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help

what i want to know is……

Feed

what my kids want everyday is Mac N Cheese, white rice, Ramen Noodles & chicken Nuggets…and cereal.
so i quit buying Mac N cheese and Ramen noodles….but i need rice and chicken nuggets are just so easy.
and we quit buying sugar cereal to help cut back on that cost and SUGAR.

but i don't know what to make them….or have them make themselves.
i need ideas.
i have hit a wall as far as WHAT to make.

if you will…..PLEASE share with me
your top five Healthy-ish snacks/meals your kids love.

i am getting desperate.
and they never stop eating it seems….two growing boys….three picky girls….

and also….only THREE of us will eat vegetables…and two of those are the adults.
so those ideas won't help too much.
we like fruit.
they all like fruit.

maybe i will make this a new section….healthy snack ideas from YOU.
and we will try them out and give our reviews???

HELP ME.

signed,

tired of the grocery store and my kids are always hungry 

 

suzanne - All of your ideas sound really good. My daughter doesn’t like to eat much of anything healthy due to her dad allowing her to eat whatever she wants. I like the chicken recipe and the grilled cheese on wheat bread. Thanks so much.

April - My boys are both so young – 2 and 4 – that I will probably give them much of what I had for summer meals growing up! If you plant a garden, we basically lived off that in the summer with veggies going in stir fry or my mom used to bread zucchini, squash, eggplant and fry it up for us to dip in ranch. So good and you could bake instead of frying the veggies.. Neither of my boys like veggies either, but in think will at least try them if they are “dressed up.” Cold cuts, fresh fruit, granola bars (homemade) were always available for snacking too. I have recently been finding good recipes for different popcicles that are basically a fruit and dairy but you could also sneak in some greens if you puree them. The sweetness will overpower the other tastes! My boys eat almost anything off a stick 🙂

Kellie McGarry - I just remembered something else. do you have a high powered food processor?
this is so simple. just freeze a couple of bananas (cut them up first). once frozen , let sit out for a few minutes… then blend up the bananas and it turns creamy like ice cream. you can even add a tablespoon or two of cacao (cocoa) powder. Banana “ice cream”!

Kellie McGarry - Green smoothies are awesome for the summer and they get those veggies without complaining!
Just blend about 1 cup organic spinach with 2 cups of your favorite fruit… add a banana for the creamy texture, and use coconut water, or nut milk (way better tasting and healthier than cow’s milk)… blend it all up.. you can add some honey to make it sweeter if you need to)
I also agree with the others on making your own fruit popsicles.
We like home ade hummus, as well as rolled up deli ham (nitrate free) with avocado slices inside.
Quinoa salad is awesome and so good for you (there are many quinoa recipes and lots of cold ones too).
salmon patties are always a hit, as well as tuna patties

h - really? You are so full of great ideas, such knowledge thanks.

the ramen bitch - Fuck this bitch. Your kids will hate you. Dumb cunt.
#Mac&RamenForever

Brandy - Take a flour tortilla shell, put butter on it and sprinkle w cinnamon sugar. Bake for 5 min. Have a bowl of mixed fruit for topping. Delicious!

Torie - My kids like eating what we call PB&J Roll-ups.I take a whole wheat Ortega Tortilla and spread peanut butter and jelly on it and roll it up. You can microwave the tortilla to make it softer if you’d like. They like that with a glass of milk and a cup of fruit yogurt. Simple an easy meal and perfect for a summer day.

Heather - Sweet potatoe soup and grilled cheese is a favorite with my girls. They also love sweet potatoe fries, chili, ravioli, calzones, chicken apple sausage, fried apples ( we found the recipe in an American girl cookbook we found at a used book store), shepherd’s pie, frittatas with spinach and cheese, ham and chees quiche with or without veggies, whole wheat banana pancakes, lasagna, pasta salad with veggies to stir in, zucchini bread, and homemade muffins!
After breakfast their morning snack is fruit and afternoon snack is usually veggies and something. If they were still hungry after their healthy snacks, I was open to suggestions. Everybody won!

Miss Jennifer - Okay, not sure if this is up to date or not, but I just found this blog via pinterest and wanted to share a few favorites… sweet potato fries (peel, slice, bake), panko breaded chicken nuggets (cubes of raw chicken breasts salted, peppered, smothered in honey mustard, and rolled in panko bread crumbs…baked at 375 for about 25 minutes), taco twists (google Taste of Home’s Taco Twists…makes 12 pockets and leftovers can be frozen), apples and other fruit with dip (1 can marshmallow fluff, one small container of strawberry cool whip), grilled cheese on wheat bread, chicken salad in pita pockets…that’s all I’ve got for now! 🙂

lisa - quesadillas with high fiber tortillas
home made popsicles made w/ fruit and yogurt (take longer to melt, too)
sneak canned pumpkin in to mac and cheese
whole wheat tortellini w/ pesto sauce & veg…broccoli florets hold pesto well and take on the flavor, somewhat disguising…
hummus tortilla roll ups
spaghetti and meatballs w/ veg snuck into sauce and turkey meatballs
turkey meatloaf
turkey burgers w/ shredded carrots & other veg mixed into meat (also keeps really moist)
smoothies
apples and peanut butter and/or honey
sushi (can get veggie or fish versions at my grocery)
cheesy broccoli and rice using brown rice and laughing cow cheese wedges
home made pizza with any veg your kids will stomach (mine likes polka dotted pizza using peas!)
grilled anything…bread, romaine/caeser, meat/fish, veg, fruit (peaches, pineapple), sweet potatoes
mexican!
fruit skewers
anything we grow in the garden…which they help plant/pick…makes them want to try more…

Nicole - My boys love lunch meat & cheese rolled up inside crescent rolls. Just bake at the normal temp & time.
They also eat more veggies if they are mixed into some thing else: corn or peas in mashed potatos, broccoli or cauliflower with melted velveta or mixed in stuffing, asparagus cut into bite sized pieces in a chicken cassarole or pasta.
Pizza is great, especially when they get to help make it. I use refrigerated biscuit dough (flatten each one for a bunch of mini pizzas), top with chunky veggie spaghetti sauce and cheese, bake as directed on biscuit can.
Also love caramel corn rice cakes with peanut butter & sliced bananas on top. Yummy!

Kami - Whole wheat pita “pizza’s”, greek yogurt with homemade granola, hummus with fresh veggies (cut to look like something cute!), “smoothies” just fruit and yogurt, trail mix (nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and a little bit of dark chocolate.

Shanny - We have very hot summers so I pour yogurt in the popsicle containers and freeze them. They love that for breakfast!

melissa - My kiddo loves roasted edamame. See recipe below.. but I love the following site for great/healthy ideas: http://www.weelicious.com and superhealthykids.com
Roasted Edamame with Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
Makes roughly 2 cups
16 ounces frozen shelled edamame
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
(or 1-2 teaspoons alternate seasoning)
If you have time, thaw the edamame for an hour or so before baking in a strainer over a bowl (to catch the melting liquid). This will reduce the roasting time.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Pour the edamame in a strainer and run under warm water for a few seconds to melt any ice crystals. Spread the edamame on a clean dish towel and pat gently with another dish towel to dry them as much as possible.
In a mixing bowl, toss the edamame with the olive oil, salt, and pepper (or other seasonings). Taste one of the edamame and add more seasonings if desired.
Spread the edamame in a single layer on a sheet pan and roast for 30-40 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes and watch for the edamame to begin puffing and turning golden-brown. Their color will also darken, the exterior will be dry, and you’ll hear them “singing” as steam escapes from inside the bean.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the roasted edamame to a serving bowl. They are best if eaten within a few hours of roasting.

red bottom shoes - Those are super cute. I like you on Facebook.

kristen - I feel your pain…can you post some of the top ideas from readers?! pretty please. that would be great because my eyes will start crossing & twitching if i try to read so many comments. : )

marla rae - My kids are grown and now I am starting with a grandson but I always found that they liked anything cut into little pieces that they could eat with a tooth pick. …and what we used to call a “mixed up treat” that was served in something other than a plain old cup or bowl…like a gorp or trail mix…but then serve it in an ice cream cone! But really, Meg, don’t stress over it! So what if they eat cereal 3 times a day? It’s ok, really they will be awesome people no matter what they ate for lunch the summer of 2011. Pretzles and ranch a yummy too.. oh and a pickle wrapped up in a piece of ham or turkey spread with cream cheese…

Carol S. - I’m the worst at this. They keep growing, so I take that as a good sign they are getting the basics that they need. I try not to take any one part of my parenting shortfalls too seriously, because I’m so amazing all around (lol). Meals 3-4 nights a week together is my main goal. I have frozen mini pizzas, cereal, bagels, granola bars, pretzels, chips/salsa. I work part time and I’m not positive what my 17 and 12 yr old are having for lunch while I’m away.

Sheryl - We have an easy snack and its fun for the kids to make. Butter a piece of bread lightly, place a ring slice of pineapple, then a slice of Provolone cheese on top of pineapple, then a small amount of coconut on top. Place in toaster oven (being careful that the coconut isn’t too close to the broiler :)) until cheese is melty. It’s yummy and not too junky – you can even do without the butter and use healthy bread for an even healthier version. We call these volcanoes.

Julieunruly1 - Deli meat (turkey is our fave) slathered with a bit of honey mustard and wrapped around a pretzel stick, fruit mixed with cool whip, Graham crackers topped with peanut butter and or nutella and banana, cheese cubes and little smokies on a stick, tuna or chicken or egg salad on crackers/pitas/croissants etc., smoothies. That’s all I’ve got for now. Great post…. Lots of great ideas!!!

Summer - My almost 12 year old daughter does NOT like standard kid fare. She’s refused to order off kids menus since she was 6 unless they have grilled chicken, non-breaded fish or shrimp, or pasta alfredo. Gets expensive but she gets at least 3 meals out of it!
Her favorite things so far this summer are:
Cold cuts on low carb wraps with spinach leaves, side of hummus & cucumber slices.
Baked salmon (from frozen) & baby carrots (raw or cooked, depending)
Cobb salad
Scrambled eggs with a wide variety of add-ins (exmaples: bacon, sausage, ham, spinach, mushrooms, carmelized onions, cheese, taco meat, topped with chili, basically anything leftover)
Pizza on pitas, made with a lot of the above listed ingredients
I don’t know where she came from, she likes to cook more than I do, and her tastebuds are way more refined than mine!

Melissa - We have started grililng flatbread pizzas. We have a ton of toppings to choose from then the kids make there own (mine are 2 and 3, and they eat about 5 things, one of which is pizza.) Since the flatbreads are already cooked you are just heating up the toppings and melting the cheese. The grill makes the pizza’s crispy and yummy. I guess you could also make these in the oven, but it makes us feel more summery doing them on the grill.

Sonya - I made pancakes with grated zuchini. If you want to hide the “green” then you just peel the skin off. Make the usual pancake batter and mix it in. I usually use apple sauce as well instead of oil to make my batter. So flour, milk, egg, zuchini, applesauce. You can do the same when making cupcakes as well.
When I want my fix for ramen noodles, I usually get a higher quality kind from an asian grocer if you have one hear you. then i just add a ton of veggies and a fried egg on top for more substance.
I hear people who dont like veggies like to kale chips a lot if you can find it. Good luck!

melanie - love all the suggestions.
we seem to eat lot of bananas and apples.
and i think that if i give my kids toothpicks as utensils, they will eat anything! anyone else noticed that?

Kelli - Well my boys are only 4 yrs. and 18 mos. but my 4 yr. old has gotten really picky. He won’t eat veggies either – not raw anyway. He likes an apple peeled, cored, and slices sprinkled with cinnamon. He also will eat an apple dipped in yogurt or peanut butter. This is his “healthy” snack. My 18 mos. old would eat berries (especially strawberries) ALL the time if I let him so that’s what he eats for snack. And we also like graham crackers with peanut butter. Or pretzels and peanut butter. Sorta healthy. Hope that gives you some ideas. 🙂

amanda - have youo tried the cc cookie recipe w/ the chick peas? they are soooo good and I SWEAR you/your kids will never know or taste them! the recipe is from the Decepitely Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld! Try, they wont disappoint! 🙂

Jamie - how about a buffalo chicken wrap, the kids at my work loved them and they were elemetery kids
Here’s what you need:
-chicken nuggets(cut the nuggets up and put them in a freezer bag and pour some hot sauce to desire)
-tortillas (any size)
-lettuce or salad mix
-ranch
-cheese
Wrap it all up and they are so good! You will have to try them too.
I have also made up sandwiches ahead of time and cut up oranges and bagged them up for the week, and you can buy the bag prepackaged chips to going with them and we also bags up some cookies too. My girls even helped me. Didn’t take long at all. Have a great summer!

amy - My kids love piggies in a blanket {hot dogs cut in half and then wrapped with a crescent roll and baked according to the package. I buy the hot dogs with no nitrates or the angus ones….is there any such thing as a “healthy” hot dog? 😉
Recently at my daughter’s birthday party the kids made their own trail mix. I put out spanish peanuts, marcona almonds, dried pineapple, craisins, yogurt raisins, mini marshmallows, pretzel fishies, banana chips, and coconut m&m’s. They loved it and they can pick and choose to come up with their own concoction.
Sloppy joe’s. Build-your-own taco bar. Bean and cheese burritos. Grilled cheese dippers {cut off the crust and then cut into thin strips} my kids dip in ketchup or serve with tomato soup. Lettuce wraps http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/five-ingredient-recipes/teriyaki-turkey-lettuce-wraps. Peanut butter and banana smoothie: http://flipflopfollies.com/?p=2455.
Good Luck!

Cindy B - Make homemade mac and cheese. the recipe is in the Velveta package.
Hummus with celery, carrots
Ranch with any raw veggies (I like the Jalpeno ranch too!)
Chicken wings on the grill (I use 2 spice packets b-que and Spicy chiptole) YUM
Crepes with Raspberry sauce (SO EASY!!)
BLT’s with Avocado usually they take off the Tomato so they are BL’s
And my newest that my 12 year old ate Yummy Strawberry and Spinach salad. (it’s ready made I subbed fresh strawberries for their dried ones. I am going to figure out how to make it!

stephanie d - fruits with dips (yogurt, pudding, nutella, pb, pb&honey)
greek yogurt with addins (smashed fruit, honey, nuts, dried fruit)
homemade bagel pizzas
homemade fruit leather
wormy hotdogs are a fun treat (i toss them in ketchup for a more “wormy” color) http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/worms-on-a-bun-715226/
thanks for writing this post…there are a gazillion great ideas on here that will help me throught the summer!

Natalie - I cook larger dinners and make them eat leftovers when I can.
Homemade trailmix (peanuts, cashews, almonds, raisins, cranberries and a few mini choc chips),
homemade waffles (using half whole wheat pastry flour & you can add flax…) w/ mini choc chips sometimes (they never notice there is half the chocolate as the full sized chips),
popcorn (toss some cinnamon sugar on while hot, or butter, or chocolate…)
One ingredient banana ice cream is SOOOO good (from here: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/stay-cool/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-with-just-one-ingredient-093414. It was shocking that only bananas could taste that creamy!!)
Please Do share your findings!! Summer with three boys is going to get expensive!!
To Kerry above: yes, we have from the beginning of June to late Aug off from school!

Tara - yeah…our kids are alike in this way. two of us like veggies, and it’s me and our daughter, who is 4!!!
you’ve got a TON of response from this….looks like you need to do this every week…PLEASE.

Shellie Hanley - My kids are older, so I’ve been through this. They always liked and still do, pasta salad. You can add “whatever” to it. My kids love those mini pepperoni and we always use the, (I think it’s called, 7 seas)italian dressing mix in a packet that you mix water, vinegar and oil with. It’s yummy!! Also, the english muffin pizza’s are a big hit. We all love the rasin, peanut, M&M mix. Grapes, blackberries, watermelon chunks. Tacos, nachos, roll ups with ham, turkey and cheese. Also, keep trying the veggies, they will eventually like them!
LOVE your blog, read it every day and I want to steal Waffle!!

Carrie Holler - Megan, if mac and cheese works, go for it! If you don’t add in the fat (butter, whole milk), it is a healthy snack/meal. OR, make your own, using whole grain pasta and a low fat cheese. Em is THE pickiest child ever, and it drives her nutritionist mamma crazy. I sneak in whole grain any time I can. (I also add pureed cooked carrots, onions and mushrooms to my spaghetti or pizza sauce and she can’t tell the difference!) Just my 2 cents worth!

Robyn B - Ok, I know I’m late with this, and I didn’t read all the posts…hopefully no one already mentioned this.
My quick, go-to meal, usually before the rush to get to weekday night games is….Quesadillas!
They are easy, quick, and can be made so many different ways for all those picky eaters 🙂
I use the large tortillas…sprinkle any type of cheese on half the tortilla, my boys like either sliced chicken or fajita meat, then chees again…spray pan over medium heat, and “grill” both sides, like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. We like picante sauce and sour cream on them.
You can do alot of different options….pizza quesadillas, with cheese and pepperoni…ham and cheese quesadillas…my one son loves onion, mushroom and spinach with cheese…possibilites are endless, and it’s somewhat healthy.

Kara Paslay - FROZEN GRAPES!!! There cheap, fun to eat, and healthy! I love them!

Courtney Breul - I am very lucky, both of mine are not picky eaters. All I can say is thank you all for such great ideas!!! I can’t wait to try some of these.

Becky - I just tried this from once a month mom…spray a flour tortilla with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle well with cinnamon sugar. Turn it over and glob on some jam (I used strawberry freezer jam) just left of center; top with some vanilla yogurt. Roll, starting from the left. Freeze for at least a half hour (you can wrap in plastic wrap if you want to keep them on hand). My five year old loved it; it was a little crazy for my 2 year old 🙂 The original recipe said to use fruit, but I think that might make for some weirdly inconsistent textures. This is a great muffin recipe http://leahs-ideas.blogspot.com/2011/03/not-too-branny-bran-muffins.html Sometimes I sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar, or if I’m the super nice mom, I’ll put a few chocolate chips in each muffin and my girls think they’re having chocolate chip muffins 🙂 I especially like that the batter can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Claire - Corn dog muffins: add sliced hotdog to Jif corn muffin mix, cook as usual. Dip in ketchup!

Kelly - Chicken salad sandwiches are quick and easy. You can get canned chicken, and if you put grapes in it…you can pass it off with the fruit card!

Martina - How about a big patch of pasta salad – enough to last for a few days. It’s a great lunch or dinner side in the summer since it’s served cold. Add a hot dog or hamburger to make it a bigger meal. Or what about salads? Will your picky non-vegetable-eaters eat a salad? I find we eat salads a lot more when I either pre-make it or all of the component are really quick to throw together (pre-cut and washed greens, olives in the fridge ready to go, cherry or grape tomatoes, matchstick carrots, slivered almonds, etc.) Speaking of nuts, they can be a filling, healthy snack. Someone else mentioned hard boiled eggs. I agree – they’re a quick easy, filling snack and you can make a bunch at one time for later.

deb meyers - yogurt and cottage cheese mixed, too. Ups the protein factor without having to go the greek yogurt route.

Julie K - Oh wow. Megan. I hope you compile a list of all of these awesome ideas and link. You could call them “The Whatever Community Summer Survival Cookbook.” These are great!!! Ha! You have developed quiet a network here! Awesome resource. 🙂

Tiffany - No way you cut back on cereal? Honey Nut Cheerios are a crowd favorite. My youngest (12) would DIE!!!!
Pasta with red sauce, white sauce, meat sauce, garlic sauce?
Chicken Salad. Pasta salad. Macaroni salad with tuna, yummm. Waffles. I love the idea of salads (top with buffalo chix tenders) then ranch. mmmm. Veggies and dip? Summer fruit is awesome. Watermelon. Cherries. Strawberries. Rotisserie chickens ($6) EASY! Cheese and crackers. Luncheon meat (my kids won’t eat it though). BLTs. Nutella sammiches. Bagels and cream cheese. I also agree that homemade quesadillas are a great idea and easy. What about crockpot stuff, BBQ pulled pork or chicken. I think that’s my whole fridge, if I come up with something else, I know where to find you.

Anna - for breakfast (on the go_ in the summer I make huge batches of whole wheat pancakes over the weekend and then freeze in batches of 2. They can be taken out and popped in the microwave for 40 seconds or so.. .then made into sandwiches with bananas, peanut (or soy) butter, jelly, bacon… anything.
lots of fresh fruit in the fridge. washed and ready to go. same with veggies like celery and carrots. my kids love “ants on a log” made with cream cheese instead of peanut butter.
wraps. lots of wraps. we use whole wheat ones. throw anything in there and it’s a quick and light meal. lettuce, turkey and hummus. cucumbers and some dill. anything goes in the summer.
we eat lots of cold things in the summer for dinner. not traditional mayo based salads, but things like shredded chicken tossed with roasted red peppers and orzo. corn salad with bacon eggs and tomatoes. these things make great leftover lunches (or wraps even)and are quick to throw together (especially if you utilize the ever so budget friendly rotisserie chickens from the grocery).

Jill - Snacks: smoothies, watermelon, strawberries, cinnamon monkey bread (made with refrigerated biscuit dough; not healthy), fiber one bars. I think you said 5 so there are 5 that regularly make the rounds here. As far as a meal….lunch or dinner? I will assume lunch since I HATE making lunches in the summer. First, my kids rotate making lunch for everyone (sometimes I have to help). They are 15, 13 and 11. 5 lunches: fried rice with whatever leftover meat and vegetables we have in the house, turkey dogs, quesadillas with whatever meat we have leftover, chicken and cucumber wraps with a dill sauce you can make in 5 minutes and today we’re having potstickers (we wrapped them last night; my two youngest LOVE doing these).

Erika - A favorite around our house is English muffin pizza and it is super easy. Just cut open an English muffin, and load with toppings. I keep a jar of pizza sauce in the fridge and we always have cheese. Put then in the oven at 350 for 6-8 min. and enjoy. Super easy to make and quick.

Patricia - WOW!!! You got some really great suggestions here!! I didn’t read through them all. But I will and put this in my faves!
For easy goes to without prep and independant hands……
cereal bars/granola bars
and pre-made fruit salad for breakfast. Then they can help themselves!!!
Keep things available, fresh and ready. Take the few minutes in the morning and it will pay off during the day!! Promise. Love when I can tell my son it’s in the fridge all set!!
Hope everyone was a big help!

sandy toe - McDonalds!
Sandy Toe

Deb - deviled, pickled eggs? My family loves em. Also, my new fave….ready for this? Kale chips! Line a cookie sheet with foil that has been sprayed. Wash and dry kale leaves{having picked off the stems} spray or drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and parmesian cheese. bake @ 250 for 20 min. Do not overbake. My first attempt at making these, I ate the entire batch myself! You will love them too!

Amy - Maybe a lunch/dinner idea: sloppy joes. You don’t have to buy the can sauce, you can make it with ketchup (or tomato sauce), mustard, brown sugar, etc. The best thing is you can make it with ground turkey (Sam’s in my area has the best price on that) and sneak veggies in (cut up peppers, carrots, zucchini, etc. into the meat mixture). You have to watch the sodium from the ketchup, but you do get the veggies in. 🙂
Also, veggie booty and pirate booty are relatively healthy snack foods, but a little pricey (in my opinion).

Molly - My kids really like mini-quiches. Like these, but I made them in a mini-muffin tins: http://www.breakfastbunchhandmade.com/2008/08/mini-crustless-spinach-quiche.html They are adorable and easy. I freeze them after cooking and then pop them in the oven at 400 for about 10 minutes when I want to reheat. I don’t like the texture of eggs, but these are yummy! You can also use sausage or whatever your kids like.

Kelly Martin - Almost every morning we have fruit smoothies. Add 1/2 c. milk, 1/2-3/4c. frozen fruit, & 1 medium ripe banana to a blender. Blend together until smooth. My boys are 8 & 12. This is easy enough for them to do on their own. These are good for snack during the day as well. Lunchmeat or pbj sandwiches, leftovers from the night before. One of their favorites are meatball sandwiches, you can use leftover hotdog buns. Pancakes & bacon are popular for breakfast & lunch. Hope this helps.

Ali B - Easy snacks:
– panini sandwiches – there are so many options… turkey and cheese for traditional, or go crazy with turkey and cheese and pesto. These dipped in some yummy tomato soup of the roasted red pepper soup from trader joes is heaven! You can also make peanut butter and banana paninis, and throw in a little nutella for an extra treat. With whole wheat bread or real sourdough bread it is healthier.
– hummus with blue corn chips and lots of veggies to dip (sweet red peppers and carrots are my fave)
– slice up a bunch of apples and pears, and put out a fruit and nuts tray with slices of cheese (even string cheese). I like spicy pepperjack cheese with almonds as a snack, but my kids prefer string cheese
– smoothies!!! Keep tons of frozen fruit and plain yogurt around for this. Almond milk is great in smoothies too.
– have the kids bake banana bread or pumpkin bread and freeze some. Same goes for healthy pancakes. Triple the batch and freeze them so that they can be tossed in the toaster oven and eaten when hungry. To boost the nutritional value, spread with peanut butter (real peanut butter!!!) and maple syrup. Oh heaven!!!
-english muffin pizzas – toast the muffins and spread marinara and cheese and bake until ready. 🙂
Or, you can also make whole wheat pita bread pizzas the same way, but they have a thinner and crispier crust and are BIGGER for hungry boys. These can be done on the grill too and is great for a crowd of kids. Just set up the “build your own pizza” bar and have them build and then place them on the grill or in the oven til toasty. A great use of leftover chicken!
– we do mexican night at least one night a week. The easiest version is me putting chicken in the crock pot (even frozen) and dumping a couple of jars of my favorite salsa over it. Cook on low all day and in the afternoon take two forks and shred the chicken. You can use this in tacos, or nachos or burritos and it is great for lunches the next day too – tacos, nachos, burritos, quesadillas, etc. My kids lOVE it.
I cannot wait to see all the other ideas. 🙂
– Oh, and for your rainbow love – put a bunch of fruit out that has been sliced up and let the kids build rainbow kabobs. Yum.
– you can take watermelon wedges and stick a popsicle stick in it and then freeze it and it makes a yummy treat.
-French toast with cinnamon swirl bread is good too. At least there is some protein in the eggs, which helps from getting hungry too soon.

Katy - I make a plate full of cheese, crackers, pepperoni, strawberries, grapes, carrots, and whatever else is quick and easy!

jennmarie - Home made lunchables. Any and all lunch meat any kind of cheese you like different kinds crackers, pita, english muffins. All kinds of dips and dressings. As your kids find their favorite kinds youbcan let that be what you put out. I will let them use cookie cutters to make it more fun.
English muffin pizzas add what ever you like I make my own sauce and hide veggies in it.
I make tons of quick breads …. banana, zucchini, carrot, chocolate chip bread. It does go fast but it is easy enough to make.
New obsession is blueberry biscuits. We are going to try new flavors soon.
Always have cut up apples with dips: honey, peanut butter, nutela. And nuts all kinds shelled peanuts slow everyone down. And pretzles with dips honey mustard and sweet dips always a hit.
Good luck I didn’t list stuff I saw others post.

Renee - I have a very picky 2 year old but she loves spaghetti. I puree sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, broccoli, garlic, and green bell pepper. Mix it all in a bowl and then slowly add to the spaghetti sauce. You can’t even taste the addition!! Even my non-veggie eatin husband will eat it. O

Karyn - We love smoothies – and I do smuggle spinach in there with berries (just need to make sure there’s enough berries to hide the green). We sometimes freeze the leftover as popsicles. For lunch/dinner (an idea I got from my parents) try burrito bowls. We use leftover rice, black beans, corn, cheese, chicken/beef/sausage (or no meat), tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, guac, etc. We just keep all the ingredients chopped in containers in the fridge and everyone layers whatever they want in their bowl before heating it up. DELISH!

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - Hi! One of the blogs I love to follow is Moneywise Moms. She posts her meal plan each week, and there are always some fun ideas!
Here was her last one:
http://www.moneywisemoms.com/2011/06/meal-plan-monday-quick-cooking.html
We did they Tilapia packets and they rocked!

happygirl - Blueberries, black olives, green smoothies, nuts, pb&j

Kathryn - ok, i haven’t read through all the comments yet, so sorry if this is a repeat. one of my kids’ favorite lunches is “peanut butter-dillas”. spread peanut butter on a tortilla and then jelly on top of that. then i set out bowls of mini pretzels, apple chunks, craisins, blueberries, or whatever else i have on hand and they make their own pb-dillas. then we either roll them up, cut them like a pizza, or fold in half like a quesadilla. i usually join in on this lunch. tastes like summer to me. 🙂

Carrie - Do they like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? If you have or can purchase a Pampered Chef press and seal, you can make your own uncrustables.
Prepare a whole loaf at once, place in a ziploc (or plastic wrap) and freeze.
With the crusts that you cut off, just place in the food processor and make your own breadcrumbs.
Peanut butter, banana, and honey rollups are a great snack/lunch.

april - i deconstruct everything….i put out bowls of berries, celery, peanut butter, crackers, cheese, meat, fruit snacks, nuts, dried fruit….si its more like a buffet…
my kids eat like that all day…
and it works during the summer…
sometimes we eat outside to mix it up.
hope that helps/
april

Carrie - My kids LOVED these zucchini fries!!!!!! I couldn’t believe it!
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/zucchini-fries-10000001831902/

Emily - Just did a post on easy homemade mac n’ cheese,
http://notionsonnesting.blogspot.com/2011/06/nestlings-lunch-of-choice.html

April M - lots of great suggestions here! saw some things we already do and some we need to try!
not sure if anyone mentioned edamame already. my kids eat it faster than I can make it
(the way they eat it up reminds me of the way they eat popcorn!)
we buy the frozen kind and quick simmer it on the stove.
we eat it without salt but you can add salt or other flavors.
sometimes we eat it as a snack and sometimes it’s a side dish
happy summer

Kristy - Yougurt, fruit and granola
frozen tortellini
nachos (oven on broil, spread around some chips and top with cheese, cook until cheese is melted – not long)
Sandwich fixings wrapped in a tortilla with ranch
fruit salsa (pampered chef has a great recipe)
breakfast tacos
Homemade McMuffins – english muffin, with slice of melted cheese and a fried egg

Randi - Will they eat low-fat cottage cheese? My kids love that with fresh fruit added in. Vanilla yogurt is also great with fresh fruit.
Hummus and carrots or hummus and pretzels.
My twins love PB&J but I try to mix it with fresh fruit on the side to balance it out. 🙂
Peanut butter and banana smoothies are a favorite for my kids: I blend 2 cups of low-fat milk with a cup of ice, a banana, about 1/4-1/2 cup of PB, and a squirt of honey. They’ll eat it for a meal.

Rach - We do frozen fruit blended with yogurt & milk and then put them in fun shaped frozen popsicle holders. Perfect for an outside snack on a hot day. Another winner is frozen grapes. Yumm.

missb - I feel your pain, it is not always easy to please everyone.
I’ve got a lunch blog.
Hope it will give you ideas.
There is also a snack ideas page.
http://ideesalunch.blogspot.com/
Keep up the good work!
Hope you’ll tell us what you tried from all the comments, and what works for your family.

Talysa - We do bagels a lot around here. Sometimes with cream cheese, sometimes with peanut butter..and other times with Nutella.
My kids love eggs and toast.
Hummus and pita bread or pretzel crisps
I get a lot of Boars Head (no preservatives) meat in local Publix deli and wheat tortilla shells and we make “wraps”.
One thing my kids really love is Pierogies. They are a polish food that you can find in the freezer section. They are like ravioli but filled with potato and onion..or potato and cheese. Just boil them and add a little butter to tops.

Erika - SNACKS:
Homemade granola is a hit. – http://thesapps.blogspot.com/2011/03/granola.html
homemade granola bars (also a hit)- http://cherishedmystery.blogspot.com/2011/04/delightful-surprise-and-faithful.html
LUNCH:
quesadillas. (which are really just regular lunch stuff grilled in tortillas)
bean salad or pasta salad. You can make a batch and have a quick lunch for a few days. –
http://thesapps.blogspot.com/2009/05/when-you-have-plethora-of-cilantro.html
lentil tacos – cook a bag of lentils (about 20 minutes) and season it with taco seasoning. Use like you would taco meat…stuff in tortillas, etc. Sounds wierd, but it is DELISH.

Marla - peanut butter with bananas is awesome, but it’s even better if you spread the peanut butter over the whole banana then wrap it up in tin foil and freeze it

Kim - My kids and I enjoy snacking on;
frozen grapes
pickles(they count as a veggie)wrap a slice of turkey around for some added protein
edamame
salsa with baked chips
nuts-in moderation of course
Good luck

asibtroy - oh! And check out Jaime Oliver’s new stuff from Food Revolution, its healthy but still good for an American palate and usually less than 25 mins to totally put together. My kid is obsessed with some of the old videos on youtube from Jaime and he sometimes requests specific “Jaime Cooks” stuff.

asibtroy - I love your Craft thursdays – maybe you can do a FOOD CRAFT! 🙂
“Picnic” is a huge hit at my house. BIG FANCY PLATE (i use a cut glass or a fancy summer platter I have from PB) with anything fresh sliced up – cherry tomato, cucumber, olives(he hasn’t touched those yet but I keep trying), avocado, blueberries, any berry really, banana, orange etc. The staples which make it a picnic are a hunk of french bread and some kind of cheese – so far I’ve gotten my two year old hooked on brie, new zeland cheddar, sliced munster, sliced havarti, and various goat cheeses. Not to mention the new found love of RED Peppers dipped/wrapped in cheese.
And then we sit UNDER THE TABLE on rainy days and out in the back yard on nice days and enjoy the food!
Pizza, Quesadilla, Taco – all make your own is super fun.
I see a lot of ppl are mentioning popcorn – you can also do a popcorn “bar” and try making different kinds of popcorn. Cajun spices or Mexican that you’d use on chicken or pork are usually really amazing. But you can also do cinnamon and toss with some vanilla extract (pure if you can). Drizzle with dark chocolate and take to the drive in! There are about a million combos!
If you want to get really swank you can have the kids make their own paper cone to put their popcorn creation in.
You can also “FOTAY” – Figure out the Appetizer yourself – and leave out some ingredients and see what they come up with…
Yay! Can’t wait to see what all you try!

Routhie - Implement the no-thank-you-taste. They must take one bite of something new, chew, AND swallow it. After that, they can honestly say they do or don’t like it. We love fruit and cheese platters here. Maybe I’m just a meanie, but when I have gone to a lot of trouble preparing them snacks (even just apple slices with dabs of peanut butter on them), I sit there and make everyone slow down and talk over the snack. It’s a good way for mine to catch their breath and stop the mindless eating. We also love cereal without milk!

Rebecca - -english muffin pizzas: toasted english muffins, canned pizza sauce, shredded cheese, kids choose toppings
-apples with peanut butter
-tacos (I haven’t met a kid who won’t go for tacos, and they are easy and relatively cheap)
-cheese roll ups are my secret weapon: for each kid, cut one piece of string cheese into four pieces and cut one piece of bologna into quarters; wrap each cheese stick in a piece of meat and close with a toothpick. I serve these with a handful of pretzels and they are happy (and satisfied!! I swear, if they eat string cheese and bologna the “regular” way, they want several pieces of each. cute presentation saves me money!)
Good luck!

Jenny Waldrop - I have a 4 year old that flies through the roof if I giver her too much sugar and not enough protein….so we start almost every day with eggs, sausage, and cinnamon raisin ezekial toast : apple and peanut butter for snacks : strawberries and grapes for sides with lunch and dinner : sometimes bananas : hotdogs….EVERY DAY : and pita pizzas (super low sugar and carbs) Yogurt at bedtime. Homemade fruit juice or smoothie popsicles are also a hit (Popsicle mold from the dollar spot!)As you see she won’t eat one vegetable either! The 11 month old is doing a bit better in that department though. Although I feel silly giving you advice because you have five beautiful kids and I only have two! Hope this helps

Elizabeth - 1. Burritos for dinner..they are easy and you can customize them to anyone’s liking…and they can be so healthy!!
2. Always have cut up fruit just sitting out…the kids love to just graze on it!! And you can always throw it into the blender with some yogurt for a smoothie…everyone loves a summer smoothie!
3. Pesto…I make pesto with homemade pasta and homemade french bread at least once a week…my kids love “the green sauce”…and the leftovers are fantastic on toasted bread or with grape tomatoes!!
4. Fried tomatoes with corn on the cob….with rice…never white rice…..always brown rice…this is my children’s favorite summer meal!!
5. Curried tofu with bananas…another favorite dish!!
(We are vegetarian..so we eat a lot of veggies, rice, tofu…etc.!)
Good luck!

Terrie - Holy Mackerel!! Enough ideas here for each day of the summer and then some! Think you hit on a good one girl! Gonna take awhile to look through them…hope to get some good ideas from all these ladies!
do you make sloppy joes? NOT manwich!! I’ve got a good recipe from scratch if you want. I also like to make spaghetti pie. most other things we do have already been mentioned. I’m searching through cookbooks to get out of my staple meals…I get so bored!
My kids always requested GORP for a snack (and still do at times!) – we used:
Peanut Butter Crunch (or Kix if we were going to be in the car and I didn’t want super sticky hands), plain M&M’s, raisins (least favorite part sometimes I leave it out or use craisins) and lightly salted dry roasted peanuts. You could also add teddy grahams, pretzels…whatever sounds good.
Have fun trying all the fun new ideas!

Misty Schluchter - We get creative with quesadillas! Use whole wheat tortillas to make them a little healthier. We fill them with things such as:
peanut butter, honey and banana
marshmellow fluff or cream cheese and berries
any kind of cheese with any kind of meat (chicken, ground beef or turkey, bacon, shrimp, hot dogs, etc), beans, and veggies
and our favorite- filled with mozzarella, marinara, and pepperoni
Hope this helps! My picky eaters enjoy them 🙂

Amber - Whoops…I meant to add banana boats too. Bananas cut long ways, peanut butter on top, then pretzel sticks, raisins, m&ms, mini marshmallows, blueberries…you name it…can go on top of the peanut butter. My 4 year old LOVES making banana boats;). Ok…I’ll leave you alone now…

Amber - There are a TON of ideas on here! Awesome! So…no one may ever read this:), but I’ll add peanut butter pretzels to the list. Protein & snacky. Also…rachael ray’s kettle corn is awesome. Kashi has a new berry cereal out my kids are crazy about & the deceptively delicious cookbooks are a lot of fun. Not super convenient, but easy if you plan ahead. There ya go….have fun!

christi @ burlap and basil - oh – have you tried zucchini muffins? they are incredible and i’ll bet your kids won’t even know zucchini is in them!

christi @ burlap and basil - what a struggle! i wonder if your kids would be more into veggies {carrots, cucumber} if you had a garden? but … here are some favorites in my house with the nieces and nephews.
nature’s valley oat n honey granola bars – they are actually pretty good for you
trail mix – buy the individual items at costco and make your own
mac n cheese … but we use elbow noodles and velveeta so it cuts out the cost of prepackaged. we always add applesauce on top!
grilled cheese on whole wheat
celery and peanut butter
grapes, apples
with cutting out cereals, what about making large batches of homemade pancakes and waffles, freeze them, and let the kids eat them for breakfast/lunch/snack? they heat up in the toaster really well.
yogurt – frozen with a spoon in it is a great smoothie for hot days and just in the fridge for snacks.
good luck!

Christi Hoffman - Breakfast
bacon, eggs, sausage or pancakes,or waffles, or french toast with fruit.
Lunch
sandwich (grilled cheese, turkey, or meatball), or quesadilla, fruit, and chips .
about 4pm I put out a plate of cheese, meat, veggies,crackers, and the best part DIP!
We do eat a lot of popcorn, slushies, pretzels, string cheese and yogart with homemade granolla. We ALWAYS have watermelon cut up and ready. my kids LOVE it.
I find in the summer if I make breakfast and lunch, they do not seem to bug me for food or snacks. I keep them on a schedule, because I love to eat with them. Usally we have friends over and I love to listen to all the conversations. =) It makes me happy when my home is filled with kids!

Short, Sweet Season - 1. Make the King Arthur Whole Wheat no-knead bread with your kids as a “craft” project. 🙂 Then slice it, spread it with almond or peanut butter, and put sliced strawberries on top. Very filling and nutritious.
2. Put two tablespoons of popcorn kernels in a brown paper lunch sack and microwave for 1 minute. Have the littler ones grate some parmesan cheese and then have fun mixing the popcorn with the grated cheese, a little melted butter or olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt.
3. Have whole grain waffle sandwiches with peanut butter (protein!) and sliced bananas.
4. Greek yogurt layered with frozen mango cubes (super cheap from Sam’s or Costco) and topped with Bare Naked granola.
5. Make your own chewy granola bars. They’re really easy and there are good recipes online. Maybe make a kid-pleasing flavor like chocolate cherry, using dried no-sugar-added cherries and DARK chocolate shards?

elma - Oh my word I love this!! We have a hard time to and with seven kids they want to eat ALL the time. Our ten year old makes this: take two tubes of french bread and cut up into 36 or so slices rub a little olive oil on it and put in a 9 x 13 and bake till the bread is allmost done. Then add your fav toppings and cheese and bake till bubbly. She makes this all by herself and we love it. Also you can take biscuits and flatten a bit and put pizza sauce and fav toppings also good is flour tortillas and add pizza sauce and cheese and heat in pan:)
Watermelon cut up small with a bit of whip cream yummy LOVE all these ideas!!

dian oliver - wow! so many suggestions! i’ve thought about it…being from the south, how about biscuits? with butter andjelly. or with sausage gravy??? not too healthy, but every once in a while. how about cheese grits? yummy. grilled cheese…maybe with some deli ham? on wholewheat, of course. fresh peaches and vanilla yogurt. blackberries and yogurt with some crunchy cereal on top. breakfast pizza is good, too. homemade waffles with pecans. or pancakes. and chocolate chips>???? enjoy!

Flower Patch Farmgirl - Are you ready for me to rock your world? Get some sugar cones (they have to be the long-ish, pointy ones for this to really work…) then scoop some Greek yogurt (Yoplait honey vanilla is SO good!) into them, along with raspberries and blueberries. I put some sprinkles on the top, too.
My kids were all over this. And so was I.

Sugar Mama - SO funny you posted this because just last night I bought Ramen noodles AND mac & cheese for my kids. A LOT of it. I don’t let them eat it through the school year. So I figured, what the heck.
I’ll have to look through these comments and get some ideas.

Alice H - We also like bruschetta around here with crackers. And my older two kids hate tomatoes haha! We eat spinach artichoke dip a lot also. My 16 month old loves spinach anything. Also Mini English muffin pizzas.
I don’t know if you’ve looked at Kraft.com yet but I used to get emails from them with healthy after-school snack ideas. Might try some of those!!
Ps I bought everything to make those Oreo brownie bites. Making them later today.

Alice H - My daughter has gotten into quesadillas!! She loves PW Salsa so I keep that on hand. She heats up a little butter in a skillet, adds the flour tortilla, shredded cheese (we shred our own), and sometimes canned chicken or leftover chicken. My son Loves fruit so as soon as I buy it I wash it and get it ready how he will eat it. Like slice up strawberries, cut the kiwi up, etc and I store it in airtight containers. They also like turkey/ham sandwiches with chips. You could do a trail mix thing too. My son also loves eating crackers, cheese and peanut butter. We don’t buy the prepackaged ones. We do them using saltines, sliced cheese and jar of peanut butter. My daughter also like dipping pretzels in cream cheese.

Hayley - There are so many comments already so I’ll leave hjust one idea. I know your fam is a sports fam so here is a link to the post with the picture: http://seehayfly.blogspot.com/2010/12/golden-birthday.html
It’s the first collage: a soccer field pizza.
We used Spinach as the grass, and you can’t even taste it…maybe if they ask you can say it’s a secret? Or coolored cheese/dough? Anyway, then you use sliced feta or mozzarella for the goals and sidelines, and cocktail weiners as players. I’m sure you could do it with hockey (shredded mozzarella for the floor) or basketball (orange cheese as floor). The point is that the kids were so impressed with what it looked like, they didn’t realize they were eating spinach!
We also like apple sandwiches: http://seehayfly.blogspot.com/2011/02/das-ist-gut.html
Good Luck!!!

Nicole - We live on quesadillas and sandwiches (cold traditional or toasted, open-faced, etc). I also often make a big pot of soup (any kind- we like potato & bacon with carrots) and we eat off of that for a week. I try to make food look pretty to entice my son to try it (he is 4 yrs old). I stock the fridge every Sunday with healthy fridge snacks in little bags (indiv portions of raw fruits, veggies, boiled eggs, string cheese, etc). I do the same with pantry items (raisins, dried fruits, nuts, crackers, etc). This way we can grab and go, or my son can get his own snack if I am otherwise occupied. I also prepare a bunch of chicken breasts, boneless pork, etc and cut it to 4-5oz portions that can be reheated throughout the week. I think the key is a chunk of time for preparation so the rest of the week is easier. And if there are things you don’t want them to eat, don’t have it in the house because they will gravitate toward what is easy and familiar. 🙂

Christine E-E - WOW = you could have a taste test with your kids & try a lot of the suggestions given in the comment section.
Make it fun! have them try their hand at preparing their breakfast!
Whatever you do – don’t operate your kitchen as a cafeteria or restaurant. Kids will eat what is put in front of them, if they are hungry. Or they can wait until the next meal.
I liked ekmama’s response about eating non-stop! During visits to my niece’s (three active kids – 9, 7, 5) and my step-daughter’s (girls – 14, 12, 8) I’ve noticed they are allowed to snack (eat & drink) all day long. When dinner comes, they aren’t hungry for the menu being served. This is supporting a culture of: “need-it, want-it, NOW”… “eating out of boredom”… “making poor food choices”… “not understanding portion size”… “substituting sweet drinks for water”…
When I was growing up (the 50’s), we were not allowed to get a snack unless we asked permission & it wouldn’t “ruin our dinner” (actually ruin our APPETITE for dinner).
When my daughter’s were growing up (the 80’s), they drank water, snacked on fruit, vegies (carrots, celery, green peppers, cucumbers) or a mix of nuts, raisins & dry Cherrios. No cheese sticks (I just couldn’t afford all the cheese they would have liked) – plus cheese was a staple for dinner. I have high cholesterol (heredity), & I didn’t want them to develop problems also.
SO – while your kids are young – establish eating habits that are healthy, ones you can live with financially (box drinks were expensive – these were considered treats that happened only when we traveled), and allow your kids to learn to make wise food selections & portions.
Your are modeling what is important to your family – pertaining to health, food, physical well-being.

sharron - make your own pizza’s using bagels..you can use the small ones too…set up all of the toppings and let everyone make their own then pop ’em into the oven or toater oven. my kids loved these when they were younger…a “make your own set up” works well for so many different recipes! you can do quesidilla’s..wraps..sandwiches..omelettes etc..we also have breakfast for lunch or dinner some days.
hard boiled eggs in the fridge are an easy snack too and they can make their own egg slad sammies with them too!
i came from a large family and was very picky so i lived off of peanut butter for a long time!
looks like everyone left you some great ideas!
let us know which ones u try and what works!!
happy sunday!

Kate - Fiber One bars and fruit are quick and easy breakfasts. I’ve always loved BLTs for lunch in the summer (and you can make a lot of bacon quickly by cooking it in the oven).
We’ve found a lot of veggies taste great when you roast them. Our favorites are brussels sprouts, califlower and broccoli.
I also like to make mac and cheese and mix in Boca burger (but could use lean ground meat) and salsa. Yummy and fast.
Add in broccoli slaw (from the bagged salad section of the produce department) to Sloppy Joes.
This summer I’m trying to have lettuce for salads on hand at all times and different things to mix in. Our favorites right now are chicken sausage, tortollini and asparagus.

beki - cut up fruit, cheese, ham, and crackers are always a hit with my kids. I’ll fix a big platter at lunch time and we’re good to go!

Tisha - Some great ideas here!
My family could eat mexican food everyday, so I had to streamline the process! I cook chicken in the crockpot, then I can use it for tacos, nachos, burritos, etc!
Put 3-4 frozen chicken breasts in a crockpot (they don’t have to be frozen, but I never remember to thaw anything)
Dump a jar of your favorite salsa over the top, and add 1/2 to 1 jar of water to keep it moist.
Cook on high for about 4 hours.
Shred the chicken with two forks – you can do this right in the crockpot, or pull it out if your kids won’t eat the “red chunks” like mine!

Colleen - Our favorite afternoon snacks are smoothies (with greens sneaked in), Chocolate dipped banana popsicles, carrots sticks, raisins, and lots of fresh fruit.

Katy Stone - i dont have kids, but i do have a very picky husband. 🙂
some of our favorite snacks are:
-smoothies. we make at least one a day. freeze your fruit (anything the store has on sale), add milk, yogurt, some vanilla and some splenda. we use a magic bullet (as seen on tv- ha). one of my faaaaavorite kitchen tools!
-i love hummus. he likes certain flavors.
-granola and yogurt
-baked chips and guacamole
(thats only 4… oops.)

Ali - Sandwich bins – You might grab a medium/large size open top tupperware or organizing bin, throw in a bunch of different deli meat, or sliced up chicken breast, bacon strips, etc.
Then add in sliced cheese, like colby jack, muenster, provolone and cheddar.
Tuck in a squeeze bottle of mayo, mustard, or red wine vinegear & oil squeeze bottles (those are great for Italian style sandwiches).
On the counter you can have one or two types of sandwich bread, a few tomatoes, an avocado or two and a red onion.
That way they can pull out the bin and have a ton of sandwich making stuff right there. If they don’t know what to make, stick an index card in the front with suggestions, like what stuff to use for an Italian sandwich (salami, provolone, olives, oil & red wine vinegar) or Chicken breast slices, bacon & cheddar sandwich. Stuff like that.
It is a lot less intimidating to make a big sandwich like that when everything is in one place (in the bin) and they have some ideas as to what to make.

deborah@applesinwonderland - favorite meals around here include:
-fresh-mex burritos (everyone makes their own)
-grilled meal–protein, veggies and fruit on the grill
for snacks:
-strawberry shortcakes
-greek yogurt(taking yogurt to a whole new level)fruit and a sprinkle or nuts/granola or grape-nut cereal
we are all about expanding our palates and trying new things:)

The Countess of Nassau County - Great question. I’m inspired by all the great suggestions.
Snacks –
Green grapes, especially good if frozen
popcorn, not microwave, the kind you make on the stove
trail mix
apples
pears
Meals – I’m lucky here, my kids are total champs in the eating department so I can get away with a lot more variety than some other households.
Pulled pork – I make this often in the summer because I can use a crockpot and make all kinds of lunches and dinners.
Poached chicken – Every Sunday I poach a bag of chicken thighs and cut them up to use throughout the week for salads, wraps, whatever.
String beans – ALWAYS in my house in either a fresh or frozen state as a side, muchie, stir fry. Great with a little tofu and hoisin sauce.
Pesto – pasta with pesto is great hot or cold.
Fish tacos – My husband is from CA so these are an institution in my house. You can fry the fish, grill the fish, whatever and then just add some salsa, avocado and your done.

Patty - salsa and tortilla chips. I figure the saltiness of the chips is muchly outweighed by the healthiness of the tomatoes in the salsa.

Rachel J - When I nannyed for 6 children, summers were a struggle! Apples with peanut butter were a big hit and so was popcorn. I made ants on a log, with pb, celery and raisins or I would have a fruit salad in the fridge. Also, try making your own popsicles. With lemonade concetrate or make one of your famous smoothies and freeze! Voila!

Janelle - Oh dear…I was so excited to read all the comments and now I am just overwhelmed 🙂 Please let me know what foods you decide on…would love to see your week recipe plan…I know, I know…that is too much to ask! Good luck feeding the masses!

Sandy W - One thing I like to do is buy some of those premade pizza crusts in 100% whole wheat. You just rub with olive oil and add whatever toppings you want and they cook in 10 minutes. He also likes Wheat Thin sticks dipped in soft cheese with lots of fruit on the side. Good luck!

Liz Woodard - In regards to the sugar cereals – I still buy the cereal but I will mix it with a non-sugar cereal equivalent. Something like 3/4 non sugar with 1/4 sugar. The cereal lasts longer and the kids still feel like they are getting a treat.
For getting the kids to eat more veggies – luckily my kids are actually good at eating veggies and they love salads. So, I will bake breaded chicken (I usually just buy the frozen stuff), cut it up, add a variety of veggies with lettuce (kinda like a seven-layer salad) and then add ranch dressing made with yogurt or something healthy like. If you follow a recipe for seven layer salad, I always, always decrease the amount of salad dressing – I hate drowning salads, defeats the purpose. The kids always gobble this up.
If your kids like rice, try making a fried rice dish with cut up small pieces of veggies. I am also big on one-dish meals and you can sneak in veggies this way – spaghetti sauce, lasagne, chicken and rice bakes.
good luck!

jess - wowza!!!! coming back to check out all the comments!!!! how about a homemade chex mix with nuts, pretzels, and chex cereal…i know my kids love crunchy stuff! and we make lots of rice crispi squares with diffirent low sugar cereals like cheerios.

Juliann Brenner - Hi Megan – my kids are sooooooo picky, but they all like “baked oatmeal”. I make it in a big 9X13 pan the night before and it sits in the fridge. I bake it in the morning for a “healthier” bkfst. Since its a whole pan, we eat on it for a couple days. It might be a fun thing for T & A to make together the night before? It does have sugar in it, but I use much less than the recipe calls for. Let me know if you are interested in the recipe….
We also sometimes make “make your own” pizza; like a pizza bar – the kids pick out their toppings and we cook them. You can use Rhodes frozen bread for that, or mini-bobli-type-pizzas. We do the same thing for tacos….can you tell we’re picky? 🙂
Juliann

stephanie - We pretty much do the same thing here most days but they don’t complain so I don’t rock the boat at lunch. (Dinner is another matter). : )
-chicken nuggets (I have one that is addicted)
-sandwiches (pb&j, meat & cheese)
-quesadillas (I don’t even get out the pan – I just make them in the microwave since it’s quicker)
-pancakes/waffles
-egg in a hole
-hot dogs
-nachos
That’s about the extent of my kid lunch suggestions off the top of my head. I can’t wait to hear what other suggest.

Bernice - Grilled cheese sandwiches (maybe go easy on the butter), tacos, sushi (Cali rolls are nice and simple), watermelon and grapes.

kae - hello! i’m a vegetarian & my 2 year old loves everything i eat so i hope i can help in some way.
for breakfast our favorites are oatmeal, with brown sugar, soymilk or almond milk & add any fruits.
we also love yogurt with granola and fruits.
for snacks we love apples/bananas with peanut butter…hummus & pita bread…fruit salad…smoothies…anything with nutella like, banana & nutella panini…sweet potato fries (baked)
and for meals we love vegetables (usually brocolli, carrots, spinach, peppers) sauteed with garlic, onions, & oyster sauce. you can also add in any meats. eat that with rice and its so good.
anything with squash (like butternut squash soup) is always delicious!
have you tried grilled cheese with vegetables? like grilled cheese with tomatoes? that is always yummy!
eggplant parmesan…spaghetti…ummm..these are all i can think of for now. i’ll drop by if anything else comes to mind. good luck!!

Brianne - My kids are huge yogurt fans! We go through so much I now buy it in the large containers unless it’s a killer deal in the small ones. We also eat a lot of fruit and veggies. I normally cut up a bunch Sunday evening so it’s ready for the week. They also like peanut butter and nutella in a tortilla warmed up. Yum! Muffins are also a must in the house, made with wheat flour. Banana Chocolate Chip are a favorite. 🙂

Gabi - I confess were sukers for cereal and syrup laden pancakes and waffles, those I freeze. Smoothies are good as is home made iced coffee. For lunch we do egg salads, and blt, grilled cheese, quesadillas with copped tomato and onion (vinegar and oil) pico de gallo, which they love. Were puertorrican so we do lots of rice but my favorite is arroz guisado with hot dogs or sausage and corn fritters. They do enjoy a chef salad loaded with ham cheese and dressing but I’ve gotten them to eat raw broccoli. The slaw has 3 tbsp of mayo, 3 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tsp sugar,1/2 tsp of salt and fresh black pepper to taste, and one big bunch of broccoli chopped really small, although I’m convinced they just eat it because I tell them errr, beg them to please not eat my little trees. We also love pasta with bacon peas and red onion with a cream and Parmesan sauce, the 2 year old only eats the green balls as she calls them. And lately we’ve been into corn on the cob and bean salsa, it just assorted caned drained rinsed beans with oil and vinegar and chopped veg, like peppers, onion, olives, tomato…

Natasha - I’ll share my absolute favorite snack… and when I shared it with my friend’s 5- snd 7-yo that was the only snack they wanted to eat for the rest of the day. Super simple too… granny smith apples, sliced with peanut butter. YUM!
I also love bananas and a glass of milk. There’s so much natural sugar in both, it satisfies the sugar cravings, and it’s decently filling to hold you for a couple hours until dinner.
Happy snacking!!

Jacci - WOW! You’ve had a ton of responses! I don’t have time right now to read thru them all to see if I’m repeating (I probably am!), so here it goes…
*Chicken and cheese quesadillas with fruit kabobs (make extra xhicken breasts one night when you have them for dinner and then just have one of the kids shred the leftovers for the quesadillas). We make ours on 2 big griddles.
*beans & rice served with guacamole and tortilla chips(can you start trying to switch to brown rice? maybe it can be a goal to get to by the end of summer? it’s easier if it’s in a flavored version, like brown rice with salsa and garlic powder stirred in). Not sure if they’ll eat guacamole, but my kiddos love it and it has lots of good fats for their little brains 🙂
*mini pizzas made with whole grain english muffins. Annie & Talby could make these. Just spread with a little pizza sauce and top w/ mozzerella then bake in the oven or toaster oven. Maybe they’d eat carrot and celery sticks with a dip (?) or just with ranch dressing.
Hope it helps!

Kimmie Elks - was always have edamame on hand. i buy it at sam’s club. it’s quick in the microwave and good for you!

Debbie - I really struggle with this, too, especially because I don’t like cooking! I just tried these homemade Egg McMuffins, though, and the kids devoured them! We had them for lunch. 🙂
Crack one egg into each cup of a muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Then toast some buttered english muffins in the oven. Fry some thin sausage patties, or bacon, or turkey bacon, if you like. Assemble into sandwiches, and you’re done!
(P.S. Cooking eggs is really hard on teflon-coated muffin tins. I learned that the hard way!)

julia @ Simpletruths - I grew up not knowing Lasagne was supposed to have meat in it – my mom used it as a delicious way to serve veggies. Now I have a picky toddler but he loves my lasagna- full of spinach, zucchini, bell peppers and carrots.
other suggestions: whole wheat fig bars, smoothies (with a hand full of spinach tossed in), harvest bread (yummy bread made with whatever’s in season – zucchini, carrot, apple, and of course banana bread never fails) grilled cheese with chopped up spinach.
yea – I’ll put spinach in just about everything. My son this mac & cheese is supposed to we speckled with green 😀

Amy - As a kid I always loved (and still love) pita bread pizza. Buy some pita bread, a jar of pizza sauce and whatever toppings you want. Everyone can make their own and then broil for 5ish minutes…until the cheese is melted, and browned if you want. 🙂

BethieBoo - Wow! I hope I am not being redundant, but I am too lazy to read all the other posts. We have reached a new era now that my kids are a little older. They now check out cookbooks at the library. It gives us new ideas to try, and they have to help me cook (and shop). Love it!

Debra - My daughter isn’t terribly picky, thankfully but we have our days! A sample day here is:
Breakfast-1/2 bagel w/light cream cheese, 1/2 apple,water
Lunch:turkey,cheese,lettuce rolled in tortilla, carrots&ranch, watermelon,water
Dinner:grilledd salmon, veggies,fruit
I buy everything in season and/ or on sale. I also stopped buying mac n cheese & she’s gotten used to it. Check out Jessica Seinfelds cookbook for ways to ‘hide’ veggies in dishes-she has some good ideas.
For snacks we have popcorn, bananas w/ peanut butter, popsicles made w/ orange juice.
Good luck! 🙂

Stephanie - we make *Hammy Sammy’s* for lunch quite often –
*hamburger buns,
deli ham
cheese -we use american but any kind would do
the pop them in the oven set on broil for a few min until they are melted and lightly brown
serve with a pickle and some fresh fruit
*I buy the chicken breast strips that are meant for tossed salads – I heat them up alone and serve it with a vegetable, fruit and slice of bread. Or I will put a few on a tortilla and some shredded cheese and melt it!
*Try home made mac and cheese!
Box of pasta cooked to liking
then a bit of milk
and a mix of different shredded cheese
*Weinie Wraps
take all beef hot dogs
wrap a croissant around it and bake according to croissant directions! Perfect to take on the go!

Meg T - My kids wont eat veggies but they will eat the snap pea crisps I get a Trader Joes! YUM and I think they even have some decent protein in them.

allison - Pizza Quesadillas are always a hit. Take a tortilla and put pizza sauce on half. Then top with pepperoni and mozzarella (or other toppings if your kids will eat them). Fold them in half and place them in the griddle for a couple of minutes. Slice them like a quesadilla and enjoy!

amanda - This is always an issue at our house too … my kids enjoy fruit skewers (and I add marshmallows on them) – sometimes I make a yogurt dip on the side. They seem to appreciate sandwiches that are either cut w/ a cookie cutter or placed w/ a long fun toothpick on each side. It always seems if I take an extra few minutes in an attempt to make it creative or special, it’s noticed and they eat w/ less complaints. This is a great post – I’m going to go back and read what other people said.

leigh - Okay you will probably get a lot better comments than this one BUT…with all my nannying experience (ha!) this is what I do…
-trail mix/peanuts
-hummus and pita chips
-carrots and ranch
-apples and pb…I would use an apple cutter and only cut it like most of the way so it was an apple “flower”
-turkey and ranch wraps
-pasta with butter and parm cheese
-pretzel chips
-nachos
-mini pizzas maybe? I never made them for my kiddos but with your 5 it would be more fun

julia - healthy = Chipotle
not healthy = McDonald’s

Amy Slavik - Is an avocodo a fruit or a veggie? I think fruit. Anyhow, I found this recipe and tried it this morning and it was delish!
Avocado Smoothie
In a blender combine a peeled and pitted avocado with 1 cup each milk and ice cubes, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Blend until smooth. Makes 3 servings (or rather one full drinking glass)
btw, just googled it and an avocado is “a fruit that tastes like a vegetable”. But I still think it’s worth a shot. Maybe you can fool them 😉
Good luck!

Michelle - Breakfast choices are yogurt, Fiber One bars, granola bars, non-sugar cereal, fruit (I buy fresh + those packaged grapefruit sections from Costco), whole wheat english muffins with peanut butter, sometimes eggs or a ‘breakfast sandwich’ that we make with english muffin, egg, & cheese.
Lunch is usually some kind of sandwich, cheese cubes & sausage, salads, leftovers from dinner, etc.
Snacks are granola bars, string cheese, celery or carrot sticks, cucumber slices, yogurt, cashews, 100% fruit snacks, pretzels, fruit, popcorn that we make on the stove.
I try not to keep crap in the house, then the choice just isn’t there. Finn is four though, he loves mac n cheese once in awhile. He also loves cheesy bread from the pizza place. We do have desserts and stuff, but I really try to encourage him to make the healthy choices for himself and look at treats as just that.
We also have a rule in our house that you try a bite of whatever it might be… I could care less if he ends up hating something because there are things everyone doesn’t like, but one bite will not kill you. He has actually found ‘new’ things that he enjoys just by trying.

Jenna - Awesome iseas! We like frozen bananas with a bit of melted chocolate…. frozen bananas are also great to toss in smoothies.

jayne Barbour - The muffins made with devil’s food cake box mix and a can of pureed pumpkin are DELICIOUS! I add a little bit of water to the mix and pumpkin (maybe 1/4 cup) and always bake in the foil muffin cups since they are sticky. SO good and healthy! I think they are supposed to be only Weight Watcher point because of the pumpkin. They end up very moist. I once made them for my daughter’s birthday and topped with Cream Cheese icing. I think that changes the ww points though;)

Kelli Ross - Every week- I make a veggie tray, and I put it out around 10:30am-ish on the counter- and everyone snacks on it…. everyone- even my “non-veggie” eaters. WHY? Because it’s available, and easy.

Jen Brandt - Love the idea of a kids healthy snack section, Meg. Here’s an easy, healthy recipe that my 4 and 6 year old daughters (and their mom!!!) love. Gets lots of veggies in – and beans. We just took this on our picnic dinner to the park tonight.
Summer Salsa
2 cans corn
1 can black beans – rinsed and drained
1 avacado (I do 2)
1 red onion – diced
1 tomato – diced
cilantro
little bit of lemon and/or lime juice
My friend made this for us last year when hubby was gone with the Army and I could eat the whole bowl myself. Hand over the tortilla chips and no one gets hurt!

jayne Barbour - -Make your own pizza on english muffins.
-Make popcorn and spray it while tossing with Pam Butter-flavored Spray-then continue to toss and add one of the flavored toppings you can buy near the popcorn at the grocery store. we love the white cheddar. Or add cocoa powder and some shredded coconut, etc. get ca-razy!
-top vanilla yogurt with a handful of special k lowfat granola. throw in some fruit.
-make the hidden valley ranch from “scratch” and dip veggies-this is a good way to get raw broccoli in, even for adults:)
-pigs in a blanket-cut up hotdogs and use crescent rolls from can. oh, or do the same but wrap up ham/cheese (you could try to sneak in shredded broccoli:) or put a spoonful of chicken salad and bake. hell, do it with black beans/cheese, salsa!
hope it helps-this has been awesome to read through for ideas!!!

karen - good idea meg! now i too can get some great ideas!
1. grilled cheese…you can go exotic on this one. I like tomato in mine.
2. hummus and veg sticks…or baba ganoush and veg …even with pita.
3. what about deli sandwiches…Mortadella and Provolone is the best in fresh italian bread.
4. tempura style veggies…i know most of them don’t like veg…but if you batter it and coat it with Panko bread crumbs them deep fry..so friggen goood!
5. Chicken caesar salads…left over chicken with your fav toppings on greens.
Picky eaters, open your eyes…you are missing a world of goodness out there. Good luck Meg. I’m so hungry now!

Lisa - Quesadillas are super easy and very inexpensive-my kids love just cheese ones, you could even put salsa on the side (for the veggies)
Homemade pizza-seriously not as hard as you think, and the kids could go crazy with their own toppings. Here’s the recipe I use for the dough:
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/thin_crust_chicken_bacon_artichoke_pizza
Pizza bagels-simply a toasted bagel with sauce and cheese. Again, they can add their own toppings
Grilled Cheese-super easy and you could throw some ham or pepperoni on it.
Homemade Mac n Cheese-super easy-cook one box of macaroni and drain (leave in colander) In the pot you used to cook the macaroni, add 1 stick of margarine (or butter), about 1/2 cup or so of milk and 8 oz of shredded cheese. Stir until creamy and toss in macaroni. Add salt and pepper to taste. My kids like some crumbled bacon in theirs but you could also put shredded chicken or broccoli in there as well.
Ham wrapped Cheese Sticks-simply a mozzarella cheese stick wrapped with a piece of ham or turkey. Serve with fruit.

Kelly - p.s. Quaker Oats Oatmeal Squares cereal, the brown sugar kind is really yummy dry or in milk. Not the cheapest but not the sugary/empty carb-est either. 🙂 Kelly

Kelly - two pasta recipes I really like that may or may not be a hit
a fun shaped pasta like campanelle with lemon juice, Italian parsley, parmesan cheese (real not Kraft in a can) and sometimes chicken (I especially like to splurge and top it with chickfila nuggets cut up) 🙂
goat cheese pasta: cook your pasta (farfalle or something) and while it cooks combine 4 ounces goat cheese, some olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper and crushed garlic clove as well as diced tomatoes and some fresh basil cut up. Once the pasta is done, drain it and stir into other mixture and it will make a creamy yummy sauce. Sooo good.
I also like to occasionally cook up some rice and open a can or two of beans (black or refried but pinto would work too) and spoon into individual containers, rice, beans, cheese and salsa and then freeze them. Super easy to heat up and yummy!
Kelly

Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship - Holy moly! You’ve got an awful lot of ideas here…I saw some clicks coming through from your site and wondered who had written what about me 😉 and I was one of the recipes in the comments (granola bars). I actually have an eBook called “Healthy Snacks to Go” with a bunch of recipes and simple ideas, and I’d love to send you a review copy. I can’t find your email, though, so I’m trying a comment and hoping you’ll get a hold of me. Let me know if you’re interested! 🙂 Katie

Heather E. - fruit with fruit dip! you can use this with apple, grapes, melon, strawberries, kiwi, whatever kind of fruit you want! take one package of cream cheese and one jar of marshmallow creme, mix it together, add a sprinkle of cinnamon, mix it up, and let them dip it! you can keep it in the fridge for about a week and it is fine! also, peanut butter and jelly (i like Smucker’s No Sugar Added), put it on toast, and the peanut butter melts and makes it sooo yummy!

Necole - My children never get tired of fruit salad. Cheese and crackers have always been a great hit at my house. Apples and peanut butter. Our most favorite thing to make is trail mix. You can find an easy recipe just about anywhere. Try some ranch dressing with the vegetables. My kids will eat just about anything with ranch!

Marcie Bowman - Summer lunches are tricky!!! I’m not much of a sandwich eater myself, which makes it even harder.
*cheese quesadilla (2 tortillas with cheese in the middle, heated on a griddle to make it a little crispy)
*grilled cheese
*turkey roll-up (Spread a little cream cheese on a tortilla and put some turkey on top. I use Oscar Mayer deli sliced turkey. Sometimes I add cheese if I have it.)
*Tastyskinny.com has some healthy recipes for baked chicken nuggets. I also want to try her recipe for zucchini sticks. The onion rings were pretty good.
*Anything you can skewer on a toothpick. Rolled up sliced turkey or ham. Strawberries, pineapple, grapes. Olives. Just a finger food kind of lunch.
*Sometimes we just have pepperoni pieces, string cheese and fruit.
*One of the kids’ favorite lunches at school is a “yogurt pack”. It has yogurt, string cheese, bagel with cream cheese. Lots of dairy but the kids love it. Maybe it would be fun for a home lunch as well. GoGurts are always a hit as well!

krystall - Girl, you are in my mind I swear! Same problem here and I am very excited to read all the tips after I clean up the McDonald’s wrappers from dinner tonight:)

se7en - We make lot of wraps: http://www.se7en.org.za/2009/03/04/its-a-wrap-in-se7en-steps The kids pick and choose and really you can stuff them with anything!!! I lay everything out and they build from whatever is available…

Angela - How about ICE CREAM for breakfast? Peel spotty bananas, throw in a Ziploc bag, freeze overnight. Throw frozen bananas into a food processor and puree until they look like ice cream. Yummy! You can add other frozen fruit for a sorbet-like treat. Bluberries are good. You can also add a heaping spoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and a splash of real maple syrup or honey to make chocolate “ice cream”. If you don’t have a food processor you can do this in a blender but need to add a few splashes of milk to get it going. Happy snacking!

Lisa - Whole wheat bagels, toasted and made into a sandwich with cream cheese, sliced tomatoes and salt/pepper. Yummy!
Cucumber sliced into little circles and topped with ranch and turkey lunch meat.
Taco salad with lettuce, tomato, onion, black beans, cukes, corn, crumbled nacho doritos, taco meat, catalina dressing. The crunchy chips and sweet dressing make this a favorite with the kids.
Thanks for this post – I have made a huge list of ideas from browsing the comments 🙂

iclamp - Clearly you have many comments already, but just in case it hasn’t been said already – let me just say “snack plate”. The mere mention of it sends my kids into a tizzy, and whatever I put on this “snack plate” they will gobble up in seconds. Cheese cubes, pepper strips, crackers, cucumber coins, berries, tiny cubes of low-fat kielbasa, hummous, apple wedges, a ramekin of peanut butter. They don’t even realize they are eating a well-rounded meal. And – so easy to prep and clean up. My kids are 6 and 9, they do half the prep on their own now so the work for me is minimal. Make it a picnic and they love it even more….

amy - I just tried something new yesterday for lunch and my kids loved it!
Pizza cupcakes
-1 tube of biscuits – place each biscuit in a hole in a muffin pan and smooth it along the bottom and up the sides to make a crust or bowl
-brown italian sausage (we used turkey sausage) and then mix in one jar pizza sauce
-add sausage/sauce filling to each “crust”
-top with shredded mozzarella cheese
-bake at temperature on biscuit instructions for approximately 10 minutes
Of course you can substitute other pizza toppings. We will definitely be making these more this summer…they loved them!!

Sarah - Nigella Lawson!
Try her:
Ritzy Chicken nuggets (feast)
muffin recipes (all her books)
pancake mix (Nigella Express)
toad in the whole (Nigella Kitchen)
salami pasta (Nigella Kitchen)
Chicken Caccitore (N Express)
… shoot, so many things to mention!

Charlotte - my daughter’s (7 yo)favorite quickie “go to ” lunch is kidney beans with a tsp. or so of homemade Italian dressing drizzled on top.
we do smoothies too.
we love humus…
and we grill out a lot…even for lunch….we all love sweet corn on the cob off the grill!..along with ca-bobs of chicken or pork..
we eat a lot of past too….but we have fallen in love with Barilla Plus…it has the same texture as regular pasta, but is way better for you!
i have enjoyed fallowing some of the links posted…
would love to see you feature some reviews 🙂

Jen - It’s been said before, but we do yogurt with granola and fruit – it may help stretch the dollar when buying fresh fruit if nothing else.
Also, I know moms who do “nights”: Meatball Monday, Taco Tuesday, etc. Maybe within that framework you can try turkey meatballs, vegetarian meatballs, then fish tacos, fajitas, etc. and see if that helps stretch the palate.

Astrid - I’m loving reading all the comments! We’re going to have a feast all summer long with all the ideas posted in the comments section!
🙂
It’s a good thing too!
I don’t have anything to add. I wouldn’t give up on the veggies. Maybe zucchini brownies? I found a recipe on all recipes dot com and nobody can tell there is zucchini in it!

mandy friend - my kids could eat noodles ( barilla plus so it’s healthy) with butter and parmsesean EVERY DAY! i buy smart balance butter too, so they are getting a somewhat healthy way easy meal:)

elissa - http://annies-eats.net/2011/04/27/creamy-chicken-taquitos/
just tried this one with GRAND success to my non veggie loving children. i used canned chicken because it is quicker and easier…..

Jenny B. - I don’t cook, so this is really basic stuff I do for lunches (my husband cooks dinner). We do a lot of PB&Js or Ham & Cheese sandwiches. We buy our bread from the Walmart Bakery (our favorite is the Italian loaf), and have them slice it for us. It’s much tastier than regular sandwich bread. We keep it in the fridge so it doesn’t mold too fast. We use cheddar cheese on the sandwiches. Sometimes we do cheese and crackers and/or peanut butter crackers (2 Ritz with pb in the middle) with a piece of lunchmeat rolled up instead of sandwiches. On the side, we have fresh fruit or Craisins, and sometimes olives or pickles. They also like yogurt, and we have popcorn, mixed nuts, or granola bars for snack a lot.

Natalie - we love to do banana wraps as breakfast or snack- spread peanut butter (or nutella if it’s a treat) on a tortilla, sprinkle with granola/cereal/nuts/dried fruit (all optional), drizzle with a little honey. place your banana in the middle and roll it up!

amy jupin - al fresco brand sundried tomato chicken sausages. i was shocked but they love them!
make your own pizzas on whole wheat naan bread. i stick them under the broiler for a minute until the cheese melts and they gobble them up. i always offer different ingredients, ham/pineapple, prosciutto/parmesan, fresh mozzarella/basil from the garden.
crock pot pork bbq. throw a pork butt or shoulder in the crock pot.
cook for 6-8 hours on low. pull it out, shred it, throw it back in with a bottle of bbq sauce. let it warm up again and eat it on hamburger buns. good stuff.
grilled chicken and cheese quesadillas. sometimes i use leftover chicken cut into strips, sometimes i cheat and use tyson frozen strips zapped in the microwave. i can make LOTs of these and then they can snack on them for a day or two.
snacks: anna will eat baby carrots and light ranch dressing. but the other kids will gag on them. haha! i keep lots of fruit in the house. bananas, strawberries, pineapple, pears, tangerines, nectarines, red grapes, gala apples.
frozen grapes are yummy. so are homemade fruit bars. stick a plastic spoon in a yogurt cup and freeze, then remove the plastic container and eat like a popsicle.
i’m not really shocked at the big response here–i think we all struggle with this. just writing this response proved to me that we do not eat very healthy at all. way too much processed foods. makes me feel sick thinking about it. but here’s my main helpful hint (that i am going to work on too), shop the perimeter of the grocery store the MOST. that’s where the good stuff is. the aisles are what we want to avoid.
a great site i love is cookingwithmykid.com
we have tried several recipes and each were simple, healthful, and plain–in a good way that kids enjoy.
good luck this summer. i feel your pain! 🙂

Meg @ Everyday Nostalgia - When I’m feeling really lazy, I like to make mini pizzas using english muffins, spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese and whatever else I feel like throwing on top. Put it in the oven until the cheese starts to melt and you’re good to go!
My mom used to rinse strawberries and line a serving platter with them and put a bowl of powdered sugar in the middle – but that wouldn’t quite help you limit their sugar intake now would it? 🙂

Heather Crawford - We do quasadillas a lot too…
One of our favorite things is to buy the small premade pizza crusts and everyone makes their own pizzas…10 minutes in the oven and you are done! I do those a lot when we have kid’s friends over…the kids usually are boring and just do sauce and cheese, sometimes pepparoni, but my husband and I deck ours out with the above plus bell pepper, onion, olives, etc…so good..you can even turn it into a little activity and set out all the toppings in bowls and have a “pizza party”…

Su@TheIntentionalHome - 5 kids here too. I am all for stuff they can make/get themselves.
My top choices that the kids love:
Hummus with Crackers or Pretzels (we bring this up to the pool)
Apple and Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter Toast with Banana Sliced on top
and then I make pasta salad on Sunday (pasta, cucumbers, mini peperonis, and Italian dressing) and the kids scoop this in a bowls. . .and my boys pick out the cucumbers and throw them into the girls’ bowls 🙂
I will have to ask my sister in law for her list. . she made a list last summer. . .because she was stuck too. . .

Andrea R - Wraps – even a ham & cheese sandwich is transformed when you put it on tortilla & roll it up! You can add tomatoes, cucumbers, or whatever! We use shredded cheese instead of slices on our wraps. Other ideas for wrapping are chicken caesar wraps or tuna salad.
English muffin pizzas – everyone makes their own.
Quesadillas
Pasta salad
Check out a kids’ cookbook from the library & have them each take a day. Sometimes the pictures are so enticing that kids will try something new!

Cecile - Gramma Koko’s Special Banana
Slice one Banana
Top with a dab of P’nut Butter
Stick Cheerios on top! Like 4 or 5 on each slice…
Rather attractive!
My grandboys think I am a gourmet cook………….. NOT!!!

melissa*320 sycamore - Such great ideas posted here! Just made a list for ourselves for this summer:
* air popped popcorn with different toppings (parm cheese, butter, seasoned salt, sugar & cinnamon, etc
*smoothies~when fruit gets really ripe, stick it in the freezer and it is perfect to throw in
*nuts in shells~get a nutcracker and then it keeps them occupied as well. It’s fun to try different kinds of nuts
*cheese rollups~not the healthiest, but we get the little flour tortillas from walmart and sprinkle some cheese down the middle (and salsa if you want, but my kids mostly don’t), microwave for abt 15 seconds, roll it up. yum. you can also put pepperoni or deli meat in them with the cheese. If you’re feeling really wicked, let them put sprinkle some brown sugar and butter on the tortillas and then melt it…yum.
*hummus and celery or carrots. You can get hummus recipes online or buy it at the store
*frozen grapes
*homemade popsicles with fruit juice
*graham crackers and milk
*sweet potato fries! The hardest part is cutting them up, but they are sooo good. we love the ones from ourbestbites.com with the dip
*breadsticks are actually really easy to make and you can do garlic/parm cheese type toppings or cinnamon and sugar.

Chauncey - I forgot. I also make egg salad and chicken salad sandwiches on whole wheat bread a lot in the summer too. They are delicious and my kids love them!

Chauncey - Our favorites are:
– cheese quesadillas (you can put anything in these, really)
– cheese and pepperoni cracker sandwiches (our own Lunchables)
– peanut butter crackers with celery and raisins
– apples with peanut butter
– yogurt drinks
– turkey sandwiches or subs
– peanut butter and honey sandwiches
– grilled cheese
– soup and salad
Hope that helps! Enjoy your summer. 🙂

marcie millholland - That is the toughest part of Summer- lunch!!! I love everything else !! One thing we did a lot was smoothies. I kept pineapple juice, oj, our favorite fruits – in Georgia there are lots of cheap peaches all summer long- and yogurt and everyone made their own “blend” !! It works because it is healthy, they like to do it themselves, and they think that somehow they are getting away with drinking a “milkshake” for lunch – ha! If you blend you might even sneak in a veggie or two. Another favorite – tortilla roll ups!! A great make your own and in order to accomplish a little balance I have divided ingredients into piles and you must have at least one item from each pile … for example meat, cheeses and peanut butter ( proteins) in one pile and veggies like lettuce, tomato, or fruit like a banana to go with the peanut butter in another pile and then “free” items like condiments and jelly because -who cares if they eat mayo!! You can also do the tortilla flat and melt it a bit in the microwave and it’s kind of a make-your-own- pizza. The only rule on this lots of “freedom” to choose your blends and ingredients… if you make/choose it then you eat it!! Good luck!!
PS – my favorite tortilla creation??- salsa and over easy egg and melt with cheese – yum. Worlds quickest Mexican meal – Huevos Rancheros!

colleen from alabama - I am sure i will have more ideas but the only one that comes to my mind right now is a yogurt dip… mix plain yogurt(sometimes i use greek yogurt for a little protein), peanut butter and honey… just to your taste.I like a little less peanut butter than yogurt and lots of honey for sweet 🙂 We dip apples, graham crackers, pretzels if you like salty/sweet and celery in it. It is really yummy!

Jamie - We load up on the fruit: apples, bananas, grapes, strawberries, watermelon, and pineapple.
We keep a kid friendly snack cloest: veggie straws/chips in single serving bags, Annie’s Bunnies snack bags, Annie’s Bunnies fruit snacks, applesauce, and mandarian oranges (NO Sugar Added)
We love PB & J, Hummus, Ham & Cheese (by itself or on a sandwich). We are veggie eaters: steamed broccoli, cauliflower, salad (all available to be dipped in Ranch or Hummus), peas, squash/zucchini, and cucumbers.
We make banana bread (tried the coconut banana bread-YUM-O), and Fruit Popsicles.
Love your BLOG…!!!

Lee Ann - I try to fill them up with eggs for breakfast. We have our own chickens, but even without, eggs are cheap and keep them full.
LOTS of healthy muffins. Even if a kid made a batch every day, they’re relatively cheap, healthy and filling.
Smoothies.
Grill up lots of chicken (or cook a ton in the crock-pot and shred). So easy to pull a bit out of the freezer and use for quesadilla or burrito. Add your rice for another good filler.
Sandwiches. Tuna. Egg salad (there come the eggs again).
Serve fruit with peanut butter. Sticks with them a bit longer.
This is fun to read everyone’s comments 🙂

Amanda - I keep things simple!! Breakfast is cereal (Honey Nut Cheerios, Rice Krispies or Multi Grain Cheerios, usually) or toast with butter. For lunch I eat Dannon Greek yogurt (LOVE the honey flavor!), Kashi crunchy granola bar, string cheese and a piece of fruit. For the girls I usually just put together something similar — fruit, cheese, olives (for my youngest), bread, granola bar, etc.
Good luck!!!

Ani - Things we eat:
quesadillas: I just put a regular size tortilla in a skillet with some cheese, chicken or whatever else I have available and let the cheese melt and serve with sour cream. I call it Mexican pizza because my kids would eat anything called pizza! 🙂
sandwiches: all different kinds but their faves are peanut butter and honey and meat and cheese. We also have grilled cheese (sometimes with ham). And for dinner we sometimes have fried bologna with sauteed onions. For some reason my kids like cooked onions. They are the first ones I’ve ever met that do…
Homemade lunchable type things: I just cut up your average lunch meat, and cheese and serve with crackers and dip. I almost always serve fruit with this. I have seen people serve these in muffin tins, which makes it fun! I sometimes serve them in silicone cupcake liners.

Karen - our favorites:
-quesadillas with whole wheat tortillas, black beans and cheese dipped in salsa
-walnuts and raisins in snack bags
-carrot whole wheat muffins from here subbing the flour for whole wheat pastry flour and dried cranberries for fresh ones- my kids gobble these up quick and they freeze really well! http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cranberry-Apple-Muffins/Detail.aspx
-smoothies- we use loads of kale and spinach, plain yogurt, frozen raspberries and blueberries and some o.juice or almond milk- my kids (one of whom will not touch anything green on his plate) devour these every day!! As long as there is enough berries in it- you don’t taste the veggies at all- they are really good!! You can add some ground flax seed, aloe juice or other healthy things in small amounts and your kids will never know the difference.
-I make a lot of oat/fruit bars for desserts/snacks- check out the recipes on smitten kitchen, allrecipes etc.
-taco rice- using whole grain rice (it really is not a big deal to make the switch and it’s SO much better for our bodies), crush a few tortilla chips in a bowl- add salsa,black beans or pinto beans, avacado chunks, a bit of cheese and some ground seasoned turkey- really good even when cold the next day for a snack.
-apples/bananas dipped in peanut butter or any fruit dipped in yogurt
-stove top popcorn – so fun for our kids!

Lo - Cheese crisps
Wrap/soft tortilla shells
Cheese
Sour cream salsa other dies
Oven 350 f
Put shell on baking sheet and poke all over with fork
Put in oven for 5mins or so
Take out of oven and spread grated cheese over them
Put back in oven and bake until cheese melted
Cut up in triangles with pizza cutter
Serve;)

Tanya H - Oh, I also like pretzel sticks with peanut butter and any kind of fruit-like salad that will last a fwe days. Make up a huge batch and eat it with lunch or as a snack!

Tanya H - My kids are close to Talby & Annie’s ages, but its my youngest (the girl) that has been eating me out of house and home since December! I’m loving the ideas I’ve glanced at so far, thanks for asking this! 🙂
Breakfasts- mostly cold cereal but I’m working on cutting this way back. Smoothies, left-over-then-frozen waffles and pancakes, and oatmeal are making their way into our days.
Lunches- one kid would live off pbj daily, the other will. not. She eats a lot of left overs for lunch, quesadillas, ham & cheese sandwiches…
Dinners- I try to make a good meal 6 nights a week. Have my own food blog here: http://dinnersandthings.blogspot.com/
Snacks- I keep apples, bananas and carrot sticks in the house at all times. Depending on the season I also have grapes, strawberries and celery, and anything else that strikes my interest. The kids get one string cheese and one yogurt a day, chips & fresh salsa, granola bars, canned fruit, crackers with laughing cow cheese wedges (or other cheese), craisins…and tons of water and milk! 🙂

Casey - Bean burritos are great and easy to make when you use the microwave, even from scratch.
We do a “snacky” lunch a lot which is where I put out a big platter of cut veggies, fruit, hardboiled eggs, cheese, nuts, etc and the kids pick what they want to eat. I can leave it out till dinner and the kids will grab stuff instead of bugging me for more snacks.
Rice cakes with peanut butter and jam.
Smoothies with protein powder to pack a little punch.
Yogurt topped with jam or fresh fruit and granola.

Victoria Clements - Smoothies with everything in them including oats, you can hide things in them and they never know! Eggs on toasts are good too and yes yoghurt of course! Carrot sticks when your out and about, they’ll eat them if you offer nothing else! And Corn cobs cold or hot, are always good and filling!! I feel your pain it’s such a long hard summer when they all want to eat at different times and every twenty minutes!

Lindsey@ Piecefully Home - pizza sandwiches! i take italian bread (of course you could just plain bread, but it doesn’t hold up so well) butter the outside of two, spread on pizza sauce, pesto, sliced mozzarella and pepperoni and grill on the stove. my kids all love it. plus it doesn’t heat up the house.
we do popcorn on the stove for a snack, so much better than the microwave kind and much more fun. hummus is great and simple. sweet potatoes fries are a nice alternative to french fries.
i’m also one of those mean moms that tell the kids they can’t have anything to eat until they eat something that resembles a vegetable. i try and make fun, too, though and buy a totally random vegetable and make it a food adventure. the don’t always love the food,buta it gives us lots of laughs around the table as we try new foods.
i sneak vegetables in spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and such. like zucchini and carrots. we do lots of muffins, i switch out with some whole wheat and reduce the sugar.

Rebekah - I try to keep at least some of these on hand to offer Ginny when she whines about being hungry (roughly every 50 minutes):
cheese
apples
bananas
grapes
whole wheat snack crackers (Wheat Thins or Trisquit)
dried cranberries
baby carrots
not-so-sugary cereal like Chex or Quaker Oatmeal Squares
almonds
boiled eggs
yogurt

Donna - We eat a lot of popcorn at our house. Also peanut butter with apples and peanut butter/banana sandwiches. Cheese quesadillas are a favorite too!

deb meyers - definitely the spinach smoothies, too. Strawberries, spinach, cold cucumber, and orange juice … really good!

kat - in looking for ideas like you, I came across this:
http://blog.superhealthykids.com/healthy-recipe-index/
hope it’s helpful. also love looking through the comments on this post! very helpful 🙂

carly - take a whole wheat tortilla with some shredded cheese, microwave for about 45 seconds and add whatever lunch meat and veggies, salsa, salad dressing…

Kari - Grilled cheese with apple slices on it

deb meyers - Heat 2 jars favorite spaghetti sauce (like Ragu, etc) with 1 box THAWED chopped kale or spinach from the freezer case, you can also add 1/2 bag pre-grated carrots from the produce section. The greens cook up very dark and scattered through the mix aren’t obvious; spinach is of milder taste than kale but both are superfoods. Serve over pasta of choice with a side of pre-boiled, then grilled Italian sausage for the big eaters.
From frozen foods section, too: Large bag of whole, Long green beans. Toss with olive oil and sea salt and roast at 375-400 until crispy. Dip in sweet/n/sour sauce or ranch dip.
Peanut Sauce (I like Alton Brown’s recipe or you can buy pre-made) poured over hot rice tossed with frozen green peas (they stay bright green this way, and gently thaw without getting pale stinky), pineapple chunks, and a side of baked chicken drumsticks. YUM!
Boxed Kraft Bacon/Ranch pasta salad mix tossed with 2-3 cans of drained tuna. Make a boatload. Serve cold!
Hot dogs over the firepit.
Any hand-held fruit grilled is delicious. Also red peppers, mushrooms and corn on the grill, yum.

Linda - Oatmeal with any or all of the following: peanut butter, jam, trail mix or mixed nuts, bananas.

shannon - you have so many ideas here i ended up skipping through them….so these may have already been shared….
easiest way to get kids their veggies? zucchini muffins….and, the completely healthy option? smoothies with either spinach or carrots thrown in….they will know they are in there, so it might be the challenge to get them to go for the green color – but make it a dare or something….promise you they can’t taste the greens. favorite has strawberries, bananas, pineapple, orange, oj or water and spinach….i also love smoothies with milk and/or plain whole yogurt to get more goodness in. i use any leftover smoothies in popsicle molds….i’m sure they’d eat popsicles even if they don’t drink the smoothies!
my kids just ate scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for lunch.
chick peas, cheese sticks, popcorn, yogurt, hummus with crackers or veggies, apples with pb, canteloupe and watermelon, have been some of our pool favorites lately.
black bean and corn salsa…eat with tostitos, so it isn’t totally healthy but gets the beans in them! they love it. great option with the quesadillas….plus homemade guacamole.
i do wagon wheel pasta with peas and carrots with a little butter, garlic salt and parmesan a lot. easy and quick.
fun desserts lately….any fruit drizzled with a little chocolate.
chocolate milk can fill a belly.
have fun!

elisabeth (bovagoods) - frozen gogurt.
cheese quesadillas.

Monica - i was at the library one day and noticed Jessica Sienfeld’s Deceptively Delicious cookbook. Thought we would give it a try and my daughter loved all the receipes we tried. she even helped in some of them. There are brownies that you can put cauliflower or spinach in and you CANNOT taste it ! You just puree the spinach or whatever. Just my opinion and worth a try. Plus I don’t know if ya’ll have a whole foods or a fresh market in kansas but they have great premade dips and salads. And they have great recipes on their websites and coupons ! Good luck !

Stephanie - You MUST make this with your littles!
I run an in home day care and my littles love to help me make these –
INDIVIDUAL HOMEMADE PIZZAS
1 tube of pillsbury grands biscuits
1 can or bottle of pizza sauce
cheese-mozz, cheddar, parmasean
1 pkg of the mini pepperoni (these are so darn cute!!)
what ever other vegetables you can sneak on there! chopped tomatos might be easy to sneak!!
* Take 1 biscuit at a time and start flattening it in your hands, once it is semi flat – put it on your cookie sheet and continue flattening it so that it is the thickness of regular pizza crust.
* do the rest of the crust
* spoon your desired sauce on
*sprinkle a little parmesean cheese & shredded mozz (just a little
*sprinkle pepperoni, and other vegetables
*top with more cheese
*cook according to the biscuit directions!
YUMMY YUMMY
The kids LOVE to help make them!
I will think of more of our favorites and send them along!

adrienne - i love reading everyone’s great ideas!! my kids like hot lunches often. they don’t get one everyday but here’s a few…
chili mac: barilla whole wheat pasta elbows, mix with a can of chili (turkey chili is really pretty good and healthy), top w cheese. not my fave but the kids love it.
grilled cheese or grilled ham n cheese
beanie weenies (really!) hot dogs or even left over german sausage cut up small, pork n beans. add bbq sauce to taste. cook in microwave or oven till boiling. yummy with cornbread.
nachos
and for snacks…
popcorn, while hot pour m&m’s (any kind) on top
pnb toast, sprinkle with sugar before broiling or top with bananas after cooking
good luck!!!

Keri R. - I love making bagel pizzas and english muffin pizzas!
Do they like tuna? Mix a tuna, some hummus, and some bbq sauce together and you have the best tuna sandwiches ever!
Scrambled Egg, Cheese, and Bacon rolled up in a tortilla to make a burrito is a favorite of my hubs!
Stromboli usually pleases everyone!
Sweet Potato fries! Seriously everyone loves these! Just cut a sweet potato into fry shapes and coat with a little coconut oil and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes turning halfway! So good! Even the veg haters will like these!
I love tomato soup with rice mixed into it!
Okay and this last suggestion is awesome but not healthy! Spread slices of bread with peanut butter and top with marshmallows, place under the broiler until the marshmallows are browned! Put two slices together to make a sandwich! SO GOOD! Seriously!

Kristy - I know what you mean! I think all of us moms struggle with this at times. I’m going to have to go back and read these. Here’s mine:
Snacks:
Hummus with crackers, carrots and cucumbers
Edamame – but these don’t last and you would have to buy a lot for 5 kids 🙂
Trail mix – store bought or I make my own
Bananas and apples with Peanut Butter
Hard-boiled eggs – my kids love them!
Avocado spread on sourdough toast
Vanilla yogurt topped with fresh berries and granola
Try making smoothies with Kale (spinach). They won’t even know it’s in there! I add whatever fresh fruit I have and/or frozen fruit. I always have some bags of frozen fruit in the freezer and I freeze overripe bananas. I use some kind of juice that has no added sugar. I don’t find that I need honey to make it sweeter. You could add yogurt too and I’ve added avocado (fresh or I freeze overripe) for protein. If you have enough fruit you can’t taste the Kale or the Avocado. It’s the bomb and great for mama too!
Meals:
Tuna Casserole with frozen baby butter peas as a side
Tacos or Burritos
Grilled Cheese
Scrambled Egg sandwiches or Pancakes for Dinner
BLT sandwiches or substitute Avocado or Cucumber – they love it on sourdough
Pasta with butter and freshly grated parmesan. I buy a big block of parmesan and grate it myself or the kids do. It’s more expensive but it lasts a long time. They love topping their pasta with it.
Frozen meatballs from IKEA – they LOVE them!
Another trick – add a bag of spinach leaves to your pasta when it’s almost done.
Have they tried artichokes? One of my kid’s favorites! They can be expensive but they are a nice treat. You can google how to cook. We eat with melted butter not mayo – ick! – but a lot of people like the mayo
Great post!

Valerie @ Chateau A La Mode - Okay Meg, I asked my kids…”What are some healthy snacks we eat?” My kids said, “What? We don’t eat healthy snacks!” There you have it from my peanut gallery.
I do have some ideas that they did come up with after they thought about it for a minute. One is trail mix….
Nuts
Dried Cranberries
M and Ms (sorry, we have to have some fun)
The other idea is Hummus and whole wheat pretzels. Trader Joes has lots of good flavored Hummussss (didn’t know how to make that plural) so it doesn’t seem so healthy!
Good luck and let us know what you try.

betsy berre - pasta salads:
great way to get raw veggies (smothered in dressing) eaten…
cheese tortellini or rotini are our favorite pastas
add broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cubed cheddar cheese
easy dressing is italian…
BUT our favorite dressing is a little pesto & balsamic vinagrette

Jen - frozen grapes

Lana - Chips & salsa;
PB & bananas;
Veggies & dip;
DIY pizzas w/english muffins;
Fruit salsa & cinnamon chips
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Annies-Fruit-Salsa-and-Cinnamon-Chips/Detail.aspx

Angel/TaDa!Creations - I’m looking forward to going back and reading all the comments, later tonight.
I make homemade granola all the time and my kids love it with yogurt and fruit. I also make a lot of oatmeal on the stove (not the quick cook or microwave kind). Also, if they can fry an egg then a homemade egg mc-muffin with ham and cheese makes a really easy breakfast.
Taco salad is a fave too. Just have some taco meat on hand and it’s easy for them to heat up and make it as a soft taco or a salad (sneak some veggies there). We always top our taco salads with Western dressing too.
Make a crock-pot of chicken taco meat or a chuck roast in BBQ sauce and you have easy sandwiches anytime too. I’ve been buying shredded cabbage and cole slaw dressing to since potato salad takes more effort.

Jessica - Love my food processor! Here are a few ways it’s used
Another idea for make your own pizzas…shred 2 lb. of carrots in the food processor and store in the fridge. I sneak these into the pizza sauce:) The kiddos don’t notice with the cheese. sometimes i’m able to sneak a little spinach, too. Also, they’re great in salads and hidden in quesadillas. I find we eat more of them if they’re ready to go.
Zesto pesto recipe (again from recipezaar) uses lots of spinach and basil…my kiddos love it on pasta for lunch. Sub pumpkin seeds for the pine nuts for better nutritional value and less flavor:)
Pumpkin bread. I usually cut the sugar in most recipes. We like to add molasses!

Jamie - I hear you! And they eat so much during the summer!
My kids won’t make sandwiches so I try to get them to eat more protein with hard boiled eggs & beef jerky.
Sorry, not much help.
Good luck!

katie p - trail mix, a little sweet but not too much! make a big batch of whole wheat waffles, pancakes of muffins and then microwave them each morning for breakfast. Make your own fruit roll ups with real fruit! freeze yogurt and make popsicles. popcorn. apples and peanut butter. smoothies..

Christy - Oh & grilled cheese, pizza bites (our best bites).

Christy - Breakfast: everything bagel w/cream cheese, oatmeal, cereal (not the sugary stuff), rice cake w/natural PB, PB & jelly on a high fiber whole grain english muffin. I serve w/either yogurt (Horizon makes tube yogurt) or a drinkable yogurt.
lunch/dinner: pasta w/a little olive oil (or butter & garlic) & parm cheese, sometimes we add mini-pepperonis & mozzarella, home-made bagel pizzas(plain mini bagels, little garlic powder, sauce, cheese & toppings if desired), meat & cheese roll-ups w/crackers, chicken soup, home-made chicken nuggets (www.skinnytaste.com), pizza-dillas (tortilla w/cheese & pizza topping, dip in pizza sauce), quesadillas, lasagne, spaghetti, subway :). I always serve w/one veggie, usually brocoli w/light ranch, sometimes lettuce, carrots, cukes & one dairy (colby jack cheese is a fav).
For me I found it helpful for my son to help in the kitchen & also the way I described fruit/veggies to him. He loves brocoli (raw),which I told him were like mini-trees, pomegranates, he LOVES, I told him they taste like candy, same w/bluberries, etc. My son isn’t a big snacker, although we have healthier baked chips, graniola bars (or make it) & wheat goldfish. I work FT+ outside the home, so I try to make bathes of stuff on the weekend so we can have good options for the week. I also like to wash/prep/cut fruits & veggies to be ready to go for a quick snack & bananas & such available at kid-reach to have easy access. There is the occasional soda & oreo cookies (both for DH & son), luckily though my son prefers water over capris & likes milk w/cookies. 🙂

Anna - We eat lots of fruit, fruit salad and smoothies. I like gettin plain yogurt and just blending it up with one or more fruits. Quesadillas are an easy thing, you can add ham or turkey to make it a little more interesting. We also eat a lot of sandwiches and pasta salads. My mom used to make big pots of a couple things once a week and we would just eat that until it was gone. She would make chilli, or chicken salad, or pasta salad or something like it.

Anne Marie - I’m not a parent but I am picky eater so I have some veggie ideas. First, almost any ground meat meal can be supplemented with frozen soup veggies (those cheap packs of carrots, corn, peas, etc.). Meatloaf, tacos and sloppy joes all taste great this way and it saves some money since frozen veggies are cheaper than meat. With the sauce, you can’t taste the veggie flavor. Also: spinach hides well in sauces. Frozen spinach can be grated into pasta sauce or mac & cheese without changing the flavor. Lots of pasta brands now are cheap and have fiber, whole wheat, calcium and vitamins. Many sauces have full veggie servings. Hope this helps!

Jenn - Cucumber Salsa
Cucumber slices and feta cheese-my kids, even the ones who won’t eat cukes get excited and eat these, when I let them layer and stack the cucumbers and feta like little sandwiches…
Banana, pb, and skim milk smoothies
Cinnamon toast

Angie M - Eggs every morning….with diced ham or sausage. The frozen kind you just warm in a little water.
Ham rolled with “sprinkle” (shredded) cheese.
Grill extra the night before…hamburgers, chicken, pork chops. We eat chicken and chops on salads for lunch the day after. Yes, my kids LOVE salads!
Applesauce (strawberry only)
carrots and dip
apples and almond butter
all kinds of fruit
dried fruit–cherries with a few walnuts tastes like cherry pie…..if you squint your eyes and hold your head sideways:)
Love seeing all of the new ideas….Thanks, moms!

Marisa - I really love all of Estela’s ideas from her blog The Weekly Bite under “Kiddie Lunch Box”: http://weeklybite.com/kiddie-lunch-box/
We’ve used some and love them all.

suzka - Quesadillas. Use whole wheat tortillas and cheese, but supply a few other items (like sauteed zucchini or thin strips of red bell peppers or shredded chicken or shredded carrots or avocado or tomato) that will also get added. Our rule is that our kids are exempt from eating one of the items on the list. They get to choose which one they exclude, but it means that they are getting the rest of the stuff, and they feel like they had a say in things. They also help to build it, which greatly improves their buy-in.

Marie - tortellini
yogurt, frozen gogurt
oatmeal
pasta
grilled cheese
quesadillas
green smoothies- mix veggies in with fruit and yogurt and you don’t taste the veggies!
lots of fruit and popsicles

Bethany {3SonsPlus1} - Oh man, do I hear ya! Great ideas above, too…wow! One of our absolute faves is stonewheat crackers (or triscuits or other cracker) topped with whipped low-fat cream cheese and strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and other fruits- I promise, it is so, so good! And it’s easy for kids to make solo. Good luck!
Another fave is a breakfast tortilla, perfect for any meal- scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, and shredded cheese wrapped up in a tortilla or…totally copying Dunkin Donuts here…in between an Eggo blueberry waffle- yum! Great protein, too!
Are your kids interested in “taking charge” of a certain meal each week? That seems to lighten my load a little bit and it breaks up the monotony. 🙂

Aimee - Great ideas – I’ve got nothing to add, just wanted to say thanks to everyone. I think you’ve all made a lot of lives easier this summer…

Aimee - Carnitas (pork) tacos is one of our newest favs (the WHOLE family). Buy a package of carnitas at Costco or in that section of the grocery store where you can buy pot roast that is precooked and heated in the microwave. The carnitas comes in the same kind of package. You heat up the carnitts, and put it in tortillas with some cheese (goes awesome with jack cheese, refried beans, diced tomatoes, whatever you like. Super quick and easy but still super yummy.

Kellie - My daughter loves peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. We also do quesadillas and nachos. One thing I do is cook hamburger meat, divide it up, and put it in freezer bags. That way we can make taco meat in a flash!

rebekah - refried beans with shredded cheddar quesadillas
pizza toppings and sauce on english muffins
homemade “lunchables” crackers, meat, cheese
nachos
cheese tortellini with marinara
leftovers – make double of whatever you cook for dinner and put it in the fridge. my family prefers this over anything.
i always add fruit to everything we eat for lunch and try to have some sort of cookies for dessert.
we eat alot of popcicles and popcorn for snacks in the summertime. i only allow one cup of juice/milk per day. anything else they drink has to be water.

merlin - I figure they won’t starve to death, we overfeed most everyone in this country, so during the summer they are on their own for breakfast and lunch. I make sure dinner is well balanced for their sake and the guilt factor (my sake). Beyond this lame approach, I keep lots of milk, buns or bread, peanut butter and cheese around, cut up veggies in the fridge and fruit, oh yeah, there’s ice-cream in the freezer and popsicles. I think they like the break from being force fed during the school year and nagged about good nutrition 🙂 It works for me! And as a disclaimer I did not do this while they were in the early years, about 3rd grade I started the slide.

Marie - My kiddos like apple slices with almond butter and raisins. (our version of ants on a log). For lunch, we go through a lot of tortillas with almond butter and honey. Sometimes, we add some granola for a crunch. Mixed nuts and dried fruit are a treat here, too. We add dark chocolate chips to make it special. I’m looking forward to sitting down and reading all the comments to get some fresh ideas. Great topic/question!

Kara - oh will you share some of the good ones people are suggesting?? I have a toddler and it is a similar battle. we are trying to eat healthier/less processed foods and it can be HARD when you feel super busy! let’s see… we eat nachos… not necessarily “health food” 🙂 but we load up tortilla chips with cheddar cheese, black beans, grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and cilantro…. sour cream… really anything works! super easy, i just line a cookie sheet with foil and pop them in the oven till the cheese melts! 🙂 we make lots of smoothies… 1 cup frozen berries, 1 cup ice, 1 cup yogurt, 1 banana… there you go!

shannon - Bagel pizzas. Whole wheat bagles toasted, tomato sauce with garlic and basil mixed in for sauce, grated cheese, and then you broil it in the oven for a few seconds until it gets all melty! My kids love them and they are easy!

jeana - We do hummus and crackers or veggies
yogurt (we like vanilla with bananas and sliced almonds)
homemade popsicles
smoothies
popcorn
trail mix
For lunch:
cheese quesadillas
baked potatoes
salad with rotisserie chicken shredded carrots, corn, red onion, and bbq sauce (and ranch with the bbq sauce is yummy but more calories)
chicken salad sandwich with mayo and mashed avacado and seasonings
Good luck!

Gretchen - Wow!!! The comments are amazing! I’ve gained so many great ideas!
My kids like pretzels dipped in peanut butter.
Simple cheese quesadillas.
Frozen Gogurts: they think they are eating popcicles (sneaky momma!)
Cheap snack: oyster crackers. My growing kids love them and they’re el cheapo!
*** By the way, could you do a little tutorial on how you made your “what do you feed your kids” sign/photo? Love the look. So many possibilities!

Melinda - I keep a bazillion homemade waffles in the freezer they can pull out anytime pop in the toaster and have with applesauce or no sugar jam. 2 fit in a quart freezer bag nicely.
We love frozen grapes or cherries that we purchase on sale or in season and pull out for hot days.
Tortilla’s and cheese melted in the microwave or toaster oven
Pizza toast! Just drizzle squeeze bottle pizza sauce on toast or leftover buns and top with grated mozzerella and melt
All easy for them to make themselves…

Naomi - Have you seen the idea of muffin tin meals? You put little bits of finger foods into each compartment, it makes eating so fun. It might be too young for your older kids, but I am 23 and I would love to eat every meal this way!
Just google image search ‘muffin tin meals’ and you’ll get the idea. (I can’t remember whose blog it is from, sorry to whomever is not getting the credit for this!)

Margi - Multigrain Cheerios are surprisingly good and healthy! (one cup with 1/2 cup skim milk = 150 Calorie breakfast!)
Another good breakfast that’s not quite so healthy is this one (kids love it!): http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/09/banana-chocolate-chip-pancakes-with-peanut-butter-syrup-chunky-monkey-pancakes/
As for lunch/dinner,
-cheese quesadillas (whole grain tortillas)
-grilled asparagus. yum.
-pork chops, steak etc. with a quick rub and grilled. fast & easy!
-roasted/grilled baby potatoes w/ olive oil & seasonings
-mini pizzas made with naan bread, pitas, pillsbury biscuits, etc.
Snacks
-frozen grapes
-celery with laughing cow cheese spread and craisins. mmm.
-tuna salad w/ crackers
-apples and peanut butter
Kids get used to anything. Seriously. I’ve gone totally to whole grains over the last few years and the kids love them now! I’ve lost 40 lbs in the last year and the boys have really been learning what’s healthy and what’s not. I think it’s good for them to get occasional treats but that the daily food is still pretty healthy. I’m not hardcore at all, I just think I’m saving them from obesity, diabetes, etc if I inform them a little now! Good luck… it’s crazy keeping the little monsters fed. My boys are 7, 5 and 1!

Melissa - What a great idea!
It’s bad enough that we have to find something to cook for dinner every night of the week, now we have to do it for lunch also. Haha.
Here are some I have found, i find a lot on pinterest, and it helps me to keep a list of ideas or i forget.
bananas and p.butter rolled in a tortilla and sliced.
taco in a bag
baked potatoes or cubed cooked potatoes with broccoli and campbels broccoli cheese soup.
little sausages wrapped in cresents and then baked.
chili dogs
blt’s
pizza on the grill (using tortilla shells)
i have a lot of great ideas on my pinterest..here is the link
http://pinterest.com/melissa_dubbs/must-eat-foods/
hope this helps, please share with us your finds.

Beth - Bow Tie Pasta boiled with a bag of frozen peas, then drained. Add butter and Parmesan cheese…YUM, and VERY easy peas-y! (pun intended 😉

Charity - Greek Yogurt keeps my kids feeling fuller longer…Chobani is the BEST (cheapest at Costco & Target), Hummus w/ Pita Chips or Baby Carrots, Bagels & Cream Cheese, Raisins & Cashews/Almonds/Peanuts, Watermelon (have it sliced in gallon bags with grapes), Granola Bars & Bananas

Amy - I read a tip somewhere the other day about a snack muffin tin. You fill each compartment of the muffin tin with healthy snacks that your kids can help themselves to – nuts, cheese, fruit, pretzyls, etc. Seems like a great idea to me!

Beth @ Dirty laundry - I don’t cook for lunch, just dinner, and mozzarella cheese sticks, fluffer nutters, yogurt, turkey dogs, and fresh fruit are our standard lunches.
Another fave is the mini pretzel rolls, if your store has them. (Not the big ones, there are maybe 12 in a bag)…I just put ham and cheese on them and microwave a bit, they love ’em).

Michelle - Cheese quesadillas are EASY (and can be done in the microwave if they aren’t picky that the tortilla is crispy)
Yogurt and granola is an awesome snack… and you can add fruit to make it more delicious
Or how about keeping sandwich fixings in an easy to reach place in the fridge, in easy to get into containers… it’s like a constant make your own sandwich bar! My mom did that, I loved it.

Kimmie - My super picky 7 yo loves “rolls”: tortilla spread with peanut butter or ham & chesee rolled up. He would eat them everyday and he can make them himself. My kiddos also eat a lot of yogurt, string cheese, apples. We also have our fair share of mac & cheese & nuggets 🙂

Laura - just with a focus on veggies…
our staples are:
ALL RAW! carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, green beans, peas in the pod, corn on the cob (boiled)
and the other dark green stuff is just sometimes… but better then nothing. And finding a recipe that uses lemon; like on broccoli or asparagus usually goes over better.

becky@oursweetpeas - Oh and a couple of decent cereals that my kids and husband LOVE are Honey Kix and Multi-grain Cheerios.

Laura Phelps - my tricks…give the food a FUN NAME, DRESS IT UP, turn it into a BAR, or PUT IT ON A STICK!
BAR FOOD (ingredients can be put out and kids can assemble!)
1. PARFAITS…low fat yogurt,layer of berries, granola…paper umbrella on top to dress it up!
2. SUPER DUPER NACHOS…baked chips, low fat cheese, black beans, grilled chicken, corn, avocado, fat free sour cream and salsa
3. TACO BAR..using lean turkey meat
ON AS STICK
1. grilled chicken, grapes, peppers, pineapple
2. fruit kabobs dipped in yogurt for breakfast
we grill a lot in the summer…turkey burgers, sausages, salmon burgers, and on the side a huge salad. My kids love salad DRESSING…I get a different variety of low fat choices
and in the LAZY not that healthy, more realistic department…
I buy LEAN HOT POCKETS WITH WHOLE WHEAT CRUST when they are on sale
ham and cheese for breakfast…
now I’m hungry…

becky@oursweetpeas - Such a good question. So many great answers. I 2nd or 3rd, 5th whatever, smoothies, quesadillas, hummous & pita bread. I found good basic smoothie recipes on sparkpeople.
My husband and I are getting healthy and taking our 4 year olds along for the journey. One thing I have discovered is it HAS to be convenient or NO ONE is eating it. Sometimes for us that means Lean Cuisines and for the boys just simple sandwiches or bowls of yogurt with fruit and some crackers just so that we are not picking up fast food or pizza.

beth - Chobani (low-fat or non-fat)Greek yogart, honey, granola cereal & a fruit of their choice.
Tortilla smeared w/cream cheese, turkey lunch meat, fresh spinach, avocado slices, a strip of bacon. I sometimes also use a roasted chicken that I picked up from the grocery store or just cook one up in the slow cooker, and shred it. These wraps travel SOOOO well. I make them the night before we are planing on heading out somewhere the next day (ie:zoo, park w/friends, a long drive in the country in the fall…) to make my mornings easier.
Picking up a chicken @ the grocery store or sticking it in the crock pot/slow cooker is a HUGE life saver for me. I actually have 2 so I can cook 2 chickens at once.
Pork butt/roast…..slow cooker with salt & pepper, shred in the cooker once cooked & add your fav BBQ sauce. Slap them on some buns. Wowzers!! So easy. The BBQ pork is also really good stuffed in a twice baked potato…. bake the potatoes (the BIG bakers are great), scope out good stuff into a bowl, add some BBQ pork, a scope of sour cream (or plain yogart), cheddar or jack cheese (or a little of both), scope back into potato skins and bake until golden on top. serve w/a salad & a cold beer.
We always have carrots, cucumbers, red/orange/yellow peppers ready to dip into ranch dressing.
I have an egg dish that we eat anytime of the day… 5 large eggs, 1 cup of milk, salt & pepper, handful of swiss cheese, handful of dices ham, teaspoon or two of dijon mustard, and a dash of nutmeg. Mix all together & pour into a pre-baked 9 in pie shell. Bake @ 375 for about 30-40 minutes. You want the eggs to just starting to become golden. let set for about 5 minutes before cutting into. Serve with salad/fruit.

Sophie - I agree on the peanut butter and apples thing.
If they start to get bored, you can core whole apples and stuff the PB where the cores would be. It keeps serving size constant and stops them taking extra peanut butter, too.
If you can make wholemeal muffins, they’re really great. From what I’ve seen kids love them, and plus, if you make them yourself they’re healthier.
You can make your own ice pops for when it’s super hot. Getting the kids involved means its more rewarding and fun for them, and plus, you know exactly what’s in them.
One of my favourite things is smoothies. It quashes hunger for a long time and they’re super easy and super healthy. Each one can make it with whatever they prefer and they taste AWESOME.
Hope everyone’s suggestions help. I don’t have kids so I can’t vouch for what they like but I’m only three years older than Lauren and those things up there are things that I really like and have for a long time (:

Tracie - I just wanted to add one more thing: my daughter has always been a great eater, not picky at all. My son would not eat his veggies and would only eat fruit. We just kept trying, trying, trying, encouraging him to at least eat a decent bite and to give it a real try, not just a nibble. Over time he has discovered many that he likes so I try to serve those. Both of my kids love going to the farmer’s market to pick out things to eat. They get really excited if it is something they chose.

G. - Quesadillas are always a hit in my house. We use whole wheat tortillas and you can fill them with anything you like. Hummus is always a good choice. My kids love it, but some do not.
Also, cut up fruit with a yogurt dip is good and they can do that themselves. Pita pizzas are fun and easy, too. Just take pita bread, and spread it with sauce, cheese, the usual pizza topping and pop it in the oven. Your big kids could easily make those. I also cut up a bunch of veggies and put them in a tupperware in the fridge so, when we need a snack, I can just pull those out and they are ready. I also just keep a bowl of fruit out so, they can grab something when they are hungry. One more idea..smoothie packs. You can put a bunch of chopped up fruit (your favorites) into little baggies in the fridge, and if they want a smoothie, they can take out a bag, throw it in the blender, add some juice, and viola! instant smoothie. You can also freeze the bags of fruit as well. I do this for quick breakfasts sometimes. Hope this helps a little.

Tracie - I HATED veggies as a kid and now as an adult I love them. Keep trying! One of my friends was so tired of her kids eating constantly all summer that she instituted a 2 snack a day policy. For one of the snacks they could only have fruit, an apple, banana, etc (something they could so self serve). The other snack of the day could be something from her snack jar, a small bag of chips, fruit snacks, etc. It limited the constant eating and encouraged them to eat at least one healthy thing a day.
We eat mini babybel cheese (from Costco), goldfish crackers, carrot sticks, fruit, etc for snack. For dinner I make something and if they don’t eat, I’ll see them at breakfast. Some nights we eat a big salad, some nights homemade pizza, burgers on the grill, etc. I like to make a week’s worth of menus and shop once and then I’m done for the week.

Holly - ok wow! YOu have gotten a ton of help already!
I always keep fruit in the fridge(watermelon, cantelope, oranges)
quesadillas(kids love these)
mine love tuna also
pb and j
my boy loves fluffernutters( pb and marshmallow fluff sandwich)
hmmm, I am lucky that my kids are not too picky and will eat some veggies but they too could eat ramen noodles everyday if I let them

heidi @ wonder woman wannabe - granola bars:
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/06/16/recipe-connection-homemade-granola-and-granola-bars/
trail mix (combo of different nuts/dried fruit/seeds etc.)
fruit parfaits:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tropical-fruit-parfaits-10000001854044/
in the summer – fruit smoothies are a must!! 🙂
http://www.smoothieweb.com/
for lunches – i’m a big fan of melts – super easy to just pick meats/cheeses to put on top of bread/bun/english muffin – pop it in the oven and all the flavors burst when heated….mmmm.
here’s a fun one for kids:
http://www.frenchs.com/recipe/funny-face-sandwich-melts-RE0295.html

Amy - Smoothies! I agree with others on this one. I have extremely picky eaters over here, my 6 year old wont eat carrots because “they are orange” really its that bad. I make “green smoothies” every day and both boys (ages 6 and 3) gobble them right down, they have no idea what they are eating, i put them in solid colored cups with lids and straws 🙂 I make mine with water, spinach sometimes spring mixed greens, a few (ok maybe like 6-8 swirls of agave nectur, frozen strawberries, a peeled apple and a bannana. They are yummmy, and this is coming from someone who doesnt like greens or green salad AT ALL!. Good luck!

Denissa - This is one of the MAIN reasons I dread summer!! My 3 boys seriously will eat non-stop!
Our favs are:
quesadillas
nachos w/ refried beans & cheese
apple slices w/ peanut butter
graham crackers or ritz w/ peanut butter
frozen go-gurts

Rachel J - So many great comments- I am making a list!! Smoothies are awesome- and veggies can be added to fruit smoothies without changing the flavor.
We eat the same things= but change it up. Sandwiches get old- making wraps or braids help with the mundane. Pizza is a favorite- I make a big batch of naan and freeze it for fast crust. We also love to use bagels, pita, tortillas, or french bread for crust. Tons of quesadillas and make your own nachos.
I have a veggie eater- so we try out lots of salad (although I need some help in the vinaigrette department so that I don’t get bored!).
It always seems like a lot of work to plan out our dinner menu- so adding lunches makes it easy to get in a rut. Thanks for all of the great ideas!

Amy@Let's Explore - We do lots of muffins – pumpkin, zucchini, apple, banana. I make them with whole wheat pastry flour and usually cut the sugar in half. I make a bunch, throw them in the freezer, and microwave for 20-30 seconds as needed.
English muffin pizzas are quick and easy. Sometimes I can sneak spinach leaves under the cheese.
Tortilla roll-ups: sweet (cream cheese or peanut butter with jam or honey) or savory (turkey & cheese, sometimes they let me add lettuce)
We’ve tried quite a few recipes from Cooking With My Kid that my girls have liked, too: http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/
Lots of great suggestions here in the comments – hope you find some easy things your kiddos will eat. Happy summer!

Kimberly Au - http://beccacc.tumblr.com/post/1167607002
How yummy do these look?! Probably trying these today since I have all the ingredients.

Angie - You could load the fridge with a go-to meal. A huge pot of spaghetti with marinara and a random add-in (mushrooms, peppers, sometimes meat sauce) that you can heat up when you get hungry and make your own garlic toast. Sometimes pesto or alfredo and chicken.
Crescent dough ready to go to fill with turkey and cheese, pizza toppings, etc then bake. Ready to go pizza crusts were great but a treat.
Rotate fillings for wraps and sandwiches then it’s up to them to fill them up. Switching up ingredients so they don’t get bored. We experimented a LOT with mexican wraps, sandwiches with different dressings, etc.
We had a cupboard that was always stocked with pretzels, oatmeal, applesauce, microwave popcorn, healthyish stuff we could grab and make ourselves.

Shelly - OH man i am loving all these idea’s… and i was desperate too having 3 boys myself.
One of our faves is to take a can of Grands biscuits, press them to form a little hollow, spoon on pizza sauce and top with mozzerella cheese and any other toppings you like. Bake according to the directions on the Grands biscuit tube. Super easy and the kids love them!

knittingshelley - corn on the cob
tuna melts
deviled eggs
chicken wings
sweet potato fries
fruit salad

cassie o - deli ham, spread with cream cheese, wrapped around a pickle
toast bread, spread with mayo, top with tomato slices
grilled cheese and soup
blt sandwiches
frozen pizzas
shredded chicken sandwiches
taco soup/walking tacos

Leah - Oh, and muffin pizzas. Get an English muffin and top it with pizza sauce and moz cheese. Heat in a toaster oven or oven. Bam – you’re done.

Erin - 1. Whole-wheat english muffins w/ a little tomato sauce, cheese, and whatever other “pizza” toppings they want
2. Peanut butter on celery, with “raisin” bugs or sub-in apples instead of celery
3. Turkey and cheese “roll-ups” on tortillas
4. Yogurt w/ granola or fruit
5. They love any kind of “breakfast” for lunch, too
Luckily, I only have to please 2 these days… but with the third on the way, I know I’ll be in your shoes in a few years. Good luck 🙂

evan - i make these little muffins my kids LOVE using a box of cake mix… any flavor, but devil’s food is our fave. just dump the mix (JUST the mix) in a bowl and add a can of pureed pumpkin. if you want, you can add a little vanilla or some chocolate chips. mix together, plop into mini muffin tins and bake for like 10-12 minutes at 350. they are decadent!! AND you can let them taste the batter since there is no raw eggs in there 🙂
that’s all i got.

Erin - I don’t have any food ideas to add…but I do have these 2 things…
1. KC is getting a Trader Joe’s this summer!
2. To make smoothies easier (even the little kids can do it), I’d highly suggest buying the Magic Bullet. Totally an infomercial event – but really easy to use and you can make your smoothie in the same container you drink it out of. My kids love it!
Good luck! I’m going to try the suggestions of the other readers!

Leah - Quesadillas made with whole wheat tortillas. Super easy — just melt cheese between the tortillas in the microwave. I’ve found the only way I can get Sophie to eat veggies is using ranch dressing. So we make ranch and she dips carrots in it. Pitas with cream cheese is another favorite. Do any of them like tuna? My daughter loves tuna salad. You can also wrap it in a tortilla. Oh, and sometimes I make an easy chicken noodle soup. Just broth, shredded chicken (just may a rotisserie chicken) and egg noodles. Easy and you can make a ton and keep it in the fridge.

rebecca, who has to sneak out for food after the kids are in bed because I can't stand the thought of pizza again - Without cereal, mac & cheese and ramen our household would starve. Picky doesn’t even begin to cover the food issues we’ve got in this house. And that’s just my hubby….never mind the five kiddos.
I have found a variation on chicken nuggets that makes it not so boring for me to eat: chicken breasts cut up (or the tenders/strip kind where the work is already done) dipped in flour, then egg, then panko japenese breadcrumb things and fried in a pan of oil. Cook them the rest of the way in the oven (about 10 minutes at 350) and then let ’em dip in the yummiest stuff ever: panda express mandarin sauce that you can buy in a bottle at Walmart.
{I read through all the other comments looking for ideas and I can’t believe the things that other peoples kids will eat.}

Brigid - I do not know that I have even 5 healthy things to share;-) and my problem is the massive amounts consumed-yikes. I try to keep a large container in the frig with cut up watermelon, honeydew, grapes, berries-it is cool and ready. Also, I freeze sliced bagels and pancakes that they can heat up themselves (both could be healthied up by being whole grain) We try to do a big grill on Sundays=chicken, burgers, sausage, etc (but a couple of different types of meat so that, at least for the 1st few days of the week there are already prepared choices (chicken for quesadillas, salads,etc). Happy summer!

allison - Make your own pizzas (easier to do with english muffins, browned tortillas or just a big loaf of italian bread or rolls), stuff your own baked potatoes, brown some ground beef and do tacos, grill chicken and do quesadillas, spaghetti and meatballs (make enough for 2 nights or to freeze). I also do a grilled cheese (with summer tomatoes, or you can add ham etc.!!) night each week, in the cooler months with soup.
Turkey Roll-Ups…far from gourmet, but tasty. Buy some good quality turkey breast, prepare some store bought stuffing and roll the stuffing inside the turkey…top with some store bought gravy (I’m lucky to have stores who carry some decent ones with not a lot of loaded sodium and other “stuff”) pour gravy over roll ups and bake at 350 for about 30-40 mins. Pretend it’s T-giving and serve up with some cranberry sauce:)
Monotony with dinner is pretty usual in my house. It’s the only way to get through…I hate thinking about what’s for dinner ALL THE TIME!
For breakfast…do they like eggs? Make egg sandwiches on toast…crack an egg in a mug, beat it with a fork, add shredded cheese and nuke for 1 minute, put on toast and eat! Yogurt is good too, frozen waffles…have to confess though, I love the easy convenience of cereal!!
Looking forward to reading other suggestions…good topic…I don’t know one mom who likes the phrase “what’s for dinner”!!!

Marie - Wow. Looks like everyone has some great ideas. I’ll have to come back and read it all when I have more time. We’re pretty simple. Our kids love cucumber cream cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. They also love fruit parfaits…when we make them, I use sliced strawberries, blueberries & raspberries or whatever is on sale that week and layer it with fruit, some whipped cream, sprinkle cinnamon sugar and repeat until you have a couple layers. We also make a lot of homemade pizza b/c I have a bread machine that will make pizza dough for me. It’s pretty cost effective. Homemade hummus with large pretzel braided twists is a favorite too, as well as homemade salsa & tortilla chips. You said your kids love white rice…so do mine. We get rotisserie chicken to eat with white rice a lot. My kids like soy sauce on their white rice and they love the rotisserie chicken w/ white rice w/ a little soy sauce, slice cucumbers and scrambled egg. Crazy combination but it is SO good. Try it!

Sy, Shaunna & The Boys - 1. Quesadilla with chicken and cheese, a bit of sour cream on top.
2. Apples and peanut butter, or apples with cheese.
3. Popcorn!
4. Anything with peanut butter on it, frozen waffles, bagels, bread, crackers….seriously, anything.
5. Egg tacos (just scrambled eggs, cheese, sour cream, salsa, taco shell).
6. Trail Mix (always have a huge homemade batch on hand, cereal, cheese its, peanuts, m&m’s, raisins, etc. Love!)
7. I blend fruit/veggies with some juice and put them into little containers in the freezer, the kids think its dessert, and nobody is the wiser.
8. smoothies.
that’s what we eat all summer, and then all the veggies growing in our garden, the boys love snap peas and ranch. who am i kidding, my boys love anything in ranch. good luck!

Sy, Shaunna & The Boys - 1. Quesadilla with chicken and cheese, a bit of sour cream on top.
2. Apples and peanut butter, or apples with cheese.
3. Popcorn!
4. Anything with peanut butter on it, frozen waffles, bagels, bread, crackers….seriously, anything.
5. Egg tacos (just scrambled eggs, cheese, sour cream, salsa, taco shell).
6. Trail Mix (always have a huge homemade batch on hand, cereal, cheese its, peanuts, m&m’s, raisins, etc. Love!)
7. I blend fruit/veggies with some juice and put them into little containers in the freezer, the kids think its dessert, and nobody is the wiser.
8. smoothies.
that’s what we eat all summer, and then all the veggies growing in our garden, the boys love snap peas and ranch. who am i kidding, my boys love anything in ranch. good luck!

Lisa - Ok, I lied. I have one more…. I make these yummy chicken tacos that all 4 of my kids love. Its the only meal no one complains… and its such a simple recipe. Stole it from a friend.
frozen chicken tenders
Light Kraft Catalina dressing
Corn (or flour tortillas to make burritos or soft chicken tacos)
Whatever toppings you like
Cook Chicken in pan (however much you think you’d need to
fill up the tacos for your family… cut up into small bite sized pieces with kitchen
scissors when cooked a little but not all the way
Add Catalina dressing to chicken and cook chicken completely. Add salt and pepper to taste
While chicken cooks, heat up oil and make crunchy taco shells (This is a little
time consuming but I prefer homemade crunchy shells versus store bought.
Obviously you can do whatever. Or use the flour tortillas to make chicken
burritos/soft chicken tacos.
Add whatever toppings you guys like…. sour cream, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese…
We eat them just chicken and cheese most of the time. And we eat white rice with it because
my husband is Samoan and eats rice with everything! 🙂 Also I make extra to keep in the fridge for the next day or so. Easy to heat chicken and throw together a soft taco with extra corn or flour tortillas.
Seriously, simple but the catalina dressing is such a great flavor on the chicken! If your kids don’t like them I will be surprised!
This isn’t a snack or a meal they could necessarily make themselves but maybe it’ll make a night with no complaining over food?!

sarah - My kids are eating the whole house this summer too. I MAKE them eat veggies though. They grew up knowing they have to and don’t whine that much anymore. That being said they prefer to eat everything you said – Mac and cheese, ramen, etc. I have one that’s the pickiest and I throw everything I can at him hoping at least one thing will land.
I know how hard it is to get kids to eat veggies, but have you tried roasting them? My kids will eat asparagus if it’s roasted.
Whole wheat tortillas are a life saver. I can add some cheese and just about anything else in it and they’ll eat it. I roll up turkey and cheese and cut them in circles.
Home made apple chips are one of their favorites and I make them in a big batch and they keep pretty well for about a week and a half
http://www.lifeisstillsweet.com/2010/09/homework-munchies.html
Pop corn is made at least 2 times a week.
I let them make their own yogurt parfaits by setting out cups and different fruit and yogurt and sometimes granola.
We make appetizer type meals and they think it’s so fun they’ll eat anything – pigs in a blanket, cheese and crackers, cut up fruit, I can make some bruschettas if they aren’t too crazy.
Frozen grapes are my favorite.
We also eat a lot of this soup in the summer because it requires little heat, it’s super cheap and everyone likes it.
http://www.lifeisstillsweet.com/2010/06/gift-of-time.html

Amy - I have one vegetarian (12 yo boy) and one with food allergies (9 yo boy) so we don’t do many convenience foods. I make yogurt/fruit smoothies alot, often adding some protein powder. We like all kids of dried fruits (regular and freeze dried) so we have that with some Cheerios for crunch. We eat lots of quesadillas, like others have mentioned. They really like greek salad and caesar salad (with chicken for the carnivores). We recently tried Alton Brown’s Thai spring rolls (without the shrimp) and they were a huge hit! Since then, I have wrapped leftover salads in the rice papers and they think it’s super cool. My boys are much better about veggies than they used to be but they tend to prefer them raw or barely cooked. The vegetarian doesn’t like cooked beans but loves hummus (including varieties made from other beans) and roasted beans (like wasabi peas). Great question – one everyone struggles with at some point!

Sheena Richmond - Almost forgot this fav….Roasted Chick Peas. If you’re not sure if they will like it, make it, just leave them out in a bowl and see if they don’t pick one up and try as they walk by. Or tell them not to eat them, they are your snack! (reverse phsycology 🙂 Here’s the recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/roasted-chickpeas/Detail.aspx
Enjoy!

Eckmama - one place I’ve found for healthier snacks/meals is heavenlyhomemakers dot com. She has four bottomless pits. I mean BOYS. LOL
Our most recent breakfast discovery that has been super great are egg muffins, although I don’t think they can be called muffins if there’s no bread in them. ??? LOL
Muffin tin. Spray it a lot a lot a lot.
put some kind of potatoes in the bottom (square cut hash browns, shredded hash browns, tater tots…).
Mix up a dozen eggs with…hmm. probably 1-2 cups of milk. whisk together. pour eggs over the potatoes until the muffin cup is about 3/4 full.
then you add your toppings. (I’ve experimented with this and found this to be the best way so far.) shredded cheese is a must, and we’ve used bacon and sausage (already cooked). I like mine with green chiles but nobody else does. There might be a way to puree your veggies and mix them in with the eggs/milk. I need to try that (we have the same veggie issue).
Then you bake the egg not-muffins at 375 for about 15-20 minutes. One dozen eggs should make two dozen not-muffins. THEN, you let them cool, and put them in the fridge, and make a rule that they’re each only allowed two per day (preferably two for breakfast). The protein will help keep them full longer, they’ve started their day with a healthy breakfast that they can microwave themselves, and you’ve got a few days’ worth of breakfast ready to go.
What I remember as a kid, and what I see now in my own kids, is that often they are eating because they’re bored. So I tell mine, when they’re huuunnggrryyy (and whiny) that their only snack choice is, for example, celery with peanut butter. Or carrots. Or a piece of fruit. If they’re really hungry, they’ll eat it. If not, they’ll stop asking. : )

Jen CD - POPCORN! I think I ate it everyday in the summer when I was a kid!

Kerry - American gals…….. are your kids SERIOUSLY on vacation from now until September???????????????

Lisa - ok, last one… do you have a TRADER JOES in your area?? They have so many good frozen meals that are pretty easy to whip up. And all their food has more natural ingredients. Even their desserts! More natural ingredients but still yummy! Frozen pizzas, taquitos, pastas, etc….
btw, do your kids like edamame?? Some of my kids will eat those. Trader Joes has a frozen bag that I thaw and throw on a plate with any meal.

Sheena Richmond - I agree…keep trying the veggies. They say that kids taste buds continually change and what they don’t like one week, they may the next.
I find if I get my kids involved in preparing them, even growing them, they are more likely to at least try them.
Waffle maker was the best purchase for us. They are quick to make and can be topped with anything from syrup to yogurt and fruit.
Pita chips…cut up pita bread, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toast under the broiler til crisp. Serve with hummus…yumm!
Try having your kids go online or look through a cookbook, pick out a recipe that interests them and is fairly simple. Pick up everything they need to prepare and see if they can do it themselves. They will be so proud 🙂 It will keep them busy for a while :):) and you don’t have to make dinner :):):) If all goes well, it becomes their specialty and they are proud to prepare it again and again.
TV eggs are fun: Cut a circle out of the middle of a slice of whole grain bread using a glass. Butter the bread of both sides, circle included and put in a frying pan. Crack an egg into the centre of the bread. Flip when firm and toast the other side. Quick and easy.
Two of my three love a toasted whole grain bagel, topped with light cream cheese (any flavour) and sliced cucumbers. Sprinkle with fresh dill and salt and pepper. Sometimes we buy the strawberry cream cheese and top with fresh sliced strawberries.
Great post idea Meg…I’m enjoying everyone elses ideas too!

Lisa - One more….link for recipe for healthy muffins below….
Seriously they are really good. I add an extra egg, 2 mashed bananas
and cut the sugar in half. They are moist… not dry like you’d think for
healthy muffins.
I also do not put fruit or pecans in them because my kids
don’t like that. I make a double batch and freeze them. That way we
can pop them in the microwave for about 45 sec and then toast for a
tiny bit and they are a yummy warm snack or breakfast. I love them
and some of my kids do too…
ps- I couldn’t find the natural oat bran at my regular store so I had to hit Whole Foods for that one item which is a bit of a bummer. However, it lasts forever if you keep it in your freezer. I also keep the wheat germ in my freezer. Do they have specialty health food stores in your area? You may be able to leave that one ingredient out. I don’t think it’d change anything.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Oatmeal-Muffins-361819?mbid=ipapp

Katy - gerber baby food. 😉

Tami - Wow does this post ring true with me! I have 3 BOYS home for the summer and they will eat anything that isn’t nailed down! They aren’t super picky, but yes, they would eat Top Ramen everyday! I have gone to only buying 6 pkgs a month, so they have to make that last. We do sandwiches, leftovers, fruit, veggies, LOTS of soup, Nachos, crackers and cheese, quesadillas, grilled chees sandwiches and tomato soup, and I make TONS of muffins and cookies for dessert. Lunch is such a hard meal isn’t it? Really, I just look for the basics to serve for lunch, and sometimes they get bored with it, BUT, if they are hungry enough, they will eat what I put in front of them!

Jen CD - I will vote for smoothies too…there is so much you can hide in there and they never notice (I have even put tofu in and it just adds to the creamy-ness).
Peanut butter and apples rolled up in a tortilla.
My kids will eat lots of veggies, as long as there is dip involved…home made ranch or hummus.
Granola bars, GORP, and quesadillas always work too.

Lori - When you have differing tastes and styles, the best thing I have found is “make your own” fill-in-blank – examples – quesadillas, burritos (for dinner, have bowls of topping, refried beans and meat).Plain green salad and lots of toppings, make your own. Plain pasta , lots of toppings. Pizza crusts or pitas, lots of toppings.
Also, popcorn is not bad for them. Make a big homemade batch. Cut up ALOT of fruit, store in separate containers.
Cereal/fruit bars. Mozzarella cheese sticks. Cinnamon toast on ww bread.
The main thing that works for me: don’t buy the crap, if they get hungry enough, they will eat what you have! And whiners get to pick a chore from the chore jar. My kids have been told that I am not the cruise director – whining that “I’m hungry” and “I’m bored” result in the chore jar. Boredom leads to creativity.
Also, partner an older child with a younger, and they make dinner one night. They always eat what they pick out!
Alot of random suggestions. Hope some will help!

kris - Get them involved! Oh and get them making THEIR OWN chicken nuggets from scratch! Cstco tenders, thaw, roll in egg and bread crumbs (the can from costco) and BAKE them…
Send them on ahunt for a few recipes and ideas! They will probably find some great yummy stuff!Maybe one day a week it’s is their job to do the snacks or a meal!
ps I love the storm shots…surreal!

BriBedell - 1. Cous cous with sundried tomatoes and diced chicken! Good hot or cold!
2. BLT sandwiches
3. Steamed Broccoli or asparagus (yes my one child does eat this!)
4. Nuts (sunflower, peanuts, almonds)
5. Pretzels with humus or nutella!!!!

nicole @ deliajude - a tortilla with nutbutter wrapped around a banana is a hit. also quesadillas are easy for kids to make. picnic style lunch with meat, cheese, fruit, bread on a plate.
good luck with the feeding of your crew.

tiffaniboren - Wraps
Buy the large wraps in the bread section (Tomato and Basil..yum)
Cheese, Black Beans (drained), Salsa, Rice and Corn
Warm all in a pan and add to the tortilla and wrap and cut
Serve with Tortilla chips
Great dinner too!

Ariel - 1. Roasted Red Potatoes with olive oil, garlic salt and pepper. So yummy the next day!
2. Easy Pasta Salad- 1 lb. Rainbow Corkscrew pasta, any veggies you like (olives, shredded carrots, grated zucchini, thinly sliced red onion, thinly sliced red pepper, etc.) and one bottle of creamy Italian dressing. Cook pasta, add raw veggies, dump in salad dressing and chill….so good!
3. Ants on a Log (my kids are 2 and 4) PB, celery, and raisins.
4. Healthy Morning Muffins
1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg ( I personally like a little bit more, and I add 2 tsp. cinnamon as well)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or veg. oil)
1 large egg
1/3 cup skim milk
4 medium carrots, shredded
1 ripe banana mashed up
Preheat oven to 400
Coat a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray
in a large bowl, wisk together flour, brown sugar, b.s., b.p., nutmeg, (cinnamon) and salt until blended.
Stir in oats and raisins. Add oil, egg, milk, carrots and banana and stir till blended.
Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter…Bake for 20-23 minutes or till toothpick comes clean out of the center.
Serve warm or at room temp.
I add in about 2 tablespoons of wheat germ….just for kicks! I want to try some variations of this recipe…like shredded pear, ginger and dried cranberries sounds good to me! Let me know if you try anything new!!
5. Carrots, crackers, pretzels, chips dipped in hummus. Try different flavors. We love regular, garlic, and roasted red pepper.
Good Luck!

Lisa - I make smoothies for my kids a lot… pretty easy where I think your big kids could do them their selves. I always put a handful of fresh spinach in and I promise they cannot tell. I think my son would win for pickiest eater in the universe and he still loves the smoothie. I feel better knowing all my kids are getting spinach every once in awhile! Because they too don’t really eat veggies. For one person I just do 4 oz apple juice, about 4 oz of vanilla lowfat yogurt, 1/2 frozen banana, good sized handful of frozen fruit and a handful of spinach and blend away. You could just use non frozen fruit but it might be thinner consistency. I buy some frozen fruit and also freeze bananas and other fruit that is going bad. Pretty easy and full of good stuff! And a little different from the regular fruit they eat.
We also do turkey, cheese and crackers (wheat thins, trisketts) with fruit for lunch. My little ones love making “sandwiches” out of the meat cheese crackers. If they like avocado that’s yummy too. (My kids won’t eat avocado).
I also will make a huge plate of a variety of fruit and leave it out for a bit. They can come and get some whenever they want.
But I also do chicken nuggets a lot cause lets be honest, its easy and they’ll eat it.

Kelly - Snacks:
Apples with peanut butter, Nutella or caramel to dip in
Frozen Gogurts
String cheese
Graham crackers with peanut butter or Nutella
Popcorn
Muffins made with whole wheat flour and flax seed. (cookinglight.com has a list of healthy muffin recipes)
We go through an insane amount of whole grain Goldfish too
Lunches:
Smoothies
PB&J roll ups
Turkey dogs
Grilled cheese
Quesadillas
(Kraft does make an organic Mac n Cheese that tastes just like the real thing)

tiffaniboren - Pizza pockets: Pizza crust in the refrigerated section (1 can will make four) Spread out and cut into 4 sections
Pizza sauce: Spread on half of dough
Top with pepperoni, cheese, onion, bell pepper (sometimes we just do a veggie stuffed and leave off the pepperoni
Roll the other side over and close edges with a fork
Bake at 350 until golden brown
Use extra sauce to dip and add a salad with strawberries for a side
Yum! My kids are in high school/junior high and still love this even for a dinner!

Michelle Richmond - Fried egg sadwiches….on bread, toast, english muffins, or wraps. it’s out go to food when there is no time or the kids want to make something themselves. Michelle from Canada.

Leslie - 100daysofrealfood.com has some great kid friendly healthy snack ideas and recipes. Keep trying veggies! My little brother hated veggies for years. And then one day he ate all the green beans on the table. All of them.

Becky - That is a tricky one – I have the same problem only in our supermarkets you have such a limited choice of foods to buy I really struggle but some things that do work are
Banana chopped up with a teaspoon of peanut butter and drizzle of honey.
Ready Brek – like porridge but more instant – with maple syrup.
Strawberries – sometimes dipped in melted chocolate and left in the fridge.
Mango – lots of mango, we love it, just as is or in a smoothy made with orange juice and spoonful of cold hard honey and ice – that goes down well.
Smoothies of any kind involving frozen fruit and juice and honey work well.
Cheese and apple and peanut butter go down pretty well.
Pasta in general is very popular especially with a sauce that I make involving mince, tinned toms and chorizo – I always slip some veggies in there too.
Pretzels dipped in cream cheese are yum
The most popular lunch I make is a picnic lunch – just a plate full of small bits like ham, cheese sticks, crackers, strawberries, pepperami – whatever the individual child likes best really.
Good luck and I’m looking forward to reading all your replies ’cause I could really do with some ideas myself.
Love your blog so much by the way – I live in Oman in the Middle East and I lust over the beautiful home you have and all the fabulous things you find to put in it.

Regina - my boys really like chicken caesar salads these days!
they sometimes enjoy rice cakes w/ almond butter & crasins
one of them LOVES cheese & crackers every day every way possible
the other is more of a yogurt & fruit kiddo
ive been making TONS of smoothies lately for breakfast & after-school snacks (sneaking in the ground flax seed and/or spinach when possible) w/ the yogurt & fruit.
OH ~ *RAINBOW* fruit kabobs!
their fav summer time dessert (well besides ice cream) is cantaloupe w/ jello inside (i know how awful jello is for you but for a rare treat it’s ok)

Karie - We are quesadilla fools around here. The beauty is that everyone can make them how they like them. My kids love black beans and cheese on theirs. I go for sauteed mushrooms and onions on mine. Whole wheat tortillas can make them a bit healthier.

Jenn Shock - Yogurt and fruit parfaits! Just throw some plain or vanilla yogurt in a bowl, top with any kinds of fruits, and add some granola on top…YUM!
Tortillas with cheese in-between, heated on a griddle until cheese melts = instant cheese quesadilla (you could add canned or rotisserie chicken, or beans too) dip in guac or sour cream
nachos: tortilla chips topped with cheese, refried beans, ground beef or chicken, sour cream, rotel, or just about anything you like on nachos (you could make a nacho assembly line so they can add what they want)

Jessica - Try yogurt parfaits with fruit and homemade granola. Hummus with crackers is another favorite around here. Check recipezaar.com for recipes. Good luck! We’ll make it till September:)

Kerry - French Toast! (Eggy Bread) my kids luuurve that with syrup or ketchup 🙂
I totally know what you mean though.. they eat me out of house and home… and if i make stuff like a good mom should, they scoff it in FIVE minutes flat.
aarrgggh! Good idea to share though, could use the help myself xx

Courtney - Our favorite snack is peanut butter on bananas rolled in granola or just peanut butter and apples. If we are on the go we buy justins nut butters in the tiny packets and already cut costco organic baggies.

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