My Triplets Toddler Food: Mexican for Toddlers in 30 Seconds!

I love the idea of the Gerber Graduates meals. I mean, 30 seconds in the microwave and dinner is done? No way! I actually started out buying them for the triplets when they were around 9 months.

Back then one meal would feed all three of them, and then I would feed them fruit as dessert. I always knew they weren't the healthiest, but quite frankly I wasn't motivated to change until the triplets decided one meal was NOT enough for the three of them. My dinner costs were up to $5 a meal. That's just way too much for my tastes. Then, one afternoon I decided to make my own meals and I haven't stopped since! I usually make several at a time and feed them through out the week for lunch, dinner, and even breakfast. I scoop out what I need, microwave, and Ta-Dah! 30 second toddler meals homemade!

I buy these handy dandy Glad storage containers from the Dollar Store for 3 for $2. There is a divider in the container for smaller portions of food, sides, dips, etc. I wash them in the dishwasher and heat them in the microwave and have yet to have a problem.

You will need:

Cheddar Cheese

Fiesta/Mexican Style Frozen Vegetables

Can of Black Beans

Ro-Tel

Brown Rice

The easiest a quickest meal I make is my Mexican Fiesta dish. First, I start by making a 1/2 of a cup of cooked brown or white rice. We all know brown is better, so you should probably make the leap :) I make the leap and cook it on the stove most times, but you can can cook it just as well on the microwave. Add the rice to the large part of your storage container. Once, the rice is done cooking reuse your pot on the stove and boil 2 cups of water.

I then add 1/2 of a can or 8 oz of black beans.

Next, add 1/3 of a can or 4 oz. of Ro-Tel or Salsa.

Next, in the same pan that you cooked your rice, add a 2/3 of bag of fiesta or Mexican style frozen vegetables. I used Mexican Style this time and it contained: corn, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and red peppers.

I then added 1 cup of frozen diced chicken to the boiling water, but you can also use 1 cup of browned ground beef without needing to boil.

Continue boiling for 2 minutes. During this time, if you don't buy grated cheese, grate 1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese. Add the cheese to the smaller portion of your storage container.

Remove the pot from the stove (or microwave if you couldn't bring yourself to use the stove) drain the water, and add to the large part of the storage container.

Mix the contents together in the large portion of the container and you have yourself some toddler Mexican food! I simply scoop out what I need for each meal, sprinkle a little cheese on top. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds, and I have dinner! These can also be frozen and saved for later!