Tips for Tots

Toddler Diet Informational Guide
FINGER FOODS FROM THE FOUR BASIC FOOD GROUPS

MILK & DAIRY 4 servings each day

• Cheese strips
• Grated or shredded cheese (1 ounce)
• Cottage cheese, small or large curd (add fresh or canned fruit for interest)
• Whole milk
• Yogurt (smooth) puddings
• Ice Cream
• Custard
• Pudding
• Yogurt

FRUIT 2-4 servings each day

• Banana, mashed or small slices
• Apples, peeled and cut in 1/8ths
• Applesauce
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupe, cut into bite-size pieces
• Dried fruits, cut into bite-size pieces –avoid raisins
• Fruit cocktail, canned
• Grapes, halved
• Guava
• Honeydew melon, cut into bite-size pieces
• Kiwi pieces, peeled
• Mandarin oranges, canned
• Mango
• Oranges, peeled and sectioned
• Orange juice, Calcium fortified if milk intake low
• Papaya
• Peaches, ripe and peeled

VEGETABLES 3-4 servings each day

• Asparagus tips, cooked
• Avocado, ripe
• Beets
• Broccoli florets, cooked
• Brussels sprouts
• Carrot sticks, soft cooked or grated,
• Cauliflower, cooked
• Celery, all strands removed
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Creamed Corn
• Eggplant
• French-fries
• Green Beans, cooked
• Kale, cooked
• Lettuce, shredded
• Mashed Potato
• Mushrooms, cooked
• Okra pods
• Peas
• Peppers, green or red bell
• Pickle spears
• Potato Cubes
• Pumpkin, canned, unsweetened

BREAD & GRAINS 6 or More Servings Per Day 

• Dry Cereals: Cheerios ®, Kix ®, Puffed Rice, Corn Bran (dry or with milk)
• Bagels and cream cheese
• Bread sticks
• Biscuits
• English muffin
• Bran muffins graham crackers
• Cooked Cereals (baby cereals are more nutritious)
• French toast, sliced
• Goldfish crackers
• Macaroni and other pasta
• Oyster crackers
• Pancakes
• Pita bread, regular or whole wheat
• Pretzel rods
• Rice, white, brown or wild
• Rice cakes, avoid ones containing nuts
• Saltines

PROTEIN FOODS 4 Servings Per Day (total of 25 grams)

• Beans, (garbonzo, (chick peas), pinto, kidney, navy), cooked until soft and mashed or split for a young toddler)
• Bacon, crisp
• Eggs, boiled, scrambled, poached or deviled
• Gerber meatsticks
• Ham, cut into bite size pieces
• Hamburger patty
• Lamb chops (make sure bone has no sharp points)
• Lentils
• Luncheon meats
• Meatloaf
• Sausage
• Spareribs, well-cooked, little sauce
• Tender fish (no bones)
• Tender meat (ground, chopped or cubed)

COMBINATION & SNACK FOODS

• Bean & cheese burrito (cut up)
• Beefaroni
• Cheese and crackers
• Gnocchi, tortellini, ravioli with a variety of fillings
• Macaroni and cheese
• Macaroni and pastas (try different shapes and colors)
• Plain peanut butter on toast or crackers
• Quesadilla strips (cheese melted between flour tortillas and sliced into strips)
• Ravioli
• Spaghetti O's

 * Avoid egg white if less than 12 months old.   Remember each child is an individual.