Cooking for kids and husband.

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kscouten87
kscouten87 Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Someone help me out please. My kids are picky eaters and only veggies they eat are corn and green beans. My husband is a skinny Minnie and can eat anything and not gain weight so eating healthy is not big to him. Cooking 2 different meals is not affordable so what can I make that will be good for all of us? This is the hardest part for me.

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  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
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    I'm not much help cuz we all eat differently in my house so I'm usually always stuck cooking 2 or even 3 different meals
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    You should be able to eat what the rest of your family eats, just in the apropriate portions to meet your calorie goal.

    If you want to get more variety of veg in do 2-4 a night making one of them corn or green beans.

    It is a calorie deficit that is needed for fat loss. What you eat, so long as you are meeting your nutritional goals, as all family members should be, doesn't matter (barring allergies etc)

    Cheers, h.
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
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    megpie41 wrote: »
    You should check out some of the recipes on skinnytaste.com They are very good and on the healthier side. The chicken taco chili is great and super easy in a crock pot...one of my favorites.

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/crock-pot-chicken-taco-chili-4-pts/

    ^^ This. I have a husband and a kid. The husband eats anything and everything, but the kid? He only likes broccoli and maybe 5 - 6 other foods, lol. SkinnyTaste has been an invaluable resource into hiding veggies in his food and making healthier options that taste delicious. :)
  • aganey
    aganey Posts: 501 Member
    edited October 2017
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    I had the same problem and his was my solution. My husband will eat cheeseburgers and cookies and lose weight. My son is a little more adventurous with veggies than my daughter so I’m lucky there. I usually cook two veggies at every meal. I know which ones each person likes so I make sure everyone at least has one veggie they like on their plate. We all 4 eat green beans, peas and corn so I keep cans of these in my pantry. Only some of us eat broccoli, spinach, asparagus, zuchinni, squash and cabbage.

    I have also learned how to cook some veggies differently than I always knew how. I used to cook asparagus on the skillet with butter and lemon pepper seasoning. My husband and son hated it. Now I broil them in the oven with a drizzle of evoo and a sprinkle of garlic powder and steak seasoning. They now LOVE asparagus. My 11 year old son requests it now. So I suggest looking up different ways to cook things. Make the taste change. When me and my husband first met he only ate peas, now he will eat ALMOST any veggie. I also always keep lettuce on hand for side salads. Me and my son eat them.

    My starch is usually either baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes or rice if we have gravy because we all love those. Occasionally I’ll cook a Mac and cheese (gotta still eat what you love, just portion control) or a pasta salad.

    My main dish is whatever I feel like cooking whether it be baked chicken (I have a few different recipes to switch it up), baked ribs, hamburger steaks, meatballs in gravy, roast, lasagna (wouldn’t cook starch with this bc of the pasta but still always have a veggie), fish...whatever your family will eat. If I know I’m making something my 2 year old won’t eat or something too spicy for her, I have fish sticks, turkey weenies or frozen chicken nuggets on hand to fix her but I still put the veggies I cook on her plate. Or if there are leftovers from a previous meal she does like I’ll feed her that while we eat what I cooked that night.

    I rely on the internet for different recipes. If I have ground turkey and I don’t want to make my usual dinner choices then I’ll google chicken recipes and all kinds of things come up. I find one that has ingredients I know my family will love. Just remember portion control is key and I try to eat better at breakfast and lunch in case my dinner that night is a little more calorie heavy than usual.

    I hope this helps. Feel free to add me and even message me for recipes. I love cooking and have many recipes!
  • iamthemotherofdogs
    iamthemotherofdogs Posts: 562 Member
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    Have you ever made zoodles?
  • kscouten87
    kscouten87 Posts: 6 Member
    edited October 2017
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    iamthemotherofdogs wrote: »
    Have you ever made zoodles?


    No. What's that?
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
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    Everyone gets the same protein, you just add a variety of sides and dress them differently. Cooked veg etc can have melted cheese on it for the kids if that helps them like it more and no melted cheese if you don’t have the calorie space. Salads can have nuts and cheese and croutons to make them more appealing but edit them out of yours if again, you need the room for other macros or calories. Take your portion of potatoes/rice/pasta out before the higher cal butters or sauces, etc.

    I never ever cook more than one meal. If the kids didn’t like it(rare) they knew from the age of three where to find the apples and carrots in the fridge.

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    kscouten87 wrote: »
    iamthemotherofdogs wrote: »
    Have you ever made zoodles?


    No. What's that?

    Zucchini noodles made with a spiralizer or thin sliced with knife
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I often do a meat, a carb side and a veggie side. Then I either skip the carb side, or have a small, measured portion. I also find my kids will eat raw veggies more than cooked so we often have raw baby carrots, sugar snap peas, baby sweet peppers or cucumber slices with dinner.
  • SarahSloth342634
    SarahSloth342634 Posts: 90 Member
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    Corn and green beans is good, maybe add fish to that for the kids. When I do salmon, luckily the kids like it and they like the fun of squeezing lemon wedges on the fish.
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    kscouten87 wrote: »
    iamthemotherofdogs wrote: »
    Have you ever made zoodles?


    No. What's that?

    Zucchini noodles made with a spiralizer or thin sliced with knife

    I recently "cheese grated" a zucchini for my chicken alfredo (I don't have a spiralizer and cut horribly), so that works too.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I plan and cook meals. Not everyone will like everything every day. I try to balance out things different people like
    If dd does not like the vegetable she can have fruit. If she does not like the main dish she can have a sandwich or cereal. I do not cook two completely different meals.

    For me I might not put cheese on my burger or have a taco salad or skip rice and have more vegetables with my stir fry.

    Watch portion sizes. Have a salad or other low calorie vegetables to bulk out your meal.
    Something like meat, rice/pasta/potato and vegetables is easier for each person to take what they like than a mixed dish.
  • Heather4448
    Heather4448 Posts: 908 Member
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    You are not a short order cook. They eat what you cook or they don’t eat.
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
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    My family does this thing where one person claims to not like something everyone else loves. Or my son would say something like, “I 35% like it and the rest not.” What does that even mean?!
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
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    The rest of my thing disappeared. Weird. I made a rule that if it doesn’t make you gag, you have to eat it or go without. If it does make you gag, you can make yourself a sandwich.
  • alicebhsia
    alicebhsia Posts: 179 Member
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    kscouten87 wrote: »
    Someone help me out please. My kids are picky eaters and only veggies they eat are corn and green beans. My husband is a skinny Minnie and can eat anything and not gain weight so eating healthy is not big to him. Cooking 2 different meals is not affordable so what can I make that will be good for all of us? This is the hardest part for me.

    when my kids were young and all anyone ever wanted was pasta and nothing else besides maybe some peas, i would just add a little salad to my dinner every night. if your challenge is to get them to eat a bigger variety of vegetables, then i've read it helps to get them to eat it if they help prepare it, besides that i would suggest trying different recipes until you find something good that they will like. if they see you enjoying it it might encourage them to try it. also, i read a study that says children generally follow the father's example when it comes to eating, so you may have your work cut out for you.
  • Aerona85
    Aerona85 Posts: 159 Member
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    My parents always said “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit”. Though once I was old enough I was basically in charge of cooking dinner.

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