A highly requested post! Finally decided on a day to do this. I get a little busy and distracted to put together these type of “eat in a day” posts but I really committed this day. Here’s a realistic look at what Willow eats in a day during the winter. A couple notes before we start…
Willow is a toddler… and like most toddlers, she has her picky days. Some days she eats everything on her plate and some days she wants nothing to do with food and I have to get in what I can. But I know it is normal and try not to worry too much on those picky days. I will make notes below on how much she ate/what she did or didn’t eat for each meal served. I think that’s important because sometimes you see this amazing elaborate toddler plate on IG but who knows how much the toddler ACTUALLY ate, right?
I always start with a smaller serving to avoid wasting too much food and then give her more when she asks. She is very good as asking for more when she wants more. This helps to keep the mess at bay, too. She likes to start playing with her food once she is through or if she isn’t interested.
Willow eats plant-based meals (I talk more about our decision here) BUT for the sake of transparency, she takes a multivitamin (affiliate link) that contains fish oil. We’re not perfect, but we do our best. Again… realistic post here. She takes the vitamin to fill in the gaps, especially on those picky days I mentioned. Aside from that, she has never consumed meat and does not eat dairy, eggs, etc.
It’s the middle of winter here so fresh fruit is meh lately. She does like pears and apples but I switch it up with canned fruit, which you will see below. This keeps variety in her diet.
Now onto the day’s worth of food…
Willow starts her day with about a cup of Ripple milk – this tides her over until I get myself ready for the day and get her breakfast. She gets up around 7.
Around 8:30, she has breakfast. This morning she had a container of So Delicious coconut strawberry banana yogurt mixed with about 1/2 tbsp chia seeds, avocado toast, and mandarin oranges. She ate all the yogurt, two servings of the mandarin oranges, and 1/4 of the avocado toast. Water and her vitamins with breakfast.
Small snack because she doesn’t eat her lunch well if I give too much. Today she had some raisins and craisins. She loves these.
At around 11:30/12, she has lunch. Today she had lentil stew with rice and a side of wheat bread with Earth Balance butter to dunk. She loves to “dip dip dip” her bread in the broth. She asked for a second serving of the stew but only had a couple more bites. She ate most of the bread, but left crust. Canned pineapple for a little something “sweet” after she finished her stew.
Willow stills naps from about 1-3PM (weeeee) and then has an afternoon snack. Today she woke up and asked for chocolate milk. I blend her Ripple with a handful of cashews, unsweetened cocoa powder, and a little maple syrup and then strain. It’s healthier than actual chocolate milk but gets the job done. I didn’t take a photo of it while making (hangry toddler) but here she is sipping away.
After she finished that, she asked for a banana. She ate half.
We eat dinner as a family when my husband gets home around 6PM. She eats whatever we eat. Tonight we had a quesadilla with pinto beans, corn, onion, and vegan cheese. I topped hers with some vegan sour cream. Side of olives and the last bit of avocado we had left.
She only picked at this dinner, to be honest. She ate most of the avocado, a few olives, and a couple bites of quesadilla before she started to just eat the filling out of the tortilla… which is fine, because the middle is the most important part of the meal. I wasn’t too concerned because she ate well for her last two main meals. I truly do feel good if she eats two solid meals and a not-so-great third. She’s a toddler, after all.
So that about wraps it up. I hope that this gives you a bit of inspiration for your own sweetheart(s). If you like this kind of post, let me know in the comments or on IG. Maybe I’ll put a bit more effort into these daily eats posts! xx bianca
