Feeding Children Right!

knittnponder

Mine just ate poached eggs for breakfast. They also like oatmeal, whole wheat toast (we mill our own flour and make the bread so it's as "whole grain" as we're going to get!) polenta or grits (again, we mill it) sometimes breakfast meats, scrambled eggs, omelets, green smoothies and on rare occasions: french toast, waffles or pancakes but again, we make all of these from whole grains and totally from scratch. If you have a good blender (Vitamix, Blendtec or a Bosch attachment for the Bosch mixer) you can make blender batters for the pancakes or waffles from the whole grain right in the blender with no need for a mill. Takes only a minute to throw it all in there and blend the heck out of it!

We keep a big bowl of hard boiled eggs in the fridge for when we need a fast breakfast or snack. I just boil them up once a week for convenience. I also keep fruit and string cheese on hand. My kids like celery or apples with peanut butter, apples and cheddar cheese, grapes and string cheese together, etc. We make our own almond butter and I do allow the kids to have graham crackers so they like to spread almond butter on them for a snack. Make up your own trail mix too. Then you can control what goes into it and it what proportion. I keep mine in a big jar but we just toss some in a ziplock baggie when we're heading out the door if we need a snack on the run.

In the summertime we like to peel and halve bananas then poke a stick into them. Freeze on a tray and then bag them up. When someone wants a cool treat they can roll them in yogurt and sprinkle or granola. If we're wanting dessert we dip the frozen banana in melted chocolate and it hardens pretty quickly. Yum!

I'll also make up smoothies or just fruit puree and freeze them in popsicle molds for healthy popsicles. You can use canned fruit if you want but try to just use the stuff in water/natural juice instead of the heavy syrups.

We pop popcorn in coconut oil, make our own granola, dehydrate fruit (they love apple slices with a touch of cinnamon) and they love raw veggies in dip. Oh and hummus! They love hummus with either vegetables or whole grain crackers or chips.

We started out with lots of processed stuff in our lives because that's how my husband and I grew up but gradually we've shifted away from it and make most stuff from scratch. I don't buy cereal (even hot cereals like Malt o Meal or Cream of Wheat are out since they're processed). I don't buy pop, juice or koolaid; they drink mostly water. I will occasionally buy chips but that is a very rare thing. They think sugar snap peas are about the best thing ever!

Oh and breakfast muffins are handy and good. A wholegrain muffin filled with nuts and dried or fresh fruit is handy and can be full of nutrition if done right. The Flat Belly Diet has a Flat Belly Muffin recipe that we all LOVE just because it tastes good! It's made with oatmeal and we've put raisins and nuts in it. My son absolutely adores bran muffins with prune bits in it if you can believe that! He's 11 and thinks they're fabulous, lol.

ETA: After reading some of the battles with kids that were posted while i was writing my "novel" I thought I'd amend my post with our mealtime rules.

1. We have a one bite rule. You don't have to eat it all, just take one bite of each thing served. If you don't like it, you aren't required to eat it. (We do have the occasional exception. My son had a pretty severe gag reflex when he was younger and mashed potatoes would set it off. It was a texture thing. We didn't force him to take even the one bite because we knew it was traumatic for him and he'd be gagging and couldn't control it. We're not that mean!)

2. No disparaging remarks about the food! If you don't like it that's fine but you're not allowed to make disgusting (or disgusted) noises about it or say things like "this is gross", "what is this stuff?!?!", etc. It's very disrespectful to the person who cooked it and it sets off a chain reaction in the younger siblings. A younger one might have actually liked it until big brother or sister made some snarky comment. Now suddenly no one likes it! Not allowed here. It also sets them up not to do this when they're company at someone else's house and is just good manners. All they need to say is "no thank you."

3. The meal served is what you get to eat. There will be no additional meals created for you simply because you're being picky. It is what it is! There will also be no snacking if you choose not to eat dinner. Breakfast will be in the morning and you can choose something different then.

You might not agree with our tactics but that doesn't bother me. We have four kids who eat a variety of food, read labels and are conscientious about what they put in their bodies. They're willing to try new foods and are adventurous eaters. My youngest who just turned seven asked for her special birthday dinner to be steak and brussel sprouts and I'm okay with that!

jwintonyk

One thing I give to my daughter that she absolutely LOVES is celery with peanut butter and raisins on top...we call in "Ants on a log"

rugrattamer

Good for you for wanting to feed your 3 year old with healthy food. Starting off on the right foot will hopefully eliminate a lot of unhealthy food issues in the future!

I just found this site yesterday that had a cool idea for "face lunches", Arranging foods in cute ways to form a face- definitely a fun way to serve up fruits, veggies, and other healthy foods. She had some other great ideas as well.
http://thecreativemama.com/facing-lunch/

runnerdad

When my kids were small (2 & 6), I read to give them frozen veggies, right from the freezer, to curb their appetite when you are getting home from work and they are starving and you are trying to get dinner on the table. I thought 'No way", but they loved it, and they always got all their veggies eaten by the time the main meal was cooked. Twelve years later, they are both still great fruit and veggie eaters, and often go the the freezer for a bowl of green beans if they want a bedtime snack.

kacarter1017

There are recipes for homemade granola bars that use honey and fruit for sweetners. Check out allrecipes.com- they have LOTS of them! If you're looking for quick snacks will longer lasting carbs than fruits, a multigrain or whole wheat tortilla with low fat cheese microwaved for a few seconds is a great snack!

Hannah_Banana

But sooner or later they will eat because 2 year olds don't have the mental capacity to stage a hunger strike.

That just made me laugh so hard, people at work were looking at me funny.

My kid would prefer NOT to eat if given the option. I'm not entirely sure he feels hunger, but I've never tried outlasting him before. Now I feel like I should. :laugh:

Hannah_Banana

Oh! And does anyone have opinions about cooking with molasses instead? Since its chock full of nutrients etc, especially iron. Anybody know if this might be a good "sweet" alternative?

jarrettd

I wish I knew some special foods for kids. My daughter is 2 (3 in July) and NEVER wants to eat ANYTHING. I have to argue with her at every meal and she still won't eat. She should look like a skeleton by now. I'm close to tears every day with this crap. I can't take it anymore, she has been like this every since starting solid foods...so it's been about 2 years now that I have been going through this three times a day. I'm so frustrated I could explode.

I know you are frustrated but I had to smile at that. I can do that now since mine are grown and gone. Some kids are just like that. But sooner or later they will eat because 2 year olds don't have the mental capacity to stage a hunger strike. Just keep healthy food available and don't make a big issue of it. She'll eat when she gets hungry enough. Just don't offer unhealthy food as a replacement or you'll have a very hard time ever getting out of that habit.

Amen!

Mindful_Trent

Oh! And does anyone have opinions about cooking with molasses instead? Since its chock full of nutrients etc, especially iron. Anybody know if this might be a good "sweet" alternative?

Eh - molasses is just a byproduct of the process by which they make white refined sugar. I'd avoid it, personally, and stick with raw honey and raw maple syrup.

jamie1888

I get cute ideas from the Disney Family website and other sources.....

Here's a fun frog.. made with a green apple, grapes, cream cheese and yes, I used 2 chocolate chips for the eyes. But, you could use raisins too.


Frog Apple by jamie1888, on Flickr

And here are some strawberry mice... cheese wedges, strawberries, almond slices, mini chocolate chip nose, 2 colored sprinkles for the eyes, and a candy string tail. use chocolate sprinkles instead of colored ones for mice that are less creepy/evil looking! lol I'm sure you could find another sub for the candy tail too.


Strawberry Mice by jamie1888, on Flickr

Hannah_Banana

Oh my gosh! That little frog is SOOOOOOOOO cute! (I have a *slight* obsession with frogs). I will be making these this weekend for a family get together. Thanks so much for those fun ideas!

rachmaree

I don't have kids (yet) but there are some great ideas on here!

bcattoes

Oh! And does anyone have opinions about cooking with molasses instead? Since its chock full of nutrients etc, especially iron. Anybody know if this might be a good "sweet" alternative?

Eh - molasses is just a byproduct of the process by which they make white refined sugar. I'd avoid it, personally, and stick with raw honey and raw maple syrup.

But molasses is not even close to being the same as white sugar. Molasses has a very high nutrient content and is a good healthy sweetener. In moderation, of course.

purnurple

feed them sugar free jello cups. they are a dollar for 4 and easy to grab. also try feeding them yogurt. when i was a kid my mom gave me the flavored water at walmart. they come in bottles and are sugar free. its jsut water but with minerals and vitamins naturally added. for instance the grape has grapes in it. shocking i know.

DianaPowerUp

I give my kids for snacks:
fruit - they love fruit of all kinds
yogurt (that has no HFC or artificial anything in it)
string cheese
occ. sunchips or cheezits (treat)

Lunch always comes with fruit and dinner with veggies. We have a one bite rule too. Our oldest is finally eating eggs, and I'm hoping the younger 2 follow suit soon. It's like monkey see, monkey do.

TripleJ3

For on the go or even easy at home I buy those baby food pouches. I know it sounds funny but they do make applesauce based ones geared for older kids too.

They can be pricey so I mainly use them for big errand days or when I know we won't be home much but I like the Happy Baby brand and Ella's Kitchen.
They are so so good. Theres a banana pumpkin one that I could just eat all day long. I used to only find these at Toys R us and health food stores but now I see them at Super Target and Hy Vee for those that have those chains.

Obviously you can make your own pureed food at home but these I always have on hand for quick healthy snacks. Usually just over a dollar a pouch which isn't bad but I have three kids so it adds up. I do buy the fruit only ones for my 7 and 5yrs school lunch. I'd rather spend the money on those than just buy more cheap garbage.

I'll even buy the pre-packaged apple slices and grapes.

mpfand

Costco sells this large tub of Winnie the Pooh crackers that are very low in suagr. They taste like animal cookies to me, but they're called crackers. My husband and I snack on them. lol My two teenagers like them, too. My kids love all fruit. This time of year it's easy because there is alot that's in season and readily available. During the winter when berries and melons are expensive and don't even taste good anyway, I buy large bags of frozen mixed berries at Costco. They're just frozen berries without any added sugar. My kids love them. They'll eat them as is or I'll make parfaits. (mixed berries layered with vanilla yogurt and granola) My kids also like to snack on string cheese, Pirate's Booty, Veggie Straws, granola bars, frozen Go-Gurts and popcorn.

dumb_blondes_rock

my friend is pretty into health foods and she gets organic cheddar bunnies(they come in variety of flavors) or she gets those veggie straw/fries.....she also has him eating a lot of trailmix or just nuts in general...not sure how the refined sugar i in those snacks, but her son is a pretty healthy kid

hbrekkaas

We have a hard time finding snacks that everyone can have, so I end up making everything myself. My youngest two have dairy, nut and soy allergies between them so we can't just grab a box of granola bars on the way out of the store. My 3 year olds allergies are much milder, but she can't have yogurt or cheese or nuts, my son can't have any dairy or soy.

The pre-bought snacks they can have are:
Vegetable thin crackers,
Graham crackers
PriceSmart store brand animal crackers
Pretzels
SunRype Fruit Source fruit bars
Tortilla chips

They eat alot of fruit, and muffins. They love muffins. Zucchini, carrot, banana, fruit, oatmeal. It does't really matter what kind, they love it. (I make them) They won't eat veggies but we keep offering them anyway, one day one might take a bite.

And my 8 year old LOVES veggies. Cooked or raw, mixed or alone, she doesn't care, she loves them. Her favorite are carrots and lettuce.

We also have fairly strict rules about when they are allowed to eat. They get breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and then bed. They do not pick their own food or take things without asking (that rule is more for the 8 year old then the little ones) and they get what is served for dinner or they get nothing. Its hard enough to cook one meal in however many ways I need to to accomodate allergies, I won't cook a different meal on top of that because someone doesn't like it.

mamato4kids

I find that if I stock my kitchen with only healthy stuff, they will eat it. I just found keifer yogurt with strawberries or blueberries, at first they turned their noses to it, now I can't stock it fast enough! Food companies are getting smart too, my kids love the squeezable yogurts and applesauce...
Point: our tastes change, so will theirs