What do your kids eat for dinner?

[Alyssa]

What do your kids eat for dinner? Do you make them something special or have them eat what you eat?

We tend to give them what we are eating. Aidan has never been a big eater other than breakfast, Colin can be a major pig at times but also is generally more of an earlier in the day eater. My pedi (who we are seeing tomorrow and I plan to talk about this with) says not to worry so long as they are eating one good meal. But still...it makes me feel bad that they don't eat dinner. Just wondering what you all do. And if you do make them a separate meal, what do you feed them?

[Dennis]

We give Joe what we're having, unless we know it's something he won't like. Then we'll give him something similar that we know he likes.

Dennis

[BeckyB]

I too try to make it a habit to feed (or should I say offer) Macie the same meal we are having. Sometimes if I am making something that maybe too spicy or something that I know she doesnt like I will make her pasta or something that I know she does like. Lunch is her best meal and dinners are rough in the house.

[EricaMG]

. My pedi (who we are seeing tomorrow and I plan to talk about this with) says not to worry so long as they are eating one good meal.
What constitues one good meal? Is it about eating from all of the food groups or getting enough calories/day or both?? :dunno:

[TtownAnne]

Caroline gets whatever we are having, with the exception of pork chops or steak, both of which still seem too tough for her to chew. Whether she actually eats it or not is another story altogether! :)

[Brooke]

Rebekah likes lunch so that's her big meal. She doesn't each much dinner. I sometimes offer what we're eating, depending on what it is.

The ting about one good meal a day is true so I wouldn't worry as long as he's getting a nutritious breakfast.

[Karri]

I try to offer Aidan what we are eating so that he wont be a picky eater. I may modify it, like when we have something like burriots, b/c he doesnt have the hang of eating it like that, so I give it to him, but just not put together. Other times, dinner may be too late, so I feed him ahead of time, in which case I will make him something quick like veggie nuggets or tofu dog & some kind of veggie or some whole wheat pasta mixed with some veggies and olive oil.
Sometimes he decides not to eat what I give him and then I always tell him he has to have at least 3 bites of something on his plate, and then I will give him 'x' (usually a fruit) , b/c I dont want him to go to bed hungry and wake up from hunger.

[olcott]

Trey almost always eats what we are eating. I always make sure though, if its something he doesn't like or can't eat yet (he can eat steak and pork chops, but he doesn't really like them), that I have some sort of pasta dish and a veggie that he likes and will eat. Otherwise, he's not picky at all and will eat everything and anything :lol:

[magoo]

We offer Anna the same food that we are eating unless it's something she can't eat for whatever reason.

My pedi (who we are seeing tomorrow and I plan to talk about this with) says not to worry so long as they are eating one good meal. But still...it makes me feel bad that they don't eat dinner.
I recently read in a parenting magazine that it's completely normal for toddlers to have one 'good' or 'big' meal a day. That meal tends to be either breakfast or lunch, which is kind of too bad since our society puts the main empasis on dinner as the largest meal. Sounds like your guys are right on track. :)

[Lady E]

Jada & Justin also eat whatever we eat unless it is something that they can't (steak, etc) or something that is too spicy. In that case I always keep the little KidsTime meals handy (beefaroni, ravioili, etc) to pop in the microwave. Neither of them of them are big dinner eaters, especially Justin but as long as he eats a good bfast or lunch I don't bother him too much.

[Brandi]

We also try to give Carter whatever we are eating. Sometimes, he just won't eat it though. Last night, all he wanted was veggies - it was a mixture of carrots, peas, green beans, and corn. He just wanted more and more! I wasn't upset about that at all. He's never done that before.

[Jillian]

I'll join the bad mommies club.

We don't even try with dinner. DH and I each fix ourselves a plate and if Janelle actually wants to eat she will come ask for bites of ours...this is a very rare occurance though...usually only if we are eating either salads or soup.

[mama2jackson]

Jackson's big meal of the day is breakfast (LOVES IT!) and then it's all downhill from there. He eats about 1/2 of his lunch and picks at his dinner, which is usually the same thing we are eating.

[bunkie68]

Julian generally eats what I eat. He doesn't eat a whole lot at dinner these days, but I figure he knows where the food is, he'll let me know if he's hungry! :lol: I haven't found much he can't or won't eat - he likes hot salsa, chili, feta cheese, you name it. If he can cram it in his mouth, it's fair game.

[gulp!]

If we eat dinner at a reasonable hour, Emma eats what we're eating, generally. However, we often don't get to eat until 8 or so, which is Emma's bedtime. So often I'll fix her something earlier, usually chicken nuggets and veggies, pasta, or something toddler friendly.

Oddly enough, Emma often prefers the food we're eating, particularly the spicy stuff! One of her favorites is spicy Indian okra- go figure. :rolleyes:

[chefkath]

Brigit rarely eats exactly what we're having for dinner - she's not a very adventurous eater yet. I make her a "toddler plate" every night that has 1 protein, 2 veggies, 1 fruit and 1 starch.

The protein is usually what we're having, but with no seasonings - like a small piece of fish, tofu or tempeh. Or I'll give her a hard boiled egg or a slice of cheese. She likes her veggies raw (with nonfat sour cream for a "dip"), so I just set some of whatever veggies we're having aside before I cook them and she eats those. (Usually it's strips of red pepper, grated carrot, broccoli or spinach.) For fruit I cut her up some banana or grapes, and for a starch she either has a piece of whole wheat toast, brown rice, pasta, or a few crackers.

I can't wait until she's ready to eat what we do - life will be much simpler! :)

[jstauffer]

Sean eats what we eat. Sierra eats some of what we eat. When I cook I try to make one thing I know she'll eat. If I'm serving something I know she just won't eat, I sometimes make her a peanut butter sandwich or a bowl of cereal.

[Connie1222]

Jack eats what we're eating, except if we know it's something he doesn't like. Whether or not he eats it is another story. He has become a terrible eater.

[Cortney]

Morgan eats what we eat for dinner. We're pretty lucky in that aspect.

[Karly]

Tyrus goes in streaks. Somedays he'll eat and eat and eat, and other days he won't eat hardly anything. I've also found that he usually eats all of his breakfast, some lunch, and some dinner.

For the most part, he eats what we have for dinner. The only time I'll do something different is if we're having something spicy or if we are eating later than his normal dinner time (5:30 - 6ish). And then, I'll give him either a hot dog, macarroni & cheese, any pasta, fruit, raw veggies, cheese, Taquitos, chicken nuggets, etc.

[bunybomb]

I'll join the bad mommies club.

At my house, you're lucky if dinner isn't from a box. :blush: Alex eats what we eat if he can wait that long. Most of the time, he snacks until dinner on cheese, crackers, yogurt, peanut butter, etc.

There are times that I make the kids something else so I can feed them and be done with it. Then my DH and I snack or pick at something or eat popcorn.

[cimberdog]

Sam eats better than we do, because he at least gets stuff from different food gruoups :lol:

He wants to eat the minute we walk in the door, at 5 PM. Well we are never even ready with dinner until at least 6 PM. So he eats his own meal, and then is always welcome to have some of ours as well.

Usually we offer a fruit, veggie and a meat. He has found that he doesn't love plain meat, but he likes sauces, so dipping into sauces is becoming popular for him. He loves Veg-All, and fresh berries - strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and also other fruits - apples, bananas. So we keep those around fresh.

Veggies are harder for us to keep fresh, so we try to have some canned and some frozen. The canned has so much sodium though. He loves pretty much anything except peas. We have given his asparagas & beets even!

Meats are more difficult. He doesn't seem to care for anything chicken unless it's really disguised. He LOVES BBQ ribs. Doesn't like hamburger, unless it has sauce. Even that's iffy. So other than hot dogs, which we use sparingly, it's always a challenge.

[MelissaM]

Jacob and Jennifer always eat what we eat...William will always have different. He is pretty fussy about the way things are cooked so if we, for example, have BBQ chicken and roast potato, William will have broiled chicken and mashed potato...or if we have lasagna, I put back some of the noodles for him and he eats those with raw veggies....I don;t mind at all that he eats differently, I enjoy cooking and as long as he is eating healthy that is all I care about :lol:

[AmyJ]

My kids are offered what we eat. Like with everyone they might not like it all. But I don't make them a special meal, then again, they are 5 and 8!! They are also pretty adventurous eaters and always have been...I am MUCH pikier than they are!! :lol:

[Nadine]

Our main meal here is lunch, which we all eat away from home (DH and I at work and the kids in KG/DC). So for dinner I usually give them eggs (hard/soft boiled or omelette), veggies (tomatoes and cucumbers), plain yoghurt, cottage cheese or white cheese, 1-2 slices of bread with cheese/hummus and sometimes also olives, tuna, or the rests of what I cooked for the weekend.
Shoham eats dinner, the question is how. Sometimes she'll eat all, sometimes half and sometimes she'll just spill and mush everything and pick at the whole mess.
Yumi eats dinner nicely but he doesn't like eating bread so much.