Question to those with young kids

What do you feed your little ones for dinner? I don't mean every night, but like some nights if I want to have a salad, my husband will eat a salad with me...but unfortunately my 3 year old won't. He eats lettuce in things, but he won't eat a salad. I really don't have the time, nor desire, to cook two meals a night, one for us and one for the LO, but I don't want him eating a PB&J every night either. So, any quick easy meal ideas for kiddos on those nights when we are eating salads or something like that?

I make my kids homemade chicken nuggets all the time with baked sweet potato fries - and you could throw a few extra nuggets on your salad. Just cut chicken into strips, dip in egg white and roll in panko (mixed with garlic powder, salt, ital seasoning - whatever you like) and bake in the oven.

That's a great question. I'd like some ideas too. My wife and I struggle with the same thing with our two year old. Our eight year old will eat 99% of what we do, but the little guy is a different animal!

EasyMac.

My daughter loves macaroni, so sometimes I make her the cups of easy mac and add some tuna and crumbled crackers. I also add the new single servings of peas on occasion. She loves it!

Pasta, a tv dinner, a personal made pizza with premade crust is very quick., a cheese soft taco, bacon, fruit and cheese for a dinner, brkst for dinner, my son is oober picky so I always have to make him his own regardless so this topic i am used too. fish sticks, chicken nuggets, some kind of a wrap, a lunchable etc

my little one loves cauliflower and brocolli with cheese sauce. Very quick and easy to do. Or pasta with a pesto sauce. Both are very quick meals.
A baked potato is also a good accompanyment to encourage kids to eat salads

Other than that, we usually batch up kid size portions of stuff like bolognese or shepherds pie.

I use things like spagettios, soup, light hotdogs, chicken nuggets or sometimes I have left overs from a previous night. I also sometimes add some veggies with those small cans of veggies you get on the veggie aisle.

I try not to do EasyMac more than once every couple of weeks. It is so gross and has no nutritional value whatsoever! Usually, if my 4-year-old doesn't want what we're having for dinner, I give him some string cheese, a bowl of fruit, or I quick steam him some broccoli. Sometimes he'll ask specifically for a Nutella sandwich or PB&J or a hot dog. Generally, though, I try to get him to eat at least 3 bites of whatever we're having for dinner before I make him something special. We've been trying for about 8 months to get him to eat what the family eats and it isn't always easy! He is really picky and hates certain textures.

No offense to anyone and I know each child is VERY different and I also know a lot of pediatricians suggest feeding underweight picky eaters junk food just to get them to eat. BUT, they do say that it takes 6-8 times of putting a food in front of a child before they might start eating it, and then it's a big "might". But, starting good, healthy eating habits with your children early is so key to ending our obesity epidemic. Feeding your children Easy Mac and hot dogs while you eat something healthy is just sending the wrong message, in my opinion. Give them what you're eating...and then add a little something to the plate that you know they'll eat, like a piece of fruit or something. Your kids won't starve themselves. They'll just eat more at breakfast.

Grilled chicken or any meat that can be used on a salad. I make a big pot of brown rice or beans every week. So I just have to reheat and serve. Im pretty good about always having left overs ready for the kids. I cook about 2 times a week and save the left overs for the kids. I also have a tub full of cut veggies so its less work at dinner time. I spend 2 night a week making meals for the whole week.