please help with kid food!

[musicalgrl]

I am so tired of making separate meals for the kids and adults in my house! I want them (ages 1 and 4) to have a healthy diet, but they refuse just about anything new that I give them. If you have kids in this age range, what kinds of things are they eating for lunch and dinner? I need some inspiration on other things to try!

[bisous]

In our family lunch is still pretty kid friendly. Frankly, it is pretty boring but because it is healthy and the kids eat it, we stick with it. I'm sure we won't inspire you but my kids eat sandwiches almost every day, carrot sticks, fresh fruit, cheese sticks and water.

We're a little more successful at dinner time. I almost always make what we want to eat. I really liked some suggestions in an Ellyn Satter book that I read. I make what we (the adults) want to eat but I'm always sure to have a side or two that the kids will tolerate. I don't make separate meals but figure if the kids are hungry enough, they should have had a good lunch and they'll fill up on healthy sides. Satter actually advocates having bread at every meal. I wouldn't say we do this but I make sure when I'm preparing my meals that there is at least a veggie, or a starch that the kids will like, even if they won't eat tortellini or enchiladas.

Also, my kids are funny about stuff mixed together. For years they would declare NO to ANY soup whatsoever. I'd persist and give them some of the ingredients separately (JUST noodles in a bowl, just broccoli, just the cooked chicken, etc.) and sometimes they would eat that. That usually (gradually) leads them to trying the whole dish together. We just keep encouraging them, figure they're getting nutritious foods during the rest of the day, don't make special meals (although we make slight accommodations as noted above), let them eat the sides or go hungry. They're still not the best eaters I've ever seen but I see gradual progress and their palates are wider than many of their peers.

[rin]

They (3 yo & almost 1) eat what we eat. Some nights one or the other of them doesn't eat much of a meal, but we never make them something else.

Some of their current favorites:

*shrimp scampi
*quiche (usually w/spinach or broccoli)
*split pea & turkey bacon soup
*turkey & red bean chili (we don't make it very spicy)
*pasta w/red sauce & meatballs
*salmon burgers
*garlic Parmesan chicken
*turkey meatloaf

These are all reliable meals that they'll usually eat a ton of. Honestly, though, even with their favorites some nights one of them just doesn't eat much. We try not to give it any attention. If they got to pick, they'd probably eat yogurt & applesauce 3 meals a day, 7 days a week.

ETA: Like bisous, lunch is usually something like quesadillas, crackers & cheese, turkey sandwich, etc, with a side of fruit. Breakfasts here are usually either oatmeal, pancakes, turkey sausage, veggie/fruit smoothies, or scrambled/fried eggs. We don't have a whole lot of variety there.

[mikala]

My preschooler and infant both eat the same things we do. My 3 year old really doesn't like hot spicy food so I often reduce ingredients like chili powder or serve the spicy part on the side.

We slid Into the special meal trap too and it has taken awhile to climb out. You might want to check out Ellyn satter's website for the division of responsibility for feeding. He doesn't love everything we eat but I try to include a few known foods when I introduce something new and we're making slow but noticeable progress. We also grow a garden together and and prepare food from it.

I also have tried switching snacks to be more like minimeals instead of times for sweet things and carbs. I've noticed that my oldest eats a lot more at meals when his overall sugar consumption is reasonable.

Some of our family favorites are make your own tacos or baked potatoes and deconstructed salads like Cobb salad. Soups are also popular.

[hillview]

my 5 year old eats just about anything ETA here is the dinner list
salmon (baked)
sushi (rainbow rolls)
some veggies (broccoli, just the tops, carrots, beans, peas, tomatoes)
tacos (we let them make their own)
sausages (apple and chicken applegate farms)
omelets with cheese
pancakes (for dinner sometimes)
pizza
spaghetti and sauce (HUGE HIT)
"mexican lasagna" (search for this, I posted the recipe)
mac and cheese
burgers (turkey, beef, buffalo)
hotdogs
most fruits
quiche with ham and cheese

Lunch
Any of the above if home on weekend or if at school:
PB&J and 3 of the below
fruits
smoked salmon
crackers
Nuts (peanuts or cashews)
Larabar
zBar
He helps me make a weekly menu and grocery shop.

[brittone2]

We've been fortunate that our kids eat what we do. They have all gone through pickier periods, but they didn't last, and their version of picky is pretty mild. No sensory issues, etc.

I'll toss some ideas out there. I am absolutely not saying that if parents do these things, their kids wouldn't be picky, as I think people interpret it that way sometimes. If there are sensory or other issues, that's a different ballgame.

We have pretty much followed the Satter approach on "division of responsibility" as she calls it...we provide the choices, they decide how much to eat, etc. I haven't read the book but the website has some good info if you haven't check it out.. We've never done a no thank you bite, we often serve a small portion of dessert when we are having it right with dinner, we don't reward or punish around food, I don't ask them to eat more. I do tell them that we're not going to be eating an hour after a meal, so they should consider that before declaring they are full after eating very little.

Other things that helped I think:
-Involving them in food shopping. When we were in NC we had an awesome local farmer's market and they knew the farmers. We visited the farms sometimes, and once a year there was a big farm tour and they got to see a lot of the farms first hand. We had a CSA membership, and every week they were super excited to pick it up and see what was in the box. DS1 would bite into a raw turnip and eat it on the way home (??) Now, it must have been the magic CSA box because there's no way he would have done that if we picked it up at the grocery store. There was something exciting to them about knowing the farm and farmer, and then getting surprised with the contents each week.

-involving them in food prep (scrubbing sweet potatoes, reg. potatoes, carrots, whatever with a little brush, shucking corn, whatever). It wasn't always very helpful but it kept them happy while I was prepping other stuff, worked on their motor skills (using two hands together, core, etc.) as a side benefit ;) and helped them feel involved.

-putting out a plate of veggies before dinner while I was cooking. I'd plop it on the counter, not say a word, eat some while I was cooking, and they'd dig in. If I would put it on the table with dinner, sometimes they wouldn't be as interested. Put out before meal time in a no pressure way, and they devoured most of the plate. No biggie if they eat a little less at actual dinner time IMO.

-I think when they are picky and don't have more complex reasons, sometimes cutting back or out the easy, less healthy, preferred foods can help. Like, not even bringing it into the house. Most toddlers IME will want cheerios, crackers, mac and cheese, etc. for most meals if they think it is available. I don't think most kids will starve if their preferred items aren't available for a period of time. That said, I totally get why some people choose not to fight that battle, and I absolutely believe there are kids with sensory, oral motor, or other reasons why they have a limited repertoire, or really do need to get calories in them plain and simple. I've worked with kids with feeding issues and I know how stressful it is for famliies. I just don't want the above to be misconstrued. I just think in some cases cutting out the quick, easy, simple carbs for kids can help *some* kids try more things.

-we will leave off sauces, decrease spices, whatever but our kids mostly have always eaten what we eat. Again, totally get that it doesn't work for everyone and in no way am I saying that works to get all kids eating a wider repertoire.

-during pickier periods we've done things like the snack tray (muffin tin) for snacks and offer it at meals. Each compartment gets a few little bits of something, and then you have several different compartments. it takes work to fill, but then you can bring it out at mealtime, snacktime, etc. Sometimes there'd be say 2-3 more preferred items (strawberries, cut grapes, cheese cubes) and then 2-3 things that were not things the kids would necessarily choose out of the fridge. They often sampled those items too. There's a loooooong MDC thread from many years ago with tons and tons of snack tray item ideas.

-eta: ditto the garden. We've had sq foot beds for most of our kids' lives, and they are always excited to try things fresh from the garden, with much more enthusiasm than if we purchased the same thing from the store.

[musicalgrl]

I'm so impressed by with what your kids will eat! I hope to get there someday soon. Looks like I will be checking out the Satter approach, for sure.

Brittone - you mentioned the MDS thread about snack trays. I'm sure if I thought about it long enough I could figure out what that is...but what is MDS???

[BabyBearsMom]

DD2 still eats everything, but we are struggling with the same thing with DD1. I tried the "If you are hungry enough, you will eat what we eat" approach but she is so stubborn that the kid didn't eat and ended up with really low blood sugar, lethargic, unable to sit up etc. that we almost took her to the hospital. It was the scariest moment of my life. So now I try to make things she will eat. If she refuses, I give her a plain peanut butter sandwich (no jelly). Here are the dinners that are generally successful:

Tacos
Spaghetti and meatballs (she likes her pasta without sauce so I put the meatball ont the side and butter on her pasta)
Hamburgers with "french fries" (ie. bakes sliced potatoes)
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
BLT Sandwich (she usually takes off the L)
Chopped salad with ranch dressing
Breakfast for dnner (eggs or pancakes)
Chicken nuggets (I make my own with chicken tenderloin and panko breadcrumbs, pan fried or baked)
Hotdogs (I call anything hotdog shaped a hotdog, so she will eat nice sausage etc.)
Meatball grinders

I also make quinoa as a side dish often. It is high in protein and both girls like it. So if I am making fish, which DD1 won't touch with a 10 ft pole, I make quinoa and she eats that. She isn't a big veggie fan so I let her load up on fruit and make sure she takes a multivitamin. I think a lot of it is that you have to do the best you can and don't sweat it if they aren't eating perfectly. I also give smoothies when she is boycotting veggies.

[brittone2]

I'm so impressed by with what your kids will eat! I hope to get there someday soon. Looks like I will be checking out the Satter approach, for sure.

Brittone - you mentioned the MDS thread about snack trays. I'm sure if I thought about it long enough I could figure out what that is...but what is MDS???
Sorry, mothering.com. It was from years ago, but it was long (like possibly 30+ pages IIRC). I am not sure if it will come up in a search, but you could try "snack tray muffin tin" or something like that on MDC to find it. There were several other shorter versions, but the one I remember was like 30 or more pages long.

[DualvansMommy]

My DS is 2 and eat quite a variety of things that other pp already suggested;

Meatballs and sauce
Pancakes
Quiches
Broccoli stir fry
Grilled chicken with grilled mini peppers and sweet potatoes
Italian sausage, green peppers and onions
Clam sauce with pasta
Variety of soups
All kinds of fruits

So for lunch he usually eat any of above or just simple sandwiches, yogurt, crackers and cheese, or tomatoes with mozzarella cheese.

Cheerios and banana smoothies do in a pinch too!


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[TxCat]

I have a similar problem as the OP and have posted about it before -DD just won't eat anything anymore! I'm intrigued by the Ellyn Satter suggestions - what's the best book to start with?

[maestramommy]

Our kids are moderately picky. Age 4-6 seems to be a height for pickiness then hunger takes over or they just become more open. One interesting thing I've done that really widened their palates (didn't plan that way, it just happened) is having sukiyaki. It's Chinese hot pot. You have a lot of different foods available. The only thing I insisted on was that they eat large mouthful's worth of veggie (usually napa cabbage), otherwise they could eat as much or as little of anything as they wanted. When we started only DD1 would eat shrimp, now they all like shrimp and will eat it in different situations. DD2 hated napa cabbage, and now she will heat a small pile of napa and regular cabbage, stir fry. at first only DD1 would use the raw egg dipping sauce, the other two only used soy sauce. Now they all want the raw egg sauce, though DD1 is still the only one that adds sate sauce to hers. Sukiyaki makes eating fun, a real social event (though it does make dinner go longer:p), and that is mainly what they respond to. Sometimes they still don't eat much in terms of total volume, but the important thing is that they enjoy eating it.

[ShanaMama]

I am really impressed with what all of your kids eat! I have 2 allergic kids & one miss picky ( will only eat perfect grapes, chicken has to be just the right texture, etc. )
I try not to make a separate meal for everyone but I do some customizing. For example ill do homemade pizza night but make personal pies cuz one gets cheese, one gets soy cheese, I get veggie & cheese & one gets cheeseless.

[LizLemon]

I am so tired of making separate meals for the kids and adults in my house! I want them (ages 1 and 4) to have a healthy diet, but they refuse just about anything new that I give them. If you have kids in this age range, what kinds of things are they eating for lunch and dinner? I need some inspiration on other things to try!

I also try to do just one meal, but it did take some getting used to, after the initial routine of cooking baby food and then baby finger foods. It also requires a bit of adjustment because our daughter has allergies that my husband and I don't have. In our house, when we eat together, we all eat the same thing. However, sometimes I will make her an earlier dinner either because I am getting home from work too late (my husband or I will make her a quick dinner and we will eat later) or if my husband and I choose to have a "date night" by having dinner together later in the evening.

In terms of what she eats, her palate is pretty good, I think. (One thing she doesn't like:pasta! It is so weird. I am half Italian and was raised on pasta.) However, she may refuse or pick at even things she likes any given night. I found other poster's suggestions here really helpful. I will prepare food - just one thing for everyone - and leave it up to my daughter how much she wants to eat. When she was a baby she would eat anything. Now she is more feisty and says no, asserts her own preferences, etc. Previously, if she didn't eat much or didn't like something I would get stressed and make her another meal. That was so much craziness and extra work.

Some things in our repertoire:

Miso chicken
Meatballs
Meatballs and sauce
Soup
Simple Asian food I can make, such as Thai Larb
Hotdogs
Pork and chicken sausage, including "zesty" types like Andouille
Other chicken dishes (i.e. roast chicken, crock pot) - this can be touch and go. She loves miso chicken but has not been wild about chicken in other forms lately
Bean-only quesadillas (dairy allergy)
Chili
Tacos
Mexican sloppy joes
Egg scrambles - a favorite is tomato sauce with eggs
GUACAMOLE :p
Veggies as tolerated :)


Lunch tends to be hummus, peanut butter sandwiches, sometimes yogurt or avocado as the main. Typically, my daughter eats a substantial amount her first two meals (she will generally eat at least 2 bowls of her almond yogurt parfait at breakfast) which makes me feel better when she doesn't eat much at dinner.

[teresah00]

My kids are 7,5,2.5 and 9m. Lunch is egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, lunch meat, pita w hummus, quesadilla w leftover meat if I have it or beans and cheese, leftover chili, or whatever we have from dinner. They are a little more picky these days in the veggies they will eat so its usually a salad, raw carrots, peppers or cucumbers.

[Mommy_Mea]

I have never made a separate meal for the kids, but try and include at least one thing I know they will like. DS1 is the pickier kid right now, but dinner has never been a big meal for him anyways. He is not a tiny kid, so I have never really worried about how much he eats, I just try and offer him healthy choices and variety (kid would eat all carbs if he could).

That said, lunch tends to be a hummus or PB&J sandwich, both for ease of packing for school, or just laziness on my part when we are home. i try and mix it up from time to time, or just offer fruit, hummus, carrot sticks, cheese... Break the sandwich routine.

I also try and take ideas from this blog when I need a reminder there is something other than bread sandwiches. The boys love the "apple donut" PB/raisin sandwiches.

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/04/19/school-lunch-roundup/