![Image of myself and my daughter sitting on a couch smiling.](https://i0.wp.com/thetoddlerkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Mama-and-Bodhi.jpg?resize=720%2C743&ssl=1)
Hi! I’m Ali.
Welcome to The Toddler Kitchen, I am so glad you are here! I am a registered dietitian with a master’s of science in health promotion, passionate recipe developer and mama. Feeding kids is hard. It can be stressful. The Toddler Kitchen is here to help make feeding your kids a little bit easier!
If you’ve been struggling with trying to figure out what to feed your kids, wondering if they are getting enough nutrition, dealing with picky eating preferences and various texture aversions – I see you! Here you will find support, encouragement, easy and nourishing recipes and evidenced-based information to help make feeding your kids more enjoyable.
My journey with introducing foods for my daughter ended up being incredibly different (and stressful!) than I expected. I was so excited to begin introducing foods to my daughter, but was always so worried about making sure I was serving appropriate foods sizes and textures to her, whether I was providing enough variety, and whether she would eat anything or not. I also found that there was so much fear based messaging for parents – all of this talk about how if you don’t introduce enough variety now, you’ll have a picky eater for life! It was all very stressful! Over time this has gotten SO much better. I have researched, read, experimented and connected with others to learn all that I can. My own confidence has increased and my daughter’s exploration of other foods has also increased, but it took us a while to get there.
My approach
As a dietitian I am incredibly passionate about not only nutrition, but also the eating environment and cultivating a positive relationship with food. This is woven into all of the information and programs on this site. I follow The Division of Responsibility (sDOR) by Ellyn Satter to support kids in becoming competent eaters. You can learn more about the sDOR here.
I love supporting families with this challenging area of feeding their kids! So feel free to check out some of my easy, toddler-approved recipes, read up on the latest learning posts, or if you are looking for a bit more support, check out my Introducing First Foods Program and Picky Eating Program! Let’s navigate this together :).