Healthy recipes to feed my kids...

ok so in trying to learn to live a healthy life.. I have realized I don't have alot of recipes I am not one to cook I like the easy to make things.. well I have 4 kids and 2 are over weight and 2 are not.. so I am looking for recipes that I can feed them that are healthy but still taste really good cause they are picky..

so if anyone has some they could post or message me or a website to go to i would so appreciate it .. I am also looking for a good chili recipe with chicken that I can have on the soft food stage...

thanks for all your help...

we post a ton of recipes here.. you can look back at earlier posts and find some.  Liz always posts the recipes from the cooking classes.

I know there are a lot of great recipes on bariatriceating.com and on sparkpeople

You could even make the chili earlier and puree it. jus****ch for the spices.

Your kids are going to change right along with you as long as you feed everyone the same food.  My daughter has slimmed down a lot since my surgery because I no longer buy the junk food for her.

I just made this and its delish!
I thought it would be a good way to hide vegetables from kids
Turkey veggie meatloaf

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small zucchini, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed to a paste with coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (90 percent lean)
• 1 cup pan****oarse Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the zucchini, bell peppers, garlic paste and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper and coo****il the vegetables are almost soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the egg and fresh herbs in a large bowl. Add the turkey, panko, grated cheese, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and the cooled vegetables; mix until just combined.

Gently press the mixture into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in a small bowl; brush the mixture over the entire loaf. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Per serving: Calories 270; Fat 14 g (Sat. 4.2 g; Mono. 6.3 g; Poly. 3.1 g); Cholesterol 104 mg; Sodium 451 mg; Carbohydrate 16 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 20 g

Photograph by Con Poulos

Yea, I was gonna suggest the same thing as Lisa.  We have TONS of recipies posted on here that you could make....just keep an eye out or go back and browse the older posts.  I know I posted an apple recipie and Liz posted all the recipies from the cooking class.  You could always adapt the recipies to your needs and/or likes.  If you have questions on a particular one, and want to know how to adapt it, feel free to post it and ask...a bunch of us looooove reworking recipies!

What kinds of things do your kids like - what are their ages? That might help us hone in and give you some specific recipes. Here are some ideas though

Cheeseburgers - eat yours without the bun and make the patties yourself from lean ground meat
chili - make cornbread for them - none for you
Chicken fingers/nuggets - bread them with panko, parmesan cheese and bake instead of fry
chicken/turkey/beef meatballs with gravy - you can serve noodles with the families
BBQ pork ribs in the crock pot -serve theirs on rolls

My husband and I rarely eat a different dinner, the only exceptions being when i want something he doesn't like - IE salmon or trout for me or hotdogs for him. I just make a starch (or don't! after a while they won't miss it! Serve an extra veggie)

I have also found that getting kids involved in helping to make dinner will make them more likely to EAT the dinner that is put out in front of them. Granted my baby cooks with me everyday because I am pregnant with #1 lol but I have many little cousins who wouldn't even try things until they got to help prepare them.

Make dinner fun! And good luck!

I have 4 kids and understand.

Here's some things I do at my house. I don't know the ages of your kids so bear with me.

NO SODA. If I allow it as a "treat" it is diet only. The kids prefer root beer or orange. No drinks at all that have sugar. They drink milk, water, home made tea with splenda, or the crystal light drinks.

Snacks.....I allow Mozarella string cheese, yogurt, pretzels, popcorn, fruit. NO chips, candy or junk food other than the pretzels or popcorn.

Dinners....I usually do make a pasta or potato with my meals. However, I place the food on the plates, and ONLY one helping of the carb is allowed. They are allowed to eat as many helpings of the meat or veggie, but no extra of the the carbs.

NO fast food. My kids will be the first to tell you fast food is a rareity to them. It is always a LAST resort if we are out and about, or rare treats.

I find most of my recipies online and just change anything I can to lowfat or whatever will make the recipe healthier.

I use bariatriceating.com
allrecipies.com
and a $5 dollar meal website that you can google.

Lots of recipies I alter to eliminate excess carbs.

It takes time, adjustment and playing around. But it's worth it. My older kids, 12 and 10 and so much more concious of eating a healthy meal. My 2 year old just eats....LOL. The baby is still on jar foods but will follow the same as the other kids.

Some of my friends can't believe how strict I am with certain foods. But my kids are just used to it. It doesn't bother them. My oldest nags occasionally but he is a pre-teen and nags about alot of things these days, so oh well!

Are all of our meals perfect? Nope, but I can tell you they are ALOT better than the ones I cooked pre op.

Hope this helps.

I think a lot of what helps kids be healthy is your attitude towards what they eat. I learned somewhere when my oldest was really little, that it was my responsibility to serve healthy food, but it was his responsibility to eat it. After all, it's his stomach. I wanted my kids to be in touch with their hunger and fullness feelings (like I never was) so they would know when to stop. If they say they don't want to finish something at dinner, that is their business, and they know that the kitchen is closed after dinner. NO kid is going to starve between dinner and breakfast! Now as a lifelong fat person, I definitely have issues about food. I especially hate to see my kids waste food and throw things away, but I have learned to bite my tongue. Also, if I feel like I can't be rational about my kids' not eating one night, I turn it over to my husband and take myself out of the situation. (He is normal weight, and isn't crazy over any food issues.)

I should add though, that I like to cook, and have always had fairly healthy, standard dinners at my house. And my own binge snacks were kept in a separate area that was not available to the kids.

You've gotten some great advice so far... all I have to add is to look for a couple of cookbooks:

Fix it and forget it LIGHTLY (it's low-fat, lower cal slow cooker recipes - some of which you'll still need to adapt to lower the sugar or carbs, but still a great starting point for ideas)

The Low GI Cookbook (I got this one for xmas and am getting some great ideas from it already - low gi refers to the glycemic index - so basically recipes are balanced carb/protein to avoid blood sugar spikes, which is key to keeping the hunger in check as well as a bunch of other things)

And do your best to get to Liz's cooking classes for even more great ideas!

Karen

thank you all for your good ideas..

my kids are 11,10,9,7 and they are soo picky which is my fault years of bad eating , so its an adjustment for my whole family ....

But I know we can do it together...

the baratrics eating site has some recipes that look so yummy I cant wait ...

I think the key to dealing with this issue with kids is to NOT call it "healthy eating" or anything different at all... it's just a new dish here and there, or even the same old dish they've liked, just made healthier...   Labels can be killers for kids and some adults.  The second something is labeled "low fat" or "fat free" there's an expectation that it won't taste as good as the alternative, when the reality is that it might taste even BETTER.

One example of that is Wegman's reduced fat, reduced sodium bacon.  First time I bought it, the family rebelled and didn't even want to try it.  But it was that or nothing, they tried it, and we all realized it tastes BETTER than regular bacon because you can actually taste the meat instead of just tasting salt.  

Karen