Help please -- ideas for feeding the kids

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Why is it that I always feel like I am cooking 3 different meals? My two kids can't ever agree on things to eat for dinner.

I get so tired of cooking them food and then having them not eat it. I feel like I am feeding them "junk" all the time rather than coming up with good meals for them.

One won't eat chicken nuggets or hot dogs, both of which the other will. She will eat burgers. Both like macaroni and cheese.

What do you feed your kids? What are your big successes?

I have been making a list of the things they will eat. They like my turkey meatloaf and they burritos. What else do you recommend?

 

[Spinning]

How old are they?
we have a basic rule in our house I only cook one meal for dinner. I am sure others have told you this but this is what I do.
they have a choice for breakfast and lunch, well kind of I ask if they want PBJ or hot dog or ham and cheese
With dinner I will always have apple sauce and cottage cheese on hand luckily both will eat it.

One trick I learned and it really does work. I learned to eat peas this way as an adult! and sweet potatoes! first get a smaller plate for the kids so the food isn't overwhelming
second cook the same veggie at least 3 days in a row or same type of meal put a little on their plate each time. Don't make a big issue about it tell them to at least try it but they don't have to eat it. Even if is almost a lick! usually by the 4th time they will eat it Also remember a child won't strave if they miss a meal they will make it up next time.
Granted if the kids are teens I don't think anything you do will work.
If all else fails or you just can't do this I would make extra of the foods they like then freeze small platers and pull them out as needed
If they are a little older have them help you make dinner go to the store and pick the stuff out. One time is one child's special cooking time then the other.
Good luck I know this is frustrating!

 

[maggie-c]

My daughter used to be a very picky eater.

Now every time she says that she doesn't like something, I fib and tell her that she liked it the last time she had it -- at least this way she'll end up trying it.

She knows that she has to at least try whatever we have on the table -- especially at other people's houses. I tell her that if someone went through the trouble of making something, she has to try it.

Now she eats pretty much everything! She still doesn't love veggies, but she has to try whatever I serve and then she can get the bag of carrots and her ranch dip out.

Be flexible and serve them everything (offer ketchup & ranch dip) -- you may be surprised at what they like in the end.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Hi! The girls are 7 and almost 4. My DH and I have told them that the house is not a restaurant and that we won't cook special thing after special thing for them. But sometimes DH and I are eating things that I know they won't like -- so we want to serve them things they will eat.

There are times when I have told them that if they won't eat what I have made then they can have a PBJ or a bologna sandwich.

My daughter won't fall for that "You liked it last time" trick. I've tried it and she says to me, "well mom, tastes change." She will taste a lot of things but she is very quick to point out if she doesn't like them. The other thing is that she hates "fat." I bought one of those store cooked chicken breasts the other day. I sliced it into big slices figuring they could dip in Russian Dressing or catsup that way. She kept deciding that this piece of that piece had fat on them.

These are pretty safe bets:
1. Meatloaf
2. Burritos
3. Nikole's Chicken chimichanga
4. Macaroni and cheese
5. Chili

 

[Spinning]

Beth since they will at least taste stuff then I wouldn't worry too much and let them have PB&J or cereal when you make something that the 2 of you like.
Try freezing some of the stuff they like. I know the stuff you listed freezes great so just make a little extra that way they get something they like and you know it is good for them.
Have you tried a cheese sauce? only way DD will eat some veggies.
or putting the meat or veggies on a stick. My kids seem to think this makes the food better LOL!

 

[dizneegirl]

No suggestions, sorry.

Must be nice to have you for a mom, though. My mom fixed whatever she was fixing... if we didn't like it, or wouldn't eat it, we didn't eat. Period. And we had to at least try it, too... then, if we really didn't like it, we were simply excused from the table.

 

[blewits]

I have to share this, it cracks me up every time I think of it.


My husband is German and was raised on a dairy farm over there with 5 other kids. This was his mother's solution. If they didnt eat it, they got the same exact plate at the next meal. If they didn't eat it again, they got it again for the next meal and so on....My husband said it was very effective. After about 1 or 2 times of that, they learned.

My mom always used the "This isn't a restaurant" phrase. Which I must admit I now find myself using with my 3 1/2 year old.

MMMMMMM pork loin and potatoes for breakfast! YUK!

Wendy

 

[softfluff]

My 3 yr old DD is pretty easy going. She has some pretty healthy favorites. She will eat almost any kind of plainly cooked meat and fish. We do alot of grilling year round. She will also eat carrotts, green beans, corn, tomatoes and broccoli.

She loves raw veggies and dip. I have given her humus, ranch, eggplant and spinach dips.

Her favorite meal is steak med rare, baked potato or corn on the cob, tomatos and watermelon. She eats a little of everything except the corn, which she gobbles down.

The thing that is annoying is the child won't eat breakfast or lunch. She eats and eats at dinner otherwise she is like a bird or nothing at all. I stopped letting it bother me. I figure she will eat if she is hungry.


Another thing she likes is for me to buy hot dogs or the small ones and a can of biscuits. She likes to smash the biscuits and wrap them around the hot dog and bake them. She will eat most things she helps prepare.

 

[Jackie H.]

My, my, my.....this is all so familiar!

My 8 yo DD will try anything and will eat almost anything. My 11 yo DS doesn't want to try anything and his list of foods he likes is VERY short!

I am just starting to see some relaxing in him at 11 years old! He has always been the type that he decided before he tasted it if he liked it or not and would refuse to change that first impression. I went through the spell of "this is what we are having, eat it or do without". He just did without most of the time. When he was in the first grade, it suddenly occured to me that I did not eat things I didn't like, but I was expecting him to. I decided then that I would have at least one thing on the menu I knew he would eat. I put everything on his plate and I insisted he try them, but at least I knew he would eat that one thing.


He likes these things, maybe your kids will too: spagettii, chicken nuggets, burgers, steaks, any kind of seafood, raw carrots, apples, bananas and corn (on the cob only), bread of any description.