How to prepare a healthy ‘Weekly Meal’ plan for toddlers
Baffled? What to feed your toddler, every day? How will you feed your child enough nutrients? Will your child eat or spit out again?
It’s a challenge for parents to decide what to feed their toddlers. Especially, when the concern strikes the need to ‘provide required nutrients’.
For a toddler, the appropriate blend of nutrients embracing food is required. Every toddler needs a good intake of proteins, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and fibre-rich food.
All the mentioned nutrients reside in thousands of different ingredients. Then why not mix and blend these ingredients to feed toddlers a wide range of menu of his/her own.
We have come up with a weekly plan to help you decide on the menu that will save your time hunting for new recipes. We have contributed to a wide range of recipes to help your toddler enjoy different flavors.
Monday
- Breakfast: Cereal
Toddlers feel a connection with the food often served. If you make a habit of homemade cereal, they will most likely eat it. You can add oatmeal or crushed cornflakes, honey and milk. You can also add flavours to these cereals with berries of your toddler’s choice.
- Lunch: Chicken/ Paneer curry, 2 rotis, and salad
For a toddler, two to three components are sufficient for the meal. Prefer shredded chicken/paneer to ease the feeding. By the time they turn 3 they will have enough teeth to have a meal of more than 3 components.
- Evening: Tomato carrot soup
Tomato carrot soup is easy to cook, highly nutritious and to be utterly honest, delicious. Your toddler will love the soup as an evening treat.
- Dinner: Oats and Dalia khichdi
Oats are highly nutritious, fiber-rich and beneficial for toddler’s skin. Dalia, on the other hand, is protein-rich. It also contains phosphorus and iron, this will help your baby stay full and healthy.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Apple and cheddar sandwich
Milk is the primary ingredient in cheese. This is a great source of calcium. Apple need not be introduced in terms of nutrient benefits. In addition, it contains soluble fibers, which is great for digestion.
- Lunch: Chicken/Veggies and palak pasta
Cook creamy and light chicken/veggies and palak pasta for your toddler. You can try various types of pasta to keep your toddler entertained and make the food fun, including penne and spaghetti.
- Evening: Fruit kebab
Cutting nutritious fruits in various shapes makes the dish both colorful and fun for a child. Toss in the grapes, watermelon, berries, and other fruits of your child’s choice. You can also make the dish more lovable by adding some marshmallows in it.
- Dinner: Dal methi paratha and rice pudding
Fenugreek is one of the highly nutritious veggies that contain high fibres. Custom a paratha with dal and serve it with a smiley made of tomato sauce. Milk and rice is a great combination to fill your toddler’s tummy. You can add a cinnamon stick while cooking for flavour and fragrance.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Milk+ Paneer Veggie balls
A cup of milk and delicious mixed veggies balls is everyone’s favourite. Every vegetable contains an abundant number of vital nutrients. You can make a variety of veggie balls for your toddler to serve with different sauces.
- Lunch: Moong dal and Paneer khichdi
Moong dal or split yellow gram have been served for generations. They are an apt combination of nutrients, minerals, and proteins. Paneer helps in building toddlers their immune system and strengthens bones.
- Evening: Yogurt Parfait
What can be more delicious than a fine blend of yogurt, fruits, and crunchy granola bars? You can treat your child with this recipe, regardless of the season. Fresh fruits are all time available, and granola bars are available at tasty and healthy corners of the supermarket.
- Dinner: Oat Rava Idli
Rava is available in two forms, whole wheat, and semolina, both can be used to make idli. Rava, with its enormous content of potassium, is good for kidney function.
Thursday
- Breakfast: Milk with tofu dippers
Tofu is versatile when it comes for the better growth of your toddler. It is high with proteins, folic acid, fat, and iron. A cup of milk served with crispy tofu dippers with a side sauce goes chiefly well to start the day.
- Lunch: Rajma, Roti+ Chana Sundal
You will always find legumes or beans under the section of high protein food. When the proteins come from a variety of sources, you will get a wide range of recipes to feed your toddler tasty and healthy meal.
- Evening: Almond energy bite
Anti-inflammatory almond plays a vital role in the health of toddler of an adult. It improves immunity, strengthens bones and is great for digestion. Almond is also known as the brain boosters, we all know. You can either buy the crunchy Almond energy bites or make it yourself the classic old fashioned way.
- Dinner: Pudina paratha with chicken/veg curry
If you are willing to provide your toddler with lots of antioxidants, menthol, and phytonutrients, then Pudina will be of great choice. A pudina paratha is delicious, and now we know, also healthy. This will sync nicely with a curry of your choice.
Friday
- Breakfast: Star cereal with French Toast
Star cereal is basically a combination of cereals, sesame seed, peanuts, well cooked by adding a little honey to it. You can also toss some gems or chocolate blobbies to make it tastier. You can either cook it yourself or buy online and simply add warm milk to it.
- Lunch: Brown rice pulao with veggies
White rice is just fine, but brown rice consists of more rice proteins and controls blood sugar level. A buttery light pulao with brown rice and veggies is healthier and let’s face it, delicious.
- Evening: Chicken/Veg soup
Chicken/Veggies nicely simmered in water with other ingredients is a healthy recipe for your toddler. There are innumerous ways you can cook the soup to treat your toddler every week. Soup will also go finely after every 2-3 days.
- Dinner: Palak stuffed roti and green curry
Spinach seems to be of a big deal to feed a child. But if you stuff it in butter glazed paratha served with green curry, your toddler will dig right into it.
Saturday
- Breakfast: Egg/Paneer Sandwich
An Egg contains approximately 185 mg of cholesterol, while Paneer stands firmly with 5 mg per ounce. The appropriate amount to feed cholesterol to a toddler is 300mg a day. Until we stand behind the line of the limit we are all good.
- Lunch: Chicken/Veg soup and Barley Khichdi
Barley is available at every grocery store. You can also buy organic barley for your toddler. Barley khichdi tastes good and provides enough proteins. You can also add moong dal to the khichdi to make it healthier. Barley can also be served richly in a rice pilaf.
- Evening: Black chana (boiled)
Chickpeas or black chana can be served both boiled and smashed. You can add light spices to give an aromatic flavor to the dish. Do consult your doctor before feeding chickpeas to your toddler. It’s in the history that chickpeas often cause gas and digestion problems in babies.
- Dinner: Kid’s choice
Enough of the routine, rules, doctors and whatsoever. Your toddler deserves it! You remember the time your toddler gave out that smile where the happiness is overloaded within? Yes! Feed that dish.
Sunday
- Breakfast: Milk with Threptin + Yogurt
Threptin is a protein-rich biscuit that comes in various flavours. They are usually good for babies who have poor protein intake and faulty dietary habit. For your assurance to provide enough proteins to toddlers you can slide in one or two biscuits. A cup of milk and yoghurt will do just fine with them.
- Lunch: Kid’s choice
Your toddler must have grown very fond of the parfait you made the other day or that cheesy finger food you treated everyone with. Treat your toddler with that.
- Evening: Zucchini and Carrot bar
A homemade zucchini and carrot bars with shallots, cooked in olive oil is simply mouthwatering. Zucchini contains ample amount of Vitamin B, magnesium and calcium. It is also great to improve the immune system of your child.
- Dinner: Tofu and oats paratha with Ghia curry
Ghia is rich with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and calcium. Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin. It builds proteins for bones and helps in normal blood flow. Serving a bowl of Ghia curry with Oats and Tofu stuffed paratha is beneficial in every aspect.
The mentioned dishes are scheduled in a way to provide a proper intake of proteins and nutrients. We have also considered the required cholesterol and carbs intake for your toddler in a day. You are not required to follow the routine compulsorily, but the idea of proper intake of proteins needs to be considered. This is merely our contribution to your exercise to build your toddler healthy.
