Kid Food Critic Journals

A mom recently asked about what others do when kids don't want to eat specific foods.  Years ago, I created these Food Critic Journals to help my kids track, express likes and dislikes, and have more control over foods they eat.  I'm not a nutritionist or a child psychologist - just a mom who wanted to find a way that helped my kids try new foods and have some say in meal times.  I know there's a new "Choose My Plate" diagram that shows that vegetables should be the "staple" of a plate, but this old school food pyramid still helped my kids understand the food groups.

There are a significant number of tips and tricks on the ChooseMyPlate.gov site, too.

Ask your kids what they want for dinner!  Have them help in the kitchen.  Even little ones can help wash vegetables, measure ingredients, stir, etc.  When they are part of the planning and preparation, they are much more willing to try the foods.

In our home, we had our kids try 3 bites (some people call them "Polite Bites" or "No thank you bites") of a food to be able to critique it in the journal.  It helped me better understand and literally see which foods (or groups or types of foods) each kid liked and disliked.  One had a very clear issue with some food textures, and we didn't make him eat any of the foods that had similar textures since it would make him sick.  He could try those on his own as he got older.

I've found that putting together meals that had at least one item on the plate that everyone liked made meal times easier.  Only introducing one new food at a time during regular family dinners was also more willingly accepted.

Keep things positive!  We don't allow anyone to talk negatively about foods during meals.  You can talk about color, texture, flavors, etc.  Have older kids try to guess what ingredients or spices were used in dishes.  If someone dislikes something, we say, "I don't care for ____," or "_____ isn't my favorite," or "I really prefer ____ over ____."  We get the picture, but we don't diminish the food choices that others may really enjoy.  If the older brother makes gagging noises at the table while eating XYZ, the younger brother is now suddenly less interested in eating his favorite XYZ.  So keep it positive.

 A Little Food Critic's Journal download

Little Food Critic Journal Pages

Little Food Critic Journal Summary Page

Similarly, my oldest only wanted to eat at the same "restaurant" every time.  This became a fun game for us!  He was willing to try all sorts of new places, and he always made me laugh as we waited for our food.  He would take the time to examine and assess the cleanliness, amenities, decor, etc.   

A Little Restaurant Critic's Journal download

I hope these help you and your family!

Bento: Pirates and Hello Kitty

Back at it after the long weekend!
Pirates and Hello Kitty themed lunches today.

PIRATES:

Fruit leather pirate ships (cut free hand - portholes are with a small round cutter)

Strawberries & blueberries with pirate hat rings.

Carrots & 2 kinds of tomatoes with pirate rings

HELLO KITTY:

Wilton Food writer drawn Hello Kitty on sandwich

Hello Kitty picks in fruit

Bento: Camping themed lunch box

With the long weekend ahead of us, camping inspired lunches seemed appropriate.  These are the Arctic Zone containers with the small Laptop Lunch containers for dipping sauce.

Sandwiches are decorated with apple fruit leather "tents", broccoli "trees", Colby Jack "fire", and pretzel "logs."  Carrot & celery sticks fill the bottom left container, and if you're camping, fishing is included, right?  So Goldfish fill the remaining container.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

School Lunch Ideas: Star Wars, Hello Kitty, & Back to School

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you know that I LOVE the Laptop Lunch systems.  You'll notice that we have a ton of different bento containers, and although we use them for different purposes, I feel like the Laptop Lunch system is the best fit for our needs.

 

This week's lunches use a combination of Laptop Lunch and Arctic Zone Ultra containers.

Most of the picks, baran, and other décor items come from allthingsforsale.com.  The silicone cups are from grocery stores and World Market.

 

When packing lunches, it's important that you consider your "wet" and "dry" components and the containers you select for each so that your kids don't find soggy pretzels or crumb-filled applesauce.

 

These lunches are mostly the same, but the kids have slightly different preferences and allergies, so you may notice some inconsistencies.  It's on purpose.  They are all nut-free.

 

Lunch 1 - Star Wars & Hello Kitty

Top left: Dried and yogurt covered fruit with a light saber or Hello Kitty pick

Left: pretzels

Top Right: Tortillas with Wowbutter, honey, sliced bananas, and chopped apples (halved so they fit) with a Darth Vader ring or Hello Kitty

Fresh pear

Bottom Right: diced pineapple with a drone ring or Hello Kitty pick.

Bottom: String Cheese

 

Lunch 2 Apple / Back to School Theme

(Looking at the first lunch on the left)

Aussie apple (check here for instructions)
Top left orange silicone: Picante plantains with a chalkboard pick
Top right green silicone: animal crackers
Bottom left green silicone: grape tomatoes
Bottom right orange silicone: dried bananas with alphabet pick
Apple pick in the center of the container.
Gogurt, String cheese, granola bar.

Lunch on far right also contains a sandwich (using the inverted container to trim the crust) with a letter pick and hand-drawn apple using Wilton Food Writers.

Teacher Questionnaire - FREE Printable

As homeroom mom for a few years now, I mentioned to our PTO President at the end of last year that a standard "get to know you" info sheet from each teacher would be incredible - not just about them, their kids and pets, and their favorite color, but what about the best teacher gift they've ever received?

Here's the FREE printable download I've created for my kids this year.  I searched and looked at many of the printables that are out there, and this combines what I loved about each as well as few pieces of my own. 

Game Gear Organization!

Kids + Sports = Fun
Kids + Laundry = No Fun
Kids + Sports + Laundry = Recipe for Disaster

 

How many times have you asked your kids the night before a game if they have all of their sports gear together? How many times are they missing a pair of shorts or one specially colored sock?

 

I have finally found a solution that works for our family. Each game uniform/performance outfit has its own zippered mesh laundry bag. When the child comes home from the game or performance, they put the entire uniform in the mesh bag and into the laundry.  When I am finished washing the uniform, I hang the uniform and the matching mesh bag in our mud room area on a regular hanger (jersey/top) and a skirt hanger (bottoms, socks, tutus).  We keep the corresponding shoes in a wooden bench with open cubby holes beneath the racks.  (Helmets and balls are in separate storage as they are so bulky.) I haven't had any missing uniform pieces all season!

Despicable Me: Twinkie Minions

Our family is doing a Despicable Me theme for Halloween, and I *had* to make a fun treat with the minion theme.  These cream-filled cakes are "painted" with yellow and blue candy melts, given candy eyes, drawn on with black icing, and given chocolate sprinkles for hair.  They came out SO cute! (If I do say so myself.)  Enjoy!

Custom Built-In and Cushion

Our 7 year old needed a better system for storage and use of space in his room. I measured and sketched what I thought would work best, and my Father-In-Law built this amazing piece and installed it while we were on vacation.  It is so much more than I dreamed, and he even included a secret compartment for our spy-obsessed little guy.

I bought a piece of foam and covered it in gray duck canvas, because the fabric I wanted was $60/yard. I used the same method I did with my dining room chairs to create "subway art" word art. Now, it's a perfect match for his NYC themed room, and it cost less than $25 (with coupons)  to make the custom cushion for the reading nook.

Bento: Gone Batty

All of my goodies arrived from AllThingsForSale.com, and I have fun new "toys" for the rest of the year. Today's Laptop Lunch is a sandwich on potato bread with a bat cutout (with an existing cookie cutter) and colored with Wilton Food Writers, dried young coconut, and grapes with bat pics.