Hey y’all; happy Monday! Poor David was up for most of the night coughing so neither one of us slept our best. Still, I’m proud to say I made it to the 5:00 AM bootcamp for posterior day (leg, glutes, upper back). I got home and ate a banana and some cottage cheese. I’m counting macros (inconsistently, but back on the bandwagon today) because I was so surprised at how much I was apparently under eating. I’m not sold on it yet, but find it interesting and am planning a post on my experience with it at some point. Now I’m sipping tea, writing this post, and hoping that this Earl Grey has what it takes to power me through the day on roughly 4 1/2 hours of sleep.
I still take a lot of pictures of food, and though I share a lot of them on Instagram stories (you can follow me here), I haven’t found a way to really share them all on the blog, so I’m just going for a casual “this is what my kids have been eating lately” post.
For reference: Hailey just turned seven years old and is a historically good eater. Kaitlyn is four and more discerning, yet I feel like has really been coming around with eating. Three cheers for consistency? She’ll still ask for pasta at every meal and to “taste” the sugar from the pantry 12 times a day, but for the most part, she’s eating pretty well lately.
If feeding kids is something that interests you, you can check out all my posts on the topic, from kid-friendly recipes to food philosophies, by clicking here. And now, onto the grub!
Healthy Kid Dinners
Dinner is usually the same for all four of us, though I might change it up slightly by deconstructing it or changing up toppings for the girls. I made (and bought) a lot of veggie burgers over the summer because they are so easy, but my girls aren’t big burger people. Still, a little side of ketchup goes a long way and burgers, whether on a bun or cut into dippable bites, are an easy main to pair with roasted veggies.
I haven’t found a way to make baked potatoes that my kids really love, which is why I usually dice and roast them. However, I added sliced cheese to the potatoes for this dinner and encouraged them to eat them like doctored up potato skins and that seemed to work pretty well. I also find more success with salmon when I use this recipe or if I stick to giving a small portion.
I keep the Seeds of Change and Ancient Harvest microwave packs of Quinoa and Brown Rice on hand for quick and easy sides in a pinch. I used a pack for the meal below, and though there are a lot of vegetable sides, it came together pretty quickly. I make my green beans like this, bake the sweet potatoes, then mash them with a little butter and maple syrup, and roast the Brussels sprouts with salt and garlic powder for about 25 minutes.
I made copycat CAVA bowls for dinner one night and it was one of my favorite meals I’ve made recently. The girls both really liked all the components (though they were luke-warm on the falafel) and it made for a fun flavor switch up for dinner. Cedar’s Tatziki is my go-to and it’s such a delicious dip to use on Greek night!
Like I mentioned, my girls love pasta. I must make Pinch of Yum’s Red Pepper Cashew Pasta at least twice a month. The whole family loves it. I also mixed in some purple cauliflower florets this time to keep Kaitlyn on her toes. She approved!
New Kid Food Products
I’m a sucker for samples and recently they were handing out samples of these onion ring wannabes made from pureed beans and veggies. Hailey and I thought they were pretty neat, so I snagged a bag. I still give them a thumbs up, but Kaitlyn wasn’t wild about them. You win some; you lose some.
I have been loving flax milk lately- I use it for smoothies and I put it in cereal or pancakes for the girls. The KIND kid bars have been a favorite around here lately, too, especially the chocolate chip flavor. I also snagged some pancake puffs from Good Food Made Simple just for fun and wow, they are SO good- light and fluffy and the perfect size for little hands. They have a banana flavor and a plain, and while both are good, we all recommend going with the original.
Healthy Kid Lunches
Lunches at home have been really whatever I have in the fridge and feel like throwing together. We have a lot of snack plates for lunch, which is an easy way to get veggies in for the kids. Their favorite raw vegetable to eat (preferably sipped in ranch, but will eat it plain too) is purple cabbage! I share this just as a reminder to switch things up on them because you never know what they’ll like. I discovered they liked the crunch of purple cabbage quite by accident when I was out of all other veggies one day.
I have to pack lunches for the girls for co-op, which is one day a week. I’m still working on improving my lunch box game for two reasons: first, I almost always forget until the last minute and secondly, since I usually grocery shop on Fridays, Thursdays are the day we are down to slim pickins in my house.
And that’s it! A peek into what the kids have been eating recently. I’ve been holding off of soups and stews because it’s still 85 degrees here for the most part, but am looking forward to when the weather cools off a bit and I can pull out my slow cooker and simmer soups on the stove. Does anyone have suggestions for family-friendly soups and stews? I’d love to try a few new ones this fall!
For fun, tell me- what is your child’s FAVORITE meal?
Crystal says
I really enjoy these type of posts. I have a picky eater especially when it comes to veggies. It’s hard not to give up so I appreciate the reminder to keep trying and to think outside of the box (like with purple cabbage).
On another note- is there a way to reduce the ads shown within a post? I had to scroll through 13. Seems excessive and detracts from the enjoyment of reading one of your posts. Just some constructive feedback.
Brittany Dixon says
Hi Crystal! I really appreciate the feedback and I agree- 13 is insane. I’ve been working on the flow of the site since switching to the new design and will be working of reducing ads this week. Thank you for the input!!
Lindsay says
Crystal, I noticed the insane number of ads as well and I honestly use my reader (feedly) to read the blog instead of clicking over to avoid ads BUT when I want to comment I will click over and get overwhelmed with the ads each time.
I do think I am going to add all of the items from this post to our grocery list for next week! I think I’ll enjoy the flax milk, the “onion rings”, and the “pancakes”!!
Brittany Dixon says
Thank you for the feedback yall! I have cut the ads displayed in over half, so I hope that improves the reader experience, which is my primary goal for sure. 🙂
Kelly says
LOVE your blog!! Random question, what type of plates do you use for your kids and are they dishwasher safe?? My ped recently told me of changes by the AAP to avoid putting all plastics in the dishwasher (even the BPA free/“dishwasher safe” ones…ugh) – and hand washing these plastic ones at the end of the day is just not sustainable for this mama lol 😉 thanks so much!!! <3
Brittany Dixon says
FUnny enough, I’ve been on the outlook for new kids plates (mostly because ours are getting quite worn). I’m close to just letting them use our glass ones but aren’t there quite yet. If I find some I love, I’ll report back! 🙂
Elizabeth says
Hi Brittany! I noticed the same exact thing when I first started tracking my macros – I wasn’t eating enough calories. And I was not even close to hitting the recommended amount of protein. It was very eye opening, but with that said I also don’t think there is a magic number for everyone. Ive been playing with it to see when I feel my best and go from there.
Have a great day!
Rachel @ Rachel, Striving says
I love the lemony lentil soup from Gimme Some Oven!
Kris says
I came across this post right after seeing yours: https://www.positive-nutrition.com/single-post/2018/08/26/How-to-Transition-from-Tracking-Macros-to-Intuitive-Eating?fb_comment_id=1674575379222579_1674687589211358
I guess my question was, you’re under-eating according to who? If you feel good and have energy, why make it more complicated?e
Brittany Dixon says
Good point! Undereating according to the formulas that calculate resting BMR and activity level. I guess I’d only be undereating if I wanted to make physical changes in my body, so I do need to give a little more time to thinking about what my health goals are before I label myself as undereating. Thanks for the food for thought! 🙂
Laura says
I’ve never counted macros, or calories for that matter, but I’m fairly certain I get enough with the amount I eat. I like a protein heavy breakfast (hard boiled eggs, banana or apple with peanut butter) because it gives me the most energy (teaching when tired completely sucks!!). I like a Greek salad with leftover dinner extras for lunch, and then usually a carb/ protein heavy dinner preceded by a mixed green salad and followed by some whole milk, cheese or any dessert I’ve got laying around (lately lots of pumpkin bread!). I’ve noticed I can handle a lot of carbs later in they day, but earlier in the day too many carbs make me feel sleepy and stuffed and sometimes sugar will give me acid reflux.
I know the weather is all over the place here! We got home from Costco (wild Friday night 🙂 and there was a wind chill of 36. Saturday morning was outright chilly, so I started a batch of turkey chili, and by the time it was finished it was 80 outside! We ended up buying a chest freezer at Costco and I am working on making a lot of homemade stews and soups to fill it. I made a 4 gallon bag batch of turkey chili with guajillo chiles (the only thing I cooked was the turkey, so it is ready to thaw and go in the crock pot), a 4 gallon batch of Indian ground lamb with potatoes and peas, tonight I’m making bulk Ethiopian doro wat (spicy chicken stew), and hopefully tomorrow I’ll fill 8 lasagna trays (classic meat/ ricotta filling). And as I was trying to fall asleep last night I was thinking also about Hungarian goulash and stuffed cabbage. I like spicy, ethnic, comfort food for fall and winter!
Brittany Dixon says
We have a deep freezer and I haven’t really used it since we did a cow share. I’d love to spend a day making bulk batches and freeze it. I’m going to have to pencil that in soon- thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Laura says
Oh and my boys favorite meal right now is probably lasagna, but mostly because they love Garfield 🙂 !
Alice Cohen says
Family favourite soups and stews? We wound up with a ton of broccoli from our CSA and made an old school broccoli cheese soup. My husband made it so I don’t have the recipe on hand, but he dialed down the cheese, upped the veg by adding grated sweet potatoes, and left out the milk but added a splash of cream at the end for creaminess. Adult and toddler approved. SO GOOD.
Brittany Dixon says
Oh my goodness, I haven’t had broccoli cheese soup in forever- that sounds delicious!
Mary says
I love the chicken pot pie soup from Two Peas and Their Pod…I imagine you can easily leave out the chicken and use more of the veggies to be more plant-friendly!
MC3 says
I wish you’d post more frequently! I just discovered your blog and totally love it. 🙂 I particularly enjoy the posts about how you work hard to stay optimistic and cheerful even when life isn’t easy…that’s something I’m struggling with at the moment, so it’s nice to have some inspiration.
Brittany Dixon says
Thank you for the kind words and encouragement! I miss having more time to write here, but I love putting my whole heart into it when I do. Thank you for reading!
Jen says
Look up Beaker’s Vegetable Barley soup. It’s on Allrecipes and I’ve been making it for more than ten years, and everyone loves it! My meat eating husband requests it and my…discerning, as you so nicely said…daughter who is Kaitlyn’s age is pretty good about eating it, too. It calls for a little sugar, which I don’t do, and I only put in a pinch of the curry powder so it stays mild.
Brittany Dixon says
Oh I will look this up for sure- thank you! 🙂