Feeding a family

tristan_cansino

I struggle with dieting because a lot of the foods I would be fine with, are things my family won't eat. In addition to that, it's hard to keep to my grocery budget. Does anyone else struggle with these issues?

moodyfeesh14

I do! I know if you go through the food and nutrition section there is a thread about this, as far as budget goes I used to make up a menu then grocery shop, now I look at my grocery add for the sales and then make up my menu. Also my family comitted to eating 1 vegetarian meal (still must have cheese lol) once a week and that has helped a lot.
As for the foods you would be ok with I slowly started not buying things and replacing them with others...I mean slowly for instance. We bought apples instead of sugary fruit snacks etc. Its a journey and can take time for the family to be on the band wagon

Dave0403

We do the same as moody. We shop by bargains. However we try to make family trips to our local farmers market. Kids like it and cant be fresh for fruits and veggies.

suruda

When my kids were small I would stick to basics, protein, veggies and add a starch for them. I would just eat the protein and veggies. Now I wish I would have made them eat healthier as both of them have weight issues. Sigh...

chelsie_1984

This is my biggest struggle with dieting!! I have 3 small picky eaters and 1 big picky eater (my husband). As if buying healthier food wasn't expensive enough. It's almost impossible to buy two complete different meals for every day of the week. I try my best to buy things that I can still eat if I leave half the "tasty" ingredients out. I shop for big sales and freeze them (turkey burgers, ground chicken) in indvidual size. I eat that when the family is having a meal that I can't make healthy. Example on leaving things out is when the family is having a casserole with alfredo, cheese chicken and broccoli...I will eat everything individually while so I omit the cheese and sauce. If the sides I am serving are no good for me, I will eat a side salad and some fresh fruit. Its a long process to make it all work but you can do it Good luck!! P.S. I noticed when mommy has her "diet food" for just her...the little ones want to eat it too. The kids love edamame now!

dklibert

Have you heard of the blogger Weelicious? She cooks family and kid friendly recipes.

Francl27

We pay maybe $120 a week for 4 of us. I don't cater to picky eaters though... dinner is what is served or nothing. So now they eat. I can't imagine how it would be wrong for my kids to eat a healthy dinner anyway.

About budget, I typically stock up on things when they are on sale, pretty much.

jenny2474

suruda wrote: »

When my kids were small I would stick to basics, protein, veggies and add a starch for them. I would just eat the protein and veggies. Now I wish I would have made them eat healthier as both of them have weight issues. Sigh...

Iv the same problem I think it's the kids our bad habits rub off on as my youngest son is over weight and is only 10 iv only myself to blame

mistikal13

As far as budget goes, meal planning and stocking up on sale items for the future are what really helps us.

draco706

I make a cheesy carrot & parsnip mash that is yummy.
4 carrots, 4 parsnips. Steam & mash with butter.
I add a 4 oz. of cheese
melt, stir and enjoy.
costs about $5. Less if you get farmers market produce.
serves 6.
If your kids are picky mash really well and call 'em cheesy taters. Serve with pork or chicken and a veg they will eat (broccoli, green beans)

kmsoucy457

draco706 wrote: »

I make a cheesy carrot & parsnip mash that is yummy.
4 carrots, 4 parsnips. Steam & mash with butter.
I add a 4 oz. of cheese
melt, stir and enjoy.
costs about $5. Less if you get farmers market produce.
serves 6.
If your kids are picky mash really well and call 'em cheesy taters. Serve with pork or chicken and a veg they will eat (broccoli, green beans)

Yum! I don't have kids and I'm not picky, but ima eat this tonight.

Capt_Apollo

i've been saving money since eating and cooking healthier. check out budgetbytes.com. lots of recipes- on a budget- that are healthy and simple to cook, with nothing crazy where you have to have a broad palette.

chantelp0508

My kids are pretty much up for anything, but their daddy…I always have a chicken breast and veggies ready to go for him if he doesn't like it. It's a little disheartening when I have to make everyone something different, but it is what it is

chantelp0508

chelsie_1984 wrote: »

I noticed when mommy has her "diet food" for just her...the little ones want to eat it too. The kids love edamame now!

That is the absolute truth

Francl27

draco706 wrote: »

I make a cheesy carrot & parsnip mash that is yummy.
4 carrots, 4 parsnips. Steam & mash with butter.
I add a 4 oz. of cheese
melt, stir and enjoy.
costs about $5. Less if you get farmers market produce.
serves 6.
If your kids are picky mash really well and call 'em cheesy taters. Serve with pork or chicken and a veg they will eat (broccoli, green beans)

Yes this looks delicious, lol.

LeeAnn254

Francl27 wrote: »

We pay maybe $120 a week for 4 of us. I don't cater to picky eaters though... dinner is what is served or nothing. So now they eat. I can't imagine how it would be wrong for my kids to eat a healthy dinner anyway.

About budget, I typically stock up on things when they are on sale, pretty much.

^^^This. I don't cater. You eat what I cook or nothing. Believe me they jump on board. Get the kids in there cooking with you and they will be excited to try their creation. My kids love to cook even the 1 year old stirs the pot. Also lookup skinnytaste.com. Lots of family friendly recipes. Once you get rid of the junk they will eat hubby included.

Laurend224

Francl27 wrote: »

We pay maybe $120 a week for 4 of us. I don't cater to picky eaters though... dinner is what is served or nothing. So now they eat. I can't imagine how it would be wrong for my kids to eat a healthy dinner anyway.

About budget, I typically stock up on things when they are on sale, pretty much.

I don't cater to picky eaters either. My kids learned a long time ago, eat what is given to them, or they don't eat. If they miss a meal it isn't the end of the world. Just means they'll eat all of their oatmeal at breakfast. They pretty much eat everything I throw at them now.

I shop at Aldi, and typically pay $70-80 a week to feed our family of five. Of course, I'm not buying meat, eggs, or dairy, so YMMV.

AntsyAngler

My kids raid all of my special goodies, soda water, avocados, dried fruits and nuts, fresh citrus, etc. At least they are snacking on healthy stuff, but I go to prepare some food and find half my stuff is gone. My husband cooks a lot too and sometimes my kids will choose my meals over his steak and potato types of dinners. It's good to expose kids to lots of options, but I feel like forcing foods they don't like can form negative opinions about healthy foods. I am lucky that I have adventurous eaters.

cuinboston2014

I found that when I add the ingredients they don't like into foods like soup, they tend to like them. My daughter and husband are both really picky but I made a mac and cheese soup (from skinnytaste.com) which had tons of broccoli and some other veggies. My daughter swore she wouldn't like it and she loved it and got some veggies in. I try to hide them when I can until I can incorporate them into their regular meals.

I also don't always cater to them. I only buy food when it's on sale unless we absolutely need it. I have a garden in the summer I pull veggies from which is awesome. I also might make everything plain and then make the sides for myself. So, this week we'll probably make chicken breast since that's on sale. They both like theirs without anything on it and I like lots of sauteed veggies so I'll make my sauteed veggies just for me.

I also stock up when stuff we always eat is on sale or I can combine deals. We've gotten our regular grocery bill down to about $80 a week ona verage for the 3 of us (this includes me having to buy tons of weird stuff for labs for school). We don't buy a lot of junk - very rarely do we buy chips, etc.

I would definitely check out skinnytaste.com. I've found lots of budget friendly meals that please all of us!