Here is the typical situation I face: We are on our way home from basketball practice, gymnastics or church and someone is starving.  I groan in frustration because I forgot to grab something from home.  We have about 20 minutes until we get home.  The thought goes through my head, if we stop for fast food, I won’t have anything to clean up when we get home.  So I give in and we pull through the drive-through.  Fifteen dollars and a stomach ache later, I vow to never do that again.

Do you find yourselves caught in this situation?  Our lives are so busy, we forget to do that little bit of extra planning for our children.  It is 7 o’clock, we are on the road and haven’t even thought about dinner.  I have found myself in this situation many times and decided I wanted to put my foot down.  Fast food isn’t good for myself or my children and I am teaching them negative actions.

Now the real question becomes, how do you plan so this won’t happen?  We all have different evening routines, but this is what works for me.  If we are ever out during the day, I make sure to pack healthy snacks for the children.  If I know we will be away during lunchtime, I am sure to pack individual lunches for each child.

During the evening, it seems like a lot of our activities are right around dinner time.  I fill that lunchbox full of food for dinner.  I have found this process to work wonders.  Here are a few ideas on what to pack while you are away from home.

-Fruit-  apple slices, strawberries, bananas, bags of grapes and Tupperware full of cantaloupe.

-Veggies – carrot sticks, ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), edamame with sea salt, cucumber slices and sugar snap peas.

-Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, turkey and cheese roll-ups, pasta salad, ham and cheese wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla or crackers and cheese.

-Boxes of raisins, granola bars, dried fruit, caramel rice cakes, almonds and pretzels.

Don’t forget a bottle of water and you are SUPER MOM for the day.  You will feel better, your kids will be healthier and happier and you will save lots and lots of money!!!

How do you plan lunches, dinners and snacks when you’re busy? Please share int he comments below.

My oldest child will try anything I put on his plate. If he likes it…he will eat A LOT of it. He has tried sushi, fried pickles, calamari…you name it and he will take a bite. I myself had been a choosy eater as a child so I was very excited to see him so eager to branch out and try new things. I should have known karma was going to visit me and bring me a second child more like myself…..10 times over!

Many kids scoff at veggies, don’t eat much meat or have favorite foods. My little man did not even try ketchup until he was FIVE! Yes, you read right…he was FIVE. I did what the experts say…offer it over and over until they try it. Well, this one might have set a world record. While most kids dip fries and nuggets, he would always refuse. Finally he caved in and now it is a staple in his diet. That is not to say he has tried much since then.

He has yet to take a bite of a hamburger or peanut butter and jelly. He whines when he sees vegetables on his plate and he picked off every sesame seed on a bun on our recent visit to Five Guys Burgers (it was a grilled cheese!). While I know he is healthy and that eventually he will expand his menu, it can be very frustrating in the moment.

I pledge that I will not fix him his own meal every night, but I am forced to make sure there is at least one item on his plate I know he will eat. At this point I can only sit back and wait for him to finally understand that everything new is not bad.

Anyone else with a picky eater? Any great strategies to get them to try something new? Help all of us out there struggling with these dear children.