I don’t pretend to have it all together when it comes to my feeding my kids (see this post and this post) and it remains a challenge between the groceries, figuring out what to make for each meal, and dealing with the complaining/refusing to eat. But I’m getting better. I’m learning how to give them healthy (ish) options and let them take it from there. So let’s start this ride. Typical Sunday, every bite that went in. Disclaimer: the pictures will not be appetizing. This is for informational and educational purposes only!
Meal 1: Breakfast 8am
After Amy posted her grain free pancakes last week I promised my kids (and hubs) that I’d make them on Sunday. Lucky for all of us Amy’s recipe turned out great – relatively easy (yes I quadrupled it so that took some math skills) and delicious. I did burn them a little but it was an overall success. Two of them ate sliced bananas with them, my older daughter added bacon, and I drizzled a little pure maple syrup on top of everyone’s.
Basically all of that was eaten, plus the little guy with the Elsa plate had another pancake or 2 after that. They loved them, the kitchen was a mess but I was satisfied.
Snack 1: 10am
My kids seem to want snacks all the time, regardless of how much they eat in the previous meal. They are fine with fruit and sometimes cut up veggies, which means we buy a lot of produce each week. The red grapes and blueberries were for my daughters and my son wanted applesauce (he’s obsessed.) Everything was eaten, that’s the name of the game with snacks.
Around 10:30 we took them to the pool. I forgot to take a picture of my son’s “juice cup” which is a sippy cup that he wants to drink from almost constantly. I fill it to the top with water and add a splash of orange juice to make it “juice.” Weening him off the splash might have to be my next project. Isn’t parenting a blast?
Meal 2: Lunch 12:30pm
Coming back from the pool everyone was hungry. I always ask what they want and then as long as it’s reasonable go with that. The two girls wanted hot dogs, my son said PB & J. PB & J is not even a little bit paleo but lunch generally isn’t for them. The girls each had a grass-fed hot dog with sliced cucumbers and peppers. All was eaten. My son had grapes and a few bites of his sandwich. Lunch is not really his thing.
Snack 2: 3pm
My husband promised the kids frozen yogurt that afternoon to celebrate my daughter passing her deep water test at camp. He likes to “celebrate” a lot of things with frozen yogurt. He’s sneaky that way.
They all got dark chocolate chips on top – good choice I think!
Meal 3: Dinner 6pm
For dinner I made sirloin steak with caramelized onions and carrot fries. The kids got the steak, carrot fries, and some raw veggies since they like raw veggies much better than cooked. The little one is not having the veggies really, although he does try and spit them out. Don’t worry, no picture of that.
Of course there is ketchup on all of their plates. If my son can dip his meat in ketchup he winds up eating twice or more of what he would otherwise. I get the organic kind but I still don’t love them dipping everything in it. Baby steps? They all ate most of what you see on the plates, except my son didn’t eat the carrot fries. He tried and spit, oh well. He also insisted on calling his steak “turkey” and asked for more turkey two or three times. “It’s turkey!!!”
My daughters drink water throughout the day and they’re totally fine with that. I already told you about my son’s juice cup, but seriously, the kid’s addicted to that cup. I need to intervene, I know.
Snack 3: 7:30 pm
Since everyone mostly ate dinner they were all eligible for a bedtime snack. The whole bedtime snack thing is an obsession for my middle daughter. It’s not like she gets anything really special, it’s just fruit, but she holds onto it like do or die. So here they are, the sacred bedtime snacks: strawberries, grapes and blueberries.
But of course, they were still hungry (the younger two) so here is round 2. A yogurt for my son and yellow peppers for my daughter.
I think they went to bed about 8:15 or 8:30 that night, which is typical. I’m exhausted just looking at all these pictures and thinking about how much food prep I do for my kids in one day! Sometimes I wonder if there’s any way to feed my kids healthy without a lot of work but there really isn’t – most of what they had was really basic and yet because there are three of them it adds up to a lot of time in the kitchen for me. And that’s with the frozen yogurt! Other snacks they sometimes have include cheese sticks, more yogurt (I try to do organic full fat), baby carrots, gluten free cereal with whole milk, and lots and lots of fruit!
What are some healthy snacks and lunches that your kids love? How much do you involve them in decision making when it comes to their daily meals? I tend to give a choice for breakfast and lunch only nowadays.
I love seeing what kids eat, and I think that you do an exceptional job of giving them healthful and good choices. My bro and I were not so good at that that–it was chewy chips ahoy and goldfish (they’re baked, and therefore healthy, right?).. And i too was a snack all the time-r. You do the best that you can! But seriously, great job, I think you are doing a far better job than you think!
Thanks! I remember chewy chips ahoy- I thought they were amazing as a kid but not so much as a grown up!
Your kids eat relatively healthy! My brother and sister love melting cheese in the microwave and eating it straightup. I can’t blame them–I do the same!
Thanks 🙂 I had to laugh at the microwave cheese thing. I’ve seen my husband do it!
This is great insight – they eat such great food and it’s all so balanced! I’m taking notes, lol. My diet growing up was all over the place but most of my food was prepared by my Chinese great-grandmother up until age 12. She cooked very traditional foods and loved to stuff us silly with all sorts of treats. Of course, that’s a love language for many 🙂
Grandparents and treats definitely go together 🙂 They eat much better now than they did a year ago so I’m pretty happy with where we’re at. Once school starts though it will be a hassle trying to figure out packable options they’ll eat.
Wow this was really fun to read! You do an amazing job getting your kids to eat well. I mean thinking about how most kids eat, this is a million times better. It is great that they will eat fruits and veggies for snacks. I’m sure its a lot of work but you are doing a great job!!
I completely agree with Lisa! I didn’t think I’d actually enjoy reading this post as much as I did but I loved it. I’m super impressed and I think this epitomizes a balanced approach. I honestly have no idea how I am going to handle this with my kids… but thankfully I don’t need to think about that for awhile
Thanks 🙂 I am definitely not one to say I have it all figured out with feeding kids. But I try my best! I’ve really stopped buying the processed snacks they would eat (goldfish, pirate’s booty, etc) because without it they really do eat fruits and veggies for snacks. Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks! It’s a major improvement from where we were at last year or even 6 months ago, but things are getting better and they’re more flexible than I gave them credit for. Glad you enjoyed reading it!
Hey it’s fun to see more pics of your kids!
Yeah I would be way self conscious if I did this…but everyone who reads is human too, so dats goot.
Awesome bed time snack! Josh and I keep saying we should make it so dessert to us is some type of fruit haha…we’re working on that mind set still.
We all do the fruit as dessert thing now and it works, especially in the summer with so much great fruit to choose from. Glad you enjoyed the pics 🙂
Actually a lot of this looks much like my daughter’s food throughout the day. I have more of a challenge getting her to eat vegetables lately, but she is insane about all fruit and pretty good with meats right now too so I never have issues there. For snacks I usually give her fruit or cottage cheese. For desserts if we aren’t getting fro yo, I make frozen greek yogurt pops with almond butter or cocoa powder at home.
That’s a cool idea for frozen pops! Sounds like your daughter is a great eater! I have to actually limit fruit sometimes because the middle one would eat nothing but fruit all day. I wish they would eat cottage cheese but that one has never gone over well!
Love it – and you know many of us were waiting for this post! haha … I love what you are doing, and really parenting is such a long series of compromises, and as long as you are guiding them towards healthy foundations and informed choices, that is the best thing for them.
My kids are far from perfect, but what was ‘healthy’ 16-17 years ago aside from the normal fruits & veggies is different than what we know now! But by having them eating salads, fruits and veggies every day and every meal, they are now go-to things for them.
One question – why the issue with organic ketchup? Not only does it taste MUCH better than the normal sugar-laden stuff, it is much better balanced and really pretty good for you (not as good just eating a tomato, but still).
Thanks again for doing this post … you are an awesome mom, totally imperfect parent like all of us, doing your best!
Oh – and you never answered my question before about how your husband was doing with the new meal regime … but I think the (sneaky) FroYo ‘celebration’ is a hint 🙂
Thanks! And actually my husband is doing just as well as the kids with the new “rules.” He did say recently that he figured out that if he eats greens WITH meat the greens taste better. Like he had been separating his food all along? I’m not sure.
The issue with the ketchup isn’t really the ketchup itself, but the number of times “refills” are requested while eating. Plus my son doesn’t get the idea that it’s a condiment of course and asks to eat it as a snack. But that’s why I get the organic kind at least 🙂
I try to maintain a healthy balance for my son between paleo foods and some clean, non paleo foods. He gets some organic grains and dairy but I try my hardest to limit the sugar intake. It’s hard enough with just one so I can’t even imagine how hard and how much time consuming it is with three! You are doing an awesome job!
Thanks, and sounds like you’re doing a great job with your son as well! As hard as it is to find a balance for ourselves it’s so much more challenging with our kids since we can’t control what they eat all the time, especially as they get older. People say setting an example at home is really helpful and I’m hoping they’re all right 🙂
I think that looks like a good day!! And actually pretty close to what my kids eat. It’s amazing how much time can be spent doing food prep for little ones, and I only have two! I will admit that I can rely too heavily on a few of Trader Joes’ ready to go snacks: cereal bars (fig is the favorite), crushers (strawberry & carrot) and fruit leathers. They’re kind of cheating, but I feel like they are least high quality snack foods 🙂 Right? Just agree with me, I’ll feel better!
My kids also prefer raw to cooked veggies. But they are quickly becoming addicted to kale chips and roasted broccoli – because really, coconut oil and sea salt makes everything taste better!
So happy to hear that the new meal rules are going well. I often have to remind myself how adaptable my kids are as long as I stay consistent and just stick to the rules. And that also means a little less food prep for you now that there’s just one dinner to cook – yay!!
Love this post! Keep them coming 🙂
I am trying to figure out what to do about snacks once school starts in a couple of weeks. In the past I had done some cereal bars and pirates booty but since they’ve been fine without that recently, I’m thinking of trying to find some other things but we’ll see how that goes!
Roasted broccoli goes over well with my kids too! I’ve been meaning to try kale chips also so thanks for the reminder 🙂
You’re doing such a great job feeding your kids 🙂 A lot of your meals resemble what I try to feed my son. You’re right about it being a lot of work, but I try to remind myself that it’s worth it. When I’m feeling like being supermom, I try to make extra dinner so we can have it at lunch the next day, or make my own frozen vegetable mixes so I can save some time on chopping for our meals. If you do figure out a way to cut out some of the work of feeding our children healthy (and paleo) meals, I’d love to know 😉
I think those are all good ways of cutting down on time! I don’t think there’s any secret to spending less time in the kitchen because no matter when you do it, the veggies and fruits need to get chopped and lunches need to be made and packed. I think it’s all about finding a schedule and a rhythm to it that feels natural. I haven’t totally found it for myself yet but it has gotten better!
I think you do an amazing job at feeding your kids! Honestly I have my stepdaughter every weekend and the constant demanding of food exhausts me and that is only for two days—you have three of those seven days a week. In my opinion: you’re doing it right and kicking ass!!
Kids and their snacks! Yup it’s a lot and my tiny kitchen gets more traffic than any other part of the house by far!
I feel the same way about mine!!