I’m a single mom of two (6 and 9) and totally stuck in a rut. If I cook a decent meal after work, the kids barely touch it. If I pick up a pizza? They devour it and ask for seconds. It feels impossible to win, and I'm tired of eating leftovers alone all week. What do you like to cook that is fast, healthy-ish, and kid-approved?

I set the category with my kids (pasta mondays, taco Tuesday, Mediterranean Wednesday, leftover thursdays, pizza Friday) so they felt involved. This way we all know what flavors to roughly expect but they also have some things to look forward to that are comforting to them.

Within the category, I try to make it layered for kids and adults. For example with pasta Monday, I might add a sausage/hotdog to the red sauce for the kids and the adults get sautéed peppers and onions with sausage/hotdog and we add red pepper flake. We always use barilla protein noodles just in case someone had a rough day and wants just plain noodles, but that’s not the norm.

I think there’s some study that kids need to see the food at least 8 times before it becomes familiar. I can confirm that for my kids it was at least 284957 times.

You’re doing great. Fast food is made to be addictive and no one can compete with that. Try not compare yourself to those places. If your kids are fed, that’s what’s most important.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don't care if they skip a meal. I work full time and cook variety of veggie sides and meat. If they don't eat - so be it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I was giving in and the whole family started to eat unhealthy, I've gained weight and felt 20 years older.

We have takeout on occasion, but I don't change the whole menu bc of their preferences.

Who is the Adult?
If they are hungry, they will eat...
Ps, brought up by a single mother who took no crap!

As a single parent of four, I did struggle sometimes with finicky kids. But one thing that I always did to save money was cook at home. Getting the kids involved is important.
We made pizza the easy way. I would buy the Greek round bread that wasn't pita bread, it looked like pita but was soft like gordita bread. Marby that was it. Anyways, I let them pick their toppings, sauce it, cheese, and put it in the oven. They cook great in a toaster over too. This was just one of many.

Theme nights were also good like taco tuesday, meat out mondays, free for all friday's, etc.

Having the kids help prepare food makes them more interested in the meal and more likely to want to consume it.

Also, you are the parent. When I was growing up the only choice I had was to eat what was on my plate. There were not other options.

I chose to be different. But, I did my best to keep control and limit my kids from having too many options. Because the reality of life is that you have to guide your kids into appreciating what they have, and not always feeling entitled to whatever they want.

I did keep in mind some kids do not like certain foods. For example, I have one kids who does not eat pork. So, I always have a second option like chicken for them Because if I am frying pork chops, it is not a problem for me to also fry some chicken. Or I might also choose to cut the port all together because everyone might like chicken.

It is hard to navigate sometimes. But at the end fo the day, teach your kids to apprecaite and to participate. So, that they do not take what you provide for granted and that they are not lazy and entitled.

I also agree with the other poster that if they do not want to eat what you provide, then they can starve by choice. I always have pb&j, as well as other items to make sandwiches. They can also eat cereal and milk if they do not want to eat what I am cooking.

I do let me kids know what I am cooking in advance and sometimes ask what they would like. But, when they object, or if we cannot come up with something together that will work with the ingredients that I have, then I do not cook. I let them either cook or fend for themselves.

At the end of the day, as long as you have good food in the house that they can access themselves, they will not starve. Cook what you like and of course, consider them. But they need to appreciate what you have prepared, and you just need to teach them how to do that. When we do everything for our kids, they lack gratitude. They just come to expect it. And while it is our responsibility, we need to teach them to appreciate what is not gurantieed.

My kids and I served meals and gave out food with Feeding America. We talked about those less fortunate and how not to be wasteful and, not to take things for granted. I always let them know that we cannot always afford to eat out, but we can always have a good meal when we make meals together at home.

I hope this was helpful. Good Luck.

I started make pizza crust out of vegetables because gluten makes me pass out. my kids kept eating my pizza and I realized it solves the problem of my non-vegetable eaters

it's kind of a pain, but it does solve the problem for us:

I use the normandy vegetable blend
(Broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower) and corn masa flour with a cauliflower crust recipe I found online

Been there. What I regret most is giving in. Saw a documentary about the impact of food on brain development and executive functioning and when parents with an autistic child wanted to change her diet, it took four or five days before she accepted the only thing available to eat was what was on the table. At that point she was eating kale!

one trick: I chop up carrots, celery, and mushrooms really small to put into spaghetti sauce with ground meat.

most kids love mashed potatoes, so Sheppard pie is a regular too.

Mom of a 6 & 9 year old. Still a good age to lay down the law for your sanity too that it can’t be pizza multiple nights a week. Indian and there are some foods I mention and it’s always a no, when I make it they devour it but I’m talking more traditional Indian. Not for everyone but here are my go to’s and something to consider to open up palettes : Brooklyn Delhi has really great simmer sauces (order online, amazon but also our local heb has it). Literally sauté a protein of choice 2/3rd of the way and then add sauce. Find it needs salt but otherwise clean ingredients. Can make rice or Costco has these firestone naans you can just pop in a toaster and put butter on after. Never know till you try it and it literally takes 20-30min including prepping whatever protein to go in. Other than that - taco night, pasta night. Go to’s are carbones sauces or a really quick/healthy pesto (Lacinto kale blanched first, pistachios, reggiano and olive oil all blended together). those firestone naans are great for homemade pizza too. Sheet pan dinners (fish, veggie all on the same pan are my favorites low cleanup nights). If you have a sprouts nearby they have healthy sides if you don’t want to bother too much, same with Whole Foods. Also not a fan of chipotle bc I guess I’ve just had it too much but I just saw they have a family meal for 4-6 for like $56 might we worth getting it and they can pick what they want out of it. I’ve seen people use this one for meal prep all week. Mediterranean places always do the protein and several “sides” that could be an option too for flexibility/picky eating. So you get a decent meal and they just eat the sides they like.

Whatever they eat at restaurants, I’ll try to make a homemade version. That said, I had a friend growing up that ate little Caesar’s every day for like 10-15 years. Happy and healthy grown up.

Pasta with meatballs, noodles with some broccoli and put some melted cheese on it. Make their favorite sandwiches

I have 3 kids (4, 4, 7)and let each pick one day a week where they plan a meal. A meal has to have a protein, a veggie, and a fruit and can't repeat in the week but otherwise have at it even if it's lots of quesadillas/hot dogs/chicken nuggets. The other days I pick and if they choose not to eat it that's on them. I talk to them a lot about how tastebuds change and to keep trying

It's true. kids will revert to junk over veggies. I fortunately ate a lot of brocolli when I was pregnant with all of my children. I did this purposefully to make sure that they were not allergic to it, and to ensure tha they would like it. And all of my childen to this day love broccolli. It is their veggie of choice. I never used sutff like cheese sauce (Gag!) on my brocollie. Just some garlic salt and sometimes butter. They absolutely love it.

and I also saute onions, peppers, carrots, cellery, etc, into my sause when I make pasta sause. When then were younger, I would puree the Veggies, but as the got older, I just started dicing them and putting them in. And it was so funny, because they would complain about the veggies, but I had to explain to them that this is what gave the sause flavor and that the sauce is actually made from the veggies and fruits. They love my spaghetti sauce.

Also, giving you kids options is ok as long as they are willing to try. I did this with everything. I always wanted my kids to be able to have a voice. But, I would not allow them to say they do not like something that they did not even try. I did this with food and sports when they were really young. Try it one seasone for sports , and you never have to do it again. This kept them active and they had fun. At the end of that season, if they did not want to do it again, they did not have to. Because they put in the effort and tried it. With food, they had to at least take a bite and try it to see if they actually liked it. Most times, they did. By making them try things, it expanded their food palate and opened up their love of more varieties of food.

I wanted to say that I see you and you are a superstar. I am a single mom as well. I would recommend whatever that makes your life easier and the kids would eat. I understand your desire to make nice food for them, but protecting your allostatic load also helps you be the best mom you can be.

You will find that if you get your kids involved in the menu planning, they will be more willing to eat what the days menu is. That also mean having them help with the cooking. spaghetti, eggs (French toast), tacos, or even have them pick what restaurant to eat from but only put a limit on how many times you are eating out and that they cannot repeat in the same week. Also have them make a salad. Make sure to compliment them throughout the process, even if it was eating out. Say like, I am really glad you guys picked this place to eat out tonight. It really hit the spot. Hope it works for you.

So nice to see all the helpful comments and ideas someone can actually make use of. To all the tough love posts - try being a single parent and whew a mom who actually has to be all the things to their kids struck by enough guilt of being able to do it right and still love their kids. Food is a language of love whether you’re a good cook or a bad one and nourishing your kids with pizza or unwrapping a packaged snack. Love is not go to sleep hungry, my way or the highway. It’s ok.
Feed your kids mama, the grown up version of them will want to come home for it.

Pasta, noodles, sandwiches (try different fresh baked breads from Publix or similar store), tacos (all assembly of store bought taco, beans, salsa, but could make filling at home) , try if they will have Naan pizza at home (frozen naan from trader joes)
Or keep it simpler like rice and beans
I make air fryer fries
All of these should take under 30 minutes
Can buy hummus and healthier dips if they will have them with bread.
Also check out better goods walmart brand - better ingredient profile ready made frozen food like ravioli etc. The 9 year old can fix it themselves.

I am a single parent too. When I am exhausted, I will break out a protein bar and sell it as eating “candy” for dinner. No fight, full tummy, and I don’t break the bank. I can’t do that every night. Works wonders on days when I just want shower and my bed.

My dietitian mother says that we as the adults make the decision of what to eat and when and the child has the decision of if and how much. If they don't eat it that's their choice but you are not a short order cook. Eventually if you stick to your rule the kids will learn that what you make is what's for dinner if they are hungry they'll change their tune. It might take some time but you are the boss. Hope this helps

Have your kids help you make pizza breads. Take hamburger or hotdogs buns. A jar of pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce. Grated italian cheese, and their favorite toppings. Pepperoni, cooked sausage, mushrooms, ypu can even dice up mini peppers and green onions. Let each build their own and bake them or air fry for 3-5 minutes. If you let them help cook, they will be more likely to eat what they made.

Sooo hard!! Agree!! Hoping it’s just a phase and they go back to eating better - I tried this https://healthyrecipesblogs.com/chicken-crust-pizza/ —- to lean into the pizza 🍕- and do a lot of chicken quesadillas on healthier (ish) tortillas and broccoli somehow they like. I also find try to get better food in the morning ( egg, oat, banana muffins) and lunch seems easier a lot of days since they don’t have other options other than what is packed ( a lot comes home)

On Sundays I meal prep a whole bunch of protein (usually dark meat chicken). During the week I reheat the chicken and make a veggie side - cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, potatoes. One of the days I make a simple pasta dish (usually Tuesdays). On Fridays we do pizza. Sometimes we add tacos into the rotation.