Eating out with children....

As much as we would all love to be able to cook healthy meals every night of the week for our family, sometimes life gets busy and eating out becomes a necessity.  I've been trying to introduce my boys to new foods so that they don't always end up picking macaroni and cheese off the kids menu at a restaurant!

Some of my favorite alternative restaurant options that can help our kids to branch out from burgers and fries and expand their food horizons include: 

• Which Wich? sandwich shop where they can choose and customize their own sandwich by marking all ingredients on the bag to order for themselves (they love this!)

• Chicken skewers and curry bowls at our local Thai restaurant 

• Japanese bento boxes with miso soup, chicken teriyaki, cucumber salad, California rolls

• Omelets at a breakfast restaurant

• Build your own taco kit at Chipotle

• Cracker Barrel veggie platters (collard greens, apples, okra and broccoli are some of the options)

Just because a restaurant has a kids menu doesn't mean that is what your kids have to eat. Unfortunately, the kids menus are not teaching our children about eating variety and increasing their familiarity with new foods.  Kids menus all offer pretty much the same foods over and over and over...

Remember your job as a parent when it comes to food is to decide when food is served and which foods are offered at mealtimes.  Your kids decide how much they eat and whether they eat.  

Next time you need to eat out with your kids, skip the fast food options and introduce them to something new.  They may actually end up liking in more than your typical go-to spots!  And once you find something they enjoy, try looking up a copycat recipe online of their new favorite food so you can make it together at home!

I'd love to hear your favorite non-traditional spots to eat with your kids.