As a
mommy of littles, food consumes a vast majority of your day. A topic of
discussion amongst moms is often what your kids eat, as they grow through
changes, like stages of eating, to changes in preference. With a preschooler
going through a growth spurt I feel like I live in the kitchen. Thankfully both
of my kiddos are fairly good eaters, I attribute this to: 1) Both of my babes
are/were breastfed, Olivia is still nursing and Sean was nursed for 19 months.
It is said that flavors of food pass through breast milk and babies who nurse
tend to be more adventurous when starting solids. 2) I made their baby food.
Have you ever played the baby food game at a baby shower and missed several
because the taste/color was indistinguishable? Exactly, homemade baby food
tastes fresher and more similar to eating the whole food itself, which helped
my kids transition to eating these foods later as finger foods 3) We buy it, so
they eat it! They won’t eat what’s not readily available. If fast food and junk
food is what is on hand, their taste buds will begin to prefer that over other
food choices. Trying to get a child to change from eating those salty, sweet,
and fatty foods is very difficult, trust me I know from experience. Feed them right from the start!
Now I
will say my family is not vegan, vegetarian or healthy food fanatics. We do eat
pizza and cookies and other not so healthy treats on occasion; but we try to
keep eating fast food and junk to a minimum, cook as much as possible rather
than quick processed meals, and try to keep introducing new foods to our diets.
We do like to eat out on the weekends since we love other cultures' food. Our
favorites are Japanese, Greek, and Indian. When we eat out both kids also eat
and get to try new things.
My goal is for my family to eat the R A I N B O W
every day. I feel that by eating the rainbow each day they are getting tons of
vitamins and minerals from an array of items, and it keeps them from getting
bored or stuck on a “favorite.” I keep the refrigerator stocked each week with
fruits and vegetables of all colors/variety and fill in with protein and grains
to make a meal. When we are out and about I always carry snack bags of fruit,
nuts, water/juice, granola etc. so that I am not enticed to stop and pick up
fast food. Sometimes I get in a rut and feel like they are eating the same
thing so I head to Pinterest for toddler meal ideas; weelicious is a great website for little people
meals.
Here is a
list of what produce we typically eat throughout the week:
Red: strawberries, watermelon, tomatoes, apples
Orange: oranges, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, butternut squash,
mango, carrots, peaches, persimmons
Yellow: banana, lemons (juiced in our water), squash, pineapple,
corn (popcorn)
Green: edamame, spinach (salad, green smoothies), kale (salad,
green smoothies), kiwi, green beans, peas, broccoli, zucchini, avocado, grapes,
celery (snack with peanut butter, green smoothie), lettuce, pears, peppers,
asparagus
Blue/Purple: eggplant, blueberries, grapes,
plums
I used to
say that I would not be that mom who cooks separate meals for their kids, but I
had to eat my words. On occasion I will go to one of Sean’s “go to” meals which
is “green pasta,” pesto pasta made with Barilla Plus Pasta and pesto sauce. I
like the Barilla Plus because it is made from wheat and legume flour,
flaxseed, and oats. It is full of protein and omegas which is perfect for the
kiddos since they don't eat a lot of meat.
Most days though both kids will eat
an abbreviated version of the main meal cooked for dinner. Below are examples
of how I prepare meals for myself and the kids.
* Taco Night: Mine (taco salad), Olivia's deconstructed taco, Sean's taco and guacamole
*Asian- Mine (veggie fried rice (brown), stir fried veggies, sprouts) Sean (edamame, spring roll, rice, miso soup) Olivia (brown rice, veggies)
*Pasta Night: Eggplant Parmesan
* Sean's Plate- he doesn't like sauce or cheese on his, Olivia has her eggplant diced in with the pasta, Mine (regular)
I do a loose meal plan each week before
I go grocery shopping so I basically jot down what I will prepare for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner and use that for my list.
The
following are a few samples of what the kids typically eat.
Breakfast:
*always served with fruit, sometimes bacon or egg
Sean and
Olivia eat the same thing for breakfast.
Lunch:
Sean- soup, grilled cheese, plums Olivia- melon, avocado, black eye peas
Sean's school lunch- fruit, craisens, pesto pasta, garlic bread Olivia- pasta, cheese, mango, avocado
Sean:
Olivia
usually has a deconstructed version of Sean’s lunch: for example if he has a
sandwich, she will have the meat, cheese, and veggies without bread diced up.
Snacks:
- air popped popcorn and fruit
Dinner:
We all
eat some form of the same meal majority of the time. Sean and Olivia are not big meat
eaters so they will sometimes have the sides with a salad.
We
normally have fish at least once a week, a veggie dish like eggplant or beans once
a week, and chicken the rest of the week. I do not cook pork (outside of bacon)
or beef (occasional ground beef maybe once a month) at home often. Here a few sample meals:
(left--> right)
Mine and Olivia's stuffed chicken breast, veggies, mashed potatoes
trout, edamame, sweet potato jerk chicken wraps, plantain chips, fruit salad
salmon, shrimp scampi, fingerling potatoes, snap peas Olivia's mac n cheese with squash, snap peas, watermelon
dinner salads for Sean and I
I would love to know what's on yours or your kiddos' plates? Always looking for new ideas so feel free to share in the comments!
