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Talk It Out:
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"We
have had this problem in the past as well,
but we now have a few solutions. One
of them is varying lunch; we often do PB
& J or ham sandwiches, but about once
a week, we do make your own pizzas or mac
'n cheese or something different.
The variety helps out. Also, I have
purchased some inexpensive 6-hole muffin
tins at the dollar store and we use those
as plates as well. I will cut up cheese
cubes for one hole, sandwich meat in
another, fruit in a third, etc. It's just
different enough that it takes away some
of the mundane. Picnics outside or
on the living room floor are another
boredom breaker. We still struggle with
this issue, but these are a few things my
kids enjoy." ~
Leslie
"One suggestion would be to take your children to your local bookstore and let them pick out a kid-friendly cookbook (Barnes & Noble has tons of them). Then each day they can take turns picking what they want to help prepare for lunch. This will allow the children to have what they want for lunch, with the added treat of getting to help prepare the meal, and the kid-friendly cookbooks make it fun." ~ Sandra
"Our family has struggled with eating -at home versus
fast food, for budgetary as well as health reasons. My
children --a girl age 6 and boy age 9 -- are extremely fond of
'Happy Meals.' Often it's the toy inside, not the food
that thrills them so much. When it was just no longer
financially possible to drive thru anymore, we decided to
simply let the kids know why. After explaining in very simple
terms that the food was not good for our tummies or wallets, I
stocked my kitchen with things to help make home food more
fun.
1. Roll of wax paper and sheets of stickers ($2.00 at
dollar store. - Kids like to unwrap (and wrap). Wrap finger
foods like sandwiches, nuggets, or homemade desserts like
cakes and brownies in wax paper and seal with sticker.
2. Toothpicks - Put it on a stick and it's fun -- who knew?!
3. Paper plates and napkins in fun patterns and colors (always
under $1.00 at dollar store and clearance aisle)
4.Fun cups special to each child - again on sale or Dollar
Store
5. For meals on the go, kids pack a lunch box with their
favorites. Let them take along a small toy or stuffed animal
for play after.
6. Finally, enlist kids in preparation - I had no idea how
enthusiastic my little ones would be to scrub veggies, mix,
set table, etc. They love it and I think most kids will!
Set a family goal and tell everyone, 'After 1 week with NO
eating out, kids get a treat (dollar store, special time with
friend, etc.).' Keep a cooler in the car stocked with
water, juice, fruit, cheese, crackers. You would be
surprised how we all are trained to get hungry when we get in
the car. It's like Pavlov's dog. We associate a fast food
treat with our car. Having snacks at hand can satisfy the
urge. These things have helped my family save money and eat
healthier. Hope they help." ~ Charyl in Virginia
"If we're out running errands, it's
usually the lunchtime meal that gets us every time. Our
favorite lunch time spot is Subway. We're really into healthy
eating and so try to avoid fast food places with greasy,
fattening food. I've started purchasing sub rolls, turkey,
ham, and cheese to keep on hand in the refrigerator at all
times, and also slice up our favorite vegetable toppings
(cucumbers, onion, pickles, and lettuce) so that sandwich
making is very quick and easy. We have our own 'Subway'
sandwiches at home for lunch everyday and save our 'lunch
money' for other things like movies and entertainment."
~ Laurie
"I have 2 school-age daughters and one way that I have
found making eating at home is to involve them in the
preparation. I decide what we are having for lunch and then I
ask the girls what job they would like to do. For example, I
may ask the girls to cut up fruit (with a plastic butterknife)
for a fruit salad or I may give them skewers or pretzel sticks and
let them make fruit kabobs. Another fun idea is to puree
strawberries and add to vanilla or plain yogurt to make a
fruit dip and let them use toothpicks to pick up small pieces
of cut up fruit. I will let the older one who is 8 make
grilled cheese sandwiches with me at the stove while her
sister gets them ready by putting the cheese on the bread and
buttering both sides. There are books with ideas for making
food sculptures that you can eat for kids. And we have
done a few of those, such as a mouse made out of a strawberry
with mini chocolate chips for the nose and eyes and a piece of
pretzel for the tail. For sandwiches you can get out the
cookie cutters or cut it into pieces for a puzzle. Dips such
as ranch dressing or spicy ranch dressing make vegetables more
fun. Salads become fun when you give each member a job, one
can rip the lettuce leaves, one can grate the carrots, you can
do most of the major cutting. Also making a vegetable
pizza from scratch is fun and healthy. Above all get the kids
in the kitchen. It's a great way to learn and to make food
fun!" ~ Tina
"This is a tough one. You may try eating somewhere different inside your house - having an indoor picnic on the floor, for example. Or perhaps making homemade pizzas, renting a favorite movie, and enjoying it together. Another thought is making a bunch of appetizer-type foods, maybe get everyone involved in cooking these. For dessert, a sundae bar, where you get lots of toppings and left everyone create their own. That concept would also work with tacos. If you do tacos, you could chips in a basket and with a side of salsa, the way it's served at Mexican restaurants." ~ Keetha "My family recently went on a gluten-free, casein-free diet because of my son's autism. This is a very strict and difficult diet and eating out goes away for the most part. Since my kids were losing nearly everything they were accustomed to eating, like bread, milk, cheese, corn dogs, etc, I had to find ways to make it not miserable. For lunches, I let them make theirs. It sounds simple, but it was a big deal to them. A child will get more excited about eating when they got to make it. I also bought them juice boxes, 100% juice kind to make lunch a treat. It was a small splurge but it helped morale a lot." ~ Mary Ann "I occasionally allow myself to buy a few more expensive special things for meals at the grocery store. That keeps us from eating out too often and it's still much cheaper than eating out." ~ Julie "My kids are in their mid
thirties now, but when they were small, I used to make them 'Party
Lunches,' as we called them. They are actually homemade
'Lunchables'. I would take a styrofoam egg carton, and
in each compartment I would put a little bit of something, a
piece of cheese, a few grapes, lunchmeat cubes, a few
pretzels, carrot sticks, and so on. It is a good way to clean
the frig out and the kids love it." ~ Sue "My daughters and I make a 'picnic'. We pack sandwiches from home and stop at a park along our errand route for free fun. They like it even more than eating out." ~ Donielle "I have a friend who married a man with 3 boys. She didn't want to replace their mother or to come off as an 'evil stepmother' so she tried to make life fun for them. She would have theme dinners several times a week and get the kids involved. They had 'everything is yellow' night (corn, mashed potatoes tinted yellow, squash, etc), Pirate night (wear eye patches, barefooted, raggedy pants, no shirt, eat fish sticks, pineapple, anything you can relate to pirates), etc. Sometimes they would have a picnic in front of the TV. But rather than the usual boring TV tray, she would spread a tablecloth on the floor, have a candle, sit plants all around the tablecloth, anything to make it look like a picnic. Involving the kids in thinking of a theme and planning the food made all the difference. You could do Campfire, cowboy, red night, 'surprise inside' night (everything has a surprise inside - stuffed shells, stuffed peppers, Twinkies, etc)." ~ Gayle
"Retrain your children gradually by
going out fewer times each week. Then, go out to eat but order
less at each meal - exclude drinks, desserts or extras. Next,
go out for dessert so that your kids still get the fun of a
restaurant but don't spend the money. Reward the entire family
by putting a set amount of money (maybe $10) in a visible jar
every time you don't go out to eat. That money you saved can
go towards an excursion that everyone will look forward too."
~ Bee
"I'm
responding to your question about making eating at home
fun for kids vs. eating out. Last summer my husband was
between jobs for three months, so we had to cut out almost
all our eating out. We had been eating out 2-3 times per
week counting lunch and dinner. At first my children would
whine about wanting to go out, so I usually responded, 'What
would you eat if you could go out?' The answer was usual
kid fare at restaurants: chicken nuggets, hot dogs, pizza,
etc. It's true that we never usually cooked those
things at home since we try to eat healthy. So I tried to
make one dinner a night which was planned by the kids. I
made chicken nuggets from chicken breasts cut-up with
Shake-N-Bake. I found out how cheap and easy it is to make
pizza dough, and we made our own pizzas, and we splurged
occasionally on nitrate-free hot dogs. We ate chips
and salsa a lot instead of fries.
Another
helpful idea is to change the venue of where you are
eating. Eat outside on the deck, on a picnic blanket
in the park, on a picnic blanket in the family room, etc.
You could also plan a special meal on the nice dishes, or
even just put some candles on the table and use fancy
glasses (if you have some that aren't too delicate.)
Our kids love it if we have a candlelight meal!
Sometimes my daughters pick some wildflowers and put them
on the table for a little change that is nice, too."
~ Margery
from Cumming, GA
"The first thing to realize is that for most of us eating out is a habit, not a necessity, or even a planned treat. Our family went cold-turkey for the month of December a few years ago. We simply told our 5 kids that if we continued to spend money on eating out there would be no budget for Christmas presents. It was difficult at first because we had to plan ahead to pack a meal or be home in time for lunch, but we did break the habit and became much more aware of where our money was going and what we were eating. You may want to increase your grocery budget for a few months to allow for special foods that you would normally have when eating out (frozen hamburgers, fries, chicken nuggets, etc.). Since they cost less when I make them at home, and are usually a little healthier, I let the kids have seconds and that goes a long way towards making home-eating more desirable! The trick is to keep them, and you, from feeling deprived. For some great recipes, check out Hillbilly Housewife. The caramel corn is amazing! Calculate how much you spend for your family to eat out at a fast food restaurant, then have fun making dinners that cost the same amount. You'll have a hard time spending that much: I can make 6 lbs of London broil steak, 4 cups of rice, vegetables, and dessert for under $20! And now my kids actually prefer home-cooking to eating out. Friday is traditionally pizza and movie night at our house. We were out of pizza sauce a few weeks ago, so I offered to pick up pizza from Costco on my way home from work, but my teenaged son said he'd rather make something else and wait till we had the ingredients for homemade pizza. We ended up having cheese quesadillas and everyone was happy." ~ Prajna "Asking the family what meals they like will
help them enjoy eating at home. Allowing
the family to help in the making of the
meals makes them feel important and they will be
more willing to eat at home. Let
the family know how much the meal cost to feed
all at home; compare it with the cost of the same
meal eaten at a restaurant and stress the savings. Show the family that 'practice makes
perfect' when cooking and they can
become creative as they make the
same thing over and over, making it better
each time. Give an occasional
treat -- a meal out or visit somewhere
--- with some of the money you saved by eating
at home. Tell the family how much
healthier your meals served at
home are as you know what went into the recipe."
~ Betty "In a huge move to save money, we have limited our eating out to only once or twice a month. I have discovered two things about eating at home. Sit around your table. Since I have a varying age group with an infant starting solids, we started eating in shifts. I now plan dinner to be set around the table so that we have the same together time as we did sitting at a restaurant. I also am willing to use our Fry Daddy. Having (real) French fries instead of baked helps the feel of eating out." ~ Jennifer, Indiana "A
few tips that have been helpful for my family:
Editor's Note: Thanks to these subscribers for taking the time to respond. |
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