What to Feed a Toddler?

Sophie's first time trying rice cereal

What do you feed a toddler? Now that Sophie is almost 13 months old she can eat pretty much anything. She has a very healthy appetite and isn't picky at all, which I know is a blessing. But now that she can eat real food I'm actually finding it more difficult to think of things to feed her.

It was so much easier, less messy, and quicker when she was just eating baby food. But now that I give her real food she wants to feed herself, which is awesome. However, she gets pretty messy, and man does she take her time eating. I normally do other things, like unload the dishwasher or cook dinner, while she's eating because I know she'll be a while. We've actually gotten in a routine this week where when we get home I put her in her highchair and give her a plate of food and she eats while I start dinner. It's been working out pretty well for us. Then by the time Chase gets home, about 20 minutes after me, I have dinner half way done.

I still give her some jarred baby food, but I'm trying to cut it out and give her just the real stuff now. I keep canned carrots, greenbeans, mixed vegetables, chopped peaches, and mandarin oranges on hand for her to eat now.

My child also loves her protein! I'm telling you she'd rather have meat over anthing else. We keep chicken sticks on hand at all times. They look nasty, but she loves them! We also give her vienna sausages, which are basically the same thing, chicken nuggets (the organic kind with no preservatives- my effort to be healthy!), and we buy her those little toddler trays that they sell at WalMart that have different meats like chicken and meatballs in them. Since I'm starting to cook more often I plan to start giving her some of what we eat too. It's just that normally she's hungry as soon as we get home so I go ahead and feed her instead of making her wait for dinner to get done.

For snacks we've given her cheerios, goldfish, and toddler veggie and cheddar sticks. But all of these things are processed, so I'm wanting to look into some new/healthier snacks I can give her. I saw a few things on Pinterest that you can make, like homemade Goldfish, but it seems like a lot of work! lol

My main concern is that I want to make sure she's eating a variety of foods and that she's getting all of her nutrients. Especially after we found out at her last check up that she's slightly anemic, which we are now giving her a vitamin for.

So tell me, if you have a toddler, what kind of foods do you feed him/her? And here's a recent video of Sophie cracking up at meal time. Enjoy!