Freezable and re-heatable toddler food
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Anonymous
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I posted this on the General Parenting Forum as well.
I am the nanny for a 17 month old boy. He is underweight and the pediatrician said he needs more calorie/nutritionally dense foods. The problem is that neither of my employers are interested in eating high calorie prepared foods and, quite frankly, I could stand to lose a few pounds myself. So the food would just be for the toddler. I was hoping some of you nannies might have suggestions for homemade foods that can easily be frozen and then reheated for my charge. For example, today I was planning on making him crustless mini-quiches with egg yolks, half and half, cheese and spinach. Can they be frozen and reheated? And, in this case, does it matter that I am using frozen spinach that will be frozen a second time. Thanks in advance. All advice is greatly appreciated. |
Anonymous
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I would think pasta dishes like mac-n-cheese, lasagna, etc.. would lend themselves to high calorie/full fat preparations and freezing.
But you could also bulk up him intake with things like avocado, oatmeal made with half and half, smoothies w/ full fat greek yogurt, egg salad, hummous, black beans and rice, grilled cheese, cream based soups, chicken/cheese quesadillas, etc... All of those things are either quick and easy to prepare daily, or can be made in larger batches and eaten over the course of a couple of days. I don't think using frozen spinach in a dish and refreezing it after cooked is a problem at all. |
Anonymous
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That sounds like a lot of work if you are going to be there to feed it to him. The only reason I can think of to do this would be if you were packing a lunch for daycare.
Why not just try some easy to prep stuff?: cheese cubes smoothies full-fat yogurt avocado veggies dipped in ranch dressing banana bread with butter nut butters on bread or celery and maybe add a pediasure with one meal a day (most kids like them) |
Anonymous
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Ravioli with red sauce is good frozen and reheated, and you can add beef or turkey meatballs, cheese or spinach if you want!
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Anonymous
This. Why does his food need to be freezeable? |
Anonymous
| Why not mcdonadls? |
Anonymous
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Is this a typical thing for nannies to worry about? I can't imagine telling my nanny that the pediatrician said that my toddler was underweight and needs to eat more calorie dense foods and giving no further guidance. This is my problem to solve as my children's mom. How did this become the nanny's problem?
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Anonymous
Wow. |
Anonymous
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Nanny here who has helped families with similar issues to work toward a healthy diet for their kiddo. I agree that having some frozen stuff helps tremendously, as you can have hearty, filling meals that you don't have to plan ahead. The kid can only eat so much avocado and cheese!
I usuly focus on items that will add some caloric density but can be used multiple ways. So I'll make 3 kinds of sauce: Cheddar with cream cheese, whole milk,and cheddar cheese (start with milk, wisking on low and gradually adding first cream cheese, then shredded cheddar) Alfredo, same as above but parmesan cheese Pesto (puree basil, spinach, garlic, lots of olive oil and some toasted pine nuts or walnuts) Then I use those to sauce various dishes--steamed veggies, pasta, rice, quinoa, lentils, etc. Egg dishes freeze well, as do most soups. A nice cream-of-something soup with heavy cream, broth and cooked veggies pureed together would be great. I also make paleo "bread " and muffins (kids aren't paleo), because they are egg-based and very nutritionally dense vs standard muffins which are more filling per calorie. We also do a lot of bean dishes, like refried beans (which I have frozen), or burritos (which I have frozen). I alternate frozen (like mini quiche) or partially frozen (like quinoa with pesto sauce and full-fat cottage cheese) with fresh stuff like avocado and greek yogurt. I try to limit how often we eat eggs (3-4 times per week) and cheese (one item per day), because these items can be tough on digestion if you overdo it. |
nannydebsays
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If nanny does the cooking/meal planning for child, and parents are not good cooks/meal planners, then I can see this falling to nanny. And presumably, she needs freezable items so the parents can defrost nutritious food when nanny is not working. |
Anonymous
| Sounds like the "nanny as parent" phenomenon. |
Anonymous
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OP, your idea of mini quiches is a great one. I make something similar in muffin tins. I put in any filling I have unhand, usually cheese, broccoli, sometimes bacon, and scrambled some eggs with half and half and then bake them. They freeze well and would be a good plan for your charge.
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Anonymous
Do you use any sort of crust on the bottom? |
Anonymous
| I'm not the OP but there were some great answers here - thanks for all the ideas! |
Anonymous
Good question. Answer: Nannies often do most of the traditional parenting responsibilities, except pay the bills. 
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