MORE Quick and Easy Recipes for the Picky Eater

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School is just around the corner. Gone are the carefree mornings around the house, and in come the days of more structure (and less snacking). It’s important to provide a filling breakfast to tide your little ones over until lunchtime.

When you have a picky eater on your hands, it’s difficult to provide a breakfast your child will enjoy (and actually eat). As a parent, you have to come up with really creative ways to get the five basic food groups into your child’s diet.

Next month, my daughter will be attending preschool three mornings a week, which had me totally scrambling for breakfast ideas I know she’ll love. I turned to trusty old Pinterest and shared several delicious recipes the other day. To help keep breakfast new and exciting, here are MORE quick and easy options for your picky eater.

Easy Applesauce Muffins

easy applesauce muffins
Delicious! And the kids can help out with this recipe too!

Moist and delicious. These muffins from Spoonful.com are great to make with your little ones; they help teach skills such as how to mix wet and dry ingredients, as well as scoop batter into muffin tins and test for doneness. They also freeze well, so consider doubling the recipe and reheating for quick breakfasts.

Ingredients:

  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups chunky applesauce

Directions:

  • Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Line a 12-cup muffin tin with bake cups and set aside.
  • In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter on high for about 30 to 60 seconds; set aside to cool slightly.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a large mixing bowl. When mixing dry and wet ingredients for muffins, gently stir just until the flour disappears. This will produce muffins with a nice crumbly texture.
  • In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar.
  • Stir in the applesauce and melted butter until the mixture is smooth.
  • Pour the apple mixture over the flour mixture.
  • Mix with a wooden spoon until combined (it’s ready when you can’t see any traces of flour).
  • Fill the bake cups about two-thirds full with batter.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until light brown.

For more details and other recipe options from Spoonful.com, click here.

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Banana Berry Smoothie

So yummy you'll want one yourself!
So yummy you’ll want one yourself!

My girl goes through phases where she loves and then hates smoothies. I am hoping she grows into loving them again because it’s a great way to get a big dose of fruit and protein into her before school. They are also portable for rushed mornings! One of my favorites is this Banana Berry Smoothie from Spoonful.com.

Ingredients:

  • One 8 oz. container of fruit-flavored yogurt or 1 container of plain or vanilla yogurt
  • 1/2 cup fresh berries
  • 1 medium banana

Directions:

  • In a blender, process all the ingredients until just combined. Serve immediately. Makes 1 serving.

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One of my absolute favorite resources for toddler recipes is the weelicious website. Catherine McCord is a real mom on a mission to make feeding your kids healthy and fulfilling meals easy as pie. The weelicious site has hundreds of quick toddler-friendly breakfast options you can customize to the ingredients you have on hand, or the ones your kid will eat. 😉 Below are three of my all-time favorites.

Breakfast Quesadilla

breakfast quesadilla
A great way to “hide” nutritious eggs from your picky eater.

“Hiding” eggs in a yummy whole wheat tortilla smothered in cheese is a surefire way to fill a tummy, and this breakfast quesadilla from weelicious fits the bill!

Ingredients:

  • 2 tortillas
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup Mexican blend cheese (or you can use cheddar, Monterrey jack or mozzarella)
  • 1 teaspoon oil

Directions:

  • Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl for 30 seconds until combined.
  • Place 1 tsp of oil in a 9-inch pan over medium heat, coating the bottom of the pan (make sure to use a pan that is at least slightly larger than your tortilla).
  • Pour in the whisked eggs, tilting the pan to spread it evenly across.
  • Let the omelet cook for 30 seconds, then gently use your spatula to go along the edges of the omelet, lifting them away from the pan to loosen.
  • Sprinkle 2 tbsp of cheese on top of the omelet.
  • Place one tortilla on top of the egg and cheese and flip it onto a plate.
  • Slide the omelet, tortilla side-down, back into the pan, sprinkle another 2 tbsp of cheese on top of the egg and place another tortilla on top to cover.
  • Continue to cook the quesadilla for 1 minute, pressing down lightly with a spatula to help melt the cheese, then flip the quesadilla to cook the other side for an additional 30 seconds or until cheese melts and tortilla is golden.
  • Cut into wedges and serve.

Note: If you use a smaller tortilla, use 1 egg per quesadilla and 1/4 cup of cheese.

For more details and other recipe options from Weelicious, click here.

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French Toast Sticks

Great for practicing fork skills ... or for the on-the-go eater (minus the syrup).
Great for practicing fork skills; or for the on-the-go eater.

Have a toddler who is still working on their fork skills or one who insists on taking his meal with him? These French toast sticks from Weelicous are perfect!

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole milk, rice, or almond
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • pinch of salt
  • 5 slices of bread, trim edges and cut into 1-inch sticks
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

  • In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon, honey, and salt until combined.
  • Dip each bread stick in the egg mixture until each side is coated with the mixture.
  • Heat a saute pan or griddle over medium heat with 1 tbsp of butter and cook for 3 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through.
  • Serve with honey or maple syrup.

For more details and other recipe options from Weelicious, click here.

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Sweet Potato Pancakes

sweet potatoe pancakes
Naturally sweet, so you can skip the syrup.

Sweet potatoes are a food my girl will always eat. She adores these pancakes from Weelicious and they are so sweet you can skip the syrup!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sweet potato puree

Directions:

  • In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
  • Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
  • Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat and lightly coat with butter or oil.
  • Pour about 1 tablespoon of the pancake mixture onto the griddle, making as many pancakes as will fit and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Flip the pancakes and cook for one minute longer.

For more details and other recipe options from Weelicious, click here.

Do you have a great breakfast recipe you care to share?

 

Photo credits: izik / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0); Jessi & Justin Scurte / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); urbanbohemian / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); hedvigs / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

 

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Ashleigh
Ashleigh always knew she wanted to be a mom, but a stay at home mom, not so much. At 26 she found herself trading in her lipstick and high heels for Burt’s Bee’s and nursing bras. The first of their core group of friends to have kids, Ashleigh and her husband Eric strive to maintain their fun loving lifestyle while simultaneously raising their toddler daughter. Luckily, Tiny Girl is an adorable extrovert who loves getting out and about as much as her parents. On weekends you can find the threesome strolling the aisles of Target, road tripping it to Charleston, or hosting friends in Irmo for epic board game battles.

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