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Kid-friendly family meals

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maybeamommy
Blessed beyond belief

Member since 10/07

17048 total posts

Name:

Kid-friendly family meals

Would love to hear some kid-friendly (well, toddler friendly actually) family meals Chat Icon

Loey loves STEAK - any kind. I've been doing some bone-in steaks cut up for him, london broil, even a beef stew that I called "steak" Chat Icon

CHICKEN - he will eat basically any chicken dish that I make. I just did a homemade shake 'n bake chicken that he absolutely loved (with drumsticks), BBQ drumsticks, roasted whole chicken with herbs, chicken thighs... anything really!

fish - EH. it's hit or miss with fish for us!

pasta - he usually does really well with pasta but sometimes he's weird! I've been doing different baked pastas (ziti, tortellini, etc)... I made manicotti the other night which he really liked too. He can get picky about the shapes, but he loves farfalle, shells (any size), spaghetti, penne.

PIZZA! he's loving pizza so much. I do a pepperoni with mozzarella cheese and recently did prosciutto & fig jam which he loved too. This week I'm going to try a breakfast pizza with him and see how he does!

Would love more ideas to switch things up! I've been having a hard time doing meatless meals besides just pasta (to save some $$) because he doesn't really like veggies.

He also pretty much wont' eat any kind of soup it seems or chili or those types of meals.

Posted 10/17/11 3:19 PM
 
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FreeButterfly
hum...

Member since 5/05

6263 total posts

Name:

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

Not really what you asked, but for DS he eats his pasta but not his meat. I give him 10 pieces of meat and 5 of pasta. He eats his pasta and asks for more. I tell him to eat a piece of meat and I'll give him more pasta. I really wanted him to have to pieces of pasta anyway but he doesn't know that.

Maybe you could try that with his veges.

Posted 10/17/11 4:00 PM
 

maybeamommy
Blessed beyond belief

Member since 10/07

17048 total posts

Name:

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

Posted by FreeButterfly

Not really what you asked, but for DS he eats his pasta but not his meat. I give him 10 pieces of meat and 5 of pasta. He eats his pasta and asks for more. I tell him to eat a piece of meat and I'll give him more pasta. I really wanted him to have to pieces of pasta anyway but he doesn't know that.

Maybe you could try that with his veges.




Thanks! That's a really good idea. I'm going to try that with him.

It's so hard because sometimes I don't know if he just actually doesn't like something or if he just doesn't want to try, KWIM?

He JUST started eating potatoes (besides the ones that I bake like french fries). Last night I made a beef stew over egg noodles and he LOVED the meat. When it was gone, I made him eat one carrot and one potato before I gave him more meat. He ended up eating more potatoes (without me asking) but didn't eat the carrots (although he one he did try, he ate and didn't just bite and spit out so I considered that a victory!) But I think I need to try more of your method and really give him less so he will want more....

The other night I asked him to try a tomato before putting more cheese on his mashed potatoes and he bit it and spit it out, so then I get confused and unsure of whether or not he just doesn't like it or doesn't want to eat it, KWIM

Posted 10/17/11 4:07 PM
 

Bella01
LIF Adult

Member since 5/11

3708 total posts

Name:
Mama

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

My MIL said that she used to puree her veggies and add them to the mashed potatoes or to the pasta so the kids didn't realize they were eating the veggies!

Message edited 10/17/2011 4:14:07 PM.

Posted 10/17/11 4:13 PM
 

maybeamommy
Blessed beyond belief

Member since 10/07

17048 total posts

Name:

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

Posted by Bella0701

My MIL said that she used to puree her veggies and add them to the mashed potatoes or to the pasta so the kids didn't realize they were eating the veggies!

'

Thanks for the idea!

I have thought about doing this, but it's obviously not something I'm going to do forever so I really want him to see the vegetables and know what they are and eat them, KWIM? I swear, I make really yummy veggies! Chat Icon

Posted 10/17/11 4:16 PM
 

Bella01
LIF Adult

Member since 5/11

3708 total posts

Name:
Mama

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

Posted by maybeamommy

Posted by Bella0701

My MIL said that she used to puree her veggies and add them to the mashed potatoes or to the pasta so the kids didn't realize they were eating the veggies!

'

Thanks for the idea!

I have thought about doing this, but it's obviously not something I'm going to do forever so I really want him to see the vegetables and know what they are and eat them, KWIM? I swear, I make really yummy veggies! Chat Icon



true...I get what you are saying!

Message edited 10/17/2011 4:25:40 PM.

Posted 10/17/11 4:18 PM
 

FreeButterfly
hum...

Member since 5/05

6263 total posts

Name:

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

But once DC eats other veges in potatoes, they will develop a taste for them and will eat them on their own after a while....hopefully.

I find dips work best to get DC to eat his veges.

the biggest trick to get DS to eat anything is KETCHUP!!!

Posted 10/17/11 4:51 PM
 

iluvmynutty
Mom to E&M

Member since 12/08

1762 total posts

Name:
D

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

He won't. Eat breaded veggie Like eggplant or zucchini? My DD will only eat those veggie plus sweet potato fries and breaded stringbeans. I can get her to eat spinach in an omelette or spanakopita. She also loves burritos and quesadillas. I make them for her with organic refried beans, shredded mild cheddar, onions, and mild salsa. They would be really ease to "hide" veggie in.

Posted 10/17/11 7:59 PM
 

OrganicMama
So in love with my little man!

Member since 6/08

5172 total posts

Name:
Mama

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

I keep offering, and now DS will eat the veggies over his pasta Chat Icon I actually started out giving him veggies first and if he didn't eat them dinner was over, if he did eat them he got the rest of his meal. It worked, he will eat 99% of what I put in front of him now.

I make vegan roasted veggie flatbread pizza, DS has always loved that.
Lentil soup
Pasta fagioli
Portobella mushroom sandwhich (w/ balsamic, roasted red peppers, grilled onions & basil)
Sauteed broccoli, penne, garlic & oil
Fajitas
Taco salad w/ refried beans

Posted 10/17/11 9:15 PM
 

rojerono
Happiest.

Member since 8/06

13803 total posts

Name:
Jeannie

Re: Kid-friendly family meals

I would try a sauteed spinach and mushroom quesadilla. The tortilla basically hides the inside and the mushroom has that meaty texture.. plus when you add cheese that's all they tend to focus on!Chat Icon

You know our thing (especially when they were little) is to make dinner an EVENT.

Some things that worked for us:

Letting them help cook. ESPECIALLY the stuff they 'think' they don't like. They get such a sense of pride from helping that they kind of have to taste their own creation. I'm always like "Rob! Did you taste these green beans?? Robbie made them.. they are the best I've EVER had!"

Listen to them. If they don't like something I ask what they don't like about it. I give them cues and words so they can help describe. It gets them better with words and it helps you to identify what it is that is appealing or unappealing.

Make food time fun. We give food silly names sometimes and have lots of themes and games and stories. Tomorrow is my mom's bday and she loved German food so I had the boys look up 5 different German recipes and decide on one to make. Tomorrow we'll talk about what Klopse are and where they come from. And we'll all do it in German accents (or more accurately Austrian accents since all of us tend to just imitate Arnold Schwartznegger when we do German accents!) Last week we did campout food. We've done color nights, shapes nights, picnics, etc.. The more engaged they are the less time they have to pick apart the meal and look for things to dislike!

Posted 10/17/11 11:22 PM
 
 

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family friendly, non-meat centered meals? Erica 4/20/11 6 Dining In or Out
 
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