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Let’s Jump right into both a weekday and weekend day of eating for our 20-month-old.
Let’s kick it off with a weekday where we go to daycare.
Friday
Breakfast
On weekdays we wake up and go straight out the door to daycare. The 9 am morning snack works as breakfast. On weekends we slightly modify and have a different schedule.
You can judge my parenting but my child does just fine with this.
No breakfast at home
Morning Snack 9 am
Morning snack is provided by daycare. On this day they had applesauce! YUM!
Lunch 11:30
Lunch is provided by parents for daycare. This is what we packed today!
Mac’n’Cheese
Sausage
2 Fig Newton’s
Mini Marshmallows
Afternoon Snack 3 pm
The afternoon snack was cheerios today.
Dinner 6:30 pm
Salami
Sweet Potato Pancake
Mandarin Oranges
Chicken Nuggets
French Fries
Veggie Straws
Saturday
Breakfast 9 am
We almost always go for oatmeal for breakfast. Sometimes we add fruit if we have something fresh on hand.
Oatmeal
Morning Snack 10:30 am
The morning snack was a few pretzels. We don’t overdo it on morning snacks. On the weekends we do breakfast unlike during the weekdays. Sometimes if breakfast is late we skip the morning snack and go straight to lunch.
It is blurry.
Pretzels
Lunch 12:30 pm
Hotdog
Mac’n’cheese
Raspberries
Fig Newton’s
Mini marshmallows
Afternoon Snack 3:30 pm
In the afternoon we did banana and peanut butter. I cut the banana up and put little dollops of peanut butter on each bite. With my daughter’s food allergies it is important to keep peanut butter in her diet regularly.
Dinner 6:30 pm
My husband and I did tacos tonight so we broke one down for our 20-month-old.
I believe on MasterChef they would call it deconstructed.
Taco Beef
Lettuce (didn’t touch)
Cheese
Raw onion
Taco shell
(Bonus food just in case)
Salami
Raspberries
Bonus Food
I want to quickly explain this bonus food. Lately, we have been working on filling our daughter’s plate and then staying seated for the meal.
I was finding myself constantly getting up to get her more food.
This was creating a bad habit.
With the deconstructed tacos I wasn’t sure if she would like the food. Therefore, I put bonus food on the plate. The salami and raspberries are food I 100% know she likes.
We always want there to be options she does like while trying new foods.
Food Safety
We take food safety seriously. The hotdogs for example are quartered lengthwise then cut up into pieces from there. This way I feel safe. If you simply cut up a hot dog one way you are creating the perfect little circle to get lodged in their throat. Cut it longways multiple times first!
Lettuce can also be a choking hazard. This was something new we tried and she didn’t have any interest in it, so I am not sure how it would have gone.
This is something we would only do at home with full supervision. A risky food like this would not go to daycare.
If I have the slightest concern about my daughter’s ability to eat something safely it does not go to daycare. I will not put that risk on the providers or allow that for my child.
Allergies
Our daughter suffers from egg and dairy allergies. Everything listed is a vegan version or one that does not contain milk or eggs. For example, one brand of Fig Newton’s does contain milk, but the brand I have found does not.
The mac’n’cheese I make myself with almond milk and plant-based cheese.
Conclusion
I am not particularly proud of these meals. They are not impressive. Even on these two days, I repeat foods way too frequently.
This is a real mom doing what she can. I don’t want to say I am doing my best, because I know I could do better.
It is what it is though.
Hopefully, this gave you ideas, thoughts, or just a simple comparison to what you are doing at home with your child.
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