I thought I could share one of the secrets that I have learned through personal experience about food for toddlers that they actually WILL EAT! One of the nutritional food for toddlers is....the camouflaged food. This secret is great as it can be prepared quickly and works great if your in a hurry.

As a Child Care Provider in my home for the past three years, dealing with food for toddlers is an important but complicated task to accomplish. Parents rely on me to see that they receive a balanced meal which includes fruits, vegetables and meats. However, I have learned from experience that each child is different when it comes to their likes and dislikes with certain foods.

Toddlers are discovering textures, colors and tastes as well as developing their own personal individualities. "Hiding" or "camouflaging" certain foods that your child will not normally eat is a great way to make sure he/she receives the proper nutrition without noticing. I have found this tip to work 90% of the time on 90% of the children.

A food for toddlers that most love to eat is rice...and that is the basic ingredient to success!

*It is easy to eat, even with little fingers

*It has an overlapping texture which hides other foods you wish to add

I basically cook white or brown rice. I then will add a cooked meat (chicken, fish, beef) that has been cut into very small pieces. I add a cooked vegetable, again cut very small. (Soft vegetables like peas I normally squash since they are easy to detect). The finishing touch: I pour some V-8 vegetable juice into the mixture for flavor (the color also helps to hide the vegetable) or chicken broth. Rice is also ideal to mix with your vegetable soup when your toddler is still too young to eat soup on his/her own.

I usually will place pieces of the cooked meat and vegetables along side the rice mixture since it is important that as they grow, they do learn to eat their meat and vegetables just like adults do. It also helps you as the parent to know what they learn to develop a taste for, and what they really cannot. They see that their plate looks like yours, and that is what they like!!

Although this is a good idea based on my experience, always remember that by planning ahead as often as you can will help to make sure your toddler is receiving a healthy diet.