What Are Your Kids Eating Tonight?

[leleboo]

Hey yo. Rocks asked me to comment on parenting, which HAHAHAHAHA NOPE I don't do mommy wars, but it did make me think of kid eating. I know there's a Picky Eater thread, but I wasn't sure this fit there -- instead, it's just, what ARE your kids eating tonight?

Mine: spinach fettuccine with butter, parm, garlic, and lemon, side of ripe tomato. One kid didn't like the tomato. Yep, that's life!

Yours?

[DonRocks]

31 minutes ago, leleboo said:

Hey yo. Rocks asked me to comment on parenting, which HAHAHAHAHA NOPE I don't do mommy wars, but it did make me think of kid eating. I know there's a Picky Eater thread, but I wasn't sure this fit there -- instead, it's just, what ARE your kids eating tonight?

Mine: spinach fettuccine with butter, parm, garlic, and lemon, side of ripe tomato. One kid didn't like the tomato. Yep, that's life!

Yours?

How old are yours, Leigh? Thought of putting a little sugar on the tomato to ease into it, or maybe even a drop of honey?

[leleboo]

10 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

How old are yours, Leigh? Thought of putting a little sugar on the tomato to ease into it, or maybe even a drop of honey?

3.5 and almost 6. They love tomatoes -- cherry tomatoes, primarily. The little one didn't like the core of the big (diced) tomato. Oh well.

[dracisk]

My 4-year-old had leftover pizza and some sliced strawberries. Not the greatest, but I take heart in the fact that she announced this week that she likes both tomatoes and mushrooms.

[Xochitl10]

We nicknamed our little one "Goat" early on because he sounded like one when he complained ("Maaaa! Maaaa!"). Goat is now a fitting name for him as at 13 months, he eats pretty much everything, and he generally wants to eat what we're eating. Last night we had vegetarian burritos -- beans, broccoli, carrots, and onions, plus green chile for me and Azami -- which he scarfed up.

[dracisk]

My 4-year-old was a lot more open to new and different foods between ages 1 and 2, then at age 3 her tastes narrowed a lot (although according to her teachers at preschool she mostly ate and continues to eat the school-provided lunches). Now at age 4 she's becoming more willing to try new and different foods again.

Tonight we're having homemade veggie fried (brown) rice. She likes fried rice in restaurants, so we'll see how it goes!

 

[dracisk]

On 8/18/2018 at 10:31 PM, dracisk said:

I take heart in the fact that she announced this week that she likes both tomatoes and mushrooms.

And tonight she announced that she likes broccoli -- yes!

[leleboo]

Tonight my kids scarfed shredded sous-vide chicken and steamed broccoli, but my older one had her favorite post-camp snack on the ride home today — avocado maki roll. (Weirdly enough, the little one prefers tuna!)

 

 

[Ericandblueboy]

Way Fong brand frozen mini pork & chives dumplings.  My personal favorite but also winner of Serious Eats taste test.  They are the closest to homemade jiaozi that I grew up eating.  I keep my freezer stocked with these, knowing my kids will never turn down dumplings.

[leleboo]

8 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Way Fong brand frozen mini pork & chives dumplings.  My personal favorite but also winner of Serious Eats taste test.  They are the closest to homemade jiaozi that I grew up eating.  I keep my freezer stocked with these, knowing my kids will never turn down dumplings.

I need to find these for me! I’m a dumpling addict and there are no good ones near me.

[leleboo]

Night-before-first-grade “couch picnic” of Greek feta turkey burgers & tomato-artichoke salad. (They don’t like the artichokes.) 

[dracisk]

Tonight I had the last serving of leftovers from the fridge and the four-year-old had a cheese sandwich (muenster cheese melted between pieces of wheat toast), a banana, and some watermelon. A cheese sandwich is one of her old standbys (she'd probably eat it every night if we let her), and she'll pretty much always eat fruit.

Those turkey burgers sound good!

[leleboo]

On 8/22/2018 at 8:16 PM, dracisk said:

she'll pretty much always eat fruit.

I joke that my little one is mostly made of fruit. It’s far and away her largest food group, followed closely by dairy. The big one is more veggie-focused. 😂

[dracisk]

I wish mine was more veggie-focused. She'll eat some veggies, but she really loves fruit -- and dairy as well! Even if part of her dinner is junky, I always feel better if she eats some fruit.

Tonight we had chicken fajita pasta, which is from the website Skinnytaste. She killed the chicken and pasta but left a bunch of green pepper in her bowl. 😣

[leleboo]

Weirdly, my veggie-averse one loves things like spinach tortellini. I also make a Moroccan-inspired beef dish that has onions, chickpeas, spinach, and dried apricots, that both of them will eat. And they both love vegetable soups, especially if they include pasta (like a minestrone). 

The one who LIKES veggies doesn't like things like carrots, which is bonkers. What kid doesn't like carrots?? 

[dracisk]

Today we went to a late afternoon kid birthday party, so ... pizza and cake.

[leleboo]

We had ice cream for dinner after the first day of school. 🤷‍♀️

[DonRocks]

40 minutes ago, dracisk said:

Today we went to a late afternoon kid birthday party, so ... pizza and cake.

The Sea and Cake.

[NolaCaine]

Last night my husband hit it out of the park with all of us cleaning our plates:
Poached salmon in white wine sitting on lemon slices. The kids LOVED IT! He also made mixed rice in the rice cooker with broth instead of water, again kids loved. Green beans were perfectly steamed (I did that part). They asked for seconds on everything but the green beans.

I have a fruit eater too. Our appetizer was sliced up watermelon. The 5 yr old kept eating it so I had to keep slicing for the rest of us. 8 yr old explained to me last night that sometimes he stops liking foods, and then likes new foods and then likes the food again. For example, he's off chicken right now but wants more pork. I"m going to attempt to pan fry a pork chop tonight and see if I can get clean plates again tonight.

They love pretty much all dumplings and pot stickers.

Their favorite request is "cold plate" which is basically anything in the fridge, cut up and on a plate...cold. It was my husband's thing as a kid and not a bad tradition, I must say.

[lion]

Since the 1st day of school went well today, we asked our son where he wanted dinner and Chipotle it was.

However, his lunch box included a salmon slider with honey mustard, back berries, baby broccoli and pickled okra. 

I'm trying to restrain myself from falling down into the Bento box hole as preparing one small little meal satisfies a lot of obsessive cooking issues! 

[DonRocks]

[I love this thread. It's nice to see you back, Leigh.]

[NolaCaine]

20 hours ago, lion said:

 and pickled okra. 

My kids chomp anything pickled, including okra. It was on their shopping request list for this week. 

[dracisk]

15 hours ago, lion said:

However, his lunch box included a salmon slider with honey mustard, back berries, baby broccoli and pickled okra.

I'm not looking forward to when I need to start packing my daughter's lunch again (in a year when she starts kindergarten). I'm pretty sure her lunches won't be as impressively elaborate as this! When I had to pack her lunches at her in home daycare she ate a LOT of cheese sandwiches with cut up fruit (which she still loves).

[Xochitl10]

On 8/28/2018 at 8:09 AM, NolaCaine said:

Their favorite request is "cold plate" which is basically anything in the fridge, cut up and on a plate...cold. It was my husband's thing as a kid and not a bad tradition, I must say.

I love this. "Cold plate" sounds awesome. I'll have to remember it.

I also have a fruit eater. He loves the organic Gala apples out of our orchard and strawberries most, but will also scarf down grapes, peaches, and bananas.

[lion]

8 hours ago, NolaCaine said:

My kids chomp anything pickled, including okra. It was on their shopping request list for this week. 

My son also likes anything pickled.. Amazing how many he will eat, currently likes the Talk of O' Texas mild ones.  

7 hours ago, dracisk said:

I'm not looking forward to when I need to start packing my daughter's lunch again (in a year when she starts kindergarten). I'm pretty sure her lunches won't be as impressively elaborate as this! When I had to pack her lunches at her in home daycare she ate a LOT of cheese sandwiches with cut up fruit (which she still loves).

These days things are being made in the toaster oven and would say it's just good healthy food! Salmon cooked in grapeseed oil and finished with Maldon Salt on a store bought slider bun with some honey mustard. Again baby broccoli with EVOO in the toaster oven which is left over from dinner. Pretty quick! 😊

[NolaCaine]

Re pickled foods and fruit: One of the things that I love/hate is coming home from the farmers' market to find an entire container of expensive pickles eaten. Or an entire pint of berries, eaten, or a corn, messily shucked and eaten (in the house, uncooked).

Regularly, my kids will eat an entire jar of pickled food between the two of them, in one sitting. 

FYI: Pork was a hit. Marinated in a simple soy, sugar, garlic concoction. 

[Ericandblueboy]

Maple Leaf Farm Roast Half Duck with Orange Sauce - purchased frozen from Balducci's.  It's the best frozen entree evah - because my kids love it.  It tastes great even without the sauce.  Just defrost and reheat in oven for 15-20 minutes. 

That was for dinner last night.

[Pool Boy]

Cat food.

[zgast]

Be careful with that:

Jun 4, 2018 - "A Broken Heart: Risk of Heart Disease in Boutique or Grain-Free Diets and Exotic Ingredients" by Lisa M. Freeman on vetnutrition.tufts.edu

21 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

Cat food.

[NolaCaine]

Sat down to MY dinner last night (after the kids ate cold plate) to nice soft ramen noodles, quick shrimp saute, and a kale salad with ginger dressing. I had to fight my 5 year old for the food! I think she's growing or school is making her brain grow so she needs more calories to run it. 

She at half of my shrimp, kept grabbing my noodles and slurping them up (until dad shared his and BTW that's funny as hell) and picked what she wanted out of the kale salad (kale yes, baboo shoots yes, pickled onions yes, no to old-school radishes).

I even tried to give her ice cream so I could eat my dinner. Nope. She prefers savory. 

[dracisk]

My husband is out of town and made a big dish of cheese, black bean, and veggie crumble enchiladas before he left. I got 4-year-old to eat those a couple of nights, but last night all she wanted was applesauce. I was afraid she'd be hungry in the middle of the night, so I also tried to round out her dinner with ice cream (sherbet), which she ate. :-)

[DonRocks]

14 hours ago, dracisk said:

My husband is out of town and made a big dish of cheese, black bean, and veggie crumble enchiladas before he left. I got 4-year-old to eat those a couple of nights, but last night all she wanted was applesauce. I was afraid she'd be hungry in the middle of the night, so I also tried to round out her dinner with ice cream (sherbet), which she ate. 🙂

All I kept thinking while reading these three sentences was, 'perfect parent.'

[dracisk]

5 hours ago, DonRocks said:

All I kept thinking while reading these three sentences was, 'perfect parent.'

Wow! Not sure if you're referring to my husband or me, but I'll let my husband know. 😉

[leleboo]

Veggie lentil soup* (well, the older one. The younger one is pretending to eat it while she primarily consumes goldfish crackers). Speaking of lentils, if anyone has a really good spinach dal recipe that doesn't involve me soaking lentils forever and hunting down obscure spices (read: I live in Central PA), I need it. My older one loves it, but we used to get it from a restaurant and I'd rather be able to make a big batch at home. 

*Before anyone comments on how healthfully my kids eat, I'd like to point out that I promised them Happy Meals tomorrow. 

[Sundae in the Park]

On 9/10/2018 at 3:11 PM, leleboo said:

*Before anyone comments on how healthfully my kids eat, I'd like to point out that I promised them Happy Meals tomorrow. 

Thanks for this, leleboo. It's heartening as both of my kids are going through picky phases (I hope they are phases! Especially as they are for completely different foods!! *tears at already-mom--thinned hair*) at the moment. They still eat my potstickers (taken directly from my mom's playbook and stuffed with ground turkey, egg, and spinach), thank goodness (had them last night, again), but having those every day is...impractical. One eats Cheerios and the other consents to eat wheat toast daily but otherwise, the struggle is real  And, unfortunately, shrugging off obstinately fasting kids isn't an option as they are both off-the scale tiny. With our elder son, there was a period where he would only eat Chinese restaurant food. Our takeout place loooooooooves us and actually calls back to check if our order changes from the usual to make sure it wasn't in error.

[dracisk]

My 4-year-old (and I) ate Fisher's caramel and cheese combo popcorn for dinner tonight. We just back from Ocean City. :-)

[lion]

On 9/12/2018 at 1:22 PM, Sundae in the Park said:

One eats Cheerios and the other consents to eat wheat toast daily but otherwise, the struggle is real  And, unfortunately, shrugging off obstinately fasting kids isn't an option as they are both off-the scale tiny. With our elder son, there was a period where he would only eat Chinese restaurant food. Our takeout place loooooooooves us and actually calls back to check if our order changes from the usual to make sure it wasn't in error.

Currently, my son's snack food are cheerios, too. My wife read the recent reports on Roundup being found in cheerios, so started getting organic brands at Mom's.

[dracisk]

My 4-year-old had "beans and cheese" tonight -- canned black beans (well rinsed) with shredded cheddar on top. Cold. A bit odd, but she likes it and I figure it's protein and calcium.

[leleboo]

Leftover farfalle with shredded lemon-garlic chicken, walnut parsley pesto, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan (so...much...cheese). Weirdly, my older one refused to eat the chicken, but the little one thought it was all awesome. They also both ate bites of a “supreme” pizza (pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, olives)...usually only the big one will eat pepperoni pizza and the little only eats cheese, despite the other things being foods they otherwise like, but tonight they wanted our food, so hey, why not.

[leleboo]

On 9/15/2018 at 6:42 PM, leleboo said:

Leftover farfalle with shredded lemon-garlic chicken, walnut parsley pesto, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan (so...much...cheese). Weirdly, my older one refused to eat the chicken, but the little one thought it was all awesome. 

They had the redux of this in their lunch boxes today, and true to form, the little ate zilch while the older scarfed it all down. 🤦‍♀️But the little one inhaled her pre-tap-class snack of carrots and hummus and a cheese stick -- unsurprising, since she basically didn't eat lunch.

Dinner was hot dogs and peas, because my brain gave up.

[lion]

Ayrshire farm chicken breast with spice rub cut into small pieces with Annie's organic honey mustard as a dipping sauce. Grape-seed oil sautéed spinach with sea salt. And Enlightened birthday cake bar for dessert. An overabundance of the honey mustard so that he could use his fork with the chicken pieces. 

Of course this was our dinner, too! 

[lion]

Scrambled eggs and green beans. Dessert, Trickling Spring Vanilla ice cream. 

[NolaCaine]

Last night kids chowed down on my grandmother's beef barley soup recipe (which is conveniently located on the back of the Quaker barley box).

What made this pot outstanding was that i used home-made broth. That home-made broth was from all the various meat things in the freezer that were just taking up space and were never going to be otherwise used...the broth itself was amazing. At the end, 8 yr old said to me "that was really good mom". He's not the eater so it meant a lot to me.

Then he asked for a cooked potato for dessert, which I gave to him (why not?). 

[Xochitl10]

We all had burritos filled with a mix of beef, whole pinto beans, and zucchini. Azami and I had ours with green chile sauce from our favorite restaurant in my hometown; Goat has a rather limited stomach for super-spicy foods, so he skipped the chile. Goat is a much bigger fan of veggies than meat, so he primarily ate the zucchini, beans, tortillas, and cheese.

[dcandohio]

Pan seared salmon on orzo. After the orzo cooked, I drained it, returned it to the pot, added olive oil, salt, pepper, a bunch of arugula, a chopped artichoke heart, some left-over bruschetta topping and parm. Squeezed lots of lemon on the salmon. A good way to use up bits of things from the frig. 

[leleboo]

On 9/26/2018 at 11:13 AM, NolaCaine said:

Then he asked for a cooked potato for dessert, which I gave to him (why not?). 

Mine often eat something random for dessert...usually a bite of what we are eating. Hubby gets home late so we rarely can have dinner en famille right now, although we anticipate that changing as the kids get older. So right now, they eat first — often our leftovers — and then ask for some of ours as “dessert.” I can live with that!

[lion]

My wife made some pesto pasta for our son's dinner tonight, while I finished the leftover curry chicken and rice. Oh, she also made a grape tomato balsamic vinaigrette side dish. Trying to decide if I should go the ice cream route for dessert or just finish the last Petit Pot Riz Au Lait? 

[leleboo]

Chili for the kids tonight. Bigger kid had dance, so littler one got to come home with daddy. She ate two bowls of chili, which she rarely does for me. Bigger had three bowls once she got home! 

 

(Chili: beef, beans, diced bell peppers, diced onions, diced canned roasted chiles, diced tomatoes with green chiles, cumin, garlic, chili powder.)

[dracisk]

We had totally inauthentic "tacos" last night (flour tortillas, ground turkey, taco seasoning, shredded cheddar, lettuce, tomato, sour cream). My 4-year-old has never deigned to eat these, so I heated up leftover hot dogs for her (always a winner). And she tried a taco! It was a mess as she couldn't hold the tortilla without a whole bunch of filling escaping, but I was glad she tried one. Oh, and she insisted on putting some hot dog in the tortilla with her ground turkey and cheese. But what are you going to do? She also ate an apple.

[dracisk]

We had another Skinnytaste recipe tonight: Ground Turkey with Potatoes and Peas. We had it one other time and found it a bit bland, so we added a bunch of curry powder this time, which improved it. We ate it with brown rice. This afternoon my husband and I discussed strategy to get my daughter to eat it and decided we'd just put out a bowl for her and not say anything, but we were ready for a fight (I don't want this! I only want a cheese sandwich!!). Miraculously she ate it without resistance!