Baby food recipes that your toddler will love

Brought to you by Heinz Infant

Getting a toddler to eat can sometimes be a huge challenge, trust me I know. All of a sudden they want to exert their independence over everything and food is often the first casualty of this new-found independent streak. Meal times used to be easy when you only had to deal with puree, but toddler food calls for variety, texture, finger foods and lots of flavour. In addition their tastes are always changing, often from one week to the next. One week they like chicken and the next minute they don't. The same goes with carrots, corns, peas and veggies in general. It sometimes feels like a never-ending battle.

Bub used to be really good at meal times and eat almost anything I put in front of her, but lately she's become very fussy and flat out refuses to eat certain foods. She's currently on a carrot, beans and broccoli strike even though they used to be some of her favourite foods. To combat her fussy eating I've had to become a bit sneaky and hide veggies in things I know she'll eat. No matter how fussy she is I have a handful of recipes that I know she'll love and best of all they lend themselves well to veggie smuggling. They make sure she still eats healthy and gets all the good stuff, while keeping her {and me} happy. These are my go to recipes.

ZUCCHINI & CORN MUFFINS

Muffins are a great treat for toddlers because they have added texture and are packed full of flavour {plus you can trick them into thinking they're eating cake}. There are so many different savoury and sweet muffin recipes around that there's sure to be one your toddler will love. Bub's favourite muffins are my zucchini and corn muffins and I love them too because they have hidden veggies and cheese and she can eat one as a snack or have a few for lunch. She also loves banana muffins as a sweet treat.

SAUSAGE ROLLS

Sausage rolls are an all time favourite of mine. They're great for snacks, party food or easy dinners and toddlers love them too. You can add heaps of extra goodness by grating veggies into the mince, and the kids will never know because the veggies "disappear" once they're cooked. I like to add onion, grated carrot, zucchini and a bit of parsley to mine. For a simple meal that's ready in half an hour see my easy sausage roll recipe.

SPAGHETTI

Without a doubt bub's all time favourite meal is spaghetti. Even on days when she refuses to eat everything I offer, I know if I serve up spaghetti for dinner she'll polish off the entire plate. The great part about spaghetti is that I can pretty much hide anything in there {in the mince or the sauce} and she's none the wiser. To make our spaghetti I sauté diced onion and garlic, then add mince and grated/chopped veggies {I usually add zucchini, spinach, tomato and occasionally carrot and capsicum}. Once its all cooked I add a tomato based spaghetti sauce and simmer until the pasta is cooked. The beauty of spaghetti is you can add pretty much any veggies you like and kids will still eat it.

There are, however, some times where putting together nutritious meals from scratch isn't always practical. For those days when cooking a meal isn't an option, store bought baby food can be a perfect alternative to home-made meals. Heinz have lots of ready made toddler food options {including spaghetti bolognaise} to help save precious time for busy parents. Heinz Infant pouches and jars are manufactured in Victoria using high quality, carefully selected ingredients approved by a team of nutritionist mums. They've made sure to include only the good stuff so meals are tasty and preservative free, just like home-made food.

Do/did you have any other winning recipes that were a hit with your toddler?

Toni