From Breakfast to Dinner: Healthy Meal Ideas for Kids

A fresh year requires a fresh take on mealtimes

Let’s talk about…food! Chances are, if you are a parent of young ones and aren’t particularly a renowned chef in the kitchen, mealtimes can begin to feel monotonous. This is particularly true for parents of children with picky eating, who only want a highly restrictive repertoire of foods every single day. While an easy, stress-free solution is rarely realistic, what can help is consistency in at least offering novel foods in fun and engaging ways. This newsletter offers ideas for simple, hassle-free meals that incorporate healthy and nutritious foods that your kids may end up tolerating and enjoying. For those who experience daily stress and anxiety with feeding, know that feeding therapy is a real thing- reach out to us at CTC if you feel like a feeding evaluation would be helpful!

MONTHLY FEATURES

Book:
The Picky Eater Cookbook

With a focus on texture-sensitive little ones, this cookbook provides advice and recipes for incorporating new textures in a fun and alluring way.

Quote

I would not, could not in a tree. Not in a car! You let me be!

– Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham

For parents wishing to schedule a feeding evaluation, be sure to request a 3-day food log from your child’s therapist or at the front desk to help get the process started!

Nutritious and Delicious

Healthy eating for kids made easy

Ensuring kids eat healthy can sometimes feel like a challenge, especially with busy schedules and picky eaters. However, by incorporating creativity and balance into meal and snack planning, you can provide nutritious options that are both appealing and satisfying for kids. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Breakfast Ideas

  • Rainbow Smoothie Bowls:
    1. Blend together a mix of frozen fruits like berries, banana, and spinach with a splash of milk or yogurt.
    2. Top with granola, sliced kiwi, strawberries, and chia seeds for a fun, colorful start to the day.
  • Mini Breakfast Burritos:
    1. Use whole-grain tortillas filled with scrambled eggs, black beans, shredded cheese, and diced veggies like bell peppers.
    2. Serve with a side of salsa or guacamole/mashed avocado for dipping.
  • Banana Oat Pancakes:
    1. Mix ripe bananas, oats, eggs, and a pinch of cinnamon into a batter.
    2. Cook mini pancakes on a griddle and serve with fresh fruit or a drizzle of maple syrup or honey.

Lunch Ideas

  • DIY Lunchbox Pizza:
    1. Provide whole-grain pita bread or English muffins, marinara sauce, shredded cheese, and a variety of toppings (e.g., sliced olives, mushrooms, and bell peppers).
    2. Let kids assemble their own mini pizzas before baking them.
  • Turkey and Veggie Pinwheels:
    1. Spread cream cheese or hummus on a whole-wheat tortilla, layer with turkey slices, shredded carrots, and spinach, then roll and slice into pinwheels.
  • Bento Box Lunch:
    1. Include sections with whole-grain crackers, sliced cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, and a small portion of fruit like grapes or apple slices.

Snack Ideas

  • Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits:
    1. Layer low-sugar yogurt with granola and colorful fruits like blueberries, strawberries, and mango. Adding protein powder into the yogurt before adding toppings will add an additional boost of nutrients.
  • Veggie Sticks with Hummus:
    1. Offer a variety of vegetables such as carrots, celery, cucumber, and bell peppers alongside a small cup of hummus.
  • Homemade Trail Mix:
    1. Combine unsweetened cereal, dried fruits (e.g., raisins or cranberries), mini pretzels, and a handful of nuts or seeds (if allergen-safe).
  • Cheese and Apple Skewers:
    1. Alternate cubes of cheese and apple slices on small skewers for a fun, bite-sized snack. Always try to pair a protein (i.e., cheese; peanut butter) with fruit!

Oral Motor Exercises for Home Practice

Designed to strengthen the muscles of the jaw, lips and tongue, these oral motor exercises can be practiced at home to improve your child’s feeding skills!

Jaw Strengthening

Chewy Foods

Encourage chewing on firm foods like raw carrots, celery sticks, or bagels under supervision.

For younger kids, use teething toys or chewy tubes designed for oral motor therapy.

Resistive Chewing

Provide foods like dried fruits or jerky to strengthen jaw muscles.

Alternatively, have the child bite down gently on a silicone therapy tool while pulling it gently for resistance.

Lip Exercises

Blowing Games

Blow bubbles, whistles, or pinwheels to strengthen lip closure.

Use straws to blow cotton balls or pom-poms across a table as a fun activity.

Straw Drinking

Practice drinking thick liquids (e.g., smoothies or yogurt) through a straw.

Use progressively smaller straws to increase difficulty.

Tongue Strengthening

Licking Practice

Have the child lick peanut butter, yogurt, or honey off a spoon or from around their lips.

Place a small dab of food on the corners of their mouth and encourage them to lick it off.

Dinner Ideas

  • Build-Your-Own Taco Night:
    1. Provide whole-grain taco shells or lettuce wraps along with lean protein options (e.g., ground turkey or beans) and toppings like shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, avocado, and cheese.
  • Hidden-Veggie Pasta:
    1. Toss whole-grain pasta with a marinara sauce blended with steamed carrots, zucchini, and spinach for added nutrients.
    2. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
  • Chicken and Veggie Skewers:
    1. Thread chunks of chicken breast, bell peppers, zucchini, and pineapple onto skewers, then bake or grill.
    2. Serve with a side of brown rice or quinoa.

Tips for Success

  • Make It Fun: Use cookie cutters to shape sandwiches or fruit into stars, hearts, or animals to make meals more engaging.
  • Involve the Kids: Allow kids to help with meal prep, like mixing ingredients or assembling their plates. This increases their interest in trying new foods and also incorporates a sensory component that can help desensitize them to the food by sight, smell and touch.
  • Focus on Variety: Incorporate a mix of colors, textures, and food groups to keep meals exciting and nutritionally balanced.
  • Plan Ahead: Prep fruits, veggies, and snacks at the start of the week to save time and reduce stress during busy mornings and afternoons.

By integrating these ideas into your meal planning, you can create healthy, delicious option for your kids while ensuring they get the nutrition they need to grow and thrive. As for those picky eaters- it’s highly likely that despite offering fun and tasty foods, they will exhibit fear, avoidance and refusals to even try unfamiliar foods.

Try your best to stay consistent and offer a variety of foods each day, without falling into the trap of only giving them what you know they will eat. Without exposure to non-preferred and/or novel foods, your child will never even have the opportunity to become desensitized to them. Encourage smelling, touching, kissing, and licking of foods before expecting them to place them in their mouth to chew or swallow. The steps to tolerating a new food are often a lot more than parents expect. But with patience, consistence and positive reinforcement, it’s very possible to expand your child’s food repertoire bit by bit—or rather, bite by bite!

Content of this newsletter was written by:
Megan A. Miller, M.S., CCC-SLP

Please contact Megan with any questions or comments at: megan@ctctherapy.com

www.ChildrensTherapyConnections.com