I’m not a nutrition expert. I’m a mom who has reached a relatively peaceful place in regard to what my kids eat so I can spend more energy keeping them from more immediate dangers, such as jumping off roofs or playing with matches. I’m a vegetarian and often get questions from friends looking to incorporate less meat into their family meals. I never know what to say because they are usually looking for recipes and I don’t have a great stash the whole family gobbles up. Feeding our family is more about state of mind.
Keep it Simple…and Separate
I’ve been there a million times and know you have too. Finding yourself saying, “…but you like all the things here, they’re just mixed together!” This happened for a couple years before it dawned on me not to mix them together in the first place. The key for me now is to think ahead a bit. As I’m cooking, I set the ingredients aside (pre-spicing, pre-fussing) and put them on the kid’s plates separately so they can mix as they see fit (or not). I include a small helping of the finished product because I insist they at least try what I’ve made.
Protein comes in many forms
The main concern for most people considering a no or less meat diet: “Where do you get your protein?” I am not qualified to make an official claim here. I’ll just say I trust the literature stating as long as a good variety of food is consumed, you don’t have to try very hard to get enough protein. Meat is a great source of course. I feed it to my kids in as ready-to-eat-but-still-healthy forms as possible (I hate cooking and handling it). I also feed them beans, cottage cheese, lots of veggies, yogurt, cheese, nut butters, quinoa (if I can trick them into it) etc. and I eat what they eat, minus those few helpings of meat per week. If a recipe looks good to me aside from the meat, I leave it out and offer it as a side dish and/or substitute in beans.
Family Style
Many days I just put out a bowl of chickpeas, a plate of salami/cheese, some sliced fruits/veggies and bread/pasta and call it a day. Sauce or jarred pesto can easily be added to pasta for pizazz, or my husband and I make a nice big salad for ourselves.
Try not to freak
Easier said than done but like everything else when it comes to kids, remind yourself everything is temporary…the bad and good. So, stop telling yourself you’re stunting your child’s growth if they refuse anything but PB&J for months. Try to resist gloating when they choose to munch on raw spinach as a snack for a week straight. This and all other food related challenges and triumphs will pass and change many times over. Just keep offering the variety and be sure they don’t burn the house down.
Sarah Stith lives in Boulder with her husband and 2 children (4 and 6). Before moving to Colorado, the family lived in Brooklyn, NY where Sarah worked as a dresser at The Lion King on Broadway. She is the founder of Raising Little Heroes, a group devoted to finding volunteer opportunities for families with young children.
Author: Amber Johnson
Amber is the founder and editor of Mile High Mamas, travel writer and former columnist for The Denver Post. She is a passionate community builder and loves the outdoors. She has two awesome teens and is happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin.
Amber Johnson
I like this. Too often I focus on what I’m serving them and not the how. It will make me rethink dinnertime!