Do you have little people in your preparedness plans? Even if you don’t have any babies or toddlers in your home right now, you may end up providing for those around you or those in your extended family. We’ve covered some great options for food storage for babies, from stocking up on formula to dehydrated baby food. And bigger children can eat mostly what the adults will eat. So what about the toddlers that don’t have a full set of teeth yet, but are past being spoon-fed baby foods? Well, here’s eight fantastic food storage foods that are great for toddlers. And they’re all either no-cook or easy to cook, because if your toddler is anything like mine, when it’s time to eat, it’s time to eat NOW.
1. Cooked Cereals–The softer ones are best like rolled or quick oats and farina/germade. If you cook your germade thick you can make it into finger food instead of spoon food.
2. Powdered Milk–Little ones still need their milk, so stock up on powdered milk for making milk to drink as well as other dairy products like cheeses and yogurt.
3. Freeze Dried Fruits–strawberries, mangoes, bananas, peaches, and raspberries are the best. These can be reconstituted or eaten dry. Great for mixing up a baggie of healthy treats for the diaper bag or stocking your baby’s emergency kit.
4. Freeze Dried Vegetables–corn, peppers, and potato dices are great right out of the can. Peas tend to be a bit hard for toothless folks when they’re dry, but would work well re-hydrated.
5. Freeze Dried Yogurt Bites. You can eat these even if you have NO teeth. Add a little water and make yogurt with them for something a little different.
6. Any dehydrated fruits and veggies that can be cooked back to soft. This may take a little time to get them soft enough for your toddler, but your vegetables, fruits, and potatoes are all good candidates.
7. Canned fruits and vegetables. Peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, green beans, peas, and carrots are all great. These can be home canned or purchased from the store. Just remember that canned veggies and fruits don’t have quite the shelf life that their freeze dried counterparts do, so plan on rotating these out after 3-5 years.
8. Rice. A food storage staple, rice is easy to cook and can be overcooked so it is super soft and seasoned in a variety of ways.
Every one of these suggestions has been personally tested by my 13 month old and passed with flying colors with the exception of the freeze dried peppers which he was perfectly capable of eating, he just didn’t like the flavor. Happy tummies make happy toddlers, so consider stocking in your food storage some products to keep the little ones fed and happy.
Keep preparing! Angela
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Elderly people or people who, for whatever reason, cannot handle normal people food might need these, too. I know that with a tooth extraction years ago, I was down to finding mushy foods like applesauce or food that “melted” in my mouth–saltines and graham crackers. So, stocking up on these items might not be futile. Most in this list seem to be adult food, anyway, but a good list for a reminder. However, the mushy food for tiny babies could serve as essential food for the elderly or incapacitated.
As a parent of a special needs teenager, this list is perfect! My child is very finicky and these foods are ideal for him!