Single dad looking for awesome support/motivational people

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nickkreitzer
nickkreitzer Posts: 45 Member
edited June 2016 in Food and Nutrition
Title says it all.Not looking for a hookup or anything Just looking to connect with a group of people to discuss ideas pertaining to diet and workouts, especially with kiddos and the diet aspect. It's very easy to stroll up to the fast food line for dollar menu items but trying to eat clean and teach my kids to eat clean as well has become very important to me and that is what I am hoping to get some friendly insight for. I have picky eaters too so it makes it that much harder and I hate wasting money on food or anything that doesn't get eaten. Yes, I am very frugal so recipes on a budget would be extremely appreciated as well. Thanks for checking this out and I look forward to bouncing ideas and/or sharing recipes. I have worked out off and on for years so I am not a complete noob as my son would say lol.

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  • scoii
    scoii Posts: 160 Member
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    When you say your kids are fussy eaters, do you means "I don't like broccoli only fries" for example.

    I'm not a parent yet but have lots of nieces and nephews and they are geniuses at that game and it's hard telling them it's not gonna happen any more.

    You can either force a healthy diet on them Super Nanny style or eat separate. The former will give you less temptation.

    In reality eating healthy is cheaper than fast food and doesn't take that much time and cookery skill and depending on the age of the kids, they love to help out.

    Kids may say not to chunks of onion, mushroom and pepper in a pasta sauce but chop them finely or blend them and they love the flavours and then they'll learn that these new things aren't scary.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
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    My Dad raised my brother and I on his own and always tried to give us a balanced diet, but some treats too. He used to cook and bake a lot of meals from scratch (don't know if that's something you're into doing or not) trying to save money, including baking his own biscuits, cakes, bread etc. We had meals with veggies and had fruit, but had the odd fish fingers & chips, sausage & chips meals too. If we wanted sweets we had to buy them ourselves from our pocket money, so didn't buy them that often as we wanted to spend our money on other things. He never bought fizzy sugary pops either, just cordials with no added sugar and strangely now neither my brother or I like fizzy drinks now :)
  • SamanthaLouiseMence
    SamanthaLouiseMence Posts: 663 Member
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    I'm a single parent and I get what you mean, i myself am a fussy eater but my child is not, so I generally give my child the same as me, sometimes I give him something different that I don't particualarly like so he's not restricted to certain foods
    I'm on a tight budget, but I can still whip up meals everyday that are cheap enough to buy and easy to make
    You can also make meal times fun for the kids by getting them involved! Also a friend of mine has 3 kids, so she gives them a little menu of healthy meals on a Sunday night and let's them decide what they want each night of the week for dinner, and they really take to it, have you thought of giving that a try too?
    Feel free to add me and hopefully can figure something out that you and your kids can all have together and enjoy
  • nickkreitzer
    nickkreitzer Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks guys, all of that information truly helps. I had never been a skilled cook until after my divorce and I said I wasn't going to feed my kiddos fast food or frozen meals every day (from time to time, sure lol) . I have gotten better and so now I am not so scared to try new things out and hey, I even have a full cupboard full of spices and such ha ha. That's half the battle right there and I learned that quickly. Thanks again
  • scottburger104
    scottburger104 Posts: 90 Member
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    http://alphadadproject.com/

    Chris lopez has a site for helping dads do what you are trying to do.
  • cecsav1
    cecsav1 Posts: 714 Member
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    Single mom here... Honestly, I eat different food than my kids several nights a week. We still eat together, just different meals. For example, tonight, I had salmon with asparagus and a salad, made chicken patty sandwiches for the kids. They also had strawberries and a salad. I batch cook for myself, so I'm not always cooking multiple meals every night.
  • nickkreitzer
    nickkreitzer Posts: 45 Member
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    Cecsav1, your operating perfectly it appears :) . I seem to have a hard time staying out of what I make for the boys ha ha ha. Work in progress but getting better. For me, I think If they eat what I eat within reason I will be teaching them a bigger lesson about nutrition but I know, these kids have bundles of energy and need those awesome mom cooked meals. Thanks for your input
  • nickkreitzer
    nickkreitzer Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks Scott Burger. Much appreciated man
  • nickkreitzer
    nickkreitzer Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks for your feedback scoii. You had wonderful thoughts on how to get them to eat healthy and like it without even knowing that onions, tomatoes or what not are even in it. This past weekend was a success. I think if you just make the food, most of the time they will eat it as long as it tastes good ha ha ha. Your input was very much appreciated. ty
  • Isca_1
    Isca_1 Posts: 124 Member
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    My boys are picky eaters, and I have the same notion that my parents had when I was kid. I put cooked food on the table, you eat it, great, you don't, oh well. You get nothing else. We had 8 people in the house, and my mom was not going to cook different meals for everyone.

    I started getting my youngest into helping me cook. Check out Jamie Olivers website, some good stuff to get the kids involved with the planning and cooking of meals. Now I have mommy and thing2 time in the kitchen making food.

    Good luck!

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