 2.5-year-old is an early riser so when I make pancakes, (this grain-free and refined sugar-free brand is my favorite), I cook the entire box so I have pancakes left to store and freeze. Reheating only takes minutes in the oven or 30 seconds in the microwave. Then, the rest of breakfast comes together in less than 5 minutes.
I try to serve high quality fats and protein before I serve complex carbohydrates- like fruit- to help keep his blood sugar balanced. Recently, I learned from the glucose goddess about how the order in which you eat your food is crucial to balancing blood sugar. So, beginning by eating fiber/vegetables, then protein, then complex carbs is the key to beginning and ending the day with healthy blood sugar levels.
7:30am: Sample toddler breakfast
- fresh diced avocado with pink himalayan salt
- pancake or frozen waffle “sandwich,” spread with almond butter
- pastured eggs cooked in pastured butter with s&p
- seasonal fruit
- filtered water in stainless or glass cup
lunch
Lunch is more hit or miss- sometimes he just wants to graze on more snacky items. When grabbing lunch out and about, he loves breakfast tacos- I’ll order on a corn tortilla with eggs, cheese & avocado. Bonus points if they make the corn tortillas themselves! He also loves turkey or ham sandwiches with avocado using this bread. for his school lunchboxes, I follow the sample lunch template below using seasonal fresh produce ingredients, (which are often-times more cost efficient, too), and our favorite bento box. You can also view more earth-friendly lunchbox hacks here.
11:30am: sample toddler lunch (packed)
- organic turkey pinwheel with avocado oil mayonnaise and grain-free tortilla
- grain-free cheddar crackers
- seasonal fruit- I usually include two types for variety
- salted cashews
- coconut yogurt
- cucumbers/olives
- filtered water in stainless or glass cup
10am & 3pm: snacks
Sample toddler snack:
Salami, organic string cheese, organic apples, cucumbers, paleo puffs, cashews and organic apricots
Current Favorite snack items:
- grain-free crackers
- fresh fruit/vegetables
- organic deli meats/string cheese
- nuts/seeds/nut butters
- clean ingredient bars
- hard-boiled pastured eggs
- hummus
- olives/avocado
- clean ingredient chips/puffs
- dried whole fruits
- coconut yogurt or cottage cheese
dinner
quiet family dinners at home- with less stimulus and distraction- are one of my favorite and easiest times to introduce new foods to my toddler. he’s often quite hungry by this time, and loves seeing what mama & daddy are eating, too.
this is the time I always add at least two, “safe foods,” that I know he will eat to the plate, followed by a new item or one he refused in the past.
we try to keep meals laid-back and play cool as cucumbers via solid starts. this is definitely easier said than done but We don’t want him to have a negative or pressured experience when eating to help prevent pickiness- this trick helps a lot.
We talk about different foods being crunchy or cheesy or crispy or sweet. as his vocabulary is expanding more, I’ve recently introduced talking about different foods and how they serve us. For example, deli turkey helps keep our tummies full and happy and apricots are sweet and yummy and boost our energy.
5:30: sample toddler dinner
- mahi mahi fish tacos in grain-free tortillas with avocado (“safe” item)
- organic black bean & mango relish (new item)
- baked sweet potato fries (“safe” item)
- leftover steamed broccoli with butter (“safe” item)
**See my sample, “What my toddler eats in a day,” video here** I will work on posting more toddler eats in the future months! Will you be introducing any new foods soon?
