Favorite meals that your kids actually eat?

Jo · Guru

Favorite meals that your kids actually eat?

apies · Guru

jo, do your kids like peanut butter?

i made a pb thai sauce last night and put it over stir fry. my kids won't eat the veggies in a stir fry other than broccoli, but they really liked the sauce. i can share that if you think they'd eat it.

they love tacos.

we also do burgers, which they really like.

do your boys eat pasta? mine love lasagna and manicotti, which are involved, but usually include leftovers which is awesome.

Jo · Guru

yes, I'd love the sauce recipe!

the boys aren't big meat eaters aside from breakfast meats like bacon and sausage - no nuggets, no burgers, occasional chicken

they love pasta but it's hit and miss with the sauce. I should try lasagne and see what they think. I know *I'd* love it! :)

supergrover · Guru

We made a new rule here that they can't leave the table without taking a bite. Before, we found they would just not eat and be content half starved until the next meal hoping for something better.

So with that, we are widely branching out. We were serioualy down to like 6 staples here.

Meatloaf tonight. I know, it doesn't sound crazy, but it isn't hot dogs/mac and cheese/spaghetti/chicken nuggets. ;)

CoffeeQueen · Guru

do they eat veggies like stir fry? We do tons of stir fry with chicken or steak or shrimp.

my girls love bean/cheese burritos with corn on the side and or rice.

would they eat a tuna casserole?

CoffeeQueen · Guru

what are their favorite meals. maybe that could help me suggest some things.

apies · Guru

Jo wrote:
yes, I'd love the sauce recipe!

the boys aren't big meat eaters aside from breakfast meats like bacon and sausage - no nuggets, no burgers, occasional chicken

they love pasta but it's hit and miss with the sauce. I should try lasagne and see what they think. I know *I'd* love it! :)

what about a white sauce? i've seen some lasagnas with white sauce. i can pull up a recipe if you want.

happylib · Guru

Elizabeth really likes meatballs. If they are not crazy about red sauce you can mix cream of mushroom soup with milk and sour cream to make a gravy and put it over noodles.

We also make cheese tortellini. I boil them in a pot along with the veggies (usually broccoli), drain it. I mix a little olive oil, basil, garlic and Parmesan cheese together and toss it into the pasta mix. It's simple and fast. You can cook meat on the side it you want.

If they like sausage, have you tried cooking bratwurst? You can cook that and pair it with many things like pasta salad, baked beans, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, and mac and cheese.

Boots and Bananas · Guru

Joe's brother does the greatest thing with is daughter.

If she doesn't want to eat something they negotiate a "no thank you helping" basically a few bites that they agree on that she has to eat. It's awesome.

CoffeeQueen · Guru

oh, I make spinach lasagna roles my that my girls love.

I take cottage cheese, spinach(frozen that is thawed) egg, season with garlic or just salt, mozzerella cheese. Then lasagna noodles cooked (not too soft though) I lay it out, put fulling along noodle, roll. Once all rolled I place in glass baking dish, pour over sauce and add more cheese on top. My girls love it and make no mention of the spinach. you could use ricotta, but my girls do not like it.

my girls actually love hummus and we often do that with pita, rice and grilled chicken cut into strips.

couscous is a big hit in our house with veggies in it.

we do not eat huge meals at dinner. I mean we tend to do veggie and a meat. We do not do a lot of starchy stuff.

Sara · Guru

tacos are HUGE here, spaghetti and really any sort of pasta.

my boys favorite is chicken breast tenderloins, dip them in butter then put them in a baggie of crushed ritz crackers. then bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes i usually flip half way.

really any chicken. we also do chicken tenderloins wrapped in turkey bacon and a vidalia onion dressing over, they usually end up getting bbq to dip theirs in but whatever..lol.

teriayki chicken, italian chicken breast (as you see we eat LOTS of chicken)

they love the turkey sausage you buy it in two links we make that for a quick meal.

italian sausage pepper pasta that is one they will all eat as well.

Jo · Guru

thanks for the ideas. I need to just keep trying different things and provide more variety. I just suck at cooking but really would like to do more, especially working toward regular meal planning.

Melissa - they love mac and cheese (the boxed variety because I'm lazy :bag:), pasta (sometimes with sauce), jasmine rice, chinese food (egg drop soup, lo mein), some veggies, breakfast foods (pancakes, waffles, eggs)

Supafly · Guru

Jo, my kids are picky as well. I mean, reading the suggestions here, they wouldn't eat half of what has been mentioned!!!

Basically, we eat a meat, a steamed veggie and a starch at pretty much every dinner. We don't make different meats for them since they hardly eat any of it anyway, but if we are having something we know they dont like (like I made a roast that we sliced for sandwiches because it was a tougher roast, and they don't eat roast beef sandwiches), I'll add something else for them, but otherwise, they eat whatever. They like bland meats-chicken, pork, some beef. NO sauces. They DO NOT like sauces.

They LOVE seafood. Crab, lobster, shrimp and basic white fish (pan fried, lol). If I made crab cakes everyday, they would be in heaven. They also like filet mignon, go figure.

Veggies they will eat steamed. Again, NO SAUCE. If I stir fry them, they won't eat them. If put even a cheese sauce with them, they won't eat them. So I steam broccoli or green beans most of the time for them. Sometimes I will cook other veggies for us and they will just eat leftover steamed broccoli with their dinners for most of the week. Anna will eat raw carrots, but Kate won't, and neither of them will touch a piece of lettuce.

Starches are pretty much potatoes or pasta for them. They will eat spaghetti, but they mostly like buttered noodles. They don't like and won't eat things like lasagna and other things where everything is mixed together. That is pretty much across the board. If I made a casserole with chicken and broccoli and noodles, they would not eat it. But if I give them chicken, broccoli and noodles separate and not in a sauce, they will eat in with no complaints. They only like potatoes certain ways, they both dislike rice, only Anna likes mac and cheese.

It pretty much drives me nuts.

I don't cook different meals for them. BUT, if i am making stir fry, I take their pieces out (veggies and meat) before I add sauce, and then add some plain buttered rice, even though they don't like it. Then I mix it all up for Bill and I. If I make spaghetti and meatballs, I put their meatballs and spaghetti in separate places on their plates. If they so much as see one pea in the sauce or something, they won't eat it. But if I give them peas, they will choke them down on the side.

We eat boring food because of them. I plan things that can be taken apart or that I can put things aside before I assemble it for us. I was the same way as a kid and I love lots of things now, so I don't worry about it or anything. They eat boring food, but it isn't bad-just dull. And I figure one day I will eat tasty stuff again, lol.

But like last night, we had grilled chicken caesar salads for dinner. We just gave them the grilled chicken with some leftover broccoli and noodles. They were happy with that.

ETA-our rule has always been that they have to try everything. Veggies, they have to eat as many bites as they are old in order to be done, unless it is a new veggie and they really don't like it. We also sometimes make them serve themselves and tell them only to take as much as they know they will eat, but they have to eat whatever they take.

-- Edited by Supafly on Monday 6th of June 2011 01:20:27 PM

Jo · Guru

Laura, this is EXACTLY us. Seriously, just about everything you wrote is spot on for the way things are here.

Dinners for us are the same, meat, veggie and starch. But I'm getting bored with the blandness of it all. The only sauce Kyle likes is chick-fil-a sauce, lol. Occasionally they'll use ranch or BBQ sauce. But yeah, I don't make separate dinners for them. They eat what we eat, but then of course they don't eat enough and are asking for a snack 20 mins later.

For bfast and lunch I usually give them something different since we eat oatmeal for bfast and salad for lunch. But I don't go all out there, just keep it simple. They love the muffin tin lunches.

daisy · Guru

i am so desperate lately too. my kids literally eat nothing. not one thing. dinner has gone untouched for MONTHS now, and i'm not even kidding. it's really discouraging. there is not one go-to staple.

they have sunflower seed butter on crackers most nights with cut up carrots :(

Supafly · Guru

Jo wrote:
Laura, this is EXACTLY us. Seriously, just about everything you wrote is spot on for the way things are here.

Dinners for us are the same, meat, veggie and starch. But I'm getting bored with the blandness of it all. The only sauce Kyle likes is chick-fil-a sauce, lol. Occasionally they'll use ranch or BBQ sauce. But yeah, I don't make separate dinners for them. They eat what we eat, but then of course they don't eat enough and are asking for a snack 20 mins later.

For bfast and lunch I usually give them something different since we eat oatmeal for bfast and salad for lunch. But I don't go all out there, just keep it simple. They love the muffin tin lunches.

I know exactly how you feel!!!!

we all eat different things for breakfast and lunch too-I eat a lot of salads and such. Simple stuff, but it isn't that big of a deal.

our dip is ketchup. Anna will use ranch for carrots, but that is it. And there is no snacking after dinner here. If they choose not to finish the appropriate amount of food, they know they are agreeing to nothing else until morning. Period. So we don't have that issue. But dang...we have boring food around here. I think I am getting pay backs from my parents since I was never a good eater.

Kelly, that is BRUTAL. I would be a basketcase. At least my girls eat boring bland stuff!!!

Jo · Guru

Ugh, Kelly, that's rough! I often wish we could just give them a pill for their meals and say that's that.

I really hope things start to turn around for you. I remembered after posting this topic that my sister sent me a cookbook for Xmas, I think it's the one by Jerry Seinfeld's wife, I don't even remember. I need to figure out where that is among my boxes (yes, i still have unpacked boxes!) and see what might work for us.

Robin · Guru

My kids wouldn't eat most of the stuff suggested here. I'm surprised other people's kids eat all that.

Henry will not eat any kind of casserole. He does NOT like his food mixed together but he will eat most things separately.

Mark is better with some casseroles. He's even pretty adventurous with mixing stuff together on his plate and eating it--like mixing his green peas with his mashed potatoes. Or putting green beans, rice, and chicken in a tortilla.

The only thing Henry will eat in a tortilla is cheese. He wants his chicken separate.

Neither kid is crazy about rice but sometimes they'll eat it. Mark gobbles up salad and raw carrots with ranch dressing. Henry would not touch that.

Both kids like cooked carrots, green beans, green peas, asparagus (canned), mac & cheese, buttered noodles, mashed potatoes (a big fave), broccoli (sometimes).

Main dishes--hot dogs, steak, meatloaf, pot roast, pork chops, bacon, ham, pulled pork bbq meat, spaghetti with meat sauce, pizza (cheese or pepperoni), pretty much any chicken in any form (except in a casserole), fish filets (fried, baked, or broiled), fish sticks.

Henry super-loves bread (like me). Mark can take it or leave it. Mark loves ketchup on almost everything. Henry only eats a tiny bit of ketchup on a hot dog, and he doesn't like it on anything else.

Henry loves cheese. Mark won't eat cold cheese, but he will eat a grilled cheese sandwich.

Oh, and Mark LOVES chicken noodle soup. Henry won't eat that but he likes ABC vegetable soup (in beef broth).

I usually do a plain meat with a side of veggies, a side of starch, and bread. Sometimes I'll add a salad or a bowl of mixed fruit. Mixed fruit is probably Mark's #1 favorite thing to eat.

Mark eats kids' fast food burgers--the little flat soft burger patties--but I think he'd hate a "real" burger. Henry doesn't like ground beef generally. Neither of my kids like crunchy stuff--no tortilla chips or hard taco shells.

Domimom · Senior Member

Dominic is extremely picky too but he has gotten a little better. He likes beef stroganoff and has started to eat a little more meat, tonight we had pad thai and jasmine rice and he really like that but wouldn't eat the shrimp. He likes raviolis. Most nights I make him something else, I keep a bag of frozen raviolis and tortellini in the freezer and boil that because I know he will at least eat that, we like to have steak once a week and he won't eat that so I always make him his own thing.

Lucy · Senior Member

My kids will eat pretty much anything but we eat a lot of rice and pasta dishes cause of their activities and I need things that I can make in advance and have waiting for us. Also if I know it is something I know they are not over fussed about I will make gravy to go on it - like the brown roast dinner kind of gravy not the white biscuit kind (blech).