Months back I did a WIAW Kids Edition to show you what my kids eat on a typical day. Going with the theme of my Monday post about kid food personalities, today you’ll see everything my daughter Diana – the oldest and the “paleo by choice” kid – ate this past Sunday.
I would show you what the other two ate as well, except it’s probably within your skill set at this point to pour dry cereal into a bowl and grab a yogurt from the fridge. For those of you hoping to transition your kids to a more real food or paleo way of eating, Diana’s food remains the best example.
For some of my thoughts on paleo for kids, read here!
If you’re breathing a sigh of relief that you don’t have to look at my breakfast hashes and burger salads don’t breathe so fast – I’m going to show you my meals too. Why? No really good reason other than I want to and I have the pictures uploaded and ready to go. I’ll spare you the coffee and kombucha today though, enough is enough.
I am still eating mostly low FODMAP (to address IBS symptoms) the way I was last week and have been pretty consistently, so for those of you looking to reduce FODMAPS my meals might spark some ideas for you. And if you’re just dying to see more fried eggs and running shoes meal ideas and training updates definitely follow me on Instagram!
Now for the food! Thanks Jenn for hosting the party!
A lazy Sunday.
We had a freezing rain/ice storm Sunday and as a result really couldn’t do anything the whole day. I really didn’t want to leave the house anyway so it worked out pretty perfectly.
For breakfast I made Diana her favorite – bacon (this was Applegate organic) fried sweet plantains, and eggs. I’m not sure when this became her favorite but it has been for months. On the weekends I often make all three, on the weekdays it’s usually just 2 of the 3, depending on what we have. If I’m making plantains for myself we usually share. Today she shared with my husband who had the exact same thing. Not a crumb was left on the plate.
For me, it was beef bacon from U.S. Wellness Meats with parsnips, kale and eggs.
Mid morning she had an apple. Apples are a big thing around here, I’m still really sad about them being high FODMAP (and they are a nasty one for me) but at least happy that my kids seem to eat them without problems right now.
For lunch I cooked her 2 Applegate grassfed beef hot dogs (just realized she ate a lot of Applegate products!) plus some fried plantains sprinkled with salt and a few grape tomatoes. I think she might have eaten some of the tomatoes already when I took this. She also eats homemade chicken salad, tuna with homemade mayo, and any leftover meat for lunch along with raw fruits and veggies like carrots, peppers and cucumbers.
For me it was a bison burger (I always freeze a few individual patties for lunch when I buy ground beef or bison), the same fried plantains that she had, kalamata olives and spinach drizzled with olive oil. Olives are back for me in a big way lately!
After lunch, at my daughter Emily’s request we made grain free (that part was me of course) donuts in our new donut pan. We used the recipe for Caramel Glazed Donuts from Against All Grain and added some Enjoy Life chocolate chips to top the glaze. No one waited for them to cool and they were delicious.
For dinner we had burgers with plantain chips. I also baked some sweet potato fries since the chips/fries portion of the meal is always in high demand. That means I ate two burgers on Sunday I guess, didn’t notice until now. One bison, one beef, both awesome.
We also ate plantains all day long in various stages of ripeness! The ones I use for chips are the greenest of the green since they fry up the crispiest.
Dinner is the one meal where the whole family eats the same thing. I love that it’s simple. Paleo is not always simple with all the prep and cooking, and having everyone eat the same thing makes things a lot easier. I often spice up Adam’s and my meat with something and season the kids’ with only sea salt. Or I make a sauce on the side for us (like the mayo we had tonight) and the kids use organic ketchup. Diana can take or leave ketchup. If I’m having avocado she also shares that with me.
Homemade mayo to top mine along with tomatoes and more kalamata olives.
Dessert for Diana (and the others too) was sliced strawberries and bananas. She also had a handful of Enjoy Life chocolate chips that isn’t pictured.
My dessert isn’t pictured but it was a good combo – bananas with coconut butter and cashew butter melted together. I’ll be doing that again every night this week most likely.
For drinks, she is really only into water, although occasionally has organic whole milk too, usually in the morning. My other two drink milk, water, and diluted orange juice.
Enough food pictures for you? Tell me you’re not as exhausted as I am after that. Hopefully this gave you a few ideas to try for your own family 🙂
What are your kids’ favorite foods?
Do you make one dinner for everyone or make “kid” and “grown-up” meals?
What do you think about kids eating paleo?
That seems like a lot of cooking of different things in one day! Its probably a good thing your other 2 are happy with cereal:) Do you make all the plantain chips throughout the day or make them separately each time you are gonna have them? How many plantains did you guys go through on Sunday? Sometimes I feel like for 2 people Rob and I go through way too much food. Part of it is I think he is extra hungry doing whole30 since he isn’t really snacking freely like he is used it. So at dinner it feels like we are eating a lot. I feel kind of crazy buying 8 sweet potatoes and 24 eggs every week but that still barely lasts us until the next weekend!
For all of us I use almost 3 green plantains for chips, it’s quite a project! We probably go through 10 per week but that’s a mix of ripe and green. This morning I made eggs for the whole family and we went through a dozen right there, I guess I should be happy that everyone has a healthy appetite! I shop twice per week and we go through 4-5 dozen eggs and ridiculous amounts of ground meat, veggies and fruit! It’s crazy to put it that way but it’s gone so quickly it barely feels like we had it to begin with.
We have 8 people in our family so I just cook what I cook and they eat it if they don’t want to starve. 😉 Not because I don’t care, but it’s too many people to start catering to. Otherwise I really would not leave the kitchen! Your meals are incredibly inspiring. I’m in awe!
My son has always been a good eater and will try things so ever since he was little, I was able to make one thing for dinner rather than always kids food and grown up food. Now that I am vegetarian, I do make him chicken/steak/meatballs which is separate from what I eat though but I don’t mind. My friend has three girls and her nights involve making three different meals for each of them lol.
I was doing the separate meal thing for a while and went crazy, plus I felt like I was spending way too much $$ to make everyone happy! Buying the same foods in larger amounts winds up working out. The more people you cook for the tougher it gets to make them all happy of course.
I think it’s awesome if you can get the kids to eat more paleo. Promoting whole foods in the diet is something lacking big time. I don’t know about you but the food prep is so much work. I try to buy precut item when I can but even still lots of produce preoping and cooking.
It’s a ton of work, so true. I don’t buy anything pre-cut because it’s pricey enough as it is, but I spend a good portion of my day cutting fruit and veggies and cooking. I’m used to it now and the alternatives aren’t great so it’s worth it!
i love the real food focus, especially at dinner. Kids like real food, we just have to let them explore! you are such a great mama!
Aw, thank you! I agree that kids are much more flexible than we give them credit for often, and there are very tasty ways to prepare real food that almost anyone will like!
Haha, so much plantain love!
I want to cry for you that you don’t do well with apples…..one of my top 3 favorite foods 🙁
This was a particularly plantain crazy day I think! Some days it’s sweet potatoes, others plantains. Diana would happily eat them with every meal though the way other kids might want pasta.
Wow, this all looks so good! Your kids are very lucky! I can’t imagine that it is easy to do school lunches for them. I feel like kids are going to eat how they are going to want to eat, and if they don’t like it, they will tell you. But if they do, and it works for your lifestyle and health, then go for it!
I try to do easier things for school lunches like cut up hotdogs with veggies (they eat them cold without complaining!) or wild planet tuna with mayo plus veggies. It’s a lot of veggie and fruit cutting always though!
Your kids eat so well! I love how you show it can be done as a parent to feed your kids whole foods. Paleo and/or eating whole foods does involve some prep, but you’re an awesome example.
The prep is a lot but for me it’s worth it to know they’re eating good stuff. I’m not opposed to a pizza lunch if they’re off from school but the vast majority of the time it’s whole foods. We also always have lara bars, gluten free cereal, and organic yogurt and cheese around for quicker snack options 🙂
I was super picky when I was younger, so my mom always had to make a separate meal for me or I just wouldn’t eat. Although most times it wasn’t -that- bad… she just had to put a little bit aside of whatever she was making before she started adding spices and herbs and what not. I liked really plain and basic foods when I was younger, so anything overly complicated was a no-no for me. One of my favourite dishes was actually buttered noodles with parmesan cheese 😛
You are a lot like Emily! She is all about smoothies, any baked goods (luckily she’ll eat the healthier ones) cereal and is NOT spice friendly! She would also eat buttered pasta with parmesan for every meal probably! Then again so would my husband 🙂
Great eats! I love that your kids “buy in” to your way of eating for the most part. Makes life easier, for sure. I have one kid who will eat anything, and another who is pickier. My policy is that I make one dinner for us all. If she doesn’t like what we’re having, then she is free to make her own meal, which she does without complaint. I do require that she include veggies, dairy and protein in that meal, and she complies–it’s working for us right now.
With them being so young they really don’t remember when it was any other way, which is funny! I actually had a moment where I realized my son who’s 3 doesn’t even know what a pb & j sandwich is, even though he ate them for a long time and just doesn’t remember! That’s great that your daughter prepares her own healthy meal, I like that approach and hope to do that when my kids are older.
I don’t have kids but I have been wondering for a while now what your kids eat! Loved this post…and it made me hungry.
It has definitely progressed over the past year to where we are now. Glad you enjoyed!
On the weekends, I make one thing (but will keep some plain for kids who don’t like sauce and/or seasonings), but during the week, it’s a free for all. I have 3 kids in school full time and a 9 month old. The 9 month old does eat what I eat, and I have yet to find a food she doesn’t love.
That is a lot to have on your plate! Glad to hear the 9 month old eats everything though, that makes it easier I’m sure 🙂 I always keep spices/sauces out of the kids meals and it’s great to know they’ll eat whatever I make without too many changes.
looks like your kids eat a very healthy and delicious diet, just like their mama! i would not put a lable on it, it just looks plain awesome to me :)))
and omg i want to make your mayo like right now. i’m sooooo excited that we are back to eating more protein and the mister said he’d consider eating meat if it’s ‘happy’ meat. lol, i’ll take it! i’m really hankering for some protein and fat right now and confessed that i’ve been dreaming of fatty sausage. LOL 😀
Happy meat is good meat! I just had mayo again today, such a great all purpose dip and also low FODMAP which makes me happy.
Right now, it’s just my husband, myself, and our 6 month old, but with my husband, I sometimes feel like I”m feeding a kid. It definitely takes some creativity to get him to eat healthy. I just like to think it will be easier to get the kids to eat healthy since I’ve had so much practice with a picky husband! 🙂
Yup, that’s us too! My husband is really picky and likes “kid food” but has gotten slightly better as I’ve learned to cook for pickier palates 🙂
I love the simplicity of your meals. Healthy doesn’t have to be hard work! I love keeping it simple too.
Very true! It doesn’t have to be difficult or fancy 🙂
I was super picky growing up. Karma really is a bitch because my daughter is the exact same way even though she would eat anything till age 2.5. Then independence kicked in. The girl could live on fruit alone. Not the worst thing in the world but I would love for her to be a little more adventurous like my son. She’ll come around one day. I did. It just took me till I was in my 20s!
Ha! My Emily could totally live on fruit and pasta and never look back. I do believe if kids are raised on whole foods it will all eventually “click” and they’ll gravitate toward the good stuff!
Honestly I think this is great and Betty would probably be pleased as punch if I served her all the things above. Especially those donuts. Those look freaking delicious! (I need a donut pan!)
The donuts were really fun for the kids to make, we usually do muffins so it was a nice change! I’m going to have to think up a chocolate recipe now.
I have that beef bacon in my freezer right now and I have yet to try it because it’s frozen in this 2 pound HUNK and I am intimidated about thawing all of that – ha ha ha ha! But I know I can re-freeze it….. COMMON GIGI – just eat that delicious hunk of fatty meat 😉
Haha! Mine came in a one pound hunk and after it’s defrosted it’s gone within 2 or 3 days!
This is so interesting- I’m really impressed that at her age, Diana has already started making her own choices and it is completely paleo- without any force or encouragement! I seriously wish we had half the products you guys have haha!
I feel lucky that I have a local grocery with great stuff and low prices, lots of international produce too. She’s never been a bread/pasta lover so it’s not surprising she loves this way of eating! You would never guess by looking at her that she eats man-portions of beef. Then again you might not guess that I do, either 🙂
I’ve been having a really hard time posting comments on your blog this week! There is a pop up that seems to keep getting in the way no matter WHAT i do! It is for yoga—Maybe its trying to tell me something?? LOL!! WHen I use a real PC i’m okay but my laptop and my phone seem to just say NO to commenting!
I tried to write this last night: Good job on taking pictures of not only one but TWO people’s meals for a day! It is really hard to remember to do that! Everything that you make always looks and sounds SO good and I pretty much want to come and eat at your house every day!!
Lol and sorry about the pop up!! My kids actually try to take pictures of their own food with their iPads! I’ve created blogging and social media monsters!