Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

eating habits.

DH and I both work full time in the city. I'm out the door at 6:45 am and home at 6:00 pm.
I do not enjoy cooking. There, I said it

My boys are 4 and 6, and for convenience and time constraints, my house has become a diner. I am not creative, DH is a meat/potatoes/pasta kind of guy (won't touch a vegetable) and my kids........are, well kids eating typical toddler crap.
I want it to stop.

I am not about force feeding anyone kale here, but I want to cook ONE meal. I want to be able to make protien and a starch and a vegetable and you know what? You guys make your meal from that and if you don't like it, you don't eat.
I don't want to feed my kids frozen chicken nuggets any more .......
but I need something to ease me in, where I can stick to my guns and not cave.

Also, I need to hide the veggies from the kids - I'm particularly looking for breakfast options since they are going to camp this summer and my parents will be feeding them and putting them on the bus every morning. I don't want them eating frozen pancakes or waffles EVERY day .....

Any cookbooks, websites (aside from Pintrest, which I HATE) recipes, advice?

Throw it all at me please ! I'm on a mission here.

Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

I'm not an egg person, but an egg burrito might work. make a veggie omelet that gets wrapped up in a burrito/wrap and can take it on the go.

For dinner. We were always an "eat what's on the plate, or make yourself a pbj family". So that's how I grew up. My fave meal growing up, and still to this day is chicken cutlets (you make it italian style but no sauce), with egg noodles and broccoli (or another veggie, like spinach) usually sauteed in garlic. I always would eat it with a ton of Ketchup (that's the irish in me coming through, sorry grandma and grandpa).

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Thanks
My kids will eat eggs, so I'm thinking of those egg cup mini quiche things you can make in the cupcake tins - that way my parent's can just pop them in the mircowave.
I'm trying to really expand what they will eat, or what I can trick them into eating .......

Like, zuchinnin in the choc chip muffins kind of thing .......how does one DO that?

I'm not looking to completely overhaul their food consumption forever, but I need to start somewhere.

Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

you can shred carrots, zucchini (yellow/green), finally chop spinach, anything veg really and mix that right into your meatball, turkeyball, sloppy joe etc. Also, you can add all that to sauces.

you can mix all the above in scrabbles eggs,

you can do the same for fruits, mix it into the pancake mix, yogurt etc.

Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

The good news is that your kids are still young enough to start new rules of the house, you know? They're also at the age where they can start helping out a little or even make suggestions. I like the mini quiche idea! I make - and I completely forgot about this recipe and now need to make it because it's delicious - a chicken cornbread. You take cornbread mix and add cooked chicken to it (I like to use the left overs from a roast, but you can take breast and chop it up) and I always add extra corn and other veggies. You don't really notice the veggies and chicken because cornbread is so sweet. But you can really have fun with that one, if they like cheese, you can add some cheese through it. You can put peas, carrots, corn kernels, asparagus, etc. into it.

If I can think of anything else or a good website I'll post it!

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Try looking at skinnytaste.com. She has tons of categories, including breakfast, kid friendly meals, gluten free, crockpot, freezer friendly, etc etc etc. I love her stuff. It's always simple, easy to follow and relatively quick. Even though they're lower calorie meals I find them to be flavorful and my kids will eat almost everything I make of hers.

My toddlers will eat anything that I let them dip in something. So if I cook veggies I give them tiny little sides of hummus, mustard, ranch dressing, bbq sauce, whatever. I'm usually pretty successful.

For breakfasts, I make a few batches of banana nut muffins that can be frozen or kept in the fridge for the week. The kids devour them and they are very healthy. You can do a healthy fritatta that you can make ahead of time and will last a few days - and you can throw a ton of sauted veggies into it. (I work FT as well and I just don't have time to cook three meals a day every day so I gravitate toward things that can be made in batches and eaten for a few days).

ETA - based on the ideas you mentioned I would definitely browse skinnytaste. Just type in zucchini and chocolate and she has a bread you can make. Same with mini quiches, ham egg and veggie bake, and on and on.

Message edited 6/22/2015 12:58:09 PM.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

I hate cooking & have a work schedule like yours.

In the AM, the choices are:
Cereal (but the "health food" kind only & cheerios)
Yogurt (Chobani)
Toast with butter OR jelly

Weekends, hubby scrambles some eggs

In the PM:
Grilled chicken is tolerated well & if you make a lot, can be 2 dinners worth. If the grill is not an option, I buy thinly sliced chicken breast, bread it (dip in flour, then egg, then bread crumbs: my 4 year old can do it) & lightly fry it.

We pair with veggies. The kids actually love the veggies (and we get them to help pick, clean, wash & cook them):
Spinach (both our kids love it: we put in onion flakes & sautee it in a skillet/dutch oven)
Green beans (really haricot verts which are harder to mess up & are less mushy: add some salt & onion flakes)
Baked carrots (they fight over this one: just stick straight in oven & they are sweet)
Sauteed kale (with garlic): we let them pick it from a farm & they absolutely love it. Go figure.
Tomatoes (not cooked).
Brussel sprouts (kids also love this one: boiled w butter or baked)
Corn (boil, pat butter)
Cauliflower (Boil, butter)
Broccoli (Boil, butter)

Hubby has been poaching salmon. It sounds hard, but is actually easy & the kids love it. Takes 15 minutes. Add salt.

Both kids love meat balls & steak.

We just don't buy any other stuff. Makes it an easy choice: eat or go hungry. Keeps us healthy too.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Posted by jessnbrian

Posted by hmm

you can shred carrots, zucchini (yellow/green), finally chop spinach, anything veg really and mix that right into your meatball, turkeyball, sloppy joe etc. Also, you can add all that to sauces.

you can mix all the above in scrabbles eggs,

you can do the same for fruits, mix it into the pancake mix, yogurt etc.

Ohh that's a good idea!

Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

I buy baby spinach and throw extra in a ziploc and keep it in the freezer. I'll take a little and just crumble it right into eggs. It's not hidden but DD will eat it. She'll also eat it with a little dressing as her salad at night. I also use the frozen spinach in smoothies she'll have for breakfast. Maybe you can make those little packets for your parents to throw in the blender. A little spinach, a little frozen fruit, and have them add some greek yogurt and milk.

I'm not one to make anything else if she doesn't like dinner. Sometimes I'll make her chicken nuggets or fish sticks, etc if I feel like it and i know she won't eat what I'm making. Sometimes I just serve her whatever. Either way, sometimes she eats and sometimes she doesn't and there is no other option. She doesn't complain when she goes to bed not having eaten so I've just let it go. Maybe start with enforcing the idea that you can eat what you are served or not and that's the end of it. Some nights it may be their usual and ease into some nights being one family meal.

Now that it's warm, I've been trying to make things easy by grilling a few things together. Tonight I'm grilling drumsticks for dinner and bone in breasts that I'll shred for lettuce wraps tomorrow night. Last week while my baked potatoes were grilling I did bone in breasts and used the meat the following night to make chili. For me planning ahead it definitely the only way I can function.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Thanks everyone!

and you're right, whomever said not to keep it in the house .......the last of the chicken nuggets was gone 2 weeks ago andI have just refused to buy them again.
I'm continuing with that mentality as eveything else goes too .......

Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

I would start small... you can buy chicken tenders, and make your own chicken fingers. For breakfast items.. start with smoothies with fruits, throw in a vegetable so they wouldn't know the taste. Quiche, frittatas, oatmeal with some crushed almonds (if no nut allergy). Shredded potato pancakes sneak daikon, or sweet potato or carrot, they wouldnt even know it.

And another trick I read somewhere which works for me is, I buy those fruit and veggie purees (its baby food) but whatever.. when its super hot, and those pouches as chilled, she eats it.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

As a FTWM I have found anything pre-cooked (not necessarily over processed) like a whole roasted chicken or even the pre-cooked grilled chicken strips to be a life saver. Especially this time of year when cooking is not appealing. They are very versatile.

If you are a BJ's member they sell a brand, Harvestland I think, that is pretty good. Even the chicken burgers are great, very juice (and have spinach in them).

Also breakfast for dinner is a hit for my DD. She likes those foods better but I just make sure to keep it as healthy as possible like by serving with fresh fruits or using whole grain products.

I WISH I could be the eat what I put in front of you or starve mom...but I haven't gotten there...yet...maybe in a few more years.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

I have tried the chicken tenders route - but I like to fry anything.
The ONLY think I fry in my house are the meatballs for sauce, and chicken cutlets.

I've tried to bake them, but they never come out crispy - I'm sure I'm doing something wrong

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Posted by MarisaK



I've tried to bake them, but they never come out crispy - I'm sure I'm doing something wrong

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

I make zucchini muffins and you would never know there is zucchini in it. Will they eat muffins?

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

When we lived in NY and I did the NYC commute, I was also gone 6-6 every day. The crock pot was my best friend. Once or twice a week, we'd do something in the crock pot so that dinner was ready whenever we got home. Lots of soups and stews, chicken or steak tacos in there. I don't think I would've survived without my crock pot.

For breakfasts, DD will eat oatmeal with fruit and nuts or we'll mix salsa into eggs. I also like to bake muffins on the weekends, where I'll replace the sugar with mashed bananas. Make a big batch, freeze them in a large ziploc bag and you have breakfast all week.

I bake turkey meatballs in a mini-muffin pan, with shredded veggies in them. Sometimes I'll make a turkey sandwich for her for lunch and add shredded carrots or sliced cucumber.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Posted by BaseballWidow

Posted by MarisaK



I've tried to bake them, but they never come out crispy - I'm sure I'm doing something wrong

Have you tried using panko crumbs (or even just adding them to the regular ones)?

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

I have never really looked at or used any recipes from it, but Jessica Seinfeld wrote a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious with all those kinds of recipes that you hide veggies in etc. I've seen her on the Today Show making things from it and they seem pretty easy and good.

Deceptively Delicious

Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Smoothies! You can hide spinach in there.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

If your kids like chicken nuggets, you can try making your own healthier version using panko. You can make a big batch and freeze them so you have them on hand for quick lunches or dinners when you're pressed for time.

Cauliflower mashed potatoes. If they like mac and cheese, add cauliflower. Mini egg patties with finely chopped cauliflower.

Puree zucchini, carrots, onions, and bell pepper when making sauce to sneak in extra veggies. Add the same finely chopped veg to meatballs.

Sweet potatoes, carrots, and parsnips cut into french fries and baked with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of natural maple syrup to bring out the natural sweetness. I like to add a dusting of paprika or cayenne.

Egg cups with chopped up veg (mushrooms, onions, broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, or spinach). Add shredded cheese mix, and sausage crumbles or ham and bake. Make a big batch and freeze. Perfect for breakfast on the go.

Breakfast (or anytime) smoothies with baby kale and spinach, frozen fruit, a banana, and coconut water. (Costco sells the individual drink pouches in large count, perfect for adding to their lunch box too). You can add yogurt. Quick, easy, and tastes good. They won't even taste the kale or spinach and if you use berries it will turn purple or dark red anyway so they won't even know they're drinking veg.

Chop raw veg and fruit (celery, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, apples, etc.) for snacks. Encourage dipping if it's the only way they'll eat it (peanut butter, ranch dressing, hummus, guac, whatever they'll eat).

You can get a spiraling tool to turn sweet potatoes, zucchini, beets, and other veg into spiral shapes. Perfect in place of pasta, as a salad, or oven-baked as curly fries. Your kids might get a kick out of the shape.

I'm a fan of sneaking veg into kid foods any way you can, but also finding new ways to nurture a healthy relationship with food while they're still young so as they grow into adults they don't run from the sight of a veg. Get them involved in gardening. You don't need a backyard or a lot of space. Have them grow seedlings in little potted plants and give them the responsibility of caring for them. Have them help you pick what grows and help you prepare it. Take them to a farm and farmer's market and help you pick produce. Tell them they get to pick one new veg for the family to try. Ask them to pick out veg in their favorite colors for dinner that night. Whatever you have to do. Of course, while you're working on getting them to willingly start to like veg or even just tolerate them, sneak them in everywhere in the meantime lol.

I know you said your DH won't touch veg, is he on board with the changes as well? If the kids are already reluctant to touch a veg, hearing daddy say broccoli is gross isn't going to help your efforts, kwim?

Also, I believe in moderation. If they're eating right most of the time, don't stress if they indulge here and there. Almost anything that is fried can be oven-baked and still taste good. But, if you find that frying the chicken tastes better than oven-baking it, and that's the only way they'll eat it, go ahead and fry it. If you're baking, steaming, grilling everything else, some fried nuggets won't set you back, kwim? You making it yourself from scratch and frying it in high-quality oil is still 1000x better than buying the pre-packaged frozen ones at the supermarket they love that aren't even made with real chicken most of the time.

Above all, baby steps. Start with one small change and add new ones as you go so you don't burn yourself out. You'll have days or weeks where you'll be like "eff it let's order in" and there's nothing wrong with that! It's not easy, but don't give up! You're doing a great thing for your family! Nothing wrong with shortcuts either. Eventually it will become easier.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Thanks again all!!

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......

Like others have said- start small. If your kids like pancakes, make them homemade over the weekend and make extras to be microwaved. My kids definitely like the egg muffin/tins you mentioned. You can crumble bacon, cheese and chopped spinach and tomatoes.
My kids prefer their veggies raw like carrots, green beans and cucumbers. My older ds loves tomorrow salad with either red onion or fresh mozzarella and basil.
When you make grilled chicken, make extra. The next night you can do a quick pasta with the leftover chicken. You can just sauté garlic and olive oil, broccoli and toss in the chicken in at the end to heat. You could also do it cold with spinach, cucumbers, and tomatoes and feta with orzo.
Shrimp scampi is an easy and quick pasta dish too.
My kids don't like mashed potatoes, but if yours do, I absolutely LOVE cauliflower mashed.

Re: Help easing my stubborn family into healthier .......