Salsa for a Toddler?

When my son was a toddler, he would eat the salsa with a spoon. The spiciness and heat didn't seem to bother him.
I would suggest getting whole grain chips. I don't like them by themselves, but with salsa they are great.

You could thin the salsa with canned chopped tomatoes or tomato juice. I suggest that he may be able to stand the "heat" better than you. How "hot" we feel spices are is dependent on how many taste buds we have and everyone is different in that regard. My grandchildren, as toddlers liked spicy food. Not so much so now at ages 7 and 10.

He could dip veggies in the salsa.

I make my own and I bout fell out when my neice gobbled it up. I learned from my mexican mil but I add my own touches.
6-7 tomatoes
small onion cut in 1/4
4 cloves of garlic
How ever many tomatoes I put that's how many jalepenos I add. I don't seed them but for your little one cut them in half and seed and rib them. Don't cut them up.

Throw everything in a pot and cover with water and boil till tender. Once soft pulse in the blender. You cAn liquidfy or leave chunky.
I always have it in the fridge!

My kids LOVE salsa, my 23 month old will actually drink it out of her bowl instead of dipping the chips. My MIL has a huge garden and makes her own salsa so we stock up because it goes fast! My 3 year old actually likes spicy salsa, so the heat might not bother your son either.

Can you make your own? It's mainly tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic & cilantro, that way you can control the heat.
I don't think tortilla chips are so bad, in moderation. You could also try fresh corn tortilla triangles or pita wedges.
My kids also LOVED guacamole when they were toddlers! We discovered it by "accident" at a Mexican restaurant, my son was being cranky and I gave him some. It's so funny that we don't always think of "healthy foods" outside of the boring stuff, they really can be fun and interesting :)

FYI, There are tortilla chips that are baked! They are called Guiltless Gourmet. They are delicious. Whole foods and many health food stores carry them.. http://www.guiltlessgourmet.com/products/chips/yellowcorn...

It is fresh it is healthy and You could make your own version without much jalapeno, you can also chop up some cucumbers, or zucchini to add to it.

Jalapenos are very good for you they have vitamin B.
If you make it yourself, just remove the seeds and the membrane. That is where the heat is. Also make sure you wash your hands really well and not wipe your eyes with your hands after handling jalapenos. Make sure to also wash your sons hands too.

Make you own using any recipe you want and just leave out the hot stuff for him. I was thinking you can sneak in other veggies for him too. Cut up green beans, corn, peas,carrots,broccoli, cauliflour, celery, squash. Chopped or diced small and added to the tomatoes and a few peppers with spice.
Pita chips,, any store that sells chips. I just had yummy Mexican dinner tonight,, you make me want my left overs already! (o:

Here is mine, and it's good w/ baked pita slices ... or wheat tortillas
Roasted Red peppers ... you can get jarred or roast them yourself in the oven
Cilantro (fresh!)
Lime juice & zest (to taste)
Chicken Stock (depends on how chunky/liquidy you want it)
Chopped or minced Garlic (fresh or jarred works)
Tomatoe(s) (I prefer Roma)
Jalepenos (fresh is ok but I rather jarred on this)
You can add almost anything to this honestly, just put it all in the food processor and puree until it is the consistancy you like. My son LOVES this because it's NOT chunky but it is still yummy and fun to dip into chips. If you like to can puree most and leave some aside to add for chunk if you like it chunky too!
I have been known to add a shot of tequilla for an adult verson as well.

My kids love spicy foods just like their parents! If you're worried about heat, get mild versions or make it yourself in the food processor. We use bell pepper slices, zucchini slices and baby carrots for a lot of dipping, but organic corn chips aren't going to hurt him at this age. Kale chips are also awesome!

Salsa is pretty easy to make... it is basically diced tomatoes, herbs, peppers and thickness can be added by draining the water and adding tomato paste or plain tomato sauce.

If you make it yourself you can also control the spice and the salt.

Look online for homemade salsa recipes and try a few until you find one you like a lot... Also, don't be afraid to try fruit salsas, they can be delicious, and try out pesto or hummus with him too if he is a fan of "dipping".

For "chips"- you could use pita chips... although I think that flour tortilla chips that are lightly salted are actually not all that unhealthy (much healthier than potato chips), I think that I heard blue-corn tortilla chips are pretty healthy to snack on. I am sure you could find recipes online to make your own tortilla chips if you are willing!

Good Luck!
-M.

After your "What Happened":

Pita chips can be found usually in the "health food" aisle, near the potato chips, or near the crackers and snacks at most average sized grocery stores. The biggest brands are 'Athenos' and 'Stacy's'. If you don't find them in those places, check the ethnic foods section. I am sure most whole foods stores or organic grocers would have them or be able to order them in!

I hope your salsa turns out great!

My grandpa has a veggie garden and lives a few streets over so we get veggies and make salsa in a big batch (we use a food processor to chop the veggies after cleaning and cutting out the middle b/c I'm not tryna spend hours cuttin a ton of veggies lol, you can use a blender on chop too). We fill a bunch of pint of quart sized mason jars and have salsa. My 2 1/2 yr old likes salsa a little spicy but not all the time. I always have a full sippy cup of milk just in case. The salsa we make is not spicy at all though so homemade seems to be the best option. An alternative to tortilla chips could be pita wedges. You could try to see if they have whole wheat tortilla chips.

Tomatoes aren't a vegetable, but I see what you're getting at. My 2 year old LOVES salsa. Do you have a food processor? I just make ours in that. It's cheaper and it makes much more!! Milk is a great way, to help with heat. I make chips out of red potatoes. Slice them on a mandolin and cook them in the oven. I can't remember the specifics, but it's a Martha Stewart recipe. You can google it. My son also likes Sweet potato chips, from the oven.

Have you tried soup with him? We discovered my son loves soup.

I make salsa -
canned diced tomatoes (you can use fresh)
diced ....
red, yellow, orange, whatever color pepper you want
celery
purple onion
cilantro
really any raw veggie that you want
jalapenos, any kind of hot pepper - this is how you can control the heat. (I actually prefer it without any hot peppers)
touch of salt, pepper, garlic powder

tastes best the next day

try toasted wheat pita bread
rice cakes
maybe lettuce leaves as "chips"

White vinegar helps to control "heat" if you find/make a salsa that is too spicy. Also, avoid salsa with the jalapeno seeds... that'll help keep the heat in check.

If you make your own salsa you can control the amount of "heat." I see some good recipes already posted. For dipping try Ritz Whole Wheat crackers. I was so surprised by how good they taste AND that my 26 month old loves them!

for #1 - you could try adding a little tomato juice, sauce or paste to cut it down a little, or try adding some of your own veggies

I love chips and salsa. I don't worry too much about the chips because I load on the salsa so if you look at the overall snack, it's really not that bad.

I would make my own salsa. It's pretty easy. If you grow your own tomatoes, it's even pretty cheap.

Salsa is easy to make at home - diced tomatoes, onions, lemon juice, cilantro, bell peppers, and jalapenoes - and you can control the heat by how many jalapenoes you use.

I agree just make your own for him. All my kids love salsa. My baby is 14 months old and he likes when I dip the "chip" into the salsa.no chunks. I use roma tomatos dice. a can of stewed tomatos (also diced) a green onion,salt and pepper(green chilis and a dash of tabasco sauce but I wouldn't put that in for your son..lol) I put it all together in a sauce pan and bring to a boil for one minute. I then divide it in 1/2 and puree(not too runny) one half in the blender. put in the fridge over night.

Mmm, this makes me want to make my salsa tomorrow. I have a good recipe if you want it. We usually have baked Tostitos scoops with it.

My daughter who is 3 eats salsa all the time. The thing that I do is I mix sour cream with it. It brings down the heat level and she loves it. I give her whatever chips she wants. Whether its totilla or regular potato chips. I also buy the mild salsa. One time we went to a buffet and even mixing it with sour cream it was just way too hot. She was upset that she couldn't eat it. If he loves it that much then give it to him. Atleast he is getting his veggies. LOL