Good morning! First things first, let me check in with the results from Day 1 of the 31 Day Home Organization Challenge. It started off on the right note with a made bed!
love
{Please know I’m terrible at home design so this is not intended to show off decoration skills, just proof I’m completing the challenge.}
David, Mema and Grandpa all pitched in and before long, Christmas was packed up, neatly labeled and put away.
Even the tree. Aren’t the two best days of a Christmas tree the ones that you put it up and the day it’s finally gone?
The house is cleaned and the challenge continues!
Moving on…
Today is about food prep for the pint-sized family members. I often get comments on how the meals I make for Hailey look elaborate. Let me assure you that Hailey is a full-on toddler like the rest of them and when she is hungry, I have less than 5 minutes to get food on her plate before we reach total meltdown status. All the meals I make for her take less than 5 minutes. I owe it all to preparation that I try my best to get done on Sunday before the week begins.
It all starts at the grocery store. I admit, I prefer grocery shopping alone. Trying to wrangle a rowdy toddler while filling the cart can be downright exhausting. However, when Hailey does come with me, I do my best to get her involved. She gets awfully proud to find things and throw them in the cart. I get proud that she can correctly identify broccoli.
Fabulous picture, I know. 
At home, I take advantage of nap time to do some food prep. I don’t always jump for joy at the idea of doing it, but I am grateful everyday of the following week when healthy food is ready to go.
I start with cooking dried beans. In my pressure cooker, it takes only 20 minutes to go from dried bean to edible. No soaking necessary.
I choose a grain for the week. This time is was quinoa, which cooks up in 30 minutes or less.
Then, I make sure to prep a veggie. I don’t know about you, but these are the toughest to grab in a hurry. Red pepper sticks and hummus usually work, but other than that I find myself reaching for a more accessible fruit. By taking 30-40 minutes to roast broccoli or another hearty vegetable, I know I’ll have an easy-to-grab veggie for quick lunches or dinners.
I also usually create a chopped blend of peppers, onions and sometimes mushrooms.
I throw this blend in a pan with a little butter in the mornings to create a quick veggie egg scramble. Top with cheese (H prefers goat cheese) or add a teaspoon or so of cream cheese to the egg scramble to make it extra delicious for your kiddo!
As for the prepped bean, grain and green, I throw them together is multiple combos throughout the week. The beans are great to add to cheese quesadillas. The broccoli is delicious on it’s own as a side.
The grain can be used to thicken a soup until it’s a toddler appropriate consistency. Other times, I combine them all into one meal.
Quinoa, black beans and feta mixed with this dressing. Broccoli on the side.
I also keep a few favorite staples on hand at all times.
Frozen berries are often eaten in yogurt or on their own.
Chia seeds are sprinkled on everything! She gets so excited to add them to yogurt, on peanut butter toast and on Love Grown granola bowls.
The edamame saves me when I’m looking for a quick protein boost for a meal. A sprinkle of salt is necessary to make them disappear quickly.
FYI, she tried the collards and then spit them right back out. I guess she doesn’t need any money in the new year.
And there it is! The basics I use to prep for a week of healthy meals for Hailey. For more pictures of mine and Hailey’s meals, follow me on instagram or twitter!
I know it’s been a crazy couple weeks, but I’m opening the link up in case anyone did post about their child’s meals and would like to share! Munchkin Meals will continue to take place the first Thursday of every month in 2014 and check out the MM archives for more great ideas from multiple moms!
Karen says
Such great advice with 5 minutes or less meal preps. We still have a VERY picky eater over here. Girl could live on cheese, avocado, & breakfast food if she wanted too. I’ve been making a lot of smoothies to get more veggies in her plus having her help but it doesn’t seem to be working that much. She will be 2 on Monday and maybe have a new taste for different food…one can only hope!!
Danielle @ Long May You Run says
On days when I prep a lot of veggies, I throw all the scraps in a big crockpot, fill it with water, and leave it on low overnight. The next morning I have homemade veggie stock (we don’t eat meat) that I refrigerate or freeze. I love it because it’s SO easy, I know exactly what is in it, and it’s great way to control sodium levels!
Brittany Dixon says
Love that idea! I should be more mindful, as I often just toss the scraps!
April says
Love the idea of prepping a veggie blend ahead for egg scrambles! Great tips!
Becky@TheSavedRunner says
All of your advice for meal planning is great even for those of us who don’t have kids! Thanks for sharing!
Lindsay says
Really great food prep! I do food prep on Sundays for the week as well, but I haven’t been doing it for toddler breakfast and Lunchs, more for myself! I’ll use your ideas for my food preps this week. Thanks for sharing
Ali says
I like these meal prep posts for toddlers. I have a 10 month old that is starting to like/need more substantial food and I need ideas!
Brittany Dixon says
Isn’t it intimidating when they start eating more? I remember being nervous when I had to start feeding H more than just a pepper stick and a handful of frozen peas- haha! It can be fun though. Enjoy!
Ali says
Yes it is intimidating. We did purees for the first couple months and now I know I need to be more adventurous, but he doesn’t have teeth yet. I know that shouldn’t mean too much, but it worries me with some textures. I also don’t know how much he should be getting at each meal.
Marjorie says
I love reading your munchkin meals. Feeding my almost 16 month old is a challenge, especially since he is throwing stuff on the floor at the dogs. And spitting out what he doesn’t like.
We are kindred spirits, you and I. Home decor and fashion? Somewhat of a struggle. But food? I’m usually all about it! Because I love to eat!
Brittany Dixon says
Ohhhh I remember H went through that spitting out phase. Drove me bonkers!! Eventually I did my best to cringe and completely ignore it and she eventually quit. To this day, though, if she’s having a melt down, she will sometimes spit. Crazy kids!!
And yes, kindred spirits indeed 😉
elizabeth@ourcrazysweetlife says
It’s really amazing how helpful it can be to prep food in advance. I hate staring at the fridge wondering what to feed my daughter and mapping out the wk in advance saves so much stress!
Maria says
I am a freak about making my bed. My husband leaves for work after me and doesn’t make it (which is okay, making beds properly is not in his skill set), but when I get home from work, that’s the FIRST thing I do. I cannot relax in my apartment until it’s made and I know I should be committed.
Looking forward to reading more about your organizational recaps and hoping that the motivation rubs off on me.
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
I seriously smile everytime that I read these posts. Hailey is so lucky to be fed such nutritious food. Awesome job :).
Kristen @ The Concrete Runner says
Seriously. You are super mom. No wonder she eats so well! I don’t do any prep since she eats lunch at the sitter everyday. I usually pop a pancake in the toaster and put some PB on it. I will be adding chia seeds from now on though!
Alison @ Daily Moves and Grooves says
I don’t have any kids, but I love seeing what Hailey eats! It’s always great to see that kids can and do enjoy wholesome, nutritious foods.
Heather @ The Soulful Spoon says
These are great tips! Heck, I could even use most of these for myself and I’m single, lol:) Great ideas! Plus, I’m a stickler about my veggies, but even I dread cooking them at the last minute. I know I should cook more ahead, so I’m just going to start! Thank yoU!
Giselle@myhealthyhappyhome says
Bummer, I missed Munchkin Meals again! Moving and the holiday’s have majorly thrown me off. I’ll get back on track someday…
heather says
LOVE these tips, thank you!
My 15 month old is just NOT into eating veggies. Sometimes I can get him to eat a few peas and he will sip on my green smoothie in the mornings, but that is all. I keep introducing new foods, but NO interest!
Virginia says
When I originally commented I licked tthe “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now ach time a comment is added I get three e-mails with the same
comment.Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Thank you!
Brittany Dixon says
Hi Virginia! I’m so sorry- I certainly don’t mean to be spamming you with comment subscriptions! When you get an email notification of a comment added, is there anything on the email that you can clock ‘unsubscribe’? I will also look into seeing what I can do on my end. Sorry about this headache!