Goya black bean soup. Toddler loves it and you heat it up right out of the can. Nutritious, easy and so yummy!

OP,

I remember the afterwork crunch time as well. If it's not something quick like scrambled eggs or quesadillas, I would try to make more time consuming meals the night before, e.g., baked chicken, mashed potatoes. You can always heat these up and steam green beans that evening.

You may also want to look into getting a crock pot. You definitely need to be organized in the morning to throw it together, but whatever works for your schedule. Definitely plan out your meals and grocery shop at the start of the week. Time management helps.

Often toddlers are little grazers, so you can always present a tray of healthy choices cut in toddler friendly sizes, like cut fruit, crackers and hummus, cheese cubes, etc. Eating what you eat can pose a choking hazard for young kids depending on what it is: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/news/20041011/kids-choking-hazards-may-go-unnoticed

Lastly, a friend of mine who didn't know how to cook was completely overwhelmed when she had a kid in terms of dinner. If you don't have basic skills, take a class or get a very basic cookbook. Practice 2-3 entrees until you feel very confident with them.

I do a lot of leftovers from the previous night's dinner (I try to save a specific portion for her) on the nights we can't eat together for timing reasons. She doesn't mind eating the same thing twice in a row, so sometimes I just make sure to keep extra leftovers.

On the days I don't have convenient leftovers, I've found the following quick things work well:

Tortilla or pita with hummus or lunch meat and whatever fruit/veggies I have handy
scrambled eggs with spinach
hard boiled egg with veggies
polenta with spinach or other diced veggies mixed in (trader joe's sells a frozen kind or you can get the tubes which cook very quickly)
i get wholewheat pizza crusts and can have a not really home-made pizza ready in 15 minutes

Some weeks I make a quiche or a pot of soup over the weekend and DD will eat that on nights I don't have anything else for her for dinner.

Expand on the idea of pre making baby food. Make a pot roast. Cut it up fine and freeze in a muffin tin. A pot roast with potatoes and carrots will net about 48 "muffins". Do the same with lasagna. Basically every thing that was puréed and frozen in an ice cube tray now no longer requires pureeing and is frozen in a larger tin. I've done this with chili, salmon, chicken casseroles, orzo with veggies and tilapia.

At dinner time, heat and serve. Offer some feta so at least you are both eating something that is the same.

Scrambled eggs
Quesadilla
Grilled cheese
I keep leftover frozen meatballs in the freezer
Frittata
I also keep frozen leftover veggie lasagna in the freezer
Hummus with veggies

15:29 here. I think it's worthwhile to give your kid some salad with feta cheese, if that's what you're eating, and to have at least a token amount of whatever you prepare for her.

In terms of meal ideas, we're not very creative. We do pasta with meat sauce, stir fry with tofu and very little or no sauce, rotisserie chicken (I'm sure I'll get blasted for that by DCUM watchdogs), baked "salsa chicken" (basically chicken slathered in salsa and stuck in the oven), rice with veggies, frozen veggies, hot dogs, black rice, grilled steak, grilled anything easy, lasagna, sandwiches, Ina Garten's Asian Grilled Salmon (family favorite), "chicken nuggets" are quick if you toss chunks of chicken in cornstarch with a bit of salt and pepper mixed in and pan fry them in 3-4 TBS of oil. There are tons of meal ideas even on DCUM, if you run a quick search.

OP here. I'd like to just feed her whatever we're having, but right now that just doesn't work for us during the week. Husband doesn't get home from work until 7-8pm, and I work full time and don't have a chance to make dinner until the little one is already in bed. Hence my request.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just feed my 20 month old what we're eating. I give some cucumber sticks or carrot sticks to tide her over before dinner is ready.

Exactly. Why are you becoming a short order cook already?

We do this too. It often results in DD (almost 3) eating a late-ish dinner, but it's worth it to us to have the family sit down together. She's allowed to have as much fruit/cut veggies in advance of dinner as she wants, but often she chooses to just play while I get dinner ready instead of sitting down to a pre-dinner snack.

I have to say that all the posters who constantly go on and on about feeding their kids what's for dinner aren't helpful. I eat a salad with feta cheese for dinner. My DH doesn't come home till 2am so he's not home for dinner. Is it so wrong that i am brainstorming for ideas for my toddler?

Yep, feed DD what you're eating.

That's what we do. DS doesn't always want to eat what we're eating in which case I offer some easy alternatives (nuts, cheese, etc.).

Anonymous wrote:I just feed my 20 month old what we're eating. I give some cucumber sticks or carrot sticks to tide her over before dinner is ready.

Exactly. Why are you becoming a short order cook already?

Quesadillas; black beans; eggs; variations of pasta--ravioli/lasagna etc; chile; chicken; meatballs

I just feed my 20 month old what we're eating. I give some cucumber sticks or carrot sticks to tide her over before dinner is ready.

My toddler would live on hummus if we let him. Serve with either veggies or some kind of bread for dipping. Easy to make yourself if you want or if you need to tweak ingredients.
Grilled cheese and some kind of vegetable soup is also a frequent quick dinner. Again, could be store-bought soup or homemade.
Scrambled eggs and toast, aka, breakfast for dinner.

DD (17 months) and I get home from work/daycare around 5:30, and I'm always frantically trying to come up with meal ideas for her that don't require a lot of cooking or prep time. We've fallen into a rut of pasta, yogurt, cheese, fruit, etc. What are your favorite quick and easy dinner ideas? I'm open to (reasonably healthy) store-bought items as well as home-cooked.