All images courtesy of NibblesandFeasts.com

Having a toddler doesn’t mean struggling at the dinner table every evening. I consider my two-year-old son Joaquin a pretty diverse eater. I know it sounds silly but we started his good eating habits at five months. His first solid food after cereal was avocado then frijoles then carrots…so on and so forth. A new food every week and it’s been working for us since.

Don’t get me wrong, we still struggle with weird textures like broccoli florets or even shredded chicken, but with a bit of patience and creativity, he caves in and mom is up by one point.

Here are some of my toddler feeding/teaching tips that have been and continue to be successful for us.

Let them play with their food!
Make silly faces with fruit and veggies. “Donde estan los ojos?”, “y las orejas?”, “ahora, la boquita?”… we have a faceless pancake or empty plate in no time plus it’s a great way to teach body parts in in both languages.

Play pretend
I ask him to pretend to be a veggie-eating monster or dinosaur. We rawr, bark and howl because that’s what veggie-eating monsters do.

On a stick
Skewers also do the trick (use straws if skewers are too sharp). Use colorful fruit and cut the fruit into shapes. Ask him to eat the circles, then the squares, then the red rectangle, etc….I don’t know what it is, but anything on a stick works wonders for me.

I love to disguise veggies inside his popsicles. Make lemonade, spinach basil pops or orange juice and carrot pops. It’s a fun way to enjoy a frozen treat full of vitamins. They’ll never suspect.

Noodles!

I let him go to town with noodles. Joaquin loves to eat them with a swift swing, lasso style.

Dipping
We play the dipping game and he always wins. Our favorite gear: pitas and humus, beans and tortillas.

Uno, dos, tres….A, B, C…
Count snacks, count bites, count everything as long as the outcome is putting that piece of food in his mouth. Plus it’s a great way to practice counting. We are up to 39 now…

Counting also makes our grocery shopping trip much easier. We look for isle numbers and count out loud. Play “I Spy” in the produce section and call out colors and letters in the frozen food section.

Big people food
One of our favorite foods to make is entomatadas. My mom made them for me as a child because it’s almost like eating enchiladas without the chile. I felt like such an adult.

Now, Joaquin absolutely loves eating entomatadas. I make them stuffed with turkey breast and drenched in a special tomato sauce accompanied by rice. Garnish with cheese for that extra special tomatoey- cheesey flavor.

Entomatadas Recipe Your Child Will Love

Makes 12

Ingredients:

2 large turkey breasts (or 1lb. chicken breast)
9 1/2 cups water
4 Roma tomatoes
1-8oz. can tomato sauce
2 medium garlic cloves
¼ large onion
1 ½ tbsp. chicken bouillon powder
12 tortillas
4 tbsp olive oil for frying
optional: ¾ cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese for garnish

Directions:
Preheat oven 325 degrees.

Boil turkey breasts in 6 cups of water over medium heat for 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool then shred by hand. Boil tomatoes in 3 cups of water until skins begin to peel off. About 10 minutes. Blend boiled tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, chicken bouillon and ½ cup of water. Place mixture in a large bowl (large enough to dip tortillas).

In a large skillet, heat oil and fry tortillas, about 10 seconds on each side, one by one then dip in tomato mixture.

Extend each dipped tortilla in a separate plate and stuff with shredded turkey breast and roll. Place in oven safe 8” dish.

Once all entomatadas are placed in oven dish, pour remaining sauce evenly over them. Sprinkle cheese (optional) and place in oven for 7-10 minutes to keep warm.

Share:  What is your child´s favorite food?

Ericka Sánchez–Proudly born in Torreón, Coahuila Mexico, Ericka arrived in the United States in 1982 to El Paso, Texas. Her love of food began in her mom’s kitchen but flourished in a food photography studio where she assisted in food styling/design and photo shoots.
Now a wife and a mom to a 2-year old toddler, Ericka launched her bilingual blog Nibbles & Feasts in 2010 as a guide to satiating food cravings through recipes and to share her restaurant recommendations and food events in Los Angeles.