I really try to keep things basic and balanced at our house as far as breakfasts, snacks and lunches go - the majority of my meal planning is in building wholesome balanced dinners - with variety. I love stretching them just a bit to try new healthy things (that they will actually eat) Which is always a plus!
Our breakfasts usually consist of a homemade (carb) muffin or bread and fresh fruit with yogurt - milk or juice. A couple times a week a smoothie will replace the fruit/yogurt. They love it when this happens. I rarely serve cold cereal -- and my family is not a big fan of oatmeal. (Now if its baked into something that is a totally different story!)
This week they've been eating banana (apple) bread (I tossed in cooked apples before baking) and fresh sliced kiwi & oranges on the side. (we are doubling up the vitaminC lately) I've found with my own children that they eat eggs or larger breakfasts better for dinner. Which is completely fine with me - I love drinking my coffee and waking up a bit while they gobble down breakfast that was VERY easy for me to prepare.
Snacks - they get to pick one item from the snack drawer (they love Clif Kid Z Bars or homemade granola bars) and then I always offer a fruit or veggie with whatever snack they've picked. Occasionally they get cheese in place of the fruit or veggie. (cheese is always a favorite)
Lunches - I have been trying to incorporate leftovers into lunches. This has worked well so far. For example last night they had tacos - for lunch today they had burritos (leftover taco meat) then when I still had taco meat left after lunch today - I bagged it and tossed it into the freezer. So now I have taco meat in the freezer already ready for the next taco salad night...and no I did not cook up 5lbs of taco meat. I only cooked 1lb. of meat, but I always add 1 can of black beans, 1 can of diced tomatoes, and 1 can of diced green chiles. (plus taco seasoning) this really bulks up and stretches your taco meat and its oh so easy when it cooks itself in the crock pot. .::bonus!::.
When I don't have leftovers to play with meal wise - I usually prepare snacky type lunches. Pretty basic - a serving of each: grain, fruit, veggie, and something dairy wise. Sometimes we do crackers with meat/cheese. Occasionally wraps. Simplicity is the key for us - keeping meals fresh & fun. Little man loves peanut butter and honey sandwiches on whole wheat bread...its that easy. Not making it a large meal - but giving a little bit of variety. They really never know what is going to be on their plate :)
One of my rules of thumb...Even if you serve something with a veggie in it - (also serve that veggie as a side dish) They may surprise you. One day last week - little man actually asked if he could have broccoli with his breakfast (my husband as my witness) that boy ate leftover cooked broccoli with his cereal. He prefers his cooked veggies cold and it sounded good to him and we obviously had no issues with that!
If you are needing some "simple" fresh ideas - check out this website:
No comments:
Post a Comment