A few people have been asking for posts about what I feed my mini hippies…and since I already create meal plans for the whole family, I figured I may as well share the portion that pertains to the kids here in a separate post. I’ll offer prep tips if you want to be extra on top of it, but most of the lunches are things you can put together with minimal thought beforehand.
Sunday: prep/shopping
- go shopping
- chop and tupperware cucumber, bell peppers, carrots
- cook beans, lentils
- roast chickpeas
Random notes:
This week wasn’t too labor intensive with prep, but sometimes I cook a whole chicken, roast potatoes, hard boil eggs, make bacon, bake tofu, etc. over the weekend. And sometimes I factor it into the week based on when I’m making certain dinners.
I make their breakfasts the night before. If it’s oats, I just leave it on the stove top for a quick reheat in the morning. If it’s pancakes, I make the batter the night before. It makes mornings go so much faster.
I try not to repeat fruit in the same day. And I try to balance their carbs, protein, and fat so they get all of everything over the course of the day. So if I know dinner is a salad, I will make their afternoon snack more caloric with complex carbs.
P’s school gives us the monthly snack schedule in advance so I always know what he’s getting. If his snack will have cheese, I won’t dose with cheese that morning. And I will sometimes give V the same fruit for her morning snack so they are on the same page with regards to that.
Because we stick to organic, it’s important to eat seasonally!! Otherwise it’s $$$.
I am repetitive with breakfasts and lunches, and dinners are where I try to expand their palates. They eat the same thing we do with very few (food allergy related) exceptions.
Also, they only drink water.
Monday
Breakfast: steel cut oatmeal made with unsweetened almond milk, cinnamon and chia seeds, top with sunflower seeds, coconut shreds, maple syrup (as desired*) and fresh or frozen blueberries (make a double batch for another breakfast)
Snack: P got a “rice roller ” and carrots at school / V got apple slices and half a potato hash brown on our field trip
Lunch: sandwich with avocado and turkey + cuties and bell peppers
Snack: salty almonds + dried apricots
Dinner: roasted cauliflower and lentil salad with sunflower seeds and tahini lemon dressing (they asked for more lentils after their salads were done) (make extra lentils for lunches)
*if I make the oatmeal with applesauce or mashed bananas mixed in I don’t add any sweetener, but if I make the oats plain then I add a little maple syrup
Tuesday
Breakfast: tapioca “porridge” with coconut milk, vanilla, and flax meal + blueberries
Snack: P got banana and graham crackers at school / V had apple slices
Lunch: leftover lentils with nooch + cucumbers
Snack: banana + popcorn
Dinner: beef and veggie stir fry with white rice (chop extra veggies for lunches if you want – broccoli, snap peas, carrots, etc) (make extra rice for later)
Wednesday
Breakfast: leftover oatmeal with pepitas, shredded coconut and raisins
Snack: P got cuties and mutli-grain chips at school / V got cuties and a home-made muffin at “school”
Lunch: leftover chopped veggies (bell peppers, carrots, and snap peas) + deli meat roll-ups + banana
Snack: salty almonds + dried mangoes
Dinner: quinoa, roasted Brussels sprouts, pecans, and dried cranberries
Thursday
Breakfast: bread with sun butter + cuties
Snack: P had “snack mix” (pretzels + dried fruit + cheerios) and grapes at school / V had apple slices
Lunch: chopped veggies (cucumber, bell peppers) + banana + roasted chickpeas
Snack: walnuts + dried blueberries
Dinner: lasagna with cashew butternut squash “cheese”, beef, and spinach
Friday
Breakfast: pancakes with Earth Balance + blueberries (make the batter the night before and make enough for 2-3 days’ worth of pancakes)
Snack: apple sauce
Lunch: almond butter + jam sandwich + bell peppers + edamame
Snack: cuties + celery + carrots
Dinner: chickpea salad with mixed veggies and side green salad
Saturday
Breakfast: leftover pancakes with Earth Balance + cuties
Snack: apple slices
Lunch: leftover rice + pinto beans + nooch
Snack: dried mangoes + cucumber slices
Dinner: pasta + sausage + green beans (we had a date night so the kids ate this before we left)
Sunday
Breakfast: leftover tapioca “porridge” with blueberries + sunflower seeds + pepitas
Snack: birthday party treats
Lunch: smoothie with almond milk, home-made nectarine chia preserves, kale, and banana
Snack: birthday party treats (AGAIN!!)
Dinner: corned beef + potatoes + cabbage
Prep for next week!
Not mentioned: P doses >4 g milk dairy at 8 am and 8 pm in the form of (a) milk, (b) Greek yogurt, or (c) cheese AND 10 Reese’s Pieces at 7 pm
Do you want me to continue stuff like this? Do you want grocery lists too? I’m not going to be able to do this regularly, but every once in a while seems possible.
This was super helpful, thanks! It is always nice to see what other kids are eating and to get ideas to feed G! I wish she would snack on veggies like your kids, but it gives me something to aspire to. Hopefully L will be better about eating veggies when the time comes.
Just keep at it…it will happen!!
Please do this again! Loved this post!
This is so helpful…gives me some inspiration when I feel like we’re in a kid food rut!
I was raised on this exact kind of diet. It’s very similar to the anti inflammatory/ healing diet I am on now with expanded ideas that last several weeks. As this is only one week’s worth and I know your children are offered the same big variety you eat at night. Daytime is always repetitive and I don’t mind bec it makes life easy. This is a fabulous diet for adults because it includes everything needed to be healthy and in good shape. 🏋🏻♀️
loved this post!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks so much for posting! I love seeing what other mamas feed their kids. It gives me inspiration for feeding my 4 year old and 18 month old. Looking forward to future kid menu plans! Thanks!
This is definitely fun to read and awesome of you to share, Elise! Really impressive too. It’s very relevant for me right now as I work with a FDM holistic nutritionist and plan my own meals/prep just like this based on metabolic type and GI mapping.
I can see that you take so much time and care for what you give your little ones (and you & your husband!), and they seem to be thriving because of it! This post gives insight to your method and detail of work. Much appreciated. Happy spring equinox!
Wow, thanks so much Chloe 🙂
Thanks for this post! Do they take any supplements on a regular basis? Just wondering if you give your children calcium and vitamin D supplements because they are not on cow’s milk. I know children do not need cow’s milk and I know P was allergic to dairy. I’ve reduced my oldest son’s cow’s milk intake recently, but have had to up his calcium and vitamin D intake through other foods (which I’m finding harder than just having cow’s milk).
I do flouride when I remember (our water doesn’t have any) but I also use flouride toothpaste and I fill their water bottles every time I go to my parents’ house because their water is flouridated. Beyond that, I try to give them vitamin D somewhat regularly especially during winter (there are studies that link vitamin D consumption with outgrowing allergies that our old allergist told me about so I have been doing it for a few years). I feel like they eat enough leafy greens/broccoli/lentils and other plant based calcium sources that they don’t need additional supplementation with that. But I do give them these gummy vitamins once a week or so: https://amzn.to/2Jsud6Z
Hope that helps!