S/O for those of you that don’t eat fleishig during the week

mha3484

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:07 pm

amother OP wrote:

Those of you who serve your families beans, tofu, farro, chickpeas what kind of background are you? How old are your kids? I cannot imagine any kid I know eating a black bean burger or a chickpea feta salad. Those are adult foods. It seems either you live in a completely different culture than me or you are out to lunch and completely out of touch with reality as far as what kids eat.
I have a family member who feeds her husband peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and claims he’s full. Well guess what he goes to takeout and buys food to fill himself up almost everyday. So all this penny pinching ain’t doing nothing! I wonder how many of you saying you serve this cheaper version or vegetarian have family members doing the same or eating more by shul, a friend..

I grew up with foodie parents and I was a horrible eater until my mid teens. I became a much more adventurous eater as I got older. My kids eat the same food as the adults from when they have teeth. KAH will eat anything you listed. My most difficult child’s favorite meal is bean and cheese burritos. I would serve tofu more often but my husband is concerned about the soy. We find a 50/50 meat/no meat works best for us but I don’t agree that kids can’t eat beans, grains etc.

amother

Hyacinth

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:07 pm

amother Daisy wrote:

My background? I grew up in a litvish home in Brooklyn. No idea why that makes a difference. My kids have always been exposed to normal foods, and they continue to eat normal foods. They absolutely love chickpea feta salad, and so do I so it doesn't surprise me. Most cultures around the world don't believe that kids and adults eat different types of food. You eat what you're used to.

and your husband too?
I can't really think of any man I know in the 30 and above age group from tristate area eating tofu and chickpeas
come check out the kiddush in shul shabbos

Bnei Berak 10

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:15 pm

amother OP wrote:

Adult foods? LOL

Both young and old eat the same thing, that's the way you get used to real food Smile

The first time I saw the concept of a "kid's menu" on flights was utterly foreign to me. Why shouldn't they be able to eat the same as adults?

Bnei Berak 10

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:21 pm

amother Chestnut wrote:

Preparation is key as many people are just terrible cooks. LOL

I had a friend over for dinner and I made a Chinese Roasted Green Bean dish which was a revelation to her because she thought she hate string beans. Her mother boiled them until they were gray and then just plopped them on a plate. Of course she hated them.

Same thing with spinach. Boiled it's slimy and tasteless. Sauted with garlic and olive oil briefly and it's divine.

Collard greens/mustard greens - delicious and a power house of nutrition. Delicious good with a smoked turkey leg.

THIS!

Amarante

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:23 pm

amother OP wrote:

Why would a child automatically not like a veggie burger but like falafel. A falafel is essentially just a veggie burger in a different form.

And why such extreme examples? There are loads of delicious relatively inexpensive lunch options that aren’t a PBJ sandwich every day if someone is taking lunch.

amother

Azalea

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:26 pm

amother Hyacinth wrote:

and your husband too?
I can't really think of any man I know in the 30 and above age group from tristate area eating tofu and chickpeas
come check out the kiddush in shul shabbos

Sure, my husband loves herring and cholent and a little whiskey… but he doesn’t eat that exclusively every single meal every day of the week…

amother

Daisy

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:46 pm

amother Hyacinth wrote:

and your husband too?
I can't really think of any man I know in the 30 and above age group from tristate area eating tofu and chickpeas
come check out the kiddush in shul shabbos

No, my dh is European. Europeans in general tend to have less limited palates. On shabbos we eat traditional shabbos food, not understanding the connection?

amother

Peru

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 3:51 pm

amother Ebony wrote:

I was just at the kosher grocery this morning. I live oot, but with a large and rapidly growing Jewish community. (Several kosher grocery stores and plenty of restaurants for context.)
A package of stew meat (1.14 lbs) was over $14.
A package of chicken wings (also slightly over 1 pound) was around $6-7.

A package of 5 chicken drumsticks (legs only, no thigh attached) was close to $9. Using this as a meal example, let's say there's a family of 8 (6 kids, 2 adults). Just for 1 meal, you have to assume a minimum of 2 drumsticks per person on average (remember there's no thigh attached, it's literally just the leg). You'd need to buy 3 packages at around $27. If you don't want people to feel limited, or there are those who need more than 2 to feel full and not rely on starchy sides, you are looking at 4 packages at least, for a total of $36. Add in rice or potatoes, frozen or canned vegetables, and your total is probably close to $50, at the very least.

So obviously prices are different in different places... one of the major perks of living in town is the cheap kosher food. Like I wrote above, stew meat is $7.49 a pound right now, it can go on sale for even cheaper. Chicken wings are approximately 99 cents a pound, much much cheaper than the $6 a pound you are paying.

Chicken, rice and vegetables is $20 for 8 bottoms. Stew costs just a little bit more. Not even close to $50. Not even half.

amother

Peru

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 3:57 pm

Amarante wrote:

Yes it's a side. I was responding to the woman who said that vegetables are more expensive than animal protein.

I was pointing out that lots of vegetables are not expensive like cabbage and would be eaten by children - at least all of the children I know.

I also mentioned dishes that use tofu that are generally liked by everyone.

Carrots are very cheap - roasted them and most kids gobble them up.

I never understood this argument. Yes, SOME vegetables may be cheaper than chicken or meat, but dollar for dollar, they are not as filling. You can't serve coleslaw as a main, for example. And it's not even nutritious as children need protein. I serve vegetables including coleslaw all the time. I definitely have a higher food bill because I add vegetables - I'm not even going to pretend otherwise.

A supper of ziti and cheese - less than ten dollars. Add vegetables, and you just doubled your cost, without being specifically more filling or anything.

amother

Ebony

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 4:03 pm

amother Peru wrote:

Like I said, it depends where you live. And currently right now, where you live, for those prices it makes sense to do meat/chicken on a regular basis, if you can. But if prices would rise suddenly and sharply, you'd (a general you) likely realize the need for alternatives and would somehow make do. As those of us who live outside the NY/NJ area have done/do, depending on our income & family size.
(And again, I don't live in a tiny little oot community. It's one of the larger frum communities and we have several kosher grocery stores. )

amother

Lemonchiffon

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 4:08 pm

amother OP wrote:

Figured I'll answer, since I posted earlier that these are on our normal rotation. I am Ashkenazi, so is my husband. We're both yeshivish, I guess the OOT version. My kids are ages 1-15 ka'h, and the older few are boys.

Happens to be that I have a very picky almost-four year old right now who won't eat most of our dinners, and I'm starting to understand why some people serve kids "kid food." I very occasionally serve chicken nuggets or fishsticks (maybe 3-4 times a year total for both combined, usually when I'm sick or it's been an extremely crazy day or something), and she will eat those, and hotdogs, but pretty much no other fleishigs. Won't eat eggs, or chickpeas, only one of my bean-based dishes. But all of my others, older and younger, will eat most (not all) of the meals I make. If she was my oldest, I'd probably cook very differently. But BH my first few weren't such picky eaters, so I never got into the habit of cooking kiddie foods...

It's funny, though, my husband takes a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread for lunch every single day. He packs it, not me. Doesn't want variety. Oh, and an apple. That's it. No, he doesn't buy take out. It's enough to keep him full until dinnertime...

Amarante

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 4:13 pm

amother Peru wrote:

Who suggested serving it as a main

The woman said that she couldn't afford to serve a vegetable as a SIDE because it was too expensive.

I suggested a bunch of inexpensive vegetable sides that she could use and her children would like.

One of the SIDES I suggested was Cole Slaw.

I then added a specific recipe that my kids really like a lot which is just Cole slaw with a slant.

Posting on imamother really becomes not worth it when people are just waiting to take things out of context and then either I have to let the inaccurate post go without a response or waste me time responding for the third time to this criticism that it isn't a main.

Do you want me to post really good vegetarian mains that are kid friendly - if I did someone would post that their kids don't like the ingredients or it is too much work or something other negative comment.

ETA And the irony is that I just remembered that I have turned this into a delicious chicken salad when there are leftovers and I have some leftover chicken. Even if the chicken is a bit dry when I add it to the left over Cole slaw and let it sit a bit until lunch, the chicken absorbs the flavorful liquid and rehydrates. So it is bit like eating a variant of Chinese Chicken Salad.

tulip3

Mon, Apr 08 2024, 4:19 pm

Amarante wrote:

Are you concerned about the additives in chickens or other meat?

Do you only eat wild caught salmon or do you eat farmed salmon and/or tilapia?

In moderation, soy and tofu are fine.

Yes, I wish I could afford the pasture fed/organic meat/wild salmon/chicken. I don't serve tilapia at all.
I need to research more about soy/tofu but from whatever I've read/heard, ashkenazi women should probably stay away from it pre menopause. One nutritionist told me that organic and nothing added type of tofu is fine.