Again with the too many kids, not an adequate amount of food

[fun2beme]

Thanks! :D

[salex]

Of course, I'd probably just write "pancakes" or something similar on our menu, too. Everyone here would know that other items will be served alongside.

Same here, because the sides are a given at our house. Even with two of us, we had a full fruitbowl for apples, bananas and pears/plums, etc on the counter, citrus and berries, and veggies and salad stuff in the fridge and canned and frozen (and a few dried) veggies in the freezer and pantry.

At our house, several of the nights would read "chicken breast" but the unwritten bit would be our conversation when we get home, which is generally "Do you want to have a salad or hot veggies or both tonight."

[Stephanie66]

When my kids were young, they could have ice cream for dinner one time in the summer. Yes, it was just ice cream. But it was once in a 12 month period (and they almost always had a PB&J or something before bed that day.)

Frozen veggies are cheap, so I don't know why she isn't including them? It could be that this is just the primary item.

[Evilbad]

That menu is seriously lacking. No child should ever have a milkshake as a meal. A meal consists of protein and veggies at least. Especially for children. Adults can skimp and get by as their bodies are no longer growing. Children do not have that luxury. It's why children are more susceptible to malnutrition.

Fast, healthy meals are easy to come by. Tonight, we're having blackened tilapia with lightly sauteed zucchini and yellow squash. The whole process from beginning to end is about 20 to 25 minutes.

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say you've probably never dealt with a kid who has both sensory issues AND food issues, because you'd probably all be snarking and clutching your pearls over his meals as a toddler/preschooler until, through a lot of therapy, he was finally able to eat "Protein and veggies at least" :lol:

[rward]

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say you've probably never dealt with a kid who has both sensory issues AND food issues, because you'd probably all be snarking and clutching your pearls over his meals as a toddler/preschooler until, through a lot of therapy, he was finally able to eat "Protein and veggies at least" :lol:

Imma go out on a limb and say that she didn't at all mean children with serious sensory issues. No one is insulting your parenting.

Children with sensory issues are relatively rare and I find it hard to believe that all of LL's children have sensory issues and that's why she's serving nutritionally void, inexpensive crap in too small quantities.

[Kailash]

I used to be on a women's board, most with kids, and there were a lot of kids with sensory issues. I would say the majority even. Even so, her menus do seem to lack fruits, veggies and lean proteins.

[formergothardite]

If LL's kids had sensory issues I don't see her being the type to actually care. She would probably try to discipline it out of them.

[Mudball]

I don't know this fundie at all so I may be way off base here. I don't think this menu looks bad. We can't assume anyone is malnourished or hungry from this alone. Does she talk about limiting portions like that 2 breasts of chicken and 1 wilted stalk of celery lady?

My weekly menu has stuff like "Monday: baked potatoes" and someone could see that and think "omg, where's the protein? Kids can't just eat a baked potato for dinner!" but what they don't see is that potato night involves leftover bean chili, curries, veggies and sauces from the freezer. Tons of homemade nutrition and it's very filling. Milkshake night could very well be a pumped up protein powder smoothie, a special occasion treat, or just a junk food meal that never hurt anyone. Sometimes we eat frybread with jam and mashed bean with corn for dinner. Not very nutritious but comforting and a tradition.

I'm not trying to WK, but this really doesn't alarm me.

[Kailash]

If LL's kids had sensory issues I don't see her being the type to actually care. She would probably try to discipline it out of them.

I'm sure you're right about that. :angry-banghead:

[slickcat79]

If LL's kids had sensory issues I don't see her being the type to actually care. She would probably try to discipline it out of them.

She does keep her "implement of correction" handy :roll:

[August]

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say you've probably never dealt with a kid who has both sensory issues AND food issues, because you'd probably all be snarking and clutching your pearls over his meals as a toddler/preschooler until, through a lot of therapy, he was finally able to eat "Protein and veggies at least" :lol:

Let me guess, if we were clutching our pearls over kids who never went outside you'd be all "Well, what about my kid who has no legs!!!"

[August]

She probably means smoothies. We do smoothies too sometimes for breakfast or lunch. You can make them pretty balanced if you add the right stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

We also do breakfast for dinner at least once a week because my son has a crazy football schedule and we're running around until about 8:30 PM most nights.

I don't really see anything wrong with the menu but I have to ask, what does mom not "Coping" have to do with pancakes?

Some days you realise it's 6, the noise level is hunger, you haven't been to the supermarket in a week and you'd prefer to hide in the bathroom with your phone than cook. Pancakes take less than ten minutes and less thought, I rarely don't have eggs even if I have nothing else, kids are guaranteed to eat them, plus because it's a treat they owe you come bathtime.

[guidedbybobafett]

That doesn't look so great to me. I'm assuming she's leaving off side dishes and just throwing up the entree? I mean, lettuce wraps is your whole dinner? A smoothie (please God I hope it's a smoothie and not a milkshake) is your whole dinner? These seem like lunches to me, but only if I'm eating a big dinner. If their lunches were more legit I wouldn't have such a problem, but this seems like a culture of skimping to me.

I'm pretty sure I eat way more than those kids and I'm 26 and don't need to.

edit: riffles

[guidedbybobafett]

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say you've probably never dealt with a kid who has both sensory issues AND food issues, because you'd probably all be snarking and clutching your pearls over his meals as a toddler/preschooler until, through a lot of therapy, he was finally able to eat "Protein and veggies at least" :lol:

I'm going to go ahead and say that just because your kid doesn't do it doesn't mean it's not something people should be striving for. Of course some children need other things, but to assume that someone saying "healthy meals are important for kids" is a personal attack seems intentionally obtuse. There's truly no need for everyone to mention "children with sensory issues" every time they discuss meal plans, is there? Just so you don't feel like you are on personal, lonely crusade here, nobody ever mentions my profoundly disabled sister who cannot feed herself when they discuss healthy eating for children in general. :whistle:

[2xx1xy1JD]

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say you've probably never dealt with a kid who has both sensory issues AND food issues, because you'd probably all be snarking and clutching your pearls over his meals as a toddler/preschooler until, through a lot of therapy, he was finally able to eat "Protein and veggies at least" :lol:

Only my son eats a variety of veggies on a regular basis. Oldest girl was the fussiest eater ever for several years and still won't touch veggies (fruits are ok), middle girl went from eating everything in sight to really picky (not an eating disorder - she'll eat plenty if it happens to be the ideal food that suits her fancy that day). So yes, there are times that the menus look like crap, but I at least make an effort to try to get some sort of nutrition into them. Unless we are in Italy, it's not all carbs, all the time.

[JaChelle Sugar]

Okay, so I've posted before that to me, LL's meal plans seem to be lacking in....something. Anyways, she's posted their menu again, and again I find myself wondering if some of these meals are really enough for a growing child. Several of them would make my kids :lol: and then ask where their real dinner was. Some of them are okay I guess, but the southern part of me is all :evil-eye: at a few of them (milkshake night, I'm looking at you).

LL just posted a pic, so I will copy down what it said here:

Monday~ Lettuce wraps

Tuesday~ Dirty rice with bacon (girlfriend is big on serving bacon for dinner) :?

Wednesday~ Milkshake night

Thursday~ Fettucine alfredo

Friday~ Eggs, toast, bacon

Saturday~ Grilled cheese with spinach

Monday~ Coconut beans and rice

Tuesday~ Sausage, potatoes, and green beans

Wednesday~ Milkshake night

Thursday~ Tortilla soup w/ chicken

Friday~ Pancakes

Saturday~ Spanish rice w/ beef

Monday~ Tacos

Tuesday~ Beans and rice

Wednesday~ Milkshake night

Thursday~ Pasta carbonara

Friday~ Veggie soup

Saturday~ Chili with leftovers

Lunches:

Monday~ Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Tuesday~ Cheesy toast

Wednesday~ Roll ups with peanut butter and honey

Thursday~ Ham, cheese, crackers

Friday~ Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Like I said, not all of the meals are bad, but overall, it looks like something is missing to me. I would think that they were struggling for money, but LL has been to Vegas and the beach all in the last month of so, so I guess not.

I am thinking once these kids get a bit older she's going to have a riot on her hands if she doesn't bulk up some of these meals.

I must be getting fundy-numb because my first thought to this was: at least this woman has a menu plan, instead of leaving the kids to fend for themselves in the kitchen.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Lettuce wraps sound really crappy and boring. Sure, put lettuce in a wrap, but at least add something else like meat or cheese, and some kind of sauce/salad dressing and some more veg like tomatoes and cucumber...but lettuce on its own???

[salex]

I am going to toss in that when we were kids, Sunday dinner was a often big giant lunch after church, and sunday supper after that was often a bowl of rice and with raisins and milk, followed by neopolitian ice cream, OR waffles at my grandmother's. Hubs says their sunday suppers were often popcorn and root beer floats in front of the tv.

None of us grew up malnourished on the nights when no one was interested in cooking and we'd had a big meal for lunch. We didn't watch much tv, or eat much junk but easy meals were not unheard of, even in the days of meat, starch, green veggie when we grew up.

[salex]

Lettuce wraps sound really crappy and boring. Sure, put lettuce in a wrap, but at least add something else like meat or cheese, and some kind of sauce/salad dressing and some more veg like tomatoes and cucumber...but lettuce on its own???

Around here, a lettuce wrap is where instead of a starch, you use a lettuce leaf to wrap the stuffing in it-- meat, chicken, beans and rice, whatever.

[lexiloumarie]

She posted a better breakdown here before. vitafamiliae.com/low-maintenance-meals-for-high-maintenance-families/

Some of it does really sound like a meal when you read the break down, other parts not so much. Like one pound of ground meat for two adults and 6 food age kids and one baby doesn't sound like it'd stretch very far. I'm not sure if her youngest is toddler age or not yet.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Around here, a lettuce wrap is where instead of a starch, you use a lettuce leaf to wrap the stuffing in it-- meat, chicken, beans and rice, whatever.

Ahhhhh not heard of that before. I presumed lettuce wrap was a wrap but with lettuce as the only filling.

[dilannsmom]

My 13 year old daughter was traveling (to DisneyWorld, the lucky girl) with her grandparents last week. First time I was "home alone" in...you guessed it...13 years. Here was my meal plan:

Sunday: 5 Guys burger and fries

Monday: Count Chocula cereal and skim milk

Tuesday: Helluva Good French Onion dip and Ruffles

Wednesday: Beef flavored Ramen noodles

Thursday: Count Chocula cereal and skim mik

Friday: vodka and cranberry (with lime, thank you very much!)

Saturday: Rice Krispies and skim milk

Sunday--cooking for more than one! Woot Woot! Crockpot lime chicken (with black beans and corn), mexi-rice (brown rice with salsa and cumin) and salad.

[browngrl]

I

Also - off topic but for those who eat squash, is there an easy way to cut acorn squash before cooking? I LOVE squash and am willing to pay extra for pre-cut butternut squash as opposed to hacking away at it like I'm in a horror movie, but just can't find a way to deal with acorn. Thanks!

I love squash too - and as I have cut myself during previous attempts to hack it to bits I have changed to doing squash this way: poke a few holes in the squash, put in on a cookie sheet or in a pan (doesn't matter - it is just to catch drips) and bake the squash in the oven. Not only is it easy to cut (once cooled) but it has a lovely sweet roasted flavour.

[snarktastic]

I'm the first to admit that my kids have had a bread-and-cheese meal way too often, but they'd riot if I tried to feed them that little. This weekend we had pancakes for lunch at my son's request, but that was on top of a ton of other food for that meal alone.

[Black Aliss]

Fruits and veggies look like they are few and far between. I get that fresh stuff can be expensive, esp. if it's not in season

Where they live pretty much everything is in season right now and her extended family grows vegetables for a living! So I can't imagine them not being able to have all the fresh produce they can stand. LL just doesn't want to cook that stuff, that's all.

I don't think her kids are necessarily getting shorted on the food, but it depends on the portions. If she's cooking up a pound of pasta for the 7 of them and that's all they are having, well, that's a bit light even if some of the kids are in their breatharian years.

We don't always have salad or green vegs on the side of whatever is the main dish, but just as often green salad with some kind of protein in it is all we have for dinner. The weekly milkshake dinner I just don't understand at all. But it's basically harmless and if it keeps LL sane, great.