He is 16 months old, and I’m already hiding vegetables to get my toddler to eat them. Is that bad? 🙂 A lot of things I read about feeding toddlers said to give them a few foods at each meal and make sure that at least one of those foods is something they like. Well, my kid likes fruit, bread and cheese so…
But that theory doesn’t really work for us, the 1-item-on-his-plate-that-he-likes theory. Say it’s dinner time and I give him chicken, veggies and cheese. He will only eat the cheese and refuse everything else…EVERY SINGLE TIME! I have found a few things in each food group that he likes but I find myself serving him the same things over and over again because at least I know he’ll be full. Please tell me I’m not alone in this?!?!
So, instead of giving him a few different things, I have found that if I can combine all the food groups into 1 dish, he typically loves it! Some combos that he enjoys are…
-ground chicken, broccoli, cheese & quinoa, all cooked and mixed together
-whole wheat tortilla, cheddar cheese, refried black beans, chopped up kale, quesadilla style
-whole wheat waffle topped with peanut butter, Greek yogurt and strawberries
AND! These veggie muffins! This has been his afternoon snack almost every single day since I first made them. He LOVES these things and I love that he loves them! Packed with zucchini, carrots, peas & corn, even if he takes a few bites it makes me happy.
Toddler Veggie Muffins
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 medium carrot, grated
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup frozen corn
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Place the grated zucchini and carrot on 2 layers of paper towels and place 2 more layers on top of the vegetables. Use the paper towels to soak the excess water out of the veggies.
3. Place zucchini and carrots in a large mixing bowl along with peas and corn. Add the cheese, milk, yogurt, olive oil, honey and eggs and stir to combine.
4. Mix the flour and baking powder together in a different bowl and then slowly add to the wet ingredients, stir to combine.
5. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way full. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Store muffins in an air-tight container up to 3 days or store in the freezer until you wish to eat them. I place the muffins in a single layer in a large Ziploc freezer bag and freeze right away. When your little one is ready for a muffin, just pop it in the microwave for 45 seconds for a fresh out of the oven taste 🙂