Give me your fast and healthy meal ideas.

[Anonymous]

So my 3 year old pretty much refuses to eat at day care. He eats the snacks that i pack and I always try to pack mostly fruit, cheese and some gold fish. When he gets home he is starving and can't wait very long for me to put dinner out. I'm talking like 30 minutes TOPS. Can you please share your meal ideas that are somewhat healthy and don't take long to prepare?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

What is your idea of meal - is it just finger food or your DC can use spoon?

What is your limit on time to prepare food?

I prepare food for my kids all the time. But, sometime it takes more time than others.

[Anonymous]

OP here. He can use a spoon and eats most anything (other than maybe soups and stews). I can hold him over for maybe 30 minutes, but that's about it. Maybe my only option is to cook the night before?

[Anonymous]

What foods does he already eat/like that are healthy?
I think it may be easier for us to come up with ways to prepare foods he'll eat in a short time span rather than try to come up with something new that's fast that he may not want to eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What foods does he already eat/like that are healthy?
I think it may be easier for us to come up with ways to prepare foods he'll eat in a short time span rather than try to come up with something new that's fast that he may not want to eat.

Perfect. Thanks so much! He eats chicken and fish with no problem. Sometimes I can get him to eat some pork but not often. He eats rice and spaghetti with no problem. potatoes only in a form of a french fry and I'd rather not feed him that every night. He loves asparagus and corn. I'd love to find fun ways to get him to eat veggies.

He despises ground beef (especially mixed in anything). thanks again.

[Anonymous]

scallops - saute with a little evoo
make rice in the microwave
broccoli or cauliflower in the microwave

scrambled eggs? with toast and fruit, reasonably balanced and fast.

chicken stir fry (maybe with asparagus and corn, lol)?

ground beef... is it a texture thing? Is he okay with ground pork/chicken/turkey? Pasta bolognese is what I'm thinking.

[Anonymous]

My 2 year old's favorite dinner is fish tacos. Broiling or pan frying the fish takes <15 minutes (we usually grill it, but that takes more time). Wrap it up in a whole wheat tortilla with some fixings. My son likes avocado and plain yogurt on his. My husband and I add shredded cabbage, salsa, cilantro, and yogurt.

We also do tuna melts, omelets, ravioli, and veggie burgers on 'quick' nights.

[Anonymous]

Thank you both. Great ideas. I think I can get him to eat scallops. I think he would definitely be game for fish tacos.

My mom was with us last year and she completely overdid the ground beef thing. That's why he doesn't want it now.

[Anonymous]

This is one of my go to dinner recipes and it can be made the night before (reheats well), I chop the tomatoes & mozzarella down into small pieces since we have little ones. I also add chopped mushrooms to up the veggies.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/oven-chicken-risotto-10000001966721/

[Anonymous]

Before he comes home, precook chicken tenders until they are lightly cooked (it will cook more later when he's home). When he gets home, put a chicken tender on a tray, put a couple of scoops of salsa on the chicken, put a slice of cheeze (mozzarella and monterey jack work, but go with something the kid likes) on top. Put in the toaster oven or oven for about 10-15 minutes until the cheese melts and the chicken and salsa warms up. If he doesn't like salsa, you can put spaghetti sauce on too.

Tacos: Cook and shred chicken. Dice up some asparagus, some red pepper, some tomatoes, and shred lettuce. When he comes home, get some whole wheat mini-tortillas (the smaller/medium size) put shredded chicken, and diced veggies into wrap, put a little taco sauce on and roll up for a quick meal. you can heat the tortillas and chicken if you want it to be hot. If he objects to the red peppers or tomatoes you can leave them off, but often mixed in with the other flavors that they likes, children will eat these things.

Does he eat eggs? My one niece who hated veggies would eat veggies when chopped and cooked into an omelet or frittata. And those are fast and easy to make for the after school meal. You can also use olive oil instead of butter or vegetable oil to make the omelet/frittata healthier.

[Anonymous]

Got a version of this from the 6 O'Clock Scramble. I do it when my kids are famished and even ordering a pizza takes too long.

Put some olive oil in a skillet. Add a can of drained cannellini beans and a can of diced tomatoes with garlic and oregano. Heat through. Serve over butterfly pasta. I often do steamed broccoli on the side. My picky kids love this and their friends have gobbled it down too. Takes about 10 min after the water is heated. For a little guy I'd probably do the mini farafel (sp?) pasta.

[Anonymous]

Make wheat Roti/tortilla the night before and fix a quesadilla - chicken, vege, fish, you can be very creative.

I give my kids cooked Barley with chicken and vegetable for lunch. Pressed barley cooks quick.

Make chicken kabob from ground chickn or turkey (I use food processor to grind the chicken or turkey breast). I give this to kids with steamed vege.

Brown rice and tofu stir fry.

All kind of sandwiches.

Quinoa and baked salmon.

Baked sweet potato.

I make macaroni cheese with pureed vege mixed in the cheese sauce.

Noodles with shrimp, chicken or vege.

[Anonymous]

This is my strategy. I give my son a "snack plate" of raw red pepper rings, carrots, avocado, cucumber, etc. as soon as we get home. He loves these crudités, and he eats his veggies first while I get the rest of dinner together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is my strategy. I give my son a "snack plate" of raw red pepper rings, carrots, avocado, cucumber, etc. as soon as we get home. He loves these crudités, and he eats his veggies first while I get the rest of dinner together.

SO SMART!

[Anonymous]

My children eat so much Avocado, we buy them at Cosco once a week and we are out of them mid-week.

I too feed my kids their greens first.