The Baby & Toddler Food menus are designed for you to make life feeding your baby/toddler homemade food a little easier. We are not pediatricians, please seek counsel from them on timing, allergies and food sensitivities. These menus are simply designed for ease of parents and not necessarily adhere to dietary guidelines. If you are new and not sure how to get started we have a wonderful series starting with 5 easy steps to get you on your way to once a month cooking. Good luck!

• Below is a linked list of items we have hand selected for this menu. The links below are to the original recipe. We include these so that you can get a look at what you might be preparing and to give these wonderful blog authors some traffic (they work hard to create great recipes). However, to see our freezer cooking adaptions and to alter the servings to meet the needs of your family you will need to VIEW and PRINT the printable Toddler Food 18+ Month February 2012 Recipe Cards.
• Recipes are intended to be used by one baby or toddler on a oamc cooking day. If you are cooking for more than one toddler, download this document or make a copy for your personal use. Then indicate how many toddlers in the yellow box below to automatically adjust information the recipe cards. Do the same thing for the grocery list.
• Having trouble using the Recipe Cards or YELLOW BOX? See this post!

Mini Veggie Frittatas

Breakfasts

• No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
• Green Supreme Smoothies
• Mini Veggie Frittatas
• Homemade Poptarts

Lunches

• St. Patrick’s Day Green Mac-n-Cheese
• Chicken Pot Pie Bundles
• Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
• Football Turnovers
• Chicken Stix
• Spaghetti with Meatballs

Secret Ingredient Fudgy Brownies

Snacks

• Cheddar Coins (aka Healthy Cheez-Its)
• Secret Ingredient Fudgy Brownies
• Balls of Energy

Printable Toddler Food 18+ Month February 2012 Menu

Grocery List

• Included in this spreadsheet you will find a listing of all the items you will need to complete your Toddler Food 18+ Month February 2012 OAMC BIG DAY by area of the grocery store. For more instructions on how to use this, go here.
• Toddler Food 18+ Month February 2012 OAMM Grocery List

Instructions

• These are the step-by-step instructions you will need to quickly and efficiently approach your OAMC BIG DAY. After all, if you are going to be in the kitchen for awhile, you best make the most of your time.
• Toddler Food 18+ Month February 2012 OAMM Instructions

Labels

These customized labels are designed specifically for this menu. They contain the name of the dish and serving instructions for preparing the dish on your serving day. They make preparation of the dishes hassle free and staying to your eating plan a cinch.

These labels are designed to be printed on Avery 8163 or equivalent! Readers who didn’t have labels available suggested just printing them on paper and taping them.

• Toddler Food 18+ Month February 2012 Printable Labels

Pinterest:

Are you a person that likes to see the menus visually? Perhaps you should check out the Toddler Food 18+ Month February 2012 Toddler Food Menu via Pinterest to see the yummy goodness you will be cooking up on this menu. Not sure what Pinterest is all about, check out what Once A Month Mom has to say about it.

Facebook Fan Party:

OAMM Facebook Fan Page Party – February 12th 2012, 9:00 pm – 9:30 pm EST – We will be able to chat via video AND messaging during the event through FACEBOOK! How cool is that? We will be talking about the current month’s menus, answer your burning questions about freezer cooking and have fun getting to know one another. You can also see other past recordings from that tab as well. This is a great way to meet fellow Once A Month Mom’s or get your questions answered as you get started.

Instructions for viewing live-stream:

• Go to the Once A Month Mom Facebook Fan Page.
• Click on the “FB Fan Night” Tab on the left side margin.
• Hit “view live recording” – If I am live streaming it will show you what is happening in progress. If I am not live streaming at the time, you will have the option to click through other videos that I have recorded in the past.
• Enjoy!

Test Cooks

Each month we have some wonderful volunteers who “test” out the menu prior to publication. They do an amazing job of helping to eliminate confusion and mistakes. They may not catch everything but they sure do catch A LOT! If you are interested in test cooking, feel free to volunteer. Here is a little bit about this month’s test cooks:

• Jennifer Jordan – I’m an RN married to an Air Force dentist living in San Antonio TX. I’ve taken some time off work to be at home with my 2 year old son. Since staying at home, I’ve turned to cooking and baking as my nap time hobbies and enjoy trying new recipes and new ingredients!
• Kelli Sanders – I am wife, working mama to 4, and a quilter. School, sports, and church activities keep us very busy. High school sports and rec league sports keep us running during dinner time, so I am on the hunt for simplifying meal times. I love the ‘thaw, heat and eat’ approach… it gives me more time to spend with the kids, and more quilting time is never a bad thing! Happy MOM is the key to life, right!

Get Started

Are you new to Once A Month Mom or once a month cooking (oamc) in general? If so, you might want to spend a few minutes (or hours) on the Get Started Series. If you are in a real hurry to catch on we have written some simple steps for getting started. Welcome!

If you are feeling abundantly blessed and generous feel free to donate. And if this time frame doesn’t match up with your child, please check out our other baby and toddler food menus.

Toddler 12-18 Month Menu

• Included below are the menu items that we will be preparing as part of our Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) BIG DAY. In the printable Toddler Food 12-18 Month January 2012 Recipe Cards you can adjust the number of servings to accommodate the number of toddlers that you are cooking for. The recipes linked below are ONLY for the single batch, to see the amounts we are making on the OAMC BIG DAY you will need to visit the printable Toddler Food 12-18 Month January 2012 Recipe Cards.
• Having trouble using the Recipe Cards or YELLOW BOX? See this post!

Mini Cheese Scones

Breakfasts

• Mini Cheese Scones
• Peach Raspberry Muffins
• Blueberry Granola Pancakes
• French Toast Squares

Lunches

• Cheesy Potato Soup
• Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
• White Chicken Chili
• Sweet Potato & Ham Burgers
• Cheesy Tuna Mac
• Fish Stix

Toddler-ific Pizza Snack Cups

Snacks

• Pizza Snack Cups
• Cheese Twists
• Frozen Yogurt Fruit Cups

Printable Toddler Food 12-18 Month January 2012 Menu

Grocery List

• Included in this spreadsheet you will find a listing of all the items you will need to complete your January 2012 once a month cooking (OAMC) toddler food BIG DAY. For more instructions on how to use this, go here.
• Toddler Food 12-18 Month January 2012 OAMM Grocery List

Instructions

• These are the step-by-step instructions you will need to quickly and efficiently approach your once a month cooking (OAMC) baby food BIG DAY!
• Toddler Food 12-18 Month January 2012 OAMM Instructions

Labels

These customized labels are designed specifically for the January 2012 Once A Month Mom Menu. They contain not only the name of the dish but also the serving instructions for preparing the dish on your serving day. They make preparation of the dishes hassle free.

These labels are designed to be printed on Avery 8163 or equivalent! Readers who didn’t have labels available suggested just printing them on paper and taping them.

• Toddler Food 12-18 Month January 2012 Printable Labels

Pinterest:

It has been a looonnnngggg, loooonnnnggg time since we have had a baby food menu around these parts. I am so glad to be able to bring you one this month. This one is actually a repeat of one that is already posted on the site but that one doesn’t have a grocery list, recipe cards or instructions. It needed some work!

This menu is perfect for the fall as you are working to introduce foods to your baby. Please note that you will need to follow pediatrician guidelines for feeding your baby. We don’t provide information on how to feed your baby, just the tools for when you begin to.

Enjoy! And look for many more menus to come in the future.

**Please note there is a Once A Month Mom Holiday eCookbook Blowout Sale on Wednesday, November 2nd starting at 9:30 Eastern Standard Time. Don’t miss out.

I hope you enjoy these meals as much as our early readers/cooks have. If you are new and not sure how to get started, read here. For frequently asked questions visit here. And there are several other helpful links under the Helpful Hints/Resources section below to help you on your cooking journey. Good luck!

• Included below are the menu items that we will be preparing as part of our Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) BIG DAY. In the printable 9-12 Month FALL 2011 Recipe Cards you can adjust the number of servings to accommodate the number of people that you are cooking for. The recipes linked below are ONLY for the single batch, to see the amounts we are making on the OAMC BIG DAY you will need to visit the printable 9-12 Month FALL 2011 Recipe Cards.
• Having trouble using the Recipe Cards or YELLOW BOX? See this post!

9-12 Month Fall Baby Food Menu

Vegetables

• Spinach and Parsnips
• Cheesy Tomato and Cauliflower Puree
• Peas Puree
• Sweet Potato Puree
• Carrot Puree
• Green Bean Puree

Fruits

• Apple, Pear, Kiwi Puree
• Peach, Apple and Strawberry Puree
• Blueberry Puree
• Avocado Puree
• Banana Puree

Meats

• Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Apples
• Chicken and Veggies II
• Beef and Veggies
• Ham, Pineapple, Peach and Apple Puree

Printable 9-12 Month FALL 2011 Recipe Cards

Grocery List

• Included in this spreadsheet you will find a listing of all the items you will need to complete your Baby Food 9-12 Month FALL 2011 once a month cooking (OAMC) baby food BIG DAY. For more instructions on how to use this, go here.
• Baby Food 9-12 Month FALL 2011 OAMM Grocery List

Instructions

• These are the step-by-step instructions you will need to quickly and efficiently approach your once a month cooking (OAMC) baby food BIG DAY!
• Baby Food 9-12 Month FALL 2011 OAMM Instructions

Labels

These customized labels are designed specifically for the Baby Food 9-12 Month FALL 2011 Once A Month Mom Menu. They contain not only the name of the dish but also the serving instructions for preparing the dish on your serving day. They make preparation of the dishes hassle free.

These labels are designed to be printed on Avery 8163 or equivalent! Readers who didn’t have labels available suggested just printing them on paper and taping them.

• BABY FOOD 9-12 Month FALL Printable Labels

We like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas! Well, my toddler daughter does. For some reason those are the only fruits she will put in her little mouth. A whole apple? Great. Try a blueberry? Not a chance.

These pancakes were a big hit with her. You could sub any puree for the applesauce, too, if you want to experiment with different flavors.

Apple & Banana Pancakes

Author/Source:

Jessie @ Vanderbiltwife.com

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 0.33 cup milk
• 0.5 cups applesauce
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 0.25 teaspoons salt
• 1 ripe banana, diced
• Butter for greasing the skillet

Directions:

Beat egg until a medium bowl until fluffy. Add flour, milk, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt and stir until smooth.

Heat a griddle over medium heat and grease with butter.

Pour small pancakes onto griddle. Sprinkle banana pieces onto the batter. Flip after 3 minutes. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until brown on both sides.

Freezing Directions:

Flash freeze. Freeze in a gallon freezer bag. To serve, place frozen pancakes on a plate and microwave on high 40-50 seconds.

Servings: 10 pancakes

This Post will be linked at:

• Tasty Traditions at Coupon Cookin’
• Cooking Thursday at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

It has been awhile since I posted something in the baby food category. And this gem of a recipe came to me several months ago from Jessie. I’m just sad it has taken me this long to get it up! You should be seeing more in this category as the summer goes on. I do have a 5 month old now!

At 15 1/2 months, my daughter Libbie JUST started wanting to eat real food. For 6 months plus, we’ve been in this epic battle where she would eat any baby food, no matter how smelly or disgusting, but, say, pasta? Soup? Chicken Parmesan? She wouldn’t even let the spoon near her delicate mouth.

It’s been WAY fun.

So for months, her diet has consisted of bananas, yogurt, Cheerios, cheese, and applesauce. While I was working, I would occasionally make my own applesauce, but it was easier to buy Mott’s Natural. At home now, though, I’ve felt more freedom to experiment and create whole, tasty foods for my little taste-tester.

This is barely a recipe, but it’s a flavor combination you might not have thought of, and an easy way to prepare homemade applesauce.

Author/Source:

Jessie @ VanderbiltWife.com care of Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

• 5-lb bag of apples, any kind
• 4 pears, any kind
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1-2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Peel apples and pears. (I got all of the fruit for $2 at Aldi! Woot!) Cut into large dice and throw in the crackpot.

Mix in maple syrup and cinnamon. (I used about 2 tsp because Libbie can handle it, but it’s pretty strongly cinnamon-flavored. I’d suggest 1 tsp. for smaller children.)

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until completely soft.

For older children, mash with a potato masher. For younger babies, puree in a blender or with an immersion blender to make more smooth.

Freezing Directions:

Freeze in quart-sized freezer zip bags or individual servings in ice cube trays. Great by itself or mixed with plain, whole-milk yogurt.

Servings: Varies with Age

Up to about 10 months, my daughter would eat anything in sight. I secretly laughed at a friend whose little boy, 7 months older than Libbie, wouldn’t touch anything except waffles for months. MY child would NEVER be like that, of course! Well, fast-forward in time, and at 13 months my girl will hardly touch any food. For weeks she will insist on surviving on bread, bananas, applesauce, and string cheese. It baffles me that this can be the same child who would happily gnaw on a cube of cantaloupe at 7 months and adored green bean puree.

So I’ve started trying any concoction I can to get her to eat something healthy. These mini-muffins were a big hit, are baby-palm-sized, and freeze well.

Mini Sweet Potato Muffins (10 months +)

Author/Source:

Jessie @ Vanderbiltwife.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar or other sweetener (I use turbinado sugar)
• 1 cup mashed sweet potato
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and sugar. Stir in other wet ingredients until just combined.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way and bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Freezing Directions:

Flash freeze or let cool before storing in plastic freezer bags. To thaw, heat in the microwave inside a paper towel for 20 seconds.

Servings: 3 dozen

A few readers have asked me if I have ever considered doing a toddler menu. I definitely have, but time isn’t always my friend. Well, Kristi wrote to me to let me know that she and her sister-in-law were planning to put one together which I thought was a fantastic idea. (I am still working on potentially coming up with one of my own as well).

After seeing Kristi‘s mini meatloaves I decided to find a recipe and try my hand at one as well. This is what I came up with after altering a recipe in Deceptively Delicious.

Author/Source:

Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

(Keep in mind I am making this for a 12-18 month old, adjust milk and fats if you are serving to older children.)

• 1 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs
• .5 cup whole milk
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• .5 onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• .5 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• .5 cup carrots, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup tomato sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray. In a large bowl, soak the breadcrumbs in milk. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 7-10 minutes. Add the celery and cook 3 to 4 minutes longer. Add the cooked mixture into the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. Place portions in muffin pans. Bake until the center of the meatloaf is no longer pink, approximately 45-50 minutes.

Freezing Directions:

Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool. When cooled, place on a cool cookie sheet and flash freeze for 10-15 minutes or until starting to freeze. Place in gallon freezer bag. Freeze.

Toddler Servings: 12-16

I wish I could tell you that my son loved these, but that wouldn’t be the truth. Don’t let it deter you though, my son isn’t a big meat eater at this point so I wasn’t too surprised. They freeze well so we will keep trying.

He wants to examine everything.

Several weeks ago we started into really giving Isaac finger foods. We have been half-hearted but he was showing definite signs of being more interested in our food than his own pureed food. (I suppose a bit of me is excited to win his stomach back from Gerber too).

I have wrestled with this eating stage though. It is really hard for me. It just takes so long for him to eat a meal. I love watching him pick up all the foods and try new things, but goodness, it takes FOREVER. (And I just want to get to the pool)! Yes, I know I am being selfish again.

Actually, one of the hardest things about this stage for me is having good finger foods ready and available for him when he is ready to eat. I have heard many say, “I just feed him what we are eating.” Well, I haven’t exactly gotten into the swing of planning my meals to be edible by him yet. And for lunch I usually just warm up whatever looks good to me at the moment. And Isaac is usally ready to eat by then, he doesn’t want to wait for me to fix something.

So, I got to looking at the Happy Box and figured I could kill two birds with one stone; I can use up some of the produce before it goes bad and also set aside some good food for my little one.

So one afternoon I got my steamer out and started steaming some vegetables. I started with summer squash and broccoli. I steamed them in the steamer for about 20 minutes, let them cool, bagged them in single size portions, about 1/4 cup each, and put them in a gallon freezer bag. I then diced up some carrots and followed the same procedure. Now, when I need a fresh meal accompaniment (and I don’t have one already planned) I simply go to my beloved freezer and pull out a vegetable. It’s that easy!

Now the getting the child to eat it is another story. We definitely LOVE some broccoli. I usually have to give him that last if I want him to eat anything else. We like squash too. But carrots? He would rather do without carrots. I will keep trying though. . .

So as you are looking at some of that produce sprouting from your garden, remember that there is a little one that might just be excited to have you store some of it away for them.