If you feed your kids really healthy foods (inspired by anti-soup thread)

[Anonymous]

can you post some of the healthy things your kids really like? I have one allergic eater and one picky eater and I'm trolling for some new food ideas.
thanks

[Anonymous]

Our 12 month old loves full-fat greek yogurt from Trader Joe's mixed with tahini (or anything, for that matter). Other than that, he likes beans, veggies, fruits.

[Anonymous]

I make a spinach soufflé thing. 1 package thawed frozen spinach, chopped onions, a bit of garlic, cheese, 1 egg. Mix well and microwave for 6 min.

[Anonymous]

Mine are very picky. I try really hard to serve healthy foods to my kids. So some of my go to meals which aren't all necessarily super healthy are:
egg sandwhiches on whole wheat toast.
Cheese Quesadillas with whole wheat natural tortillas.
I always serve either raw veggies (carrots or peppers) or cooked veggies (peas, corn, brocolli, green beans even asparagus).
and usually a fruit as well.
Incentive is a treat after dinner. Try getting chicken tenderloins, dipping them in italian dressing and then italian breadcrumbs then baking them at 400 for about 30 minutes. Mine won't eat pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, etc...sign... I try!!! I keep the diet very clean and organic, for carbs it usually ends up being whole wheat toast with a little butter. We are slowly introducing new foods but it is a struggle. Once they get older it gets a little easier to reason with them. Good luck.
Try breakfast for dinner once a week too! This is fun and can be very healthy as well!

[Anonymous]

I have a 2.5 year old. She eats what we feed her, which is

-oatmeal and fruit for breakfast (in the winter we do a lot of frozen berries), or homemade flax seed bran muffins
-we do a lot of steamed vegetables - broccoli, peas and carrots, and amazingly she eats spinach (not my fave but I eat it too)
-baked sweet potatoes with a little butter and cinnamon
-raw peppers and hummus, cut up raw carrots, and she likes salad chopped up, and she loves avocado
-she loves hummus, either with veggies or whole wheat wrap
-almond butter on wheat bread sandwiches
-whole wheat pasta is frequent - either with a simple homemade tomato sauce or mixed up with cut up veggies tossed in dressing
-string cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches
-baked chicken
-veggie burgers
-greek yogurt with fruit
-we make enchiladas - black beans, corn, sometimes chicken, tomatoes and some seasoning
-we do a few casseroles with vegetables and chicken she eats
-vegetable lasagna

[Anonymous]

For the most part, my kids eat very healthy but I do have my slacker days and our nanny does not cook so I have to give wiggle room for the days when they are just not in the mood for things I leave them.
On good and most days they eat:
Bfast:
Eggs with Cheese and slice of whole wheat bread.
Fruits - Yogurt and Banana
Oatmeal

Snacks:
raisins, cheese sticks, apples, oranges, grapes, any berry, sunflower seeds, cucumbers, tomatoes, turkey slices, Quesidillas

Lunch and Dinner - usually they eat leftovers for lunch:
Whole wheat pasta loaded with mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, celery, tomato sauce
Rice with a veggie (could be spinach, green beans, peas and carrots and meat or chicken.
Beans and Rice
Chicken noodle soup

On the days where I dont have time to cook, or Im sick, or the nanny doesnt have left overs to serve them -
Chicken Nuggets
Mac N Cheese - they prefer the box - ugh
PB and Jelly
Grilled Cheese
Cookies after a fruit
Pizza

I dont have a problem indulging in the occasional junk or second list but only as a last resort or during parties.
I am happy with their diet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make a spinach soufflé thing. 1 package thawed frozen spinach, chopped onions, a bit of garlic, cheese, 1 egg. Mix well and microwave for 6 min.

OP-thanks everyone. Do you think this would work without the egg, or would it be gross (DD is allergic to eggs/wheat/nuts) ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 2.5 year old. She eats what we feed her, which is

-oatmeal and fruit for breakfast (in the winter we do a lot of frozen berries), or homemade flax seed bran muffins
-we do a lot of steamed vegetables - broccoli, peas and carrots, and amazingly she eats spinach (not my fave but I eat it too)
-baked sweet potatoes with a little butter and cinnamon
-raw peppers and hummus, cut up raw carrots, and she likes salad chopped up, and she loves avocado
-she loves hummus, either with veggies or whole wheat wrap
-almond butter on wheat bread sandwiches
-whole wheat pasta is frequent - either with a simple homemade tomato sauce or mixed up with cut up veggies tossed in dressing
-string cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches
-baked chicken
-veggie burgers
-greek yogurt with fruit
-we make enchiladas - black beans, corn, sometimes chicken, tomatoes and some seasoning
-we do a few casseroles with vegetables and chicken she eats
-vegetable lasagna

Forgot to add: she is daycare and they have a few snacks we don't serve at home but I'm fine with her having there. Wheat thins, goldfish, juice. I'm a big believer in moderation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make a spinach soufflé thing. 1 package thawed frozen spinach, chopped onions, a bit of garlic, cheese, 1 egg. Mix well and microwave for 6 min.

OP-thanks everyone. Do you think this would work without the egg, or would it be gross (DD is allergic to eggs/wheat/nuts) ?

Not gross, maybe add some milk and butter to bind it.

[Anonymous]

Hummus and baba ganoush have been big snack hits! 18 mo. eats them with little multi-grain crackers.

[Anonymous]

This is what our almost two year old toddlers eat. They are vegetarian (for now. My husband and I work full time.

Breakfast:
oatmeal mixed with fresh fruit that I cook and puree, organic whole milk yogurt, flaxseed and sometimes blackstrap molasses
Organic eggs, cheese and whole wheat muffin or toast
Whole wheat banana /apple pancakes dipped in honey (with yogurt and fruit on the side)
French Toast dipped in honey (with yogurt and fruit on the side)

Lunch:
eggs (if they did not have for breakfast), whole wheat pasta mixed with butter and garlic, quesadilla (cheese, beans) on whole wheat tortilla, grilled cheese with whole wheat toast
Tofu
Veggies (usually frozen organic peas, corn, mixed veggie or sweet potato sauteed in butter or regular potato)
Cheese (low sodium cheese colby jack cheese sticks)
Fruit (in winter it is usually grapes, apples or pears, sometimes papaya. In summer, melons, mango etc - this is their treat. We actually do not bring fruit out till they are done eating other stuff)

Snack
I make whole wheat zuchinni/banana/raisin bread on the weekends or they have crackers and raisins or fruit.

Dinner:
3-4 times a week they have lentils, ice and veggies (zuchinni, yellow squahs, butternut squash, spinach) mixed together with spices and then usually some cheese toast (on whole wheat bread) and unsweetended apple sauce or a banana
The other days they eat different thingss: pasta, grilled cheese, tofu, eggs, chickpeas etc. The days they do not have their veggies with lentils, I also make them homemade soup with veggies they have as a starter course.

Sometimes I get organic canned beans and rinse them for a while or sometimes I get dried beans, soak them and cook them in the pressure cooker. I like the spinach souufle idea from pp - we are always looking for new things to try

[Anonymous]

Spinach soufflé poster here:
I also make a quiche that I fill with sauteed zucchinis and onions, cheese and eggs... Again maybe if you put a lot of cheese and milk you could try and substitute the eggs with that.

[Anonymous]

Also, don't assume your child won't like something. My son (3.5 yrs old) loves salad, romaine, arugula, spinach, etc. I also noticed he likes raw or steamed crunchy veggies and rejects fully cooked. For example, he eats tomatoes raw but won't eat sauce on whole wheat or rice pasta. I finally realized he doesn't like certain textures so no oatmeal but granola with oats is okay. Our policy is try it and see if you like it. He eats a large variety of food so not liking onions or oatmeal is not a big deal.

[Shopmom]

I certainly feel your pain...my son is 2 and is allergic to milk, eggs, soy, beef, and sheelfish......thats pretty much every food right?! So I've had to become creative when it comes to finding meals that not only pass the picky toddler test, but that are safe for his allergies. Right now, his favorite foods include veggie chips for snacks, chicken apple sausage or mango chicken sausage, veggie noodles...he likes Wacky Noodles brand...they are infused with carrot, spinach, and beets! Also he LOVES Green Machine Smoothie by Naked. You can find similar products in other brands and they taste basically the same. I also have learned to sneak fruits and veggies into the foods he loves...like creating adding jar food carrots to ketchup or pasta sauce. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My 3yo DD isn't terribly picky so she eats whatever we eat.

Breakfast: wholewheat bagel with peanut butter or almond butter or eggs or oatmeal with raisins and a little brown sugar.

Lunch: Usually leftovers from dinner but sometimes organic mac n cheese with tuna mixed into it and a side of organic frozen mixed vegetables, hummus with raw carrots, red peppers and whole wheat pita or crackers.

Dinner: Anything and everything. She does NOT like: broccoli crowns (but loves broccoli stems) eggplant - I think it's the texture, tomatoes - again, a texture thing.

Some of her favorites are: egg cheese and spinach omelet, baked salmon and mashed potatoes, roast chicken, Thai fish curry/ Thai yellow curry/ Thai green curry with brown rice (I make non-spicy versions for her).

I agree with the pp that said don't assume your kid won't like something!