summer dinners- what does your toddler eat?

We had steak and salad/boiled potatoes for dinner tonight. I did cook DD some frozen peas & corn because I knew she wouldn't eat any salad, but she won't eat the potato or have some of my steak either. Peas & corn isn't much of a dinner and with summer on its way we'll probably be having meat & salad fairly regularly.
Do you make your bub something completely different? I do have leftovers in the freezer for emergencies but don't want to use them all up and have us eating 2 different dinners all the time, but I don't want her going hungry either!

My ds is abit older than your dd but he will eat homemade cabbage salad (coleslaw), beetroot, pineapple rings, cold peas and corn. Bean salads are a good one as they have the protein from the bean. You could also try couscous salad or pasta salad with pasta, ham, corn, capsicum, olives and dressing or even put tuna in it if she likes fish. She may come around with the steak, when ds was 14 months he wasnt into it either but now he loves it. She might like a softer meat like sausages or homemade rissoles on the bbq.

If you find something you all love it certainly makes it easier doesnt it :)

My DH is much older than your DD and doesn't eat salad so we have cooked veg every night & DS1 never got a taste for salad, DS2 on the other hand I've been giving him lettuce, cucumber & tomato since he's been on solids (and he loves tomato, not too fussed on other salad veg yet) I'd suggest cooking some veg for her & giving a bit of salad, one day she may eat it.

If she won't eat steak, maybe boil an egg or give her a slice of cheese to add a bit of substance.

Last Summer we ate outdoors a lot and DD really loved anything we cooked on the bbq - grilled mushrooms, little corn cobs, grilled asparagus (it took a little while for her to come around to this one), 'chips' and pumpkin on the bbq, sausages and hamburgers. It also turned out that DD is a massive fan of calamari so we had that a lot in salads. She really only likes cucumber and tomato as uncooked salad stuff so we would just give her those things out of the salad and then fill her up with the other grilled veggies.

Snowy- DF is the same..he hates salad and doesn't even really like eating vegetables, but he won't cook so therefore he must eat what I put in front of him :rofl:
good idea with the boiled egg, might try that next time and see if she eats it. She does eat sausages/rissoles so i might just have to freeze some separately for her and remember to cook her a sausage instead of what we're having!

Thanks everyone :)

I don't make a different meal for my kids. I make sure there is something on the plate they will both eat, but if they don't eat it, too bad, they do not get another meal. I give them the choice of eating their meal until DH and I finish at the table, usually about 30-45 min, and then clear the table. They then get the choice of fruit or a carrot if they want it. Maybe once or twice a week we have a dessert, like yogurt, icecream, fruit and jelly....and they get that if they TRY dinner. They don't have to eat it all, just taste what's on their plate. I don't stress. DS is pretty fussy. He won't eat much meat or veggies, he's also difficult to get to try things. He will only do it on his terms. DD is a better eater and will try most things. I serve everyone up the same meal every day, whether they like it or not. If it's something I know someone won't eat I just put a tiny bit on the plate, so they can't say I'm not eat (whatever) if (whoever) doesn't have to. They have what everyone else has. Somedays one of them will surprise me and try and then eat something they've never eaten before.

Ours likes most salads as long as the bits are small enough to stuff in her mouth (I shred lettuce quite finely) and not too vinegary. She loves coleslaw, potato salad, tomatoes etc. You can make rice salad with corn and peas in btw, or add extra veggies to potato salad. Julienned carrots are a particular favourite in this house. Actually any veggies in finger-food sized sticks are great for toddlers, and still good to eat with a fork for adults!

grillled zuchinni is yummmo!