Heading across country to help watch the grandkids (2 and 5) during a horrible family emergency. Need a bunch of easy peasy recipes to make for lunch and dinner. The 2 year old doesn’t like meat. And need some healthy stuff. Thanks in advance.
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Quiche? Pasta dishes? Varying kinds of sandwiches which some kids can actually help make?Omelettes? Pizza? Grilled cheese and tomato soup?
You can always make a regular meal and put the meat portion on the side. That way the kid who doesn’t like meat just doesn’t take it. E.g. spaghetti and meatballs…meatballs on the side.
Ice cream? Isn’t that a full meal🙄
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Pancakes & frozen biscuits & scrambled eggs. Breakfast is great for any meal.
Mac & cheese with cut up hot dogs (quartered for the two year old even if they pick them out) They used to make cute shaped macaroni like smiley faces.
“Flat bread pizzas” - take pita bread, put tomato/spaghetti sauce on it and top with cheese and any other topping they might like and bake for 15 min.
Pasta with/without meatballs is always super easy. They make frozen meatballs that take 60 seconds to heat up. They make turkey ones too.
Mine always preferred veggies out of a can and microwaved for 15-30 seconds. Super easy. anything that was fancier and took more effort would be turned down. Green beans and corn were a favorite.
Mini carrot sticks to dip in dressing always a decent side.
Sandwiches are always easy. So are chicken nuggets and fish sticks. Maybe the 2 year would like the dinosaur shaped ones? Maybe not the healthiest, but it’s an emergency. Do what you can.
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I don’t know if this will work for all toddlers, but my granddaughter (who’s 2.5 years and with us at our vacation place for the next 5 weeks–parents working from home) loves the veggies I make for her. She calls it JJ’s veggies. (I"m JJ–my oldest GD came up with the name so we kept it.)
GD’s favorite is broccoli. I cut up a stalk and put it in a microwaveable dish. My microwave has a setting for cooking “hard” vegetables, so I set it on that–it’s probably about 3 minutes? When it’s done, I brush some olive oil over the top. I do this with cut-up carrots, potatoes (white and sweet potatoes) and string beans. Toddler GD gobbles it up!!
She also likes buckwheat (my SIL is Russian). We make a few cups and refridgerate it and microwave it before serving GD. Apparently, buckwheat is gluten free, which I never knew.
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Not sure if the two year old can have raw veggies yet, but a veggie/ranch cup. Take a see through cup and put some ranch in the bottom, fill cup with sticks of carrots, peppers, broccoli all standing up.
Snack plates that include dip! Hummus, yogurt for dip. Crackers, bite sized fruit, cheese bites,
PB and J - do it on whole wheat bread. Or whole wheat cracker filled w/ pb and J’s.
Don’t worry about changing it up each day. Sometimes they like the same couple of things rotated.
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thanks. No idea if we are also cooking for us and the parents (us yes, son and DIL- not sure, but certainly we want to have food available for them too. I am not a big cook so all help is appreciated
Anything that can be made for breakfast can also be lunch or dinner…pancakes, French toast, omelettes, scrambled eggs, breakfast sandwiches, etc. all pretty easy to make and good for a crowd!
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The big frozen lasagnas are always good in a pinch, as are the rotisserie chickens for family dinners and microwaveable veggie bags (i hate most cooked veggies but love the cheesy broccoli), easy to access fruit. The 2 year old can eat something other than chicken. The sides or even a bowl of cereal. They will be OK for a week or even a month. (My eldest lived on air for the first 4 years and he’s now 6-3)
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-egg noodles with butter. You can throw some frozen peas into the boiling water at the end if they will eat peas!
-Deli ham rolled around string cheese - I guess that is meat…
-english muffin pizzas - let them sprinkle the cheese on
-not sure if french toast sticks are easy to make from scratch but you can buy frozen
-second hummus and veggies or crackers - ranch dressing/dip was always a big thing when my daughter was a little.
My only caution is to be careful of juices/juice boxes/capri suns. Depending on the kids and the amount they drink they can really overload the kids with sugar and make them nuts! My daughter could only tolerate the low sugar/mostly watery kind-otherwise she turned into the Tasmanian devil. 
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Fruit smoothies (you might be able to sneak ONE veggie in it) with a protein and crunchy snack like cheese-its.
Anything they can eat with a not too sharp toothpick - cheese cubes, meat bites, watermelon chunks, cold/warm macaroni.
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My kid loved fruit trays and veggie trays at those ages and would like to help make them (2-year old could put grapes on tray or baby carrots, etc;). Hummus or another dip works well.
Cereal (especially kinds that have higher levels of protein and fiber…Kashi or even plain Cheerios), pancakes, omelettes (with lots of veggies…kid loved to help with this), salads…If a kid helps to make a dish, they are 10x more likely to eat the dish, in my experience.
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“Breakfast for Dinner”–serve breakfast foods they will eat. Examples:
-Whole wheat Ego waffles and real maple syrup with blueberries and Redi-wip on the side.
-Fried eggs and whole wheat toast cut into triangles to “dip” into the yolk, maybe with cut up avocado on the side.
-Scrambled eggs and toast with shredded cheese and herbs you can sprinkle on the top if you want.
-Cereal bar (various cereals to mix and match)?
-Yogurt parfaits: Vanilla yogurt, blueberries, granola?
Serve all with orange juice, and maybe have them decorate “place mats” (pieces of paper they color on)
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So sorry you have a family emergency. 
Our GKids love: cut up cukes, bell peppers, cheese, watermelon, various berries. In cooked food, scrambled eggs (shredded cheese is alway welcome!), pizza, Mac and cheese, roasted turkey or chicken pieces. PB&J sandwiches without crusts. Yogurt in tubes. Fruit or vegetable pouches. Nothing super special, just typical toddler foods.
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Kids will eat any vegetable if it’s in a fritter. Super easy. When my kids were small, they loved zucchini pancakes and broccoli fritters. These are the recipes we used, and still use today, because everyone likes them (the zucchini pancakes come from a kids’ cooking magazine, so my daughter was actually the first one in our family to make them, when she was maybe 10-12?). Both recipes are highly adaptable, if you want to use different veggies, different kinds of cheese, etc. Serve with fruit salad on the side, and you’ve got a nice vegetarian meal with leftovers.
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I would put out anything I had in the fridge:leftovers, fruits, veggies, crackers, pickles, tidbits, yogurt, hummus, etc. I’d even put out a desserts and chips.
I would give each kid a muffin tin and let them fill it however they wanted. The only rule was that one “hole” had to have veggies and dessert only went in one hole. They could refill anything they wanted as well.
This worked really well for lunch. It was a great way to use up leftovers and I wasn’t really “cooking”. The kids were more likely to eat when given control over what and how much they were choosing. I would often prep dinner at this time.
Just one tip if you haven’t fed littles in a long time. We tend to forget that their eating schedules are not the same as ours. They tend to load up early for breakfast and then want to pick throughout the day. Often by the time adults are ready for dinner, they are too tired and hungry to sit down and have an enjoyable mealtime.
We did a breakfast, and late morning “lunch”. I’d then let them help me make dinner in the afternoon. They’d eat a “real” dinner in the late afternoon when they were starving. This is a time they would have grabbed a snack if dinner wasn’t ready and then they wouldn’t have been hungry for a “real” dinner later on. In the evening, my husband and I would eat the “real” dinner that was already prepped while the kids sat at the table and we enjoyed each other’s company. Sometimes they ate more dinner, but often it was a snack like yogurt and fruit, cereal, oatmeal or a dessert. This ended up being soooo much less stressful. No fighting over what to eat when they were tired and done for the day and much more fun conversation at dinner when there was no pressure to get them to eat.
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These are all great ideas. I think everything I would have recommended is listed above. In addition, some kids are more adventurous and will eat unexpected things … my GD loves shawarma and biriyani. Lebanese rice is a favorite.
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It’s so kind that you are able to help out in this situation @jym626 .
Your goal is to get some food into them. Ask them what they like. Try to keep their food routines what they know. Of course not a time to make new routines or to even get them to like new foods. They like what they know. And that includes what they eat, how it gets served, where it gets served.
Let us know how it goes!
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Not all 2 year olds are picky. Mine had some strong preferences but didn’t necessarily like traditional ‘kid food’. For a kid who doesn’t like meat, I’d consider egg-based dishes like quiche or frittata with veggies. If others want some meat flavor, bits of ham or bacon might not be objectionable for the toddler. One of mine was fine with things like chicken salad (it might not seem like meat since the texture is different) or egg salad. Raw veggies and roasted veggies were both popular, as was fruit of all kinds, fresh or canned or even frozen and cold.
Refried beans eaten with ‘scoop’ tortilla chips or in the small street taco soft tortillas might be good. Some kids like dips and others don’t want stuff to touch their food. If you have one that likes to dip, hummus can add some protein.
Smoothies - just some fruit and yogurt or a dash of milk - are good for a lot of kids. My teens drink their protein smoothies using the same wide silicone straws that I bought when they were little. I would sometimes put frozen fruit into the blender and serve it to the kids with a spoon, sort of a shaved ice texture.
Mine both liked Chinese and Indian carryout - they were both fans of rice even though it was messy. They also liked non-spaghetti pasta - wagon wheels or spirals were easier for them to pick up.
Quesadillas could be good. Lots of kids eat plain cheese, basically a grilled cheese sandwich on tortillas. These days I make them with black beans and corn, and my kids probably would have liked those when they were little if I’d had the recipe.
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pasta and veggies! Any kind, with any kind
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Vegetarian/vegan family with 3 kids under 3. These are our go-tos for quick kid dinners.
The kids love both spaghetti and cheese ravioli/tortellini. We add some extra veggies to the sauce–like fresh spinach, frozen artichoke hearts, bell peppers, black olives. Whatever they like and will eat.
Cooked pasta with steamed green peas (protein) and white sauce. Add mushrooms and/or ham if the kids will eat them.
Eggplant parmesan–for some the reason the 10 month absolutely loves eggplant parm and two-fists his dinner whenever we have it. (I oven fry my eggplant on a sheet pan to contain the mess of frying and reduce the amount of oil used.)
Israeli couscous with sautéed bell peppers & onions, golden raisins, halloumi, cashews
Cold pasta salad made with rotini, fresh bite size mozzeralla, fresh basil, marinated halved cherry tomatoes, black olives, blanched broccoli or corn kernels. Marinate the tomatoes in the olive oil, salt & black pepper for about 30 minutes before adding to the pasta. (You can add some balsamic vinegar for the grown-ups.)
Quesadilla with black or pinto beans, sautéed zucchini, bell peppers, onions and corn kernels (fresh off the cob or frozen). Offer mild salsa, guacamole or sour cream on the side.
Fried rice with whatever veggies are on hand, plus scrambled egg. Add tofu if you like.
Homemade “grandma style” pizza. Crust is spread out onto a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray, topped with jarred sauce, mozzarella cheese and whatever toppings they like. Bake at 450 degrees until crust has browned and cheese melted. You can make the crust yourself or buy it at Trader Joes or other grocery stores. Some pizzerias sell pizza kits to go with a ball of dough, shredded cheese, and sauce. (I make a double batch of homemade whole wheat pizza dough and keep a ball in the freezer for dinner emergencies.)
Grilled cheese sandwiches with veggies/fruit added to the cheese inside before cooking. Sliced tomatoes or apples are both good. Use whole wheat bread to up the nutrition factor. Offer fruit, apple chips on the side. For grown ups add some pesto or fresh basil with the tomatoes, or some some sautéed onions with either apples and tomatoes. Sautéed mushrooms in a grilled cheese are very tasty. (I like grilled gruyere cheese with sautéed mushrooms & onions with a bit of dijon mustard–but that’s too sophisticated for the kids.)
Mac and cheese with steamed broccoli, cauliflower or kale added. You can even make Mac & cheese from a box to speed meal-making up. (Annie’s is good with less sodium than the blue box.)
Stir fried broccoli (or whatever veggies are convenient) with tofu (use firm or extra firm) over brown or white rice.
Tacos filled with crispy fried potatoes seasoned with smoked paprika and oregano and whole pinto beans with usual assortments of toppings–avocado, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, salsa… Of course, you can make ground beef filling or use a vegan ground beef substitute.
Edited to add
all the kids love cold, steamed edamame. You can find frozen shelled edamame at larger grocery stores. If you can’t find them shelled, get them in pods and teach them how to squeeze them beans out themselves. It becomes a game to see how fast they can shell the beans.
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But really, the kids will eat whatever the kids will eat. They’ll tell you pretty quick what they don’t like. (We have one that picks the spinach out of everything; she also hates mushrooms and picks them out too.) And peanut butter and jelly is always a lifesaver when they won’t eat anything else.
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