Kid Friendly Dinner Ideas

[Kelleybean]

Hi -

I feel like I'm in a rut - giving my 4 y.o. the same things over and over. Can you tell me some things that you give your child for dinner? I (well, he) has a couple of issues. He's autistic and sensitive to texture, so he won't really do meat except hotdogs. We're working on it, but he won't do veggies right now unless they are pureed (i.e. in a smoothie, mashed sweet potatoes, etc.). We give him dairy sometimes but he has been having some odd behaviors over the last week, so we want to eliminate it for a few days to see if that makes a difference. I think the no dairy thing is stumping me the most. He will do beans, eggs, nuts, and tofu.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[kb27]

Hi -

I feel like I'm in a rut - giving my 4 y.o. the same things over and over. Can you tell me some things that you give your child for dinner? I (well, he) has a couple of issues. He's autistic and sensitive to texture, so he won't really do meat except hotdogs. We're working on it, but he won't do veggies right now unless they are pureed (i.e. in a smoothie, mashed sweet potatoes, etc.). We give him dairy sometimes but he has been having some odd behaviors over the last week, so we want to eliminate it for a few days to see if that makes a difference. I think the no dairy thing is stumping me the most. He will do beans, eggs, nuts, and tofu.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

My kids are 5 and 9. Here are some things they like:

Tacos, with beans and rice

Make your own sushi rolls with whatever he will eat inside (if he'll eat nori)

Black beans and rice (we cook up a bunch of veggies, add a little OJ, and then mash it all up with about 1/2 of the beans. The other beans stay whole. The veggies are therefore pureed.)

Omelets or just plain scrambled eggs or hard-boiled eggs

Does he like potatoes? (mashed, fried, baked, etc.)

Lentils & rice (lentils, V8, rice, really finely chopped veggies, cumin, salt)

Hummus & something to dip in it or gluten-free bread to spread it on.

Pesto (you can make it w/o parmesan to be dairy-free) & gluten-free pasta or spread on gluten-free toast

Plain tofu (my 9 yr old takes this for lunch)

Peanut butter and pretzels

[come dance with me]

My daughter has Autism too. We are also vegan. Some of her favourites are:

Cottage pie made with lentils and whatever veg we have, topped with mashed potato

Creamy pasta using coconut cream, roasted veg and gluten-free fettucini

Stir-fry with tofu and heaps of veg

Pasta with tomatoes, lentils, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, chives and black olives

There are more but I can't think just at the moment

[Kelleybean]

Awesome, thanks!

[nvsmom]

There's a book called Special Diets for Special Kids (II) which is casein and gluten-free tips and recipes aimed at kids on the spectrum. I looked at it a few years back and can't remember what it all has. It might have some good ideas for you.

[brigitam]

my kids favourite is chicken noodle soup- don't need to add chicken. veggies, flat rice noodles, chicken stock (or veggie stock), sesame oil, oyster sauce, tamari and a bit of sugar.

[mamaupupup]

One of my favorite "tricks" is to make things into fun shapes. Michaels and Williams-Sonoma have cookie cutters which are tiny (the size of a quarter or less) in neat shapes--flowers, hearts, geometric shapes. I have "shaped" everything from ham/turkey/cheese/bread/pancakes/zucchini/etc, etc. with those. Somehow shapes/fun decor at dinner or any meal has helped us.

On the shape note, I also bought a pancake frying pan that has 6 little circles to make mini-pancakes. I've also made mini-circle fried eggs in it. The same company makes the same pan with various smiley faces, holiday ones, etc. Could provide some fun!

My kids had a very narrow palate until 6 months AFTER going gluten free. Now the girls are MUCH more adventuresome eaters. I have some concern that one of my girls needs to be casein free also, but I haven't tackled that yet.

Age may also have something to do with what's going on...for us from 3-5.75 yrs was the "narrowest" eating we've seen. Our girls turn 6 in a month.

Oh, and we have one night we call "messy Mondays" where noone has to use utensiles and can be ill-mannered just for fun (within reason). It sort of lifts the spirits too. Maybe there is something goofy your little guy wants to do at dinner?

Thinking of you!

[come dance with me]

Organ have a pastry mix out, I have made the pastry shapes with the cookie cutters and made lentil pies then topped them with a pastry shape. For St Pat's Day, I add green food colouring (Hullaballoo I think it's called, they have vegan, gluten free colours) to the mash on the cottage pie and to the shape on the top of the pies. The other thing is to make lentil patties then serve with mash, peas, corn, etc.

If you have eggs, one of the kids I look after has zucchini slice which is basically made using just eggs, cheese (you can get vegan cheese, we use it for Nachos, Cheezely is the one we use), grated zucchini, diced onion and grated carrot. No flour or anything. He has it in his lunch box every Friday. He has Autism and I have told all my parents that this house is a gluten free environment. If they have their own snacks (I provide meals) they need to be gluten free. The parents are awesome at that, but even still, if kids have their own food, they eat from the "special" plates just for daycare kids and use the "special" utensils, and eat at the "special" table just for daycare kids that's outside and is thoroughly cleaned, just in case there are any traces of gluten in what they have. Most of them send lunch in a container suitable to eat out of if the kids have their own food though.

[Kelleybean]

There's a book called Special Diets for Special Kids (II) which is casein and gluten-free tips and recipes aimed at kids on the spectrum. I looked at it a few years back and can't remember what it all has. It might have some good ideas for you.

I have that book but haven't tried anything out of it yet. I need to. You made me remember another book I have - the ADHD&Autism Cookbook. Made a lentil recipe out of it today (the previous poster gave me the idea to try lentils). It was a huge pain to make - I hope his highness likes it!

[Kelleybean]

[

If you have eggs, one of the kids I look after has zucchini slice which is basically made using just eggs, cheese (you can get vegan cheese, we use it for Nachos, Cheezely is the one we use), grated zucchini, diced onion and grated carrot. No flour or anything. He has it in his lunch box every Friday. He has Autism and I have told all my parents that this house is a gluten free environment. If they have their own snacks (I provide meals) they need to be gluten free. The parents are awesome at that, but even still, if kids have their own food, they eat from the "special" plates just for daycare kids and use the "special" utensils, and eat at the "special" table just for daycare kids that's outside and is thoroughly cleaned, just in case there are any traces of gluten in what they have. Most of them send lunch in a container suitable to eat out of if the kids have their own food though.

[come dance with me]

Zucchini slice is baked in the oven.