Kid Friend Healthy Eating Resources

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bamagrits15
bamagrits15 Posts: 131 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm looking for recommendations on websites or cookbooks that have kid friendly meals. I have checked out SkinnyMom, but I need more ideas. I am especially looking for ideas on plan ahead breakfast and dinner ideas.

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  • bamagrits15
    bamagrits15 Posts: 131 Member
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    My kids are picky eaters. And by that I mean I blame myself for letting them eat junk for way too long. :)
  • brista128
    brista128 Posts: 17 Member
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    Getting to Yum by Karen Le Billon might help you transition your kids away from junky "kid food" and towards more healthy foods.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
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    Anything can be kid-friendly once you figure out if they like it. Almost all kids are picky to some degree, but it's a total misconception that kids will eat ONLY chicken nuggets and goldfish (even though it definitely feels that way sometimes), or that you MUST doctor up foods in order to make them "kid-friendly." You have to just keep trying to introduce the foods you'd like them to eat.

    For example - I have a just-turned 5 year old and an almost 3 year old. Some days it seems like the only things they're willing to eat are graham crackers, fruit snacks, and Happy Meals. But, through lots of home cooking and lots of trial and error, I've discovered that both my kids LOVE grilled steak, cooked rare (as much as I hate to spend the money on it, haha) and steamed broccoli. And both kids will eat the heck out of homemade Chipotle-style burrito bowls, beans and veggies and all, and will eat anything I put in a soup. And while it's incredibly hard to convince my youngest to eat most veggies that I cook with dinner, she'll eat raw cucumbers and carrots all day. And my oldest loves roasted beets (what??? lol). Etc etc etc. You may never get them to love Brussels sprouts, but you may find that they love green beans sauteed with onions, or grilled chicken, or whatever.

    You don't have to make special meals for kids. Just cook the food and put it in front of their faces. I try to strike a balance in what I cook - I refuse to make special food for my kids beyond what my husband and I eat for dinner, but I also strive to make at least one dish they enjoy.
  • Shalaurise
    Shalaurise Posts: 707 Member
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    I guess I got lucky. I refused to give my kids soda, french fries and other things of the like for the first two years. They grew up on healthy food (unlike what mom would eat) and as such they LOVE their veggies and meats now days. Even my autistic one will eat just about anything I make... now, I don't make asparagus or brussels sprout (much to my daughters dismay), because I don't like them and how do you know if you made it right when it always tastes bad to you, ya know? Don't get me wrong. They are kids and they have a mind of their own, so one day a meal is fine, but next week that isn't what they want so they get grumpy and refuse to eat it, but isn't that everyone at some point?

    My recommendation is just to make some simple dinners that are on the edge of their comfort zone. Bake some chicken tenderloins rather than having fried chicken strips. Make some pasta roni noodles rather than mac n cheese (they are way less calories than kraft mac). I used to put butter on the veggies, but don't any longer. Zucchini is one of my kids favorites. Fried and dipped in ranch is their preference, but with a little salt I just cut them into spears and bake them now. Sudden drastic changes might cause a riot (aka tantrums from the kids) and loss of sanity (for you). :P
  • nathaliebeaupre3
    nathaliebeaupre3 Posts: 1
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    try wellnessmama.com she focuses on whole foods and is fun to read. She just launched a meal planning system on her site, it looks neat but I haven't tried it.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Do you eat the same food as your kids, and altogether? Kids often respond well to food if you're all eating the same thing at the same time.

    I'm pretty strict. My daughter doesn't determine the menu, and there are no extra meals ("you get what you get, and you don't get upset"), but she's allowed to determine what she eats from the plate and it's perfectly OK for her not to like everything.

    Depending on age, maybe include them in meal planning and you can figure out healthy eating together. Kids seem to find nutrition labels fascinating..
  • bamagrits15
    bamagrits15 Posts: 131 Member
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    Do you eat the same food as your kids, and altogether? Kids often respond well to food if you're all eating the same thing at the same time.

    I'm pretty strict. My daughter doesn't determine the menu, and there are no extra meals ("you get what you get, and you don't get upset"), but she's allowed to determine what she eats from the plate and it's perfectly OK for her not to like everything.

    Depending on age, maybe include them in meal planning and you can figure out healthy eating together. Kids seem to find nutrition labels fascinating..

    Honestly since my divorce 2 years ago we haven't been eating together much. I never realized how bad it has gotten of us all eating on the go. Wow. That hurts to think about. I used to joke about how great it was that we (kids and I) could have cereal for breakfast and no one fussed about it.

    I'm going to do a full menu plan when school starts back in two weeks for sure.

    My 9 yr old has decided he wants to cut 5 lbs for football so I am trying hard to help him by planning his meals. Unfortunately he has older brother who eats whatever he wants and doesn't have a bit of fat around annoying him.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Weelicious is a website that has a lot of good recipes and suggestions for getting kids to eat "healthy". She is a big proponent of Family Meals - one meal for the whole family - which is something I still struggle with.

    http://weelicious.com/family-meals/

    My boys are 3 and 5. I was a very picky eater as a child and I didn't want them to go through that, because as I got older, I got more self conscious about the foods I didn't eat that everyone else was eating. However, as much as I have tried to get them to eat all the same things we eat, it just doesn't seem to work out that way most nights, and I also hate when every meal turns into me nagging them to eat their food.

    I try to compromise by putting the food we are eating on their plate and asking them to at least try a bite, but I also put food that I know they will eat as well, so that they are comfortable with what's on their plate. My oldest is on the very small side for his age, so to be honest, I would rather him eat two chicken nuggets, a serving of mac n cheese, raw carrots, and half a banana then fight with him to get him to eat one bite of salmon, quinoa and asparagus.

    It is a constant struggle so I am always interested to hear what works for others.
  • Squishy_hapa_mama
    Squishy_hapa_mama Posts: 13 Member
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    I'm looking for some simple, kid friendly lunches and snacks to make for school. It has to be dairy free to due to allergies. I'm never been good at making cold sack lunches, let alone healthy fresh ones.

    I got my fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies. So delicious- I've been craving this! AND my kid (picky eater) even tried a blueberry! My goal is transform this child's diet before school starts so they might actually eat the healthy lunches I plan on packing for school! Due to my efforts, my kid will now eat watermelon too. Seems like this kid has always had an aversion to fruit, better with veggies though amazingly.

    70469741.png
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  • lauranelson779
    lauranelson779 Posts: 18 Member
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    My son was a picky eater (he's now 4) my daughter, thank goodness, will try anything (almost 2). My sin from age 1-3 actually lost weight. thankfully, once he turned 3 things started to come around and this summer has been fantastic. In the beginning we saw a nutritionist to help him gain and give us tips. We started with foods he liked. For him it was fruit and yougurt smoothies. We gradually increased the variety of fruit in them so the texture didn't change but the taste did. We eventually added veggies and would tell him after his first sip. The reasoning was after his brain said "wow, this is good" then we told him it had carrot/spinach/beet/etc his brain would think happy thoughts on that food. We did that for a bit until he thought carrots or whatever was delicious then we served them raw or cooked at meal time. We only did one food at a time and did that food for a week. Now, after a year of doing this, he'll eat almost anything (he still has preferences but will willing eat every bite on his plate, no coaching, no bribery, nothing) . him and his sister fight over the peas and beans in the garden. We just tried the last veggie in the grocery store. It was eggplant and we served it with the "good" china and candle light as a celebration in trying everything. Turns out both my kids like eggplant but I am allergic...who knew.

    Granted, he does not like food mixed together (like chilli or pizza or flavoured yogurt) and will not for the life of him eat pasta or white rice (which I am fine with, the less I serve it, the better for my weight loss)

    Oh, and we did limit milk. We don't drink any juice or soda in our home (juice upsets his tummy and I have no Will power for soda) and if he didn't finish his plate, that was ok but meant no snacks until the next meal. Kids need to be a little hungry to try foods. Good luck! It's a lot of work but I am so proud of how he eats now,
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    My son was a picky eater (he's now 4) my daughter, thank goodness, will try anything (almost 2). My sin from age 1-3 actually lost weight. thankfully, once he turned 3 things started to come around and this summer has been fantastic. In the beginning we saw a nutritionist to help him gain and give us tips. We started with foods he liked. For him it was fruit and yougurt smoothies. We gradually increased the variety of fruit in them so the texture didn't change but the taste did. We eventually added veggies and would tell him after his first sip. The reasoning was after his brain said "wow, this is good" then we told him it had carrot/spinach/beet/etc his brain would think happy thoughts on that food. We did that for a bit until he thought carrots or whatever was delicious then we served them raw or cooked at meal time. We only did one food at a time and did that food for a week. Now, after a year of doing this, he'll eat almost anything (he still has preferences but will willing eat every bite on his plate, no coaching, no bribery, nothing) . him and his sister fight over the peas and beans in the garden. We just tried the last veggie in the grocery store. It was eggplant and we served it with the "good" china and candle light as a celebration in trying everything. Turns out both my kids like eggplant but I am allergic...who knew.

    Granted, he does not like food mixed together (like chilli or pizza or flavoured yogurt) and will not for the life of him eat pasta or white rice (which I am fine with, the less I serve it, the better for my weight loss)

    Oh, and we did limit milk. We don't drink any juice or soda in our home (juice upsets his tummy and I have no Will power for soda) and if he didn't finish his plate, that was ok but meant no snacks until the next meal. Kids need to be a little hungry to try foods. Good luck! It's a lot of work but I am so proud of how he eats now,

    I am really impressed with this approach and that it works so well for you. I am sure that I have not tried all the vegetables in the store myself! How do your kids do with meat (if you guys eat meat?)?

    The limiting milk is something I've considered many times with my older son, I really believe he fills up on that and it keeps him from eating as much as he could. He is on the very small side and has seen an pediatric endocrinologist to monitor his growth, but that doctor as well as his pediatrician don't seem that concerned when I describe his eating habits.

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