The Tuesday Thread

[tallb]

Jun 5, 2018 10:08:40 GMT -6 sands42 said:

@trgimes I will check that book out! Thanks! I like quinoa but my younger two won’t touch it. Giovanna will eat much better than them. She definitely will give quite a few things a shot. Letty doesn’t eat any fruit for example 🙄 I’m
Just going to have to force it.

How does she not like fruit?! My kids would live off fruit if we let them. I'm basically zero help since we can't seem to cook dinner lately.

Basics for us include:
- frozen veggies
- corn on the cob is a fav
- rotisserie chicken
- frozen grilled chicken breasts - we get a bag at Costco
- frozen meatballs/nuggets
- pesto pasta with above chicken (jar from Costco)
- avocados
- baked beans (not exactly healthy I guess)
- rice and beans

We have fallen into picky eaters, but generally they eat okay enough. It's hard to find time.

[tgrimes]

Jun 5, 2018 10:08:40 GMT -6 sands42 said:

@trgimes I will check that book out! Thanks! I like quinoa but my younger two won’t touch it. Giovanna will eat much better than them. She definitely will give quite a few things a shot. Letty doesn’t eat any fruit for example 🙄 I’m
Just going to have to force it.

The food thing is just a little section, but it might work if they decide not to eat what you're making.

[guster]

@sands, when things get busy or crazy around here I try to streamline my meals to:

-- a healthier carb ( quinoa, chickpea noodles, sweet potatoes, even brown rice -- lately I've been using cauliflower rice or some kind of veggie noodle.)

--a veggie (I try to keep the kids preferences in mind -- so I know broccoli always wins out over spinach, and Brussels sprouts over carrots, and diced peppers over string beans.)

- a lean protein (ground turkey or chicken, diced chicken breast, or salmon).

I can cook all of it in one pan or one pot with a variety of different sauces (marinara, garlic and oil, honey mustard, pesto, soy stir fry, enchilada, cilantro lime).

The kids can sort of pick out what they'll eat from it if they don't like all of it.

And now that it's warmer out I've been making a big salad with dinner – I put fruit, nuts, and cheese in it so it's pretty enticing to the kids.

ETA:
I also do a lot of grain and bean burgers, if we are short on time, but it's always a big hit with everyone.
Whatever rice or quinoa you have, sometimes a mashed sweet potato if I have one leftover, and then a can of whatever beans you have on hand (chickpeas, cannellini, black-- they all work. For some reason I don't like the way the red kidney beans taste in this).
I mix it all together with an egg and sometimes some breadcrumbs but it doesn't always need it and then I cook them in coconut oil to crisp them up and then throw them in the oven to finish baking.
I put diced up tomatoes, onions, and avocados on the table with mustard or ketchup.

[klong11]

Cadence used to eat everything, now she refuses rice, beans, meat, watermelon, cantaloupe, most potatoes, any and all leafy green vegetables (aka salad), certain peas (don't ask), carrots (which used to be a favorite), avocados, any sort of grain that has any sort of texture, kiwi, most oranges, cheese on sandwiches unless it's a cheeseburger, she will not a hamburger if it doesn't have cheese, cheese on the side of things...most of the time I feel like she is Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally.

She would like to live off of mac & cheese, grapes, blueberries, bread, butter. Oh, and turkey sandwiches (can only have turkey, mayo, pickles)

[snoopmommymom]

sands42

We are not great eaters over here, especially Z. O will at least try most dinners and will eat broccoli, carrots, and bananas but won’t eat any other fruit. Z will not eat any vegetable or sauce, will refuse most dinners, but likes grapes and apples. It’s frustrating to say the least.

[vino]

sands42 I chatted with the Dr about B's eating at his 4 year appointment and his suggestion was to make dinner, everyone has the same thing, if he doesn't eat or isnt hungry, that's fine he can leave the table when we're all done. But his plate stays there, so if he is hungry later he gets the same food.

I also become very realistic about portions and understanding what he had for snack at daycare and what/how much he ate. We eat dinner at 5.30pm and he gets a snack about 7.15pm before bed, it became obvious that he was just waiting to get his snack.

We looked at it as a fact, eat your food, try anything that's new before you 'hate it', zero emotion. We're no where near perfect but dinners are less stressful most of the time.

[sands42]

I don’t know tallb ??!! What kid doesn’t like fruit?? I fed it to her when she was a baby but now she wants nothing to do with it. It’s weird.

We eat a lot of ice cream... I already decided once I start doing this you can’t have ice cream unless you at least try a couple bites.

I’m just not a good cook. It’s overwhelming to me since a lot of cooking can be multitasking and I always end up messing something g up when I’m distracted fixing something else. I’m on the hunt for crock pot, sheet pan, and one casserole dish type meals. Also- I don’t like onions. Seems like everything has onions in it! It’s a texture issue- I guess I could make them large enough to pick out because I like the flavor they give...... can you see where their pickyness comes from? Lol.

[mwhip]

Reading some of your dinners, I realize my H may be just as picky as E. He wouldn't try lots of the foods suggested here. I married the 'meat and potatoes' guy. He could care less if we have a veggie.

[mwhip]

sands42 If you're in the market for a crock pot, I'd look at the instant pot. I prefer the meals I get out of it over my crock pot. And just leave the onions out and use onion powder. The onions are usually just for taste.

[trtlcrzy]

sands42 H used to hate fruit too, I always thought she was so weird. She finally came around to it at about 2.5-3. So there is hope that someday she’ll like it!

[vino]

sands42 I dislike onions as well, MH loves them and thinks that putting it in any dish helps, no, no it doesnt. I kid you not, when he was gone for 5 months to Latvia I didnt buy one onion, NONE. Most recipes call for it but the dish wont be compromised if you just dont add it in.

[tgrimes]

I cannot get on board with all of this onion hate.

[guster]

We deal with quantity issues with Josie and food. She will eat almost everything, but in such tiny portions that an hour or an hour and a half later she's hungry again. We've switched from a sippy cup to a real glass at meals so she doesn't drink as much as she normally would, and we try to keep her snacking spaced out, but I never feel like I should deny her a healthy snack from the fridge.

[jewels]

Re:food - S used to eat everything. Now he would exist on chicken nuggets (at least they are the kidfresh ones with puréed veggies in them), noodles and sauce, and yogurt and cheese. We do the same thing vino suggested, this is your dinner. You can be done, but if you’re hungry later, this is what you’re getting. We still struggle some nights but it’s improved a bit.

B didn’t like any fruit except bananas for the longest time. Literally in the past 2 weeks he started eating all sorts of fruit! I’m very excited

I’m fairly picky too and not a great cook either. And pretty lazy when in comes to cooking dinner. I’d welcome a thread with easy, healthy meals. Or maybe some of tgrimes freezer meals so I have something ready when the laziness hits!

[jewels]

guster I have started denying all snacks about 1 hour before dinner and it’s helped a bit

[jewels]

mamabear I know must food experts discourage it, but I will often give S a number of bites he has to eat. For instance last night we had chicken and long grain rice and broccoli. He ate about 2/3 of the chicken and asked for a bite. I told him he had to have 2 bites of broccoli, 2 bites of rice, then 2 bites of anything he chose, then he could have a ‘treat’. So he ate what I said and happily ate his treat.

[vino]

Jun 5, 2018 11:22:23 GMT -6 mamabear said:

Jun 5, 2018 11:04:08 GMT -6 vino said:

sands42 I chatted with the Dr about B's eating at his 4 year appointment and his suggestion was to make dinner, everyone has the same thing, if he doesn't eat or isnt hungry, that's fine he can leave the table when we're all done. But his plate stays there, so if he is hungry later he gets the same food.

I also become very realistic about portions and understanding what he had for snack at daycare and what/how much he ate. We eat dinner at 5.30pm and he gets a snack about 7.15pm before bed, it became obvious that he was just waiting to get his snack.

We looked at it as a fact, eat your food, try anything that's new before you 'hate it', zero emotion. We're no where near perfect but dinners are less stressful most of the time.

Do you still allow a snack if B only wats a few bites? I'm struggling with this too. L will eat 5 tiny bites of dinner and then want a snack later and I go back and forth on whether to let him

We decide day by day; he needs to finish what we say is an acceptable amount of food on his plate, if it is at dinner or later. 


Last night for example, I gave him three pieces of quesadilla for dinner and he nibbled through one piece.  I left his plate and he came back grabbed another and ate it no problem, went outside to play, came in and asked for his snack went a grabbed the other piece finished it and then got dried fruit and some pretzels for snack. 

[tgrimes]

Jun 5, 2018 11:32:30 GMT -6 jewels said:

mamabear I know must food experts discourage it, but I will often give S a number of bites he has to eat. For instance last night we had chicken and long grain rice and broccoli. He ate about 2/3 of the chicken and asked for a bite. I told him he had to have 2 bites of broccoli, 2 bites of rice, then 2 bites of anything he chose, then he could have a ‘treat’. So he ate what I said and happily ate his treat.

I do this with M, too.

[nam2013]

guster I have two staples that ds will eat that are very easy. I freeze in batches of this and keep a stash in the freezer.

Diced union
4 cans of tomatoes
2 chopped green zucchinis
1/2 ground beef (can be left out or substituted

Fry of the onion and the ground beef in a little olive oil, add the tomatoes and the zucchini. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. For the kids it put it trough a food processor, we eat it as is with pasta.

The other is a vegetable soup, which is a broth made from cubes, any and all vegetables that I have available (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots etc) and some vermicelli. Something I’ll add some chicken. Again food processor for the kids and as is for us. Serve with some bread.

[guster]

Jun 5, 2018 11:29:44 GMT -6 jewels said:

guster I have started denying all snacks about 1 hour before dinner and it’s helped a bit

I'm always conscious of the time but I should probably make a hard and fast rule on this.

[vino]

Jun 5, 2018 11:29:44 GMT -6 jewels said:

guster I have started denying all snacks about 1 hour before dinner and it’s helped a bit

+1 no snacks past roughly 3.30pm when we eat at 5.30pm.  Otherwise they would just pick all day, which TBH is sometimes what we do on the weekends lounging in the yard.

[guster]

Jun 5, 2018 11:39:40 GMT -6 nam2013 said:

guster I have two staples that ds will eat that are very easy. I freeze in batches of this and keep a stash in the freezer.

Diced union
4 cans of tomatoes
2 chopped green zucchinis
1/2 ground beef (can be left out or substituted

Fry of the onion and the ground beef in a little olive oil, add the tomatoes and the zucchini. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. For the kids it put it trough a food processor, we eat it as is with pasta.

The other is a vegetable soup, which is a broth made from cubes, any and all vegetables that I have available (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots etc) and some vermicelli. Something I’ll add some chicken. Again food processor for the kids and as is for us. Serve with some bread.

I think you meant @sands, but I'm always happy to take someone else's recipe and make it! Thanks!

[mwhip]

Jun 5, 2018 11:34:57 GMT -6 tgrimes said:

Jun 5, 2018 11:32:30 GMT -6 jewels said:

mamabear I know must food experts discourage it, but I will often give S a number of bites he has to eat. For instance last night we had chicken and long grain rice and broccoli. He ate about 2/3 of the chicken and asked for a bite. I told him he had to have 2 bites of broccoli, 2 bites of rice, then 2 bites of anything he chose, then he could have a ‘treat’. So he ate what I said and happily ate his treat.

I do this with M, too.

+1 Everything is a negotation in my house.

[klong11]

sands42, chop up whatever veggies they like (I do zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, sometimes mushrooms, brussel sprouts or broccoli), then slice up some turkey sausage. All of it goes on sheet pan, into the oven, done. One meal, super easy. I usually make mac & cheese with it because Cadence will not eat the veggies, but she'll go to town on the sausage.

[peachsmama]

Me either. I start every meal with a diced onion and 3 cloves of garlic. I saute them and puree for picky eaters like my brother who has a more limited palate than M.

Jun 5, 2018 11:23:17 GMT -6 tgrimes said:

I cannot get on board with all of this onion hate.

[tgrimes]

sands42 Here is a list of one pot meals from damn delicious. damndelicious.net/category/one-pot/

[nam2013]

Jun 5, 2018 11:45:41 GMT -6 guster said:

Jun 5, 2018 11:39:40 GMT -6 nam2013 said:

guster I have two staples that ds will eat that are very easy. I freeze in batches of this and keep a stash in the freezer.

Diced union
4 cans of tomatoes
2 chopped green zucchinis
1/2 ground beef (can be left out or substituted

Fry of the onion and the ground beef in a little olive oil, add the tomatoes and the zucchini. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. For the kids it put it trough a food processor, we eat it as is with pasta.

The other is a vegetable soup, which is a broth made from cubes, any and all vegetables that I have available (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots etc) and some vermicelli. Something I’ll add some chicken. Again food processor for the kids and as is for us. Serve with some bread.

I think you meant @sands, but I'm always happy to take someone else's recipe and make it! Thanks!

Whoops sorry!

[peachsmama]

Same. I have a small list they can have at anytime. Yogurt, cheese stick, fruit, small applesauce. If I'm cooking or they refused dinner and now they're hungry, they can have one of those but no junk.

Jun 5, 2018 11:28:21 GMT -6 guster said:

We deal with quantity issues with Josie and food. She will eat almost everything, but in such tiny portions that an hour or an hour and a half later she's hungry again. We've switched from a sippy cup to a real glass at meals so she doesn't drink as much as she normally would, and we try to keep her snacking spaced out, but I never feel like I should deny her a healthy snack from the fridge.

[guster]

Will your kids eat pasta, @sands?
I had leftover penne with meat sauce (can easily add veggies to this) from Friday, so I scooped it into a 12 hole cupcake pan, and I sprinkled pepper jack cheese on the top. Very easily made single serving "pasta cupcakes" for lunch. I'm no good at freezing things, but I would think you could throw them in the freezer to flash freeze them and then wrap them in Saran Wrap?

[snoopmommymom]

Jun 5, 2018 11:23:17 GMT -6 tgrimes said:

I cannot get on board with all of this onion hate.

Me too. I LOVE onions!!! O eats onions on his pizza because i refuse to not eat them. Lol