Feeding leftover food to toddlers

My DD at age two and half still eats very less portions. Its quite impossible to cook, "just enough". I also serve it to her the next day. At the daycare, she has fresh lunch every day. For dinner, I make it on alternate days.

 

It is so much of work to cook again and again. But be it for a toddler or an adult. Cooked food loses its nutritive value after 4 hrs of cooking even if you keep in fridge, thereafter it has only a caloric value. No wonder we are busy and fat now.
Also reheated food has no nutritive value.

 

Yes, though preparing fresh food in small quantities can be a pain, it is worth to do that keeping the nutrition and hygienic value in mind of the child and the family.

 

i see the difference when i feed my son fresh one compared to left over one.. when its fresh kids tend to eat better and fast..eventhou we want to cook fresh everytime with work and other things my energy is running out.so usually we feed him same thing for lunch,dinner..sometimes we try to cook different for dinner.

sometimes i freeze rasam and use it after 2 days as he loves rasam and easy for him to eat..with omlette.. or some other fry...

 

It depends... Till DD was 3 I made fresh food for her every meal, that could also be because I was a stay at home mom. After I started working again I try to give her fresh food, but it is not always possible. I give her left over food from morning or the night before some time.

The main reason I do this is, one of my friend does not eat any left over food- even from the same day because she is not used to it. Whenever she comes over or even at her own house meal time is so much work, she had so much trouble in her in-laws place because of this. Occasionally eating left over food should also be taught to kids. There is nothing wrong in that. They cannot always have fresh made food.

 

How do working moms manage to cook twice a day? because for me its impossible to make fresh food right before dinner. It would be 5 PM by the time i pick my DD and reach home. She normally has supper by 5:30...(light snack before bed time at 7:30). I dont think i can realy manage cooking in 20 mins and cooling it fast enough to feed her at 5:30.

Of course...on weekends I make fresh every meal.

 

Really? I didnt know food loses its nutritive value that fast. So i guess, for all the working moms, its a challenging task to cook fresh food right before the meal. Like, if the lunch time at 12:30...we should cook after 8:30 AM. Who can do that if we are working?