What do your kids like to eat for dinner?

[sunshine873]

Don't under-estimate the excitement of breakfast for dinner!!! Eggs, pancakes and bacon! French toast! Or, maybe even one of those breakfast casseroles are pretty easy and breakfast food is super-popular with DD. Her other faves include (but could be nixed on any given day
- Fish (grilled, fried, usually baked in our convection oven. Her faves are salmon with dill and parmessan tilapia.
- Beans and rice. Could be Mexican style or lately we've done Cajun (very mild) with red beans, rice and sausage.
- Tacos. She only has meat and cheese on hers, but Im hoping someday she ventures into trying a little tomatoes or lettuce.
- Baked chicken (nothing fancy, just salt and pepper) with roasted or steamed veggies
- Typical kid faves like quesadillas, pizza, etc.

[BabbyO]

At any given point in time my kids vacillate between loving and hating the following:

Pork chops
Tagine
Spaghetti & meatballs - Sauce and meatballs made from scratch
Salmon
Chicken breast
Chili (with ground turkey & chickpeas)
Meatloaf
Turkey burgers
Tacos
Homemade chicken soup
Chipti - (sort of Assyrian meatballs served with a tomato based sauce over rice)
Dolma
Chicken nuggets (though Stachio - 4 yo, just said he doesn't like them anymore)
Rice, noodles, potato (baked) and couscous are almost always a go
Stachio will eat almost ANY fruit. Peanut sticks to the melons, apples and bananas, skipping most berries
They both eat carrots, peas, corn, broccoli and cauliflower for veggies
My kids also love eggs in almost any format for any meal

That said, we try not to stress too much about food. Peanut just had is 2.5 yo WCC and the paperwork we got said most toddlers are ok with 7-10 good meals a week...and they don't all have to be dinner.

[boolady]

I don't know, what day of the week is it? Ha. For the most part, she will eat:

Chicken, either in bread crumbs and baked, baked or grilled legs, or Bell & Evans nuggets
Turkey burger or burger
Meatloaf, several varieties, as long as it's bell pepper-free
Meatballs, several varieties
Ham
Fish that's been coated in panko and baked or shallow fried
Chicken cilantro dumplings
Aidell's chicken apple sausages
Hotdogs and turkey dogs
Mac and cheese, as long as I didn't make it from scratch
Pasta, just about any type, in several forms, including red sauce, with or without meatballs or Italian sausage (but not meat sauce), white clam sauce, with garlic and oil, with garlic, oil and tuna.
Pizza
Grilled cheese
Breakfast for dinner, usually eggs, not sweet breakfast, with turkey sausage, fruit and toast, or an omelet
Chicken noodle soup; meaning, broth and the noodles
Cheese quesadilla with salsa and sour cream

In terms of side items, she likes salad, raw carrots and celery, and cooked broccoli, green beans, corn, peas, and edamame. She does not like rice, potatoes other than mashed, sweet potatoes, and most other vegetables or grains. She always has fruit with dinner, either strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, apple, grapes, or pineapple.

[MontrealMum]

DS is a pretty good eater, but his tastes aren't typical and it's hard to get him to try new things. Peer pressure works pretty well though (meaning, seeing something at another child's home or in their lunch at school) And this list has been a long time in the making. He has always been a picky eater and it hasn't been easy. Things started to get better at about 3.5.

The "adult" main dishes that DS likes (or will consent to eat w/o modification) are:
-smoked salmon (his absolute favorite food)
-meatballs (no sauce, no pasta, just plain)
-ham...either ham steak or rolled cold cuts. He especially likes the rolled cold cuts over a green bean or asparagus spear. (I totally stole that one from the daycare!).
-prosciutto
-salmon loaf
-sushi
-shepherd's pie
-sausages (the super spicy merguez ones) - he's a big fan of breakfast for dinner if it's eggs and sausage
-fondue (both cheese and chocolate)
-quiche
-chicken fried rice, as well as other more vegetarian style Indian and Chinese dishes
-Greek salad and cold bean salad w/o the dressing
-risotto (but not happily)

foods with special (and not necessarily healthy) modifications:
-pita w/cheese inside
-English muffin w/cheese on top...cold, not toasted
-crackers or bagels w/ cream cheese, pate, or salmon spread
-cooked pasta w/nothing on it (eew!)
-a burrito or taco with just cheese inside (he'll eat the veggies on the side)

He also eats a wide variety of fruits and veggies and is perfectly happy to make a meal of a bunch of those plus a cheese stick or two. The only kid foods he eats are hot dogs, grilled cheese, pizza, and (recently) burgers. He won't eat most types of potato dishes, soup, some types of rice or quinoa, anything with a sauce, and has recently dropped baked beans from his likes.

[bisous]

Just wanted to say that I'm really appreciating all these meal ideas! When I have a minute, I'm going to just jot these all down and make a list so I don't have to reinvent the wheel every time the kids are hungry (or it is time to go shopping!)

Good to know there are lots of you out there with kids with limited palates, too. We've been sorta successful in introducing new things but they're still mighty picky. Hopefully they'll go for the stuff that other kids like too.

[mackmama]

My 3yo DC is getting a bit pickier lately but in general these go over well:

Quesadillas with quinoa rice, black beans, cheese, seasonings, red bell peppers
Salsa (loves to dip stuff in salsa or tries to drink it!)
French fries
Mac n cheese -- annie's only
Pizza
Zucchini lightly steamed
Pancakes
Yogurt
Cottage cheese
Most soups
Oatmeal with fruit and maple syrup
All berries
Watermelon
Red bell peppers
Oranges
Ravioli
Cheese cheese and more cheese
Breaded chicken
Avocados
Hummus
Crackers of almost any kind
Almost anything in a tortilla
Smoked salmon
Bagel and cream cheese
Peas