Calcium-Rich Recipes for non milk-drinking toddlers

I have listed out some calcium high snacks in the post below. But snacks just isn't going to bring my non milk drinking 15 month old toddler through her daily required calcium intake. I try to prepare at least one or two calcium rich dishes (including snacks) for Ashley everyday, sometimes up to three (including snacks like bacon cheese srips or fried mozzarela sticks) over the weekend when she reject the dish.

These are her current favourite tried and true calcium rich dishes.

This one here has a whopping 896mg calcium per serving and is one of my favourite, cos she only need to take 1/3 of the one serving and i could save the bulk in her tummy for other necessary daily nutrients like protein.

Calcium rich mac n cheese - 8 servings
8 ounces elbow macaroni
16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
16 ounces mild cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk

1. preheat oven to 350.
2. boil the elbow noodles until cooked, drain and pour into a greased (I use cooking spray) 9x9 casserole dish.
3. cut 3/4 of the bar of 16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese in to small cubes, do the same with the mild cheddar.
4. in a 2 quart saucepan melt the butter.
5. with a fork mix in flour until it looks like a paste.
6. stir in the milk, and cook until warm (not boiling).
7. once warm add in cheese and continue cooking until cheese is melted stirring continuously with a fork (if you don't stir continuously cheese will burn to bottom of pan).
8. once cheese is melted, pour over the noodles, use a fork to move the noodles around to get the cheese mixture to the bottom.
9. bake at 350 for about 30 min., or until you see some brown on top.
10. let it sit out for about 15 minute before eating.

Ashley takes this with meatloaf (non cheesey ones. It can be dreary just taking cheese based and milk based food all the time but cheese has higher calcium content than a lot of other food. I halved the recipe and freeze the rest for later.


These are other CALCIUM RICH RECIPES that I tried out which Ashley is seems to favour more than others.

Bacon Cheese Strips

Ingredients
1/3 cup Mayonnaise
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon Ground mustard
5 To 6 drops hot pepper sauce
Dash pepper
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
8 Bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
8 Bread slices, crusts removed and toasted
Paprika, optional

Preparation

In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients; mix well. Stir in bacon. Spread over toast.

Sprinkle with paprika if desired. Cut each slice of toast into three strips. Place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yield: 2 dozen.

This has 125 mg Calcium and 1 mg Iron per serving . This is ONE of the few recipes that she would not reject . I don't always have all the ingredients on hand and made do with whatever i have. My primary one school-goer likes this for her snack when she comes home from school around 3.30pm.

This here is another dish that works well for both my non milk drinking 15 month old toddler and my picky 6 going on 7 year old. Ashley takes the burger without the buns. To be honest, more often than not, Kimberly abandon the buns as well.

Chicken "burger"
½ lb ground chicken – I use tight and breast for more iron
¼ c grated cheese
¼ c breadcrumbs
½ tsp garlic
½ tsp olive oil
16oz (1/2 can) pizza sauce
¼ c mozzarella cheese
2 buns/muffins/bread

1. Mix ground chicken, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and minced garlic; shape into four 1/2 inch thick patties.
2. Cook in olive oil in a non-stick skillet, turning as needed, 6 minutes or until cooked through.
3. Top with pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.
4. Cover; cook 1 minute to melt cheese.
5. Serve on toasted buns or English muffins.


This is a quick to prepare tomato base pasta recipe i got from the Kraft website.
Italian chicken pasta

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, cut into thin wedges
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce (about 3 cups)
2 cups (6 oz.) mostaccioli, cooked, drained (I just use any pasta on hand)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided ( i just use any mozzarella cheese, cos i cant find Kraft's mozzarella here)

COOK chicken in large skillet sprayed with cooking spray 5 min. Add green pepper and onion; cook 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
ADD spaghetti sauce and mostaccioli; cook until heated through.
STIR in 1 cup of the cheese. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese; cover. Let stand 2 min. or until cheese is melted.

This has Calcium 30 %DV and Iron 15 %DV . One of my favourite meal to prepare because you can kind on cheat on the cook from scratch spaghetti sauce and alternate it with the ready made bottled type.

This is a vegetable quiche but i have not used zucchini on it. I used bacon, luncheon meat or whatever vege i have on hand.

Zucchini Quiche

1 cup breadcrumbs
1 medium zucchini, thin sliced,drained on paper towel
( I use any vegetables on hand)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup romano cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper

1. Butter a 9" pie plate and press the crumbs into it to make a crust.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
3. Saute the zucchini in the olive oil for 3.
4. minutes, remove and again drain on paper towels.
5. In a saucepan, melt margarine.
6. Add flour, stir well.
7. Add milk slowly stirring all the time.
8. Cook until thickened.
9. Stir in the cheese, egg and salt& pepper.
10. Gently mix in the zucchini.
11. Ladle into the Bread crumb crust.
12. Bake in 350F degrees oven for 35 minutes.

Ashley takes one slice or less of this quiche and I usually reserve another slice for Kimberly for when she got home from school and freeze the rest for later.

To be honest, Ashley doesn't take to cheese based or milk based dishes very kindly so I still haven't got it easy. I need to alternate her meals with other non-calcium savoury dishes. She needs the other nutrients like iron and protein from those other dishes anyhow. But at least those calcium rich dishes gave me assurance somewhat that she gets optimum nutrition as long as I can manoeuvre a variety around her meals so as to get her to eat them.

I am maid less for awhile but will put up pictures when i have time to upload them up at Flickrs. Hope these help moms with toddlers who don't take milk from a bottle like mine or kids who just don't take enough calcium for one reason or another.