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Kids and Nutrition
I have two boys and a girl. They all like different foods. I insist on
making them the same thing, which is often a battle but getting easier since I have not back downed once. I want to know if anyone has any kid- friendly dinner and/or suggestions for finicky kids. I am concerned about protein and if my kids get are getting enough nutrition in their diets. I need suggestions. Are there any foods out there that are flexible but also nutritious? --Keira |
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"keira" wrote:
I have two boys and a girl. They all like different foods. I insist on making them the same thing, which is often a battle but getting easier since I have not back downed once. I want to know if anyone has any kid- friendly dinner and/or suggestions for finicky kids. I am concerned about protein and if my kids get are getting enough nutrition in their diets. I need suggestions. Are there any foods out there that are flexible but also nutritious? You might begin by telling us what sorts of things they actually like. Is there anything that all of them enjoy? If they like pasta, there are all kinds of ways of making things like lasagne and spaghetti that can incorporate various protein and vegetable foods. Also, I think it's helpful to require that they at least try things they don't think they'll like. Tell them that being wiling to try new foods is a sign of maturity (which it is!) That'll get 'em every time. Peggy -- ....it's always better to find humility before it goes out looking for you. -- Carolyn Hax |
#3
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keira wrote:
I have two boys and a girl. They all like different foods. I insist on making them the same thing, which is often a battle but getting easier since I have not back downed once. I want to know if anyone has any kid- friendly dinner and/or suggestions for finicky kids. I am concerned about protein and if my kids get are getting enough nutrition in their diets. I need suggestions. Are there any foods out there that are flexible but also nutritious? --Keira You don't say what age your kids are, but something my 5 yo has gotten interested in is having one or two days a month where he gets to choose the menu and help shop for and prepare the food with his parent of choice. I set the parameters, such as "1 fruit, 1 veg, 1 protein, 1 whole grain, and dessert" and he gets to choose the items and greatly enjoys the preparation. Everyone in the family eats that meal (parents too, even if it's a bunch of "kid" food). Funny, his most favorite part is being the one to call the other parent and his litle brother in from playing when it's time to eat. I didn't realize that was such a mystical and coveted position to hold! With three kids, I'd pick one night a week to be "kid's choice" night and rotate that to each kid having a turn. If you have a husband/partner, have them plan the menu one night a month also and that makes an even 4 weeks and they can plan on one kid always being the first Thursday, next kid second Thursday, etc. and that might give them some time to anticipate and plan a meal, look up a recipe, etc. I would definitely not allow it to be pizza or whatever junk food every time, unless they were making whole wheat dough from scratch, preparing fresh vegetable toppings, etc, that kind of a thing. Speaking of pizza, my son had a lot of fun one night last week making pizza. There were some nice pitas on sale at the grocery store, so I picked up a couple packets, one whole wheat, on pesto flavored, and laid out a buffet of toppings and we each made our own little pizza. My 5 yo loves broccoli on pizza, he also put olives, tofu, cheese, sauce. You can make your own sauce - steam or saute a bunch of vegetables, tofu if you're worried about protein, blend it all up and put it in sauce on pizza, over pasta, in lasagne, they'll never know! -Karen- |
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dkhedmo wrote:
keira wrote: I have two boys and a girl. They all like different foods. I insist on making them the same thing, which is often a battle but getting easier since I have not back downed once. I want to know if anyone has any kid- friendly dinner and/or suggestions for finicky kids. I am concerned about protein and if my kids get are getting enough nutrition in their diets. I need suggestions. Are there any foods out there that are flexible but also nutritious? --Keira You don't say what age your kids are, but something my 5 yo has gotten interested in is having one or two days a month where he gets to choose the menu and help shop for and prepare the food with his parent of choice. I set the parameters, such as "1 fruit, 1 veg, 1 protein, 1 whole grain, and dessert" and he gets to choose the items and greatly enjoys the preparation. Everyone in the family eats that meal (parents too, even if it's a bunch of "kid" food). Funny, his most favorite part is being the one to call the other parent and his litle brother in from playing when it's time to eat. I didn't realize that was such a mystical and coveted position to hold! With three kids, I'd pick one night a week to be "kid's choice" night and rotate that to each kid having a turn. If you have a husband/partner, have them plan the menu one night a month also and that makes an even 4 weeks and they can plan on one kid always being the first Thursday, next kid second Thursday, etc. and that might give them some time to anticipate and plan a meal, look up a recipe, etc. I would definitely not allow it to be pizza or whatever junk food every time, unless they were making whole wheat dough from scratch, preparing fresh vegetable toppings, etc, that kind of a thing. Speaking of pizza, my son had a lot of fun one night last week making pizza. There were some nice pitas on sale at the grocery store, so I picked up a couple packets, one whole wheat, on pesto flavored, and laid out a buffet of toppings and we each made our own little pizza. My 5 yo loves broccoli on pizza, he also put olives, tofu, cheese, sauce. You can make your own sauce - steam or saute a bunch of vegetables, tofu if you're worried about protein, blend it all up and put it in sauce on pizza, over pasta, in lasagne, they'll never know! -Karen- That last sentence really rubs me the wrong way -- if you are tricking your children into eating vegetables, then IMO you've already lost a battle. They've learned, from you, that vegetables are a thing you have to be tricked into eating; otherwise, they're no good. I don't think that's a healthy viewpoint. DS and his friends are very interesting to watch. He was one friend who has an eagle eye and can discern any vegetable within a muffin that does not belong there. Another friend eats anything you put before him -- as if he's daring you to find something he *won't* eat. DS was Mr. Carrot Only for years. And they're all healthy 9-, 10-, and 11-year olds today. If your child isn't eating vegetables, I wouldn't sweat it. Things will change. Find something he or she does like and give that to them. DS was also Mr. Pasta Only. Suddenly one day he started eating blazingly hot chicken wings. It's very odd how tastes change with time. For years it was peanut buter sandwiches (NO JELLY!) for lunch. Suddenly he wants Ham and Cheese. To the OP, worrying about protein. We have had good luck with cheese (this is WI, after all) and nuts. Beans as well, in season (Not dried beans -- the wife and I don't like them). And meat as well. DS is a chicken only person, but DD loves a good steak. All are good sources of protein (as is skim milk). Not a lot of tofu is consumed at our house, but some people swear by it, and it can be very flexibly prepared. Good luck! Scott DD 12 and DS 9 |
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keira wrote:
I have two boys and a girl. They all like different foods. I insist on making them the same thing, which is often a battle but getting easier since I have not back downed once. I want to know if anyone has any kid- friendly dinner and/or suggestions for finicky kids. I am concerned about protein and if my kids get are getting enough nutrition in their diets. I need suggestions. Are there any foods out there that are flexible but also nutritious? --Keira Some things I do: Have the kids cook. Hunter especially will be more adventurous if he cooked it. Eliminate the real junky food from the house. My kids wouldn't eat fruit for a long time. Once I eliminated snack crackers and ice cream they suddenly decided fruit was worth a try although they are still a bit reluctant and will only eat a few types. I do let them dip strawberries in sugar. We still get the other things but they aren't around all the time. Once I went a couple months without hot dogs they suddently decided to eat more of the other meats. Keep things seperate if possible. I don't mix meat sauce over the spagettie because one kid only likes a little. I used to seperate some macaroni before adding the cheese as one kid doesn't like cheese. He's 6yo now btw and in the last 6 months he'll eat mac and cheese as one dish. I do cook some casseroles but everyone seems to like them. Meat, potatoe/rice/pasta, couple veggies, maybe something else at a meal is nice because they can pick and choose. I usually only cook one veggie and then their is some left over from the night before. I like beets and zuchinnie and the kids hate it so on those nights I usually have corn too. Hunter and I love soup - Luke not so much. When we have soup I always pick a sandwich or something that I know Luke will like. To make a long story short I try to make sure there is one healthful thing on the table that each person likes ;-) I don't do bread at meals unless dh is home, otherwise they fill up on bread and aren't hungry enough to want to taste the other things. I don't ever fight about it. I sometimes try to get them to take one bite to decide if they like it but if they don't or won't, I drop it. For things to eat? I'm sure that varies. In my house beans, soups, deli style trays with good meats, cheeses, veggies (they only really eat carrots), fruits where they can just pick and eat (good for lunch). One kid likes cheese and yogurt. Fried stuff which we don't do all that often but they like it - especially fish, making their own pizza's with healthful toppings, tuna and crackers, anything on a stick, lol. We make skewers for the grill and put fruit and stuff on a stick sometimes. Mine like veggie burgers oddly enough. -- Nikki Hunter 4/99 Luke 4/01 EDD 4/06 |
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On 2005-09-29, Scott wrote:
To the OP, worrying about protein. We have had good luck with cheese (this is WI, after all) and nuts. Beans as well, in season (Not dried beans -- the wife and I don't like them). And meat as well. DS is a chicken only person, but DD loves a good steak. All are good sources of protein (as is skim milk). Not a lot of tofu is consumed at our house, but some people swear by it, and it can be very flexibly prepared. A lot depends on what kids are exposed to early. My son has been eating cold tofu with a little soy sauce since he was 1 (he is now 9;6) and it is one of the foods that he will most reliably eat in his lunch box. His other main source of protein is chocloate milk, of which he now drinks about 2 gallons a week. He will eat occasional meat products (mainly hotdogs and other sausages), and tiny amounts of cheese. He will occasionally eat pinto beans, but not if they are refried or mixed with anything. ------------------------------------------------------------ Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics (Senior member, IEEE) (Board of Directors, ISCB) life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels) Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed) Affiliations for identification only. |
#7
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anything on a stick, lol
There was a period in Henry's younger life when he would eat anything, ANYTHING if I would let him eat it with toothpicks. Those were the days. Henry announced he was a vegetarian just after he turned 9. We thought it would be a fun thing to watch him try for a couple of weeks (he was a major carnivore who had graduated to Quarter Pounders from hamburgers at age 3). He's still mostly vegetarian although he does eat all seafood. Cooking nutritionally in our house, then, is a challenge -- especially since my husband does not eat many vegetables. We eat a lot of fish (which keeps us all healthier) and then there are nights when we will have meat for my husband and me and I'll prepare something more on the convenience-foods line (a frozen cheese pizza or somesuch) or something simple like an omelet for Henry. I learned early on (and still believe this) not to worry about variety. That's imposing my preferences on him. If he falls in love with somethign that's nutritious (right now it's strawberries mixed with blueberries) then he can have it three meals a day (supplemented with other things) if he wants. When he tires of it (and he will, usually on the day I purchased an especially large supply on sale) then we move on. I think their preferences as they get older are shaped a lot by peers. -Dawn Mom to Henry, 13 |
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Dawn wrote:
I learned early on (and still believe this) not to worry about variety. That's imposing my preferences on him. If he falls in love with somethign that's nutritious (right now it's strawberries mixed with blueberries) then he can have it three meals a day (supplemented with other things) if he wants. When he tires of it (and he will, usually on the day I purchased an especially large supply on sale) then we move on. So that doesn't only happen at my house. :-) C: I don't know what to have for breakfast. Me: Well, there's a brand new box of (fill in the blank favorite cereal). C: Oh, I don't like that any more. Envision the steam coming out of my ears, since it often is something I don't really want either. Lesley |
#9
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In article ,
Scott wrote: dkhedmo wrote: Speaking of pizza, my son had a lot of fun one night last week making pizza. There were some nice pitas on sale at the grocery store, so I picked up a couple packets, one whole wheat, on pesto flavored, and laid out a buffet of toppings and we each made our own little pizza. My 5 yo loves broccoli on pizza, he also put olives, tofu, cheese, sauce. You can make your own sauce - steam or saute a bunch of vegetables, tofu if you're worried about protein, blend it all up and put it in sauce on pizza, over pasta, in lasagne, they'll never know! That last sentence really rubs me the wrong way -- if you are tricking your children into eating vegetables, then IMO you've already lost a battle. They've learned, from you, that vegetables are a thing you have to be tricked into eating; otherwise, they're no good. I don't think that's a healthy viewpoint. Only if they *know* you are "sneaking" veggies into the sauce. ;-) If your child isn't eating vegetables, I wouldn't sweat it. Things will change. Find something he or she does like and give that to them. Why not do that and *also* add a variety of other veggies into places like pasta sauces where they don't know they are eating them, but are getting the extra benefits of doing so. o --Robyn .. |
#10
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Kids and Nutrition
If you're worried about their future health, you could take part in a
new tv programme we're making for the British Heart Foundation - we'll bring experts to your house and show them how to live a healthy lifestyle. Of course it'll depend on their age and where you live but if you ring Andy or Lucinda on 01752 727400 then you could find out more... |
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