@mommabear538, I’d be happy to!! Just send me an email at pickyeats@gmail.com and we can keep chatting! Happy to help in any way I can!

@anjalim I would love to continue this conversation over email... I will try this tomorrow morning with breakfast! Momma wants chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries on top! Lol. For them I won't add the chocolate chips though. Lol

@smilingwithmyawesome4kids, I actually like to make double batches of meals when I cook, and then freeze half of the meal for a future dinner. That way I always have a stash of frozen homemade healthy meals on hand when I don’t have time to cook!

@smilingwithmyawesome4kids, hi! It’s a myth that clean eating costs more - because you can buy fruits and veggies pretty cheaply at your local supermarket! You can also rely heavily on frozen fruits and veggies which are super cheap and just as healthy as their fresh counterparts, and the bulk section at many stores is a great place to get healthy items (eg oats, nuts, grains, lentils, beans) for super cheap too!

@mommabear538, hi! So for all of your kids except the 1 week old, I’d suggest getting them involved in shopping for and making the meals you eat. Family meal time and cooking together could really help you out here, as well as not being a short order cook - eg everyone will eat the same meal all together. Also, especially with your 10 year old I’d be interested to know where the resistance to other foods comes from - since - for example when you tell him trout is salmon he eats it - it clearly isn’t a taste issue. So I’d start with a meal that has components of things all of your kids like - like pizza with veggies and some meat as toppings with fruit salad on the side, and one new healthy dish that you want everyone to try. And for each kid, they don’t get to eat the part of the meal they like (eg fruit for your four yr old) until they take a certain number of bites of the other foods on the table. Then the food they like is their “reward” for being open and trying the new healthy foods. And then also start having conversations with your kids about the importance of being open to trying new things vs being closed (more as a family motto vs tied to food specifically) to help develop a more holistic mentality that you can have them apply to trying new things. Eg when my daughter is being picky I remind her that in our family we are open to new experiences and she has to at least try it first (and if she really doesn’t like it I won’t force her to finish it, it’s the trying part that is important because eventually their taste buds will change and they will start to like other foods). For your breastfed baby I’d actually encourage you to keep eating a large variety of foods to help expand your baby’s palate early on - even if your baby shows signs of pickiness - babies will eat when hungry no matter what - and the same goes for your other kids too! So really it’s about being consistent about family meals, incentivizing trying new foods by withholding the foods they like until they have tried the new food, and having conversations about openness that should help. But you have to be 100% consistent and you can’t give in otherwise it wont work! And just remember change takes time so just be patient and eventually their pickiness will start to fade. Hope that helps! Happy to chat about even more specifics and strategies over email (since I can write a lot more over email than on my phone) if it’s helpful - just let me know!

@theinkedmommy, hi! This is actually super common for toddlers - they start to assert themselves by becoming picky about what they’re eating - and it could be as simple as wanting to gain some “power”. So what id suggest is giving her a new food first and making her try at least one bite before she gets a food she likes and is familiar with. Or have her alternate bites between the food she is resistant to and the food she likes. You have to be consistent about it and don’t give in because otherwise she has no incentive to try the new food next time. Also keep in mind that it can take up to 30 tries before a kid starts to like a particular food so don’t give up! With my daughter, I’d constantly make her alternate bites between new foods or foods she didn’t like as much and foods she loved to get her to expand her palate and it worked and now she will literally eat anything - but I had to enforce it every time and at every meal for a year!

Do you make pre meals ahead @anjalim,

Does clean eating cost more @anjalim,

@mommy.to.sterling, We get protein from tons of different sources! Beans, lentils, eggs, dairy eg Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, any kind of cheese in moderation, smoothies with protein powder, nuts, sprouted grains, even cauliflower has a good amount of protein in it! When I was pregnant I managed to get 80g of protein a day easily all from vegetarian sources!

My oldest is 10, he's opened up a lot, but pizza is a big thing for him and I do make that from scratch, pasta but no sauce, he only eats certain veggies, broccoli, corn, lima beans, he loves my Mac and cheese and he will eat most meat, poultry and salmon, he eats trout but only because I lie and tell him it's salmon, my 4 year old only eats fruit, and my 1 year old only eats meat and rice, my breastfeeding baby at 1 week is already showing signs of pickiness, depending on what I eat before feedings.

@mommabear538, hi! Yes specific pickiness would be helpful - then I can give you more concrete ideas about what to make!

@mommy.to.sterling, hi! I love changing it up - we are actually vegetarian but I make a different cuisine every other night of the week! I cook enough for two meals so that we always have leftovers that are healthy - so for example I’ll make pasta one night but we do it with whole wheat pasta, tons of veggies (zucchini, spinach, peppers, tomatoes) sauce and a bit of cheese on top (you can add chicken to this and it would taste great!), then I’ll make soft tacos with corn tortillas, veggies sautéed in spices, black beans, avocado and cheese (and you can add any meat to this), and later in the week I’ll do Indian - which I have a ton of recipes for on my blog! All of these dinners take 30-40 min to make max!

@anjalim, How can you maintain a healthy diet while breastfeeding and have 3 other picky kids for the whole family? If needed I can get into specific pickiness

@beebaby, no prob! The main foods to avoid if you’re trying to lose weight are fast food and processed food (if it has an ingredient you can’t pronounce don’t eat it!) and also avoid anything with added sugar in it (sugar/honey/agave/maple syrup/etc - all count as sugar and should be avoided)

@beebaby, fruits and veggies are my favorite on the go mini meals - eg apples and peanut butter or almond butter, berries with plain Greek yogurt, carrot sticks and celery sticks with hummus or string cheese, cottage cheese with fruit or veggies mixed in, steamed veggies with olive oil salt pepper and fresh herbs etc! All can be portable and made the night before and then you have a bunch of grab and go options that are healthy!

@anjalim thank you

@beebaby, hi! Yes so the main thing to maintain your supply while nursing is to drink tons of water, eat oats and flax, and take fenugreek supplements and brewers yeast. If youre doing those things then just eating a balanced diet (eg oatmeal for breakfast, salad for lunch, fruit for a snack, and a dinner with a lean protein, tons of veggies and some complex carbs) will help you lose the baby weight but keep your supply up!

Also best foods to eat on the go as a working mom of 3 kids @anjalim

Do you know the best foods to eat while breastfeeding to lose weight but maintain @anjalim