Sample Menus For My Toddler

Raising a Healthy Eater (one to two years)

Offer a variety of foods from each food group in Canada’s food guide every day.
Use the following chart as a guide on how much to offer.
Eat as a family as much as possible, free from distractions like electronics and toys.
Trust your toddler’s tummy! It’s the parent’s job to decide what food is offered, where and at what time. It’s your child’s job to decide what foods to eat and how much.
Never force, bribe or pressure your child to eat.

Food Group	Suggested Serving Size
Vegetables and Fruit Offer a variety of colours – especially green and orange	¼ – ½ medium vegetable or fruit 15 – 60 mL (1- 4 tbsp) cooked vegetables or fruit, or grated or chopped raw vegetables or fruit
Whole Grains	¼ – ½ slice bread 1/8 – ¼ bagel, pita or tortilla 30 – 100 mL (2 tbsp – ½ cup) cooked cereal 15 – 60 mL (1 -4 tbsp) cooked pasta, rice or couscous
Protein Foods Offer fish at least twice a week. Offer alternatives like beans, lentils, tofu often.NOTE: If you are not breastfeeding or offering breast milk, offer a total of 500mL (16 oz) of homo milk each day.	1 – 4 tbsp (¼ – 1 ¼ oz) cooked fish, poultry or meat 1 tbsp – ½ cup tofu, cooked beans or lentils ¼ – 1 egg 1 tsp – 1 tbsp peanut butter or other nut butters 60 – 125 mL (¼ – ½ cup or 2- 4 oz) homo (3.25%) milk or breastmilk ½ – 1 oz cheese 30 -100g (2 tbsp – ½ cup yogurt)

Food Group

Suggested Serving Size

Vegetables and Fruit

Offer a variety of colours – especially green and orange

¼ – ½ medium vegetable or fruit
15 – 60 mL (1- 4 tbsp) cooked vegetables or fruit, or grated or chopped raw vegetables or fruit

Whole Grains

¼ – ½ slice bread
1/8 – ¼ bagel, pita or tortilla
30 – 100 mL (2 tbsp – ½ cup) cooked cereal
15 – 60 mL (1 -4 tbsp) cooked pasta, rice or couscous

Protein Foods
Offer fish at least twice a week.
Offer alternatives like beans, lentils, tofu often.NOTE: If you are not breastfeeding or offering breast milk, offer a total of 500mL (16 oz) of homo milk each day.

1 – 4 tbsp (¼ – 1 ¼ oz) cooked fish, poultry or meat
1 tbsp – ½ cup tofu, cooked beans or lentils
¼ – 1 egg
1 tsp – 1 tbsp peanut butter or other nut butters
60 – 125 mL (¼ – ½ cup or 2- 4 oz) homo (3.25%) milk or breastmilk
½ – 1 oz cheese
30 -100g (2 tbsp – ½ cup yogurt)

Sample Menus

These menus give an example of how to put together a balanced meal following Canada’s food guide.
Schedule meals and snacks regularly throughout the day.
Offer water between meals and snacks.

	Day One	Day Two	Day Three
Breakfast	Scrambled egg Whole grain English Muffin with margarine Milk	Whole grain toast with thinly spread peanut butter Banana slices Milk	Oatmeal Applesauce Milk
Snack	Canned peaches Yogurt	Dry cereal Grapes cut in quarters	Crackers Cheese Cucumber slices
Lunch	Vegetable soup Grilled cheese sandwich Milk	Baked salmon Cooked rice Cooked broccoli Sliced peaches Milk	Vegetarian chilli with beans and cheese Whole grain bun Milk
Afternoon Snack	Pear slices Cottage cheese	Tomato slices Cheese cubes	Cantaloupe Yogurt
Dinner	Cooked chicken Baked sweet potato Bread with margarine Peas Milk	Bean salad Whole grain crackers Cooked green beans Milk	Pasta with tomato and meat sauce Strawberries Milk
Evening Snack	Fruit salad Milk	Hard boiled egg Milk	Orange Milk

Is your Child a Healthy Eater?

Complete the Nutri-eSTEP questionnaire to find out!

How does Nutri-eSTEP work?

Visit www.nutritionscreen.ca and select the toddler or preschooler questionnaire.
Answer 17 short NutriSTEP® questions about your child’s eating and activity habits – it takes less than 10 minutes.
Get immediate feedback on what is going well and how to improve.

Call Telehealth Ontario and ask to speak to a Registered Dietician for FREE 1-866-797-0000