I get that question a lot. So I figured I would post my usual answer. A lot of people think I spend hours in the kitchen or that I am a master chef. I do think I cook well, but I really feel it is the ingredients I use that make the dish. I always try to use organic and fresh, but it doesn't always work out. I was at a Pampered Chef party and I thought it was really cute how the presenter went around the room and asked the ladies what type of cook we were. A "Martha", a "Betty", etc. I am part pre-made and part chef. I love our local organic grocery store because I can get some things already half done and I just finish it off.
Okay, so back to our usual meals. We are a really busy family so all of our meals are usually made quickly and on the fly because I have a one year old who I can only put down for 5 minutes at a time. So cutting and standing at the stove is tough.
Generally for breakfast my kids love oatmeal (the slow cook type). I cook in water and then add some Vanilla Almond Milk and butter. They love berries so I usually put out frozen berries or I make them a fruit smoothie. Great Harvest also has some wonderful whole grain breads that we will do as well. Toasted with butter. Scrambled Eggs and I do spend the extra money on the better eggs. Watch Food, Inc. and you will too! I'll make pancakes too some mornings and there are a great selection of healthy pancake mixes now. Stay away from the ones that have Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable oil or too little fiber and protein. They always have some type of fruit (banana, pear, apple, cantaloupe, strawberry, blueberry, rasberry, kiwi). They'll also sometimes drink some Keifer or have some organic yogurt.
For lunch I usually put out about 4 or 5 of the following depending on what they had for breakfast and their snack: Avocados, cucumbers, red bell peppers, carrots, grapes, tomatoes, apples, pears, salmon, grilled chicken breast, natural chicken sausage (nitrite free), Amy's Pizza pockets, Natural/organic cheese pizza, whole wheat pasta, sesame seed butter in a tortilla wrap, chick peas, organic yogurt, celery with peanut butter or cream cheese, raw milk cheese slices, bagel with cream cheee, stuffed grape leaves, mandarin oranges.
For dinner it generally consists of 4 or 5 of some of the same things that fall under lunch I'll do for dinner if we didn't eat them for lunch as well as: organic rice (my kids really like Jasmine though I would prefer if they ate the brown rice), spaghetti with whole wheat noodles and organic pasta sauce, broccoli, peas, green beans, watermelon, Amy's Mac and Cheese, leafy green salad, Crossiants from Trader Joe's or these awesome buscuits by Meeting Street, buffalo meat meatballs, zucchini, asparagus, olives, gnocci, eggplant parm or chicken parm, veggie lasgna.
My kids are 5, 3, and 1 and have never had soda, Kool-Aide (at least not to my knowledge), a fast food hamburger, Hostess type treat, krispie creme type treat. I have bought all natural deserts from our Earthfare so they are not deprived, but I just can't let them have the other brands. I am not perfect and unfortunately neither is our diet, but I can control the items I buy and bring into or home. It is also a nice money saver.
I try to give them choices of what they would like at that moment. I pick the choices, but they get to decide between the options. My kids like the variety and variety is good for us. As you can see it is really simple stuff. I cook a bit more for my husband and myself, but for the kids (and for me when my hubby is traveling) we eat pretty much raw foods and they are pretty simple. They love this stuff and I feel as though they are really getting a nice variety of fruits and vegetables everyday. If you can adhere to a 90/10 rule which is 90% plant based diet and 10% meat/fish/dairy diet you are pretty much doing what most diet experts tout as optimal.
Dr Sears has some great books out on feeding children well and some great tips on how to get them to eat some of the foods you want them too. www.askdrsears.com
Hope you find some food ideas!