Eating well on a budget with a picky child...

Saw these recipes on the Steve Harvey show.

I think most people will have these ingredients on hand, (don't want to say everyone cause I don't know your kitchen).

Though feel free to use these if you want. They are not mine, but I've tried the chicken recipe and it's excellent!!!

1.) Unfried Chicken

Ingredients:
8 skinless boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of all visible fat (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 teaspoon Paula Deen’s House Seasoning*
1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1 1/4 cups cereal crumbs, preferred brand cornflakes
Cooking Spray, for skillet

Directions: 

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2) Spray a large cast iron skillet with nonstick spray and heat over medium high
3) Sprinkle the chicken with the House Seasoning. In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, lemon zest, juice, egg whites, and hot sauce. Add the chicken; toss to coat
4) Place the cornflake crumbs in another large bowl. Dip the chicken into the crumbs pressing so the crumbs adhere
5) Place the chicken in the prepared skillet and then transfer to the oven
6) Bake until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, 40 – 45 minutes.
Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Cook Time: 40-45 minutes 

Difficulty: Easy
Yield: 8 servings

Un-Fried Chicken- 281 calories, 4.2 grams fat

2.) Guiltless Cheesy Mac

Ingredients
4 cups cooked multigrain elbow macaroni, drained 

3 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
3 ounces shredded Parmesan

1/2 cup skim milk

2 egg whites
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen petite peas, thawed
1 cup finely chopped cauliflower
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs

Cooking Spray, for baking dish

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350°F.
1) Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray
2) In a large bowl, add the cheeses, milk, egg whites, reduced-fat sour cream, mustard, salt, pepper, peas, and cauliflower. Mix ingredients together until combined
3) After the macaroni has been cooked according to package directions and drained, add your cheese mixture into the warm pot you cooked the macaroni in and stir, the residual heat will help the mixture combine.
4) Pour into your prepared casserole dish. Evenly sprinkle the whole wheat bread crumbs over the macaroni.
5) Bake, until the filling is hot and the topping is golden, 35 – 40 minutes. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy 

Yield: 10 servings

Guiltless Cheesy Mac- 231 calories, 20.7 grams fat

My 4 year old used to eat whatever I put on her plate if she was hungry, but lately she has gotten very picky. Her tastes change every day and nothing I suggest ever sounds good to her. So I started letting her help me grocery shop. She doesn't get to pick everything she wants of course, but I let her pick the apples and bananas and her cereal, and even which gallon of milk she thinks looks best, lol. It has helped, because when she is in a picky mood I can distract her with praise for the yummy thing she picked out at the store. Then she wants to eat it. I also read how very small portions of 3 or more items on a plate makes food much more appealing to kids. They only have to eat a little bit of each thing. So I bought a pack of tupperware and I keep "lunchable" type meals prepared for her in the fridge. I put 6 to 8 different things in each one with veggies, fruit, crackers, cheese, hard boiled eggs, ect... just little portions of each like 2 cheese cubes, 4 grapes, 2 carrot sticks, 1 cherry tomato, 4 crackers, a slice on avocado with turkey wrapped around it. She loves them, especially because she can open the fridge and help herself, which is fine by me. I'm saving money when she is not wasting food by not eating what I cook for her.

I am in a similar position, I have a family of four that I feed for approx $60-80 per week. My son who is four is the picky one.

Breakfast here is 70% cold cereal (with or without milk, I let them decide), 25% eggs and toast (fried, boiled or scrambled) and 5% waffles/pancakes (depending on if I want to wash a pan or the waffle iron)

Lunch is usually sandwiches and almost always a peanut butter and ______ (I let him decide what he wants in it, sometimes it's banana, homemade jam, jelly or honey.... I do put my foot down when he asks for tuna or turkey or mustard in there :-)

Snacks are fruit, crackers and cheese or cheese sticks.

Dinner can be chicken, rice and cooked veggies, spaghetti and "meat sauce" (I use one Italian sausage that I take out of the skin and sautéed), chicken tenders grilled and served with veggies and dip, or mister picky's favorite... chicken breast that is cooked in cream of ____ soup and frozen mixed veggies, potato, and chopped onion (well he may not know about the onions). There are the occasional different meals but those are the basics, due to budget things like turkey burgers are a splurge for us :-(

Message me if you want more details / ideas, I could use the help too

i have a 4 yr old who is fairly picky. We have a few favourites and then we have occasional meals that I know he won't eat. But if I don't serve him new things he will never be exposed to different foods.

Things that do work.
- Bolognaise mince - made in slow cooker. I serve half one night with spaghetti. then freeze leftover. It can be reheated as a pasta bake (mix through a tablespoon of cream cheese and bake pasta and mince mixture in oven for 20mins)
- Breaded chicken with veg and pot.
- Picnic meal, some cold meat, cheese, salad, boiled egg and new boiled potatoes
- Fish. Amazingly he loves breaded fish.
- Slow cooker chicken in a mushrooms sauce served over rice.
- homeade pizza. He's quite happy to eat some mushroom and pepper if he has made a smiley face on hiz pizza.

You should get your child involved in the cooking and the buying of groceries. My children are the same way. But they (especially me daughter) loves helping me cook and if they help cook it then I normally don't have as much trouble getting them to eat it. Also I was suggest letting them pick out some fresh produce to try once or twic a month. My kids almost always pick something new to try.