Toddlers can be a finicky lot when it comes to their food choices. One day it feels like they can eat the contents of an entire refrigerator and on another it feels like they only eat air.
Here are some creative ways to add calories to toddler meals without them noticing. This way you can bump up the calories and ensure that even if your child eats little, they are getting the most nutrient and calories wise.
Related reading : How to encourage intuitive eating with kids.
1.Use smoothies.
Using smoothies as a vehicle to carry other nutrient dense and calorie rich foods is the easiest way to bump up the calorie intake for the day.
The sweetness of added fruit masks the taste of other foods the toddler won’t eat otherwise.
Some great calorie rich smoothie combinations are:
Mango-milk-nut-seed powder, avocado-banana-flax-milk and chocolate powder-banana-peanut butter-milk.
Add a tsp of honey for sweetness if you like.
More smoothie recipes for kids here.
2. Add extra calories to toddler’s milk.
Toddlers usually consume about 100 ml to 150 ml of milk at a time.
Add a tablespoon of homemade mixed nut & seed powder to their milk.
You can make it using whatever nuts you have in rotation at home. One nut-seed combination that is high iron, full of protein and healthy fats is walnuts, almonds and cashews along with pumpkin seeds.
Top tip : Add a few pods of cardamom when grinding the roasted nuts to make the powder flavorful.
3. Olive oil as a flavor and calorie bomb.
Drizzle a little extra olive oil on your picky toddler’s food.
You can add some olive oil to rice, boiled and steamed vegetables, pasta, boiled potatoes and even to sauces the toddler would be dipping their chips in.
This way no matter how much your toddler eats, they are getting extra calories in every bite.
4. Offer calorie dense fruits often.
Most children prefer fruit over vegetables. Use this as an opportunity to offer calorie dense fruit over water rich ones.
Some examples of high-calorie fruits are bananas, mangoes, avocados, and dried fruits like dates, apricots and raisins.
The dried fruits are best offered incorporated in milk or in energy balls and homemade energy bars.
5. Make it creamy with coconut cream or milk cream.
Add coconut to toddler snacks and meals like chutneys, dips, curries, no-bake desserts, and popsicles.
Milk cream can be added to fruit desserts like strawberries and cream, pasta sauces, curries and vegetable bakes.
Children enjoy such rich flavors and these are hidden ways to bump up the calorie content of the meal without the child noticing.
What are some of the ways you add calories to toddler meals?
If you have ideas of your own do leave us a comment. It would be a huge help to mothers reading this post.
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