Hi guys and welcome to the family Fudge. I'm Jennifer and in today's video I'm going to share with you some of my go-to toddler meals. Now Griffin is the youngest of four children in our family and if you've been around on the channel for a while you'll probably know he can be a picky eater. I get lots of questions from you guys about what to do when you have a picky eater so today I'm going to share with you just a few of my tips. So stay tuned! Now before we jump right in just a couple of things. First off I'm feeling super rusty at talking to you guys on the camera like this. I feel like it's been a long time since I've done a video like this over the summer we've tried to do a lot of family vlogs and travel videos and fun challenges and things like that. But I really like these videos. I really like to answer your questions and I'm super excited because today's video is in collaboration with Haley over the channel Haley Page. Now if you've never seen her channel I highly recommend that you check her out. She shares videos on motherhood, parenting, organizing, fashion, beauty and much more. She's also going to be sharing some toddler meal ideas over on her channel so definitely go check out her video I will link it down below. Now if this is your first time here and you're coming over from Haley's channel welcome I'm so happy that you're here. I hope that you will enjoy this video and that if you do you'll consider subscribing and without further a do let's get started. So of course I'm gonna kick things off with breakfast. Now my number one tip when it comes to picky eaters and breakfast is to learn the difference between when your kids are being picky eaters and when they're just not hungry. Now all kids are different so you definitely have to kind of tune into this but I know for Griffin he's not ready for breakfast and tell about 30 minutes after he wakes up so if I try to eat him sooner than that it seems like he's being picky but he's just not ready to eat yet. Now some of my other kids on the other hand are ready to eat breakfast right when they wake up. Now when it comes to breakfast options I'd say my go-to for Griffin is scrambled eggs. I'm so thankful that he loves eggs it's easy it's economical and it's pretty healthy for him but I can learn that he likes it even more if I add cheese on top he loves cheese in every variety but just like anyone after days and days of scrambled eggs he was getting a little bit tired of it and that's when I introduced him to ketchup which brings me to tip number two and that is to offer a dip and of course there's more than just ketchup out there depending on what your kids are eating. Some other dips that are great could be guacamole or peanut butter dip a yogurt dip maybe some hummus just try different things it might reinvigorate them make them more excited to eat their food. Now other than scrambled eggs Griffin is a big fan of French toast especially if I cut it into sticks he also likes waffles and oatmeal he loves oatmeal. Now moving on to lunch some of Griffin's favorites include the good old cheese and crackers, mac and cheese and of course every kid's favorite a pv and j. For meal times at home I love to use plates or trays with multiple compartments and this does a couple of things. Number one it encourages me to think about different food groups as I'm planning to meal so the fruit will go here the vegetable go here and so on. And number two it also encourages me to offer a variety of foods which is a good strategy for picky eaters offering lots of different choices. Now this brings me to tip number three and that is sneaking in new foods. So if I have my tray or plate with lots of different choices I might sneak in one new choice with all the familiar favorites. Now when it comes to the new food item I try not to make a big deal about it. In fact I might not tell him anything and I'll just put it on there and see how it goes. Now if he ends up not eating it that doesn't mean I never offer it to him again. In fact some kids especially with him I might have to try to reintroduce it to him several times before he'll actually eat it and I find that that's true the lot of kids. So just because I don't like it the first time doesn't mean you shouldn't try again. Now when it comes to dinner it opens a huge fan of any kind of pasta especially if it has pesto on it. He also loves beans he likes chicken loves quesadillas and he especially loves pizza. Now here's the thing about dinner. I don't usually make a separate special dinner just for him. I like to take whatever the family is eating and make it more friendly for a toddler. So I might cut it up differently I might deconstruct it so it's easier for him to eat. And that brings me to tip number four and then is make dinner fun. We're all sitting together we're having good time but I'm also using some tricks. I have some tricks that might leave and that means fun plates fun bowls fun utensils. I have these really interesting plates that actually look like a game and he can put a little chunk of food in each compartment and they can just go long and at the end there's a prize if they eat all their food. Another thing that we've really loves are fun utensils like these airplane spoons. He definitely enjoys when I make it more fun. Now before I wrap this up I wanted to mention a few of Griffin's favorite snacks and a lot of these snacks are actually portable which is great because usually when we need a snack we're not at home. So Griffin is a big fan of anything in a pouch whether it's applesauce in a pouch or yogurt those are really convenient and he loves them. He also loves bars like cereal bars, granola bars, fig bars, things like that and then there's always goldfish. He loves goldfish crackers. I like to put him in a little snack container so they don't spill everywhere and there always a go-to for us. Okay friends I hope you found this video helpful especially if you're dealing with a picky eater of your own and I would love it if you would share any tips and tricks you have in the comments section down below and don't forget to go check out Haley's video over at the channel Haley Page. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.