When your kids don't want chicken every night!

cbgmamma

Hi! I just started my journey and I find it difficult to make everyone happy at dinner time. My hubby is picky, my kids don't want to eat quinoa and chicken, and I love everything (hints why I'm trying to get the excess off lol) Help me with your healthy meal ideas for the entire family! I would love more "buddies" to motivate me as well! Thanks!!!

queenliz99

Make what they like and you can eat it too. Figure out the calorie content of your portion and your golden.

rpachigo

Homemade pizza with chia seeds in puzza sauce

Linzon

The vast majority of nights I cook the same kinds of things I always have and tailor my own plate to suit my caloric needs. For example, tonight was taco night and I had a nice big taco salad with the shell crumbled on top.

Strawblackcat

Try cooking other meats. Beef really isn't that much higher in calories than chicken when you're preparing chicken in a way that actually tastes good (sautéed, served with skin, stewed..). Plus, beef has iron, and CLA, and all kinds of other things about it that earn it a tasty and beneficial spot on your plate. Or you could cook eggs. As long as you don't overcooked them, nothing made with eggs ever tastes bad.

Alternatively, you could tell them that they could cook their own dinners if they don't like what you're serving.

Mentali

Lately I've been on a kick of Googling "healthy _____" (fill in whatever delicious food you want) and using those recipes. I made turkey tacos with greek yogurt instead of sour cream, tomatoes and lettuce and a bit of guacamole, and they were amazing. Then turkey chili that doesn't taste low-calorie at all, mac n cheese, linguini, basically anything you can make a "healthy" version of it.

There are so many more options too, even for health food! Fish, turkey, vegetarian dishes, soups, quiches, pot roast....

RodaRose

Black bean tacos:
http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2014/12/50-awesome-vegan-black-bean-recipes.html

Crustless pizza (cuts down a little on the calories):
http://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/how-to-make-crustless-pizza/

Oven "Fried" Chicken Strips:
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/oven-fried-chicken-strips-video/

mochapygmy

I have chicken a lot but I change the spices sauce all the time. And the side veggies always change.

Greek style chicken
BBQ chicken
Chicken in Enchilada Sauce
Chicken tacos
Chicken in a mango curry sauce
In a tikka masala sauce
In a stew
Parmesan baked
With berbere spices
In a spicy ginger sauce
In teriyaki

When I get chickened out, I use turkey ground or a roasted breast, fish and occasionally lean beef.

OyGeeBiv

Do YOU want to eat chicken and quinoa every night?

If you love everything, eat everything. Just don't eat all of it, all at once! Watch your calories, eat appropriate amounts.

You didn't say how old your kids are, but chances are they're still growing. Their nutritional needs are not the same as yours. Check with their pediatrician if you're not sure how to proceed.

LKArgh

cbgmamma wrote: »

Hi! I just started my journey and I find it difficult to make everyone happy at dinner time. My hubby is picky, my kids don't want to eat quinoa and chicken, and I love everything (hints why I'm trying to get the excess off lol) Help me with your healthy meal ideas for the entire family! I would love more "buddies" to motivate me as well! Thanks!!!

Is there a reason you need to eat chicken and quinoa every night, especially since you say you love everything?

eldamiano

When your kids dont want chicken every night.... Dont. Give. Them. Chicken.

sourcandies

We try to mix it up over here as well, stepson can be picky.
Honestly, you don't need to eat chicken every night, but if you want to (we don't eat pork and have mostly cut out beef), I would mix up your sides, and try to flavour the chicken.

We try different pasta salads(veggie pasta or smart pasta) over here with veg (baby tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, carrot, romaine lettuce) and chicken pieces throughout (more veg and chicken than pasta to keep low cal, usually use chicken breast for this). We love roasted veggies as well (potatoes, carrots, turnip roasted together) as a side.

If you check out "The Domestic Geek" on Youtube, she has some neat recipes. I like her lemon chicken recipe.

Hope this helps with some ideas!

MommyL2015

I wish my kids didn't want chicken every night. I know I would get super bored with it if I ate it every day.

Francl27

We have chicken maybe once a week and we change the way we cook it. Tons of other protein options out there... chicken sausage, ground beef or turkey, beef, pork, ham, fish...

Check skinnytaste.com for ideas.

catlynjacobs

I try to meal prep for myself as much as possible. That way when dinner time comes im actually only making dinner for my kids and then i warm my meal up for myself. when i dont have anything prepped for myself i just have a smaller portion of whatever my kids and husband are eatting. I always am fuller when I go with the prepped meals

catlynjacobs

90% of the recipes I use came off pintrest btw and also female fitness modles off of youtube like jen heward and ashley Nocera.

LivingtheLeanDream

I wouldn't want to eat chicken every night either.....

AigreDoux

Ah, my kids would eat chicken every single night if I let them!

We mix it up with ground turkey (tacos, meatballs, spaghetti sauce, chili), chicken/turkey sausage, fish (salmon or cod), and occasional pork tenderloin. Not much beef.

If I make a pasta dish and my kids don't like the sauce, I mix a bit of egg and cheese in with their serving so they get some protein.

What do your kids like to eat? I would work on finding ways to make those in healthier forms which will benefit you and your family. We do homemade pizza sometimes and I use less cheese and the kids still love it.

mbaker566

try recipes from cooking light or skinny taste
there is no reason just to eat chicken as your meat protien

lemurcat12

Yes, like others have said, why not eat a variety of foods. There are lots of good protein sources besides chicken, and I certainly would not eat quinoa every night.

Lounmoun

Make a list of foods everyone likes and plug those into your plan.
Not everyone is going to love dinner every night in my house. I try to plan things so if I know someone isn't going to like the main thing then they can eat the side dish. Ultimately though they are not toddlers and if they can't bring themselves to eat it they can eat leftovers, yogurt, cereal or a sandwich. I post the meal plan in the kitchen so it isn't a surprise.
We don't eat chicken every night but there are a lot of ways to have chicken so it isn't boring. Change up how you cook it.
I get food ideas from pinterest, skinnytaste, budget bytes, food.com, all recipes.com.

My current meal plan for dinners- https://lounmoun.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/meal-plan-end-of-feb-end-of-march/

RobD520

Proteins we have prepared for dinner within the past three months (prepared a number of ways) include: salmon, swordfish, tilapia, whitefish, shrimp, calamari, mahi-mahi, crab cakes, lobster tail, king crab, cod, sirloin steak, NY strip, sirloin tip, ribeye, chuck roast, beef tenderloin, 85/15 ground beef, ground sirloin, 80/20 ground chuck, pork loin, pork shoulder, pork country ribs, pork tenderloin, Italian sausage, turkey breast, roast turkey, and, of course, chicken.

My step-sons are 13 and 18.

I have been able to keep my dinner under 600 calories with all of the above! All it takes is portion control and creatively matching sides.

ClosetBayesian

Hamburgers. Pizza. Beans and rice. Tacos. Enchiladas. Lentils. Curry.

mom23mangos

My kids are getting pretty mad at me home cooking all the time now. LOL What? No fast food? Mooooommmm! I try to change it up with steak, brisket, fish, shrimp, chicken, etc. Some of the things I make are a hit, some a miss. Gumbo is one of my kids favorites.

robot_potato

There is so much more to life than just chicken. Have an adventure with your food. This is about a sustainable lifestyle change, so unless you plan on eating chicken and quinoa every night for the rest of your life, you'll need a lot of ideas.

Pinterest is a great resource, you can find a recipe for anything there. I do look for healthier options, but mostly I just portion out what fits my calories and have a salad or more veggies on this side.

Last week we had
Sloppy Joes and salad
Ham, scalloped potatoes and veg
Split pea soup (with the leftover ham) twice cause it was so darn good
Tomato soup and grilled cheese
Hamburgers
Pancakes, bacon and eggs

We do get more adventurous, I make curries, jambalaya, chili& cornbread, pizza, pasta (try making it by hand, so much better than from a box!) For things like pea soup and chili we make big batches and freeze it in dinner size portions for easy weeknight dinners.

There is nothing wrong with eating chicken either. My kids' favourites are butter chicken (w/ peas and rice), hemp crusted chicken strips, pineapple chicken skewers, sweet and sour chicken. So many different ways to make it.

I've lost 51 pounds so far eating all these things, don't be afraid to eat. Food is your friend, it's OK to love it, just learn to love it in sensible portions.

Quinoa tastes like cat butt, don't torture yourself.

RobD520

pbprincess wrote: »

There is so much more to life than just chicken. Have an adventure with your food. This is about a sustainable lifestyle change, so unless you plan on eating chicken and quinoa every night for the rest of your life, you'll need a lot of ideas.

Pinterest is a great resource, you can find a recipe for anything there. I do look for healthier options, but mostly I just portion out what fits my calories and have a salad or more veggies on this side.

Last week we had
Sloppy Joes and salad
Ham, scalloped potatoes and veg
Split pea soup (with the leftover ham) twice cause it was so darn good
Tomato soup and grilled cheese
Hamburgers
Pancakes, bacon and eggs

We do get more adventurous, I make curries, jambalaya, chili& cornbread, pizza, pasta (try making it by hand, so much better than from a box!) For things like pea soup and chili we make big batches and freeze it in dinner size portions for easy weeknight dinners.

There is nothing wrong with eating chicken either. My kids' favourites are butter chicken (w/ peas and rice), hemp crusted chicken strips, pineapple chicken skewers, sweet and sour chicken. So many different ways to make it.

I've lost 51 pounds so far eating all these things, don't be afraid to eat. Food is your friend, it's OK to love it, just learn to love it in sensible portions.

Quinoa tastes like cat butt, don't torture yourself.

Quinoa is bitter if you don't rinse it well before cooking. It's actually pretty popular in my house. But I wouldn't eat it if I didn't like it; there are plenty of alternatives....

lemurcat12

I like quinoa fine, but for some reason there's this idea among some that it's far more nutritious than the alternatives, which is not true, and I don't think it's a great idea to eat the same thing every day anyway. Getting a variety of foods makes it more likely you will get in a greater variety of nutrients.

Francl27

Our menu the last couple weeks

- steak with salad and butternut squash
- corned beef with potatoes, cabbage, and carrots
- ham with lentils
- Asian chicken meatballs and veggies
- sweet and sour chicken with rice
- roasted chicken legs with mashed cauliflower and carrots
- cod with sauteed potatoes and veggies
- whole grain pasta with meat sauce
- chicken sausage with zucchini pancakes and butternut squash
- smoked sausage and white beans in tomato sauce
- ground turkey tacos

I mean yes, there's some chicken in there, but never cooked the same way so the kids don't get bored.

cwolfman13

You can have variety...a lot of variety, and your meals can be very healthy...your food can even taste good too.

4leighbee

... just stopped in to share that my daughter and my ex-husband had a bet going while she was with him last weekend. Katie bet that our Sunday night family dinner would have something to do with chicken. She won.

ForeverSunshine09

I eat almost every meal that we had before just maybe less of them. When I first started mfp I input all our regular recipes to see how I could fit them in. Heck in the last week I have had cubed steaks with mashed potatoes, Italian sausages, tacos, crockpot chicken pasta. I will be having spaghetti bake and crockpot pork chops with mashed potatoes in the next couple of days.