https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:38:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-169518 Fri, 25 May 2012 17:28:33 +0000 Honeybee 169518@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD doesn't eat much meat, so we pretty much never order off the kids' menu (unless they have mac and cheese, which is her favorite!). Usually, we order her soup, a half order of pasta, or sometimes something off the senior citizen menu. Whatever she doesn't eat, we take home with us and feed it to her again, the next day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-168942 Fri, 25 May 2012 08:58:47 +0000 regberadaisy 168942@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't plan to Order off kids menu unless she's a super picky eater. My nephew tends to Order off them because he's a picky eater. My niece isn't and almost always orders off the adult menu. At my bridal shower when she was 6 she ordered pork belly! All the adults had a set menu....we were jealous! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-168902 Fri, 25 May 2012 08:30:39 +0000 mrs. wagon 168902@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just chiming in with a few more thoughts about "kid foods"...</p> <p>The alternatives for quick kids meals for home have really grown! Since we're both working parents we regularly feed Wagon Jr. fishsticks and chicken nuggets (both bought in bulk frozen from Costco). The fishsticks (which I have mentioned a million times here, hehe) are actually sliced up filets of good quality fish instead of ground up fish! They are expensive but we think it's totally worth it, and we eat them pretty often too. The chicken nuggets, I believe, are ground up white meat chicken (I would definitely prefer solid pieces of meat) BUT they are breaded with WHOLE GRAIN and shaped like mickey mouse, heh. I eat them pretty often too and they are DELICIOUS. I have seen nuggets made of spinach as well, but I haven't tried those out yet. </p> <p>Also, our favorite brunch place, instead of having a separate kids' menu, will make ANY dish on the menu at half portion for half the cost. I think that is awesome. They'll even make a half portion of steak and eggs.... or their fancy risotto with spinach and poached egg... crazy!! But we usually order a pancake and some scrambled eggs for Wagon Jr. when we are there. Breakfast food is definitely the easiest to eat out with kids!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167979 Thu, 24 May 2012 16:03:24 +0000 chopsuey 167979@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I' haven't ordered kid food yet. :T Not sure if I ever will? I think sometimes if my LOs want the "junk" I'll let them have it. It'll be a nice, unhealthy treat. :P </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167976 Thu, 24 May 2012 16:01:28 +0000 Mrs. Pen 167976@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@purrpletulips: ew. That would totally bother me!</p> <p>@yoursilverlining: TOTALLY agree. I think kid food is nasty and why start them on such an unhealthy diet when what they need most as kids is a healthy diet of veggies and fruits more than anything. They are in the biggest developmental years of their life and we feed them garbage... that's totally backwards. </p> <p>I don't ever plan on giving my kid that stuff, even as a "treat". I can make the homemade versions ten times better. I never think that unhealthy food should be a "reward" - it can create unhealthy food associations. It is so mental. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167975 Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:47 +0000 MusicaV 167975@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sometimes I feel like restaurants serving those foods are copping out of coming up with smaller-sized meals. I plan to feed LO off of our plates - we can always order a side soup or salad if we think we won't have enough.</p> <p>I don't plan on serving those foods much at home either. If/when we do, I will try to do homemade or healthier versions. Although, DH and I went shopping for a new microwave a few months ago. To my dismay, the microwave I fell in love with has three "kids meal" (their term) pre-programmed buttons - mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and hot dog. I told DH and the sales guy I was going to put black tape over those buttons. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167901 Thu, 24 May 2012 15:15:10 +0000 purrpletulips 167901@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: I agree about people who serve their kids "kid foods" at home and DH and I both agreed we would not do this with our children. It drives DH nuts when we go to my BIL's house and they make a beautiful holiday dinner (turkey/ham, and all fixings) and when we sit down to eat their child demands a hotdog. </p> <p>At home our LO eats whatever we are eating which at times can be what is traditionally "kid" food but then she will also eat anchovies, sardines, pickled herring, etc with her daddy (I can't stand any of those things) or grilled chicken, fish, veggies etc whatever we eat she eats. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167894 Thu, 24 May 2012 15:11:45 +0000 Mrs. Cat in the Cradle 167894@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I really plan on making every effort to get our LO to eat a wide variety of foods. I know that it can certainly backfire, but it will be nice if she enjoys a wider range of flavors. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167890 Thu, 24 May 2012 15:09:36 +0000 mrs. wagon 167890@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@purrpletulips: hehe that's a great idea, ordering a regular meal and saving half for the next day!! and yeah, sandwiches and wraps are too much for Wagon Jr. too... he even picks all the toppings off of his pizza and eats them first before eating the slice, and all sandwiches have to come completely apart before eating.</p> <p>when we eat at Anna's Taqueria (the most AMAZING mexican burrito place here in Boston) we order Wagon Jr. a plate with chicken, rice, beans, and grilled corn tortillas and he loves every part of it. Loooooooove that "kids meal" ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167887 Thu, 24 May 2012 15:08:36 +0000 yoursilverlining 167887@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: Yeah, kid’s menus are cheaper, and eating out is usually sort of a treat time anyway, so if it is in moderation it's not such a big deal – although I’m all in favor of kid’s menus featuring more salads, smaller servings of decent pasta, etc. I know some places we go with let you do “half orders” of any entrée, so I would probably do that for LO if it were an option. </p> <p>I guess I was thinking more of people who exclusively feed their kids “kid foods” at home. I don’t see why some people assume kids need to eat a separate (crappy) diet from what adults eat. Kids can like veggies, fish and nonfried chicken too! :D </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167883 Thu, 24 May 2012 15:06:53 +0000 purrpletulips 167883@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Like @MrsWagon we are past the point of LO just eating off our plates and will typically order for her from the kids menu but try to mix it up (most of the options are things we'd serve at home anyways). However, the last time we went out to eat, DH was looking at the kids menu and didn't like the options (standard ones from original poster) so instead of ordering from that, he ordered her a grilled chicken wrap. His thought was if she ate half it would be enough for her meal and he could eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. Worked great except the wrap concept was too much for our 2yo who promptly dumped the contents onto her plate, handed me the tortilla and ate the insides with a fork (it came with fries but we only gave her one or two at a time and only after she ate several bites of the chicken-just like if we were at home). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167870 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:55:41 +0000 Andrea 167870@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We don't order off the kid's menu unless the LO requests it. Sometimes she'll sit down and say "I want mac and cheese" so we'll get it for her. Otherwise, I don't know why she needs to eat that stuff. I don't feed it to her at home. I'd rather have her eat some of my food. You know that restaurant portions are oversized anyway so I think it is best that I share with her! Better for my waist line! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167867 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:53:08 +0000 T.H.O.U. 167867@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was at Crispers the other day and saw they had "turkey sticks" which was a piece of baked/grilled turkey on a wooden stick served with honey mustard sauce. I thought that was a healthier alternative. </p> <p>It seems like more and more places are "trying" to have better alternatives for kids. Things like applesauce as a side. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167860 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:48:55 +0000 Mrsbells 167860@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also dont understand why kids need to have separate foods. I know a lot of people who only feed their kids, mac n cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets etc... its ok to eat those foods but they should be able to eat regular foods as well. When I was a kid I had to eat whatever was on the menu that night. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167852 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:44:40 +0000 mrs. wagon 167852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: I honestly just see kids' menus as a much cheaper way to order for our kids! Wagon Jr. is WAY past the stage of being able to just eat a little of whatever we're eating... he eats more than me for most meals so it's not an option. And if we ordered his own dinner, it would cost us a triple dinner, rather than just tacking on $5 or so. Or some places, free! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167850 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:43:10 +0000 yoursilverlining 167850@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don’t understand why there is this assumption that kids need special foods separate from grown up foods. There is no reason why kids can’t, or won’t, just eat the same foods that adults eat. They don’t need to eat only items that are breaded and fried, or high in fat, sodium and sugars. </p> <p>I guess I don’t see anything wrong with most “kid foods” to a point (a hotdog now and then never killed anyone), but there are good and bad versions of all those foods listed, and we won’t feed LO a “kid food diet” (though if she orders chicken fingers while we’re out eating, that’s ok too – as a treat). Homemade mac and cheese is a totally different animal taste and heath-wise compared to Kraft or Velveeta, and not every hotdog is created equal. Hamburgers made with lean beef (or ground turkey/chicken), and homemade pizza are all cool with me, in moderation (just like for grownups). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167835 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:34:45 +0000 heffalump 167835@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm fine with LO eating "kid food." It's not like she's not going to get normal, healthy, home cooked meals. So if we go out to eat and she wants mac and cheese, that's fine. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167829 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:31:35 +0000 mediagirl 167829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I say everything in moderation. For us, eating out will be a treat, so eating off the fun kids menu of "kids" foods will be a treat for our LO. If she's anything like me, though - she'll want adult food when she's 3. :D</p> <p>Kids foods are what our daycare feeds kids and I'm okay with it because I know she will get a balanced diet of fruits and veggies and everything else when she is at home. Also, I don't think I saw one fat kid at that daycare when we checked it out. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167828 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:31:10 +0000 mrs. wagon 167828@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We regularly feed Wagon Jr. hot dogs, pizza, mac and cheese, and chicken nuggets, both at home and when we're out a restaurant. He shows no interest in hamburgers or french fries... I guess the day will come some day!</p> <p>Our healthier alternatives would be, I guess, whole wheat pasta with turkey meatballs, grilled or rotisserie chicken, things like that. Individual things like chunks of cheese, yogurt, fruit, etc as well. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167826 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:30:58 +0000 banana 167826@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I dont order off the kids menu. I"ll just order something that I think my son will eat and give him a little bit of my food. Usually grilled chicken, pasta, soup, rice, etc. I heard from a friend that a lot of restaurants will put extra sugar in kids' foods to make them like it even more! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/whats-your-opinion-on-kid-foods#post-167821 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:29:11 +0000 mrs. wagon 167821@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I guess these would be, thinking about kids menus at most restaurants:</p> <p>Pizza<br /> Chicken Nuggets/Tenders<br /> Hamburgers<br /> French Fries<br /> Macaroni and Cheese<br /> Hot Dogs</p> <p>I guess a healthier alternative for a kids menu at a restaurant would be grilled chicken with some buttered pasta and/or steamed veggies?</p> <p>Do you let your LO eat "kid foods" and, if not, what would your healthier alternative choice be? </p>