How can I feed my family without going over my calories and

Kids will eat if hungry. They can learn to like the foods you make if you're consistent in serving it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I agree! I only make one meal for everyone. If they dont like it, they can go to bed hungry! If they are truely hungry...they will eat it...:)

My kids eat what's made for dinner or they dont eat...im evil like that.

Have you checked out www.skinnytaste.com? I have made 3-4 recipes from there that my whole family will eat, like Healthy Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Chicken Rollatini Parmigiana. Check it out. You might be surprised at what they'll eat. Maybe they'd like healthier options if they help you make the meal. If they're young, trust me, now is the time to teach them healthy eating habits so they don't have weight/health issues themselves as teens or adults. When I first started using MFP in August I was making 2 meals like you are. Now I make one. If they're hungry, they'll eat. Good luck!

I've been experimenting with a broccoli & cheese casserole in the crockpot. I still haven't gotten the texture quite right yet. But these are the ingredients for it:

frozen broccoli
cottage cheese (I use 4% but you could use fat free)
butter (again, I'm not afraid of the real stuff... but you can use margarine or whatever)
sharp cheddar cheese
eggs
salt & pepper

My husband's nieces/nephew love this. It had a whole bag of frozen broccoli and of course the cottage cheese has a good bit of protein. So this is a fairly healthy and delicious recipe kids will go for. The broccoli is pretty much drowned in all that cheese and egg, so it's a good texture, like mac & cheese.

My kids eat everything from broccoli and cheese to asparagus. You just have to let them try the things that you're making. Chances are, they'll like them! :bigsmile:

I know it's not a simple answer, and it depends what kind of eaters your kids are. My older one is pretty willing to try anything, but is totally a meat and potatoes girl. My younger one prefers mostly vegetables, and also rice and fish. Neither one wants to eat much fruit right now, with the exception of grapes.

I definitely make only one meal, but that doesn't mean they eat much of it all the time. Sometimes I do things like give them a number of bites they have to complete. Sometimes if they try something really wild and new I only get them to take one bite. I try to have a variety of foods so they will get something. If I have a meat, starch and a vegetable, they will usually be fine with at least one or two of those items, even if the third isn't their favorite. Combined foods like casseroles or salads-as-a-meal are trickier. I don't usually serve just salads for that reason. On taco night I have the options for everyone of making their own hard taco, soft taco, or taco salad. (My youngest often has only a tortilla and cheese!) If I do really want a salad as a meal, I cook extra chicken or something, maybe a side of rice or potatoes, and eat mostly salad for myself. Whatever I make, I always use the leanest cuts of meat and trim off any fat (I find my kids don't like fatty meat anyways) or super-lean ground beef. There are tricks to cooking lean meat so it doesn't dry out. I also always buy lower-fat cheeses...my kids are so used to it now I don't think they would notice. When I make my own pizza I use lower-fat cheeses, make my own crust with whole wheat and flax, use turkey pepperoni and measure my ingredients. Then I could put it into MFP's recipe calculator and as long as I stick to 1/4 of a pizza, its only 422 calories! I also have my own versions of baked chicken nuggets, baked potato wedges, etc. And every once in awhile, particularly if there are leftovers, I eat the leftovers and make them something simple that they love, like (gasp!) hot dogs. (I know, it's shocking and horrifying, isn't it! Don't tell anyone!) I don't think hot dogs every once in awhile is going to kill them. I have them sometimes, too, (double gasp!) but honestly, for 300-ish calories, they leave me pretty hungry so sometimes I don't bother for that reason.

You'll get the hang of it. Others have given great suggestions, too. I also like Taste of Home's healthy cooking magazine, and they have a lot of recipes on their website, too. Very normal meals that have just been lightened up.

I think the other point here is that it's worth it for you to try and figure out how to make more meals that everyone can and hopefully will eat If you continue to make two separate meals, then at some point you may give up because you're so sick of doing all that extra work. You can do it, and it IS worth it!

"Health food" does not have to be salad or carrot sticks or cellery. I know salad and raw veggies were a hard one for my kids when they were little, not as many molars I am guessing. Healthy foods can be veggie stir fries with chicken, taco salad(parents possibly omit the tacos, kids possibly omit the lettuce if it is harder for them to chew), roasted meats and veggies, meat skewers done on the bbq with veggies alongside either steamed or bbq as well, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, if you want sauces just watch the serving sizes, if you want spicy just set aside the kid stuff before adding the high heat stuff, you can make chicken nuggets by crushing up corn flakes and dipping slices of chicken in beaten egg first then the flakes and then baking. There are tons of ways to cook healthy for the whole family, it may take a bit more prep and planing but is way better than dong 2 seperate meals. My kids have grown up with our transition into healthy eating. My husband and I lived on those lipton side kick things for years. Then when our family grew we realized how much junk we were eating and how much money we were wasting and started to change. Fresh whole unprocessed food is more time consuming but is saving us money and health. If my kids do not like a meal they know there are always carrot sticks and apples in the fridge.

Good luck!!

I usually make 3 things-main course and 2 sides. If I'm making something I know one of my girls doesn't like, I make sure there are 2 things she does. So tonight was fish, peas and sweet potato fries. One doesn't like sweet potato fries, so she got extra peas and fish.
On nights I "experiment" with new dishes, rule is you must eat 1 FULL bite. If you do not care for it, you eat the rest of the dinner and then you get a "snack". "Snack" is a carrot, apple, string cheese or other healthy alternative to the missed meal item.
I only do casseroles/enchiladas as experiments and such that are one pan when I know i have leftovers in the fridge they can eat if they do not like it.

Yes! I do these things as well! We are smart people. *pats ourselves on backs*

I heard somewhere, can't remember where, that you should put a new food in front of your child at least 10 times before expecting them to even really try it. Just don't give up. I know habits are hard to break. My son and I lived with my parents until he was 7 and I went to school at night. My father fed him and didn't want to argue over food so he mainly got breaded nuggets, fries, you know, kid crap.
When he was 7 we moved into our own home and I cooked for him. You just have to keep trying and not give up. One of these days they will surprise you and try it and really like it. I can' t count the number of times my son said, "What have I been missing all this time!!" hehe...and like I said in my previous post, just cook one meal and eventually they will get used to the idea and stop being stubborn and start trying new things.

What does "kid friendly" even mean? I always fed my children what I ate - whole, healthy, nutritious food. And I expected them to eat it, too. The choice was take it or leave it. I have never made separate meals for my children, beginning from when my little nurslings were sitting at the table with me. They could have a bite of baked sweet potato or some fresh steamed broccoli. I made one meal and it was for the family.

Two years ago, I transitioned to a vegan diet. I had been incorporating at least two vegetarian meals into our diet every week and we had been eating less and less meat per person, more fresh veggies and whole grains. Initially, I would cook a vegan meal one night and everyone would eat it and I'd make a meat-based meal the next night (and I'd either take out for myself before the meat or would eat leftovers from the night before), but I found that they were eating all of the vegan meal I had made and the meat-based meals had leftovers that no one would eat and I'd have to throw out. (The same meals that they ate and loved before.) So now the majority of what I cook is vegan and everyone eats it.

I'm lucky that my daughter will eat mostly anything. I fix one meal every night and that's it. It she doesn't like the main entree, she just gets extra veggies and fruit to make up for it. There is only one thing she has refused to eat and that is tomato soup, so since her refusing something is so rare, I'll make her something different if we're having tomato soup.

I don' t mind eating less and looking for good foods but I find that I'm making two meals every night. One for my husband and I that are supposed to be healthy, and high sodium junk for my kids.

junk for the kids..elaborate

What great points! I especially relate to #4 & #5. My brother and I were like that. I had great metabolism when I was young and in high school, my lunches often consisted of Doritos, candy and Mountain Dew because I didn't get that at home. My poor brother gained tons of weight after high school because we never learned to appreciate healthy eating or cooking and he still basically eats fast food every night of the week because he doesn't cook. I think we need to consider that once something becomes forbidden at home that kids will seek it out from somewhere else and try to give them the knowledge and foundation to understand why we don't eat all of those things. My husband especially is trying to instill an enjoyment of cooking in our kids and I've been talking to my teenage daughter about food contents - calories, fat, carbs, etc. She told me just last night that she doesn't need to worry about calories because she can eat whatever and not gain weight. I told her I used to be like her too but that eventually it will catch up with her and it is much easier to establish healthier habits young. I hope some of this will help them prepare for being on their own.

I do think that families should all eat the same meal but it can be difficult ( I know family members have problems with their kids) But here is a couple of practical words of advice to try and turn things round.

1) Don't beat yourself up. If you have all eaten in a particular way then its natural to encounter some resistance to change.
2) if your kids are used to eating one way, it will take time to persuade them to eat differently but they will eventually so persevere.
3) I don't believe in my daughter suddenly deciding as a teen she doesn't like something, if she has always eaten it then tough but if she has tried something and never liked it then fair enough.
4) Try to involve younger kids in making meals when you can, they are more likely to eat it...........let older kids experiment a bit in the kitchen. It will give them valuable life skills and you may be surprised what they come up with, particularly if you have taught them the basics first.
5) Remember they are kids. When one member of my extended family goes on a diet the whole family does and her kids end up seeking sweets etc that they never would have done previously because it is banned at home.
Good luck!