Kids' meals

(Debbie Fojtik) #1

For those of you with children, how do you handle cooking for your kids? Do you let them eat keto meals or cook something else for them. None of mine need to lose weight. Thank y’all.

(MelissaH) #2

I have 3 toddlers, and have slowly been replacing things in the house. Snacks are meat and cheese instead of chips or something sweet. There is a lot controversy over kids eating strick keto. And then there is school which feeds them horribly…

#3

In my opinion, kids get more than enough carbs and sugar outside mealtimes. My 8yo eats whatever keto meal we cook for dinner for the most part. If he requests it I’ll cook him rice or pasta as a side - I think he’s only asked for that twice in the 3 months we’ve been keto.

I don’t attempt to keto-fy his snacks or lunches, but I also don’t buy him junk food.

(Lorraine) #4

It’s just me and my DD12. We do some of both. We order a pizza and I strip off the toppings, but she eats the crust, as well. Jimmy John’s unwiches are her favorite, so we both get those. I make tacos and eat mine as taco salad with no chips. Half the time she does the same and half the time she has her’s wrapped in tortilla, if we have them at home. Tonight was quick fix, so I had bacon and cream cheese and she had chicken noodle soup.

They get plenty of carbs, especially at school, so having her do some of my keto tricks can only be healthier for her and definitely not restrictive at all.

(Debbie Fojtik) #5

So I guess the take away is that my kids would be safe eating keto meals.

(I Am The Egg Man ku-ku-kachoo) #6

I do most of the dinners for the family. I’m the only one with a significant weight issue.

I do 3 things:

  1. Cook keto and let them eat the same.
  2. Add a starch for them. For instance, I make curries on veg for me & on rice for them, or chicken parmesan but they get pasta and bread.
  3. Cook just for them, as I’m easily satisfied with easy keto like eggs and bacon or a salad.

Oh… Once a month I’ll buy them a good pizza, too.:blush:

(Amy Ramadan) #7

My kids made the decision, all on their own, to start keto when I did. I let them make their own choices, and I am not as strict with them, they are after all only kids!! My older son has had great results, and is absolutely thrilled to be down 20 lbs. Whether or not they need to lose weight, we can all stand to be healthier!! Good luck!!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

Absolutely! The traditional diets of many aborignal peoples were carbohydrate-free, and they produced healthy, strapping kids, and strong, healthy adults. There is no known carbohydrate deficiency disease, and while there are essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, so that we are required to eat protein and fat, there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.

While it is true that there are cells in the body that require glucose, the liver is perfectly capable of making all that they require, and this is as true for children as for adults. Before the advent of inexpensive refined sugar, almost all children grew to adulthood without ever tasting it. As long as the price of sugar remained out of reach of anyone who wasn’t rich, diabetes, gout, dental cavities, and stroke likewise remained the privileges of wealth.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #9

I’d feed them whatever you are eating. You don’t need to worry about them loosing weight… My previously underweight toddler started eating more keto foods and has really gained. She used to be falling off the bottom of the weight charts, but is now doing well. She’s 2 1/2 and weights about 26 lbs.

Also, we have a policy that the kids have to eat what we serve. They don’t have to eat it that night, but they do need to eat it. We also have the policy of not making individual meals (leftovers are a different case), as I’m not a short-order cook.

In short, the kids will do just fine :slight_smile:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #10

As someone on these forums posted a while ago (and I’ve been plagiarizing ever since): It’s worth remembering that keto is not actually a weight-loss diet, but a weight-normalization diet.

(Daniel Winter) #11

Home is mostly keto level foods. I have a hard time when school, family, keep buying cookies, candy, treats etc. Daughter was in a good consistent managed eating routine and then family thinks its fun to buy treats for kids. Damn it she got sick and i reemed out my parents for getting her chocolate bars and the inlaws are hard of hearing i guess cause they dont stop. And shes started gaining some weight and has become a touch more self aware of that and Im pissed. Her cravings are up for sugary things and when I have business related trips and shes with family Im reminding them to stop. Im know this is about what to feed kids, it just brought out the frustration of having your efforts to keep your kids from all the health issues with over sugaring their diet from frankly idiots in the family who are sick, very overweight, and diabetic or near the point of being classified diabetic which we all know is preaty much diabetic. Ive said before to them stop the sugar, carb heavy foods etc etc nothing, I would have hoped they would respect their own grandchild enough to realize “hey just in case he is right, lets not risk the future health of our granddaughter” Have to make a kids keto fest of somekind, something :slight_smile:

(Sheri Knauer) #12

I have 2 girls, 9 and 10.5. At home, we don’t have crappy carbage. I won’t buy it or bring it into the house. At dinner, they eat what I make. If I know its something they really won’t like, I make sure there are other options at the table, like chunks of cheese, a bowl of mixed raw nuts, lunch meat turkey, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bowl of olives or pickles, pepperoni, fresh in season fruits. There will always be something at the table they will eat. In the mornings, I’ll cook up a tray of bacon in the morning. They have been obsessed for months with these chocolate truffles I make for them:
28 grams of almond flour
18 grams of IsoPure Dutch Chocolate low carb protein powder
17 grams cacao powder
18 grams almond butter
14 grams lakanto syrup
13 grams of unsweetened nut milk (Ive used almond milk, coconut milk, and macadamia nut milk)

mix all the dry ingredients together
add the wet ingredients and stir well to incorporate. I use a rubber spatula to stir it well. Don’t be tempted to add more liquid if it seems dry. That would mess up the consistency it needs to be to roll it into balls.
Once its mixed well, cover and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Take out and roll into balls. I usually get 6 balls out of a batch that are about 17g each. I put each ball in a mini cupcake paper.
If you want to, you can roll it in crushed nuts or coconut, but my kids prefer them plain.

As for weight loss, neither of mine need to lose weight but the way I see it, their growing bodies need all that nutrition and when I feed them whole, unprocessed foods, their bodies are just sucking up all those nutrients and growing properly in musculature, strong bones, and a healthy brain, gut and mitochondria.

(Debbie Fojtik) #13

Good to know.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #14

My son just recently commented (I think it was last night) that now that he’s starting to eat Keto he’s really enjoying the meals I make at supper :slight_smile: