I'm not making a chi maple quinoa smoothie for breakfast

amother

Brown

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 11:37 am

I'm just not.

I cook one meal a day and it takes me 15 minutes tops. I work full time and have a second part time job on the side.

Our food situation has gotten out of control. My kids are super picky and wont eat any of the easy healthy foods. We eat so unhealthy and I feel terrible about it. We eat tons of rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, hot dogs, and junk. I want to ease into healthy options I am just dealing with so many people who have such specific likes and dislikes that its easier to fall back on the unhealthy options that are super fast and everyone likes.

I want to make changes but I need EASY FAST options. oh and my kids need to be willing to eat it.

Here are the criteria. Please help:

Me: I'm easy. As long as there is no carbs and sugar I will eat it.

Husband: He is easy too. He will eat whatever I serve as long as there is no cheese or yogurt. He might even be willing to eat those two items if its baked in and not visible.

Child One: Hates almost everything. He will eat plain proteins, raw veggies, raw fruits. Other than that he only wants carbs and junk. Wont touch dairy.

Child Two: Hates eggs, cooked veggies, most fruits. He will eat most things I guess.

I think the main problem is Child One. He is super picky and I am running out of ideas.

Right now the kids eat crackers for breakfast, bread and deli for lunch, apples, cake, pretzels for snack, Meat and pasta for dinner. Its horrible and I want to change. My kids are not overweight but my husband is. He weighs about 200 lbs and its been creeping up. I weigh about 175. We could both lose about 25 lbs.

My husband and I need a keto kind of diet. Low carb and sugar, high fat and protein. I have no time or energy for weird recipes and ingredients. I need easy veggies and proteins.

The kids can have more carbs but I want to phase out the cake and candy.

Can you please help me out with meal ideas?

STMommy

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 11:43 am

Can you take time on Sunday to shop for (and slice if needed) lots of fruits and veggies? carrot sticks, zuccini slices, grape tomatoes, bananas, peppers, etc.
if you have lots of fruits and veggies easily on hand for during the week it will give Child One more to eat and you'll feel better about all the other stuff.
can you switch to whole wheat bread? nitrate-free deli? whole wheat pasta? Spaghetti squash instead of pasta? add other proteins like salmon?

amother

Slategray

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 11:50 am

I would definitely stock up on lots and lots of fresh fruit and veg. Take 30 min on Sunday (or whatever is your easiest day) and slice a bunch of each. Store each type of fruit or veg in its own airtight container, and pull out different ones each day. Among fruits, the ones that keep well are melons, mangoes, berries if dried off well, and stone fruit. Have a variety and choose different ones to feature each day.

Also, if you want quick and healthy proteins, I strongly recommend getting a grill pan if you don't have a grill. You can season chicken cutlets, ground meat, and salmon in a million different ways and they will cook up quickly and taste great.

Try switching over to brown rice pasta for the kids. Week one give all white pasta, week two make it 25% brown rice pasta, week 3 50%, week 4 75%, after a month hopefully they will tolerate it.

aquad

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 11:52 am

Hard boiled a dozen eggs on Sunday, to last the whole week.
Dump some vegetables in a pot, add chicken quarters, and boil. Remove the chicken, and blend the soup. Everyone eats the soup for a week, and picky child eats the boiled chicken.
I hate salad, but I'll eat it if there's a grain and protein in it. Cook a grain (rice, quinoa, farro, even plain barley), and some salmon. Make yourself a lettuce salad, add the grain and protein in it. Top with terrachips or some almonds- delicious and easy.

tichellady

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 1:30 pm

It seems like you are going to end up making cooked proteins for dinner with some cooked and some raw veggies. Boneless chicken thighs are quick to broil, boneless chicken breast are quick to grill, Do you eat fish or tofu? For a healthy carb for your children, make short grain brown rice ( buy a rice cooker), baked sweet potatoes or baked potatoes. Raw veggies- pepper, cucumber, tomato,zoodles, salad etc
Cooked veggies- string beans, cauliflower, brocolli,zuchinni, squash

abaker

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 1:41 pm

What did you all eat on Pesach? I found myself cutting up so many fruits and veggies for my kids. They would eat whole baby cucumbers and 2 kids would sit down and finish a cantaloupe. Literally these are the kids who wake up in the morning and look in the cabinet for cereal and granola bars. But when they opened that cabinet it was full of onions and potatoes on Pesach. So they had fruits and vegetables, Cheese strings and yogurt. They also liked soups and chicken meatballs. I am not replacing all the junk now that pesach is over. Of course we will do fish sticks and such occasionally but I see that when these choices are what we have in the house, the kids do eat.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 3:50 pm

Cakes are a great way to hide veggies! Cook carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes, and things like that until soft, and then puree. (Don't mix veggies, that's just gross. Pick one, and see if you can sneak it past the kids. If not, try another one.)

Replace one cup puree for one cup of water, then add a tiny bit more water if the batter looks too dry.

If you're baking from scratch, use whole wheat flour or half and half, and throw in some protein powder and carob chips.

ra_mom

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 4:11 pm

Have a few decent options available for breakfast that the kids can choose. You and dh should have the keto options.

Hard eggs made at beginning of week like aquad suggested. Good egg slicer available to make it simple and appealing.

Cut veggies prepared on Sunday in portions. Not so hard if you use baby carrots and grape tomatoes; you just need to add some sliced kirbies.

Smoothies just might be appealing; try it (but have the other choices available too). Just throw into the blender a high protein 6 oz yogurt, 1/2 cup water/OJ/milk. Blend together, then add 1/2 a package frozen fruit of choice through the whole in the lid.

Cereal is another option to have available for the kids.

You can freeze egg muffin frittatas to pull out for protein breakfast.

Cream cheese or tuna sandwiches can be frozen for kids. Or healthy muffins. Pancakes or waffles.

Dinners can be in the crockpot (roast chicken, meatballs, etc) cooking while you're out.

Or quick baked dinners like chicken cutlets, boneless thighs, kebabs, all meat burgers, fish etc that take up to 25 min to bake through. You can have raw veggies for the kid who likes that prepped ahead as above, and throw in a bag of frozen veggies to roast at same time as protein, for the rest. Make a starch side at same but only serve it to the kids.

Last edited by ra_mom on Mon, Apr 09 2018, 4:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

mha3484

Mon, Apr 09 2018, 4:16 pm

I like to recommend the instant pot a lot. I find that it helps me get a decent dinner on the table in a reasonable time frame. I will buy chicken or meat and forget to defrost it and then I resort to take out or pizza so this helps because I can put the meat in frozen. I have made different dishes with boneless skinless thighs, ground beef and bone in chicken. It also makes hardboiled eggs that are am amazingly easy to peel.