It's amazing to think about all of the food that we ate as kids. We loved crispy and salty chicken fingers and fish sticks, candy that was just as sour as it was sweet, all flavors of ice cream, and anything that wasn't a green vegetable. These days, our diets definitely don't look like that, and we've swapped the junk food for quinoa and salmon (although we do enjoy a good treat sometimes because, hey, we're only human).
Moms know that getting kids to eat a healthy dinner can be somewhat of a challenge (okay, it's a huge challenge). If you have a friend whose children eat broccoli with big grins on their faces and even request the stuff, you might be confused as to how that could even be possible. Your own kids are begging for junk food and it's a struggle to find veggies that are interesting to them.
The struggle is all too real when it comes to how to feed kids. We always love hearing how celebrity mamas are raising their children, and one thing that is endlessly fascinating to us is what kinds of food these kids of celebs are eating. Read on to find out how these 20 celebs are feeding their kids.
20 Kristen Bell: Healthy Home
We adore Kristen Bell from her starring role on the hilarious The Good Place to her family life with husband, Dax Shepard, and kids Lincoln who is five and Delta who is three. As she told Parents magazine, she and her children are vegetarians, and she talks to her kids about eating well.
She said, “I do like to involve them as much as I possibly can. I also like that they are interested in the fact that I care so much about food and we can talk about that and why we eat the foods we eat, and talk about a colorful plate when I’m cutting up vegetables for a platter or a dish. We talk about what goes into it and why it’s good for your body." Aw. That sounds awesome.
19 Kourtney Kardashian: No Gluten Here, Please
Gluten-free diets are popular and it makes sense that some celebrities would follow them, too. And if a celebrity mom is gluten-free, then it's only logical that her children would be as well.
It seems like Kourtney Kardashian's kids follow a gluten-free style of eating that includes healthy food as well. She has three kids: eight-year-old Mason, six-year-old Penelope, and three-year-old Reign.
Quite Simply Miranda quoted her as saying, “For lunch, we usually have carrots and celery with hummus and a gluten-free rice tortilla with sliced turkey meat or turkey dogs — no bun. Dinner consists of steamed vegetables, rice or gluten-free pasta and a protein of chicken, turkey or fish.”
18 Mindy Kaling: Homemade Baby Food
We know that Mindy Kaling is the best and that she had her daughter, Katherine, less than one year ago, but we don't know that much about their family life. Mindy has kept that stuff private, which is her right of course.
Thankfully, we know a bit about what their culinary lifestyle is like. Mindy Kaling told Today.com that she makes baby food for her daughter, including sweet potatoes. She said,
"One of the most rewarding parts of my weekend is doing meal prep for my daughter because she’s now eating foods. I never did this for myself before I had a kid."
17 Kim Kardashian-West: Making Dinner Fun
Vt reported that when Kim Kardashian-West made her kids "hotdog sushi" for dinner, people were annoyed and thought that she should have made something else.
Honestly, doesn't hotdog sushi sound super fun? We all know that it can be a challenge to get children to eat anything for dinner, let alone something that we would consider to be healthy.
Maybe we should try this the next time that our kids are asking what's for dinner and aren't too pleased about what we already had planned. If we have some fun with dinner or food in general, that can't possibly be a bad idea.
16 Angelina Jolie: A More Sophisticated Diet
Angelina Jolie seems like a very sophisticated actress and we would assume that her children -- Maddox (17), Pax (14), Zahara (13), Shiloh (12), Knox (10), and Vivienne (10) -- would eat in that vein, too.
It turns out that is the truth. According to Us Weekly, her kids love eating insects and crickets. She has said, "My boys love to eat crickets... they ate them like Doritos."
Hmmm. We're not so sure that our own kids would be doing the same. They might go for the actual Doritos instead. But, hey, that totally makes sense for children who have grown up with famous parents.
15 Jenna Tatum: Her Kid's A Vegetarian
It makes sense that if a mom has a certain way of eating, then her kids would follow suit. That makes dinnertime a lot simpler and as all moms know, dinner can be a tough (but lovely and important) time of day.
Page Six reported that Jenna Tatum's daughter, Evie, is a vegetarian like she is. She said,
"Evie is a vegetarian, mostly because I cook for her and it’s what I feel to be healthy for her and easiest."
She left it open for her child to choose and she did decide that she wanted to be vegetarian. If your kid has decided to become a vegetarian as well, then this is especially interesting.
14 Hilary Duff: A Good (And Salty) Diet
What kinds of foods does Hilary Duff's son, six-year-old Luca, eat? If any moms out there have kids that age, they know that it can be hard to get them to eat certain vegetables (or maybe any at all) but they can definitely surprise you.
As Quite Simply Miranda reported, Hilary Duff's little one is into salty food and some pretty grown-up fare. She has said, "He loves olives in his lunchbox! It’s so bizarre. But then he won’t touch his turkey sandwich. I’m like, ‘You are your mother’s child, you love salty things!'" She called him "picky but adventurous" and said sometimes he's not into spinach but will happily eat cheese, salami, and other things like that. Maybe that's a good dinner idea for our little ones?
13 Jessica Alba: Big (Or Little) Veggie Fans
For actress Jessica Alba, who has 10-year-old Honor and 7-year-old Haven, and nine-month-old baby Hayes, it sounds like her children are cool with chowing down on vegetables. That's music to any mom's ears for sure.
Quite Simply Miranda quoted her talking about a salad that her kids absolutely adore.
She said, “Carrot and avocado salad topped with homemade dressing — a blend of lime juice, coconut water, olive oil, salt and pepper. They go bananas for it. They’ll chow on that, even if they have their favorite pasta or hamburgers, or whatever with it, they’ll eat that first. I don’t even have to ask them to eat their veg.” Sounds like a great idea.
12 Neil Patrick Harris And David Burtka: Oysters (Yes, Really)
What kinds of foods do Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka's kids like to eat? They have twins, seven-year-old Harper and Gideon, and according to Refinery 29, they love eating oysters.
Yes. Oysters. That is so impressive. They also like ramen, which is also really impressive. Do we think that we could get our kids to eat oysters? Probably not. You never know and kids can surprise you with what they love and hate when it comes to food... but we're thinking that this might be a struggle. It gives you hope though, right? It's interesting to hear what kinds of sophisticated foods some celebrity kids love.
11 Jennifer Garner: Think About The Rainbow
Jennifer Garner told People magazine, "It’s more that you just want to make sure they’re getting a rainbow of flavors and of foods.”
That's such a great philosophy to have about food, especially when you're a mom and you're figuring out what to have your kids eat. Jennifer Garner is mom to 12-year-old Violet, 9-year-old Seraphina, and 6-year-old Samuel.
We love hearing what celebrity moms think about food and how they get their kids to eat, and if we took one piece of advice, it would definitely be smart to think about "a rainbow of flavors and of foods."
You can't go wrong with that.
10 Julia Roberts: Home Grown
Julia Roberts is a massive movie star and also mom to twins 13-year-old Phinneaus and Hazel and 11-year-old Henry. She has an organic garden, as She Knows reported, which is really cool.
Moms often hear the advice that buying organic is the best idea, but it's something that you have to decide for yourself. Some people might believe it's all organic, all the way, and others might think that it's too expensive. Of course, it all depends on what you can afford and what your grocery budget is like. But it makes sense to have your own garden. Moms might want to try that if it's possible, since kids would love to help out.
9 Denise Richards: Breakfast Queen
There are many breakfast foods that kids love to eat, from pancakes to waffles to French toast. Okay, if something is a carb and involves maple syrup or fruit (or both), then it's going to be something that children want. Even we would agree with that. Who doesn't love carbs?!
Denise Richards makes French toast for her kids, according to Romper, and moms definitely know that's a food that children adore.
It's cool to hear what types of meals celebrity moms are cooking for their children. In fact, our kids might ask for that even when it's not breakfast time (and, hey, sometimes breakfast for dinner is even more fun).
8 Alicia Silverstone: Vegan (And Don't Forget The Organic Food)
Alicia Silverstone is, of course, known for her role as Cher in Clueless and these days, she's known for being a mom to son, Bear, who is seven years old. Alicia Silverstone is vegan and that's how she's raising her son.
Popsugar quoted her as saying, "Bear was grown on vegan food, and we’ll continue nourishing him with a healthy diet." She continued, "He’ll be eating an organic, plant-based diet. I intend to take great care of his precious, new baby body, so I’m committed to giving him nothing but the purest and most healthy food possible. We want to keep his immune system be strong, so that he’ll be super healthy – which is just one of the many reasons he’ll eat vegan."
7 Emma Bunton: Grown-Up Palate
Remember the Spice Girls? Well, how could we forget when this girl band was the best ever? Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice, has two sons, Beau (11) and Tate (7), and it sounds like they are amazing eaters.
Made For Mums says that when it comes to what meal her son Beau loves, it's salmon and couscous. Would our kids eat that?
Maybe... but it definitely sounds pretty sophisticated and grown-up. Major props to this kid for having such an amazing palate. Maybe it's time to have our kids try couscous? It could go better than we're thinking and it could be one of their new favorite foods.
6 Gwyneth Paltrow: All About Real Food
We hear so much about Gwyneth Paltrow, from her website Goop to her cookbooks to her family life, and for a while, people were saying that her children (Apple, 14 and Moses, 12) don't eat any carbs whatsoever.
According to Women's Health, Gwyneth told the publication that isn't the case at all and that her son has eczema:
"He should eat gluten-free, based on his allergy tests. I don't know how that got construed to I don't feed my kids carbs."
Gwyneth Paltrow feeds her kids healthy food: she said, "I try to have whole foods, organic when possible. And a lot of vegetables—my daughter is vegetarian, so a lot of our meals are plant-based." Maybe she has tips on getting kids to eat those green veggies?
5 Nicole Richie: Farmers Market Fan
When we picture how a celebrity shops for food, particularly for her family, a farmers market scene comes to mind. It's a beautiful California day, the skies are bright blue and the sun is shining, and the produce looks perfect.
She Knows reported that Nicole Richie goes to farmers markets and that she likes to buy organic food. She has two kids: 9-year-old son Sparrow and 10-year-old daughter Harlow.
We bet they love going to the market with her as that's a really fun mom and kid activity. We often hear the advice that if we let our kids pick out their own food, then they might be more into eating it later.
4 Heidi Klum: Good Eaters
The best that we can hope for our children is that they're good eaters. That's what moms want to hear from teachers, family members, and any caregivers. When a mom hears that about their kid, they're beaming from ear to ear and love hearing it.
Heidi Klum's kids are really amazing eaters and it's cool to hear what kinds of meals they like to eat. She has four kids: 14-year-old Helene, 13-year-old Henry, 11-year-old Johan, and 9-year-old Lou.
Made For Mums shared that Heidi Klum said,
“They love spaghetti and meatballs, chicken soup, schnitzel and kale. They love everything! They eat healthy.”
Yum. Those all sound like the best meals ever (and ones that our kids would be happy to eat... we can hope?!).
3 Bethenny Frankel: Vegan (With One Exception)
Fans of The Real Housewives Of New York know Bethenny Frankel and her daughter, Bryn (although Bryn doesn't appear on camera).
Food Network says that Bethenny Frankel is vegan and so is her daughter, but she has her daughter eat some dairy. She said,
"I believe she needs the fat and protein in milk. Sometimes I need her to fill up on organic cheese. Her health comes first.”
Moms know that milk and dairy are usually an important part of a kid's diet and that we generally feel that the calcium is crucial for growing bodies, so this makes sense.
2 Tori Spelling: Nothing Wrong With A Little Junk Food
Food Network says that Tori Spelling talks about healthy food like other moms but also takes her kids out for junk food sometimes. The website mentioned that there are photos of her and her children at Taco Bell. She and her husband Dean McDermott have five little ones: Liam (11), Stella (10), Hattie (7), Finn (6), and one-year-old Beau.
Eating healthy food but also eating junk food sometimes seems like a good balance. That's what moms try to instill in their children and that's what we all want to follow ourselves.
We know that chocolate chip cookies are delicious but that carrots and broccoli are necessary to eat as well (although maybe our kids are still trying to wrap their heads around that idea...).
1 Katie Holmes: A Regular Homecooked Dinner
Romper reported that Katie Holmes makes her daughter homemade chicken pot pies... and that sounds so good, now we're craving those. Maybe we make something like this for our children all of the time because they're happy to enjoy some pastry and chicken and veggies... or maybe this is a new meal idea for our sometimes picky little ones.
Katie's daughter, Suri, is 12 years old now and as adorable as ever. It's nice to hear that a celebrity makes homemade dinners for their kid and makes Katie Holmes a super relatable mom. All of these celeb moms have given us some great ideas on how to feed our adorable kids.
Sources: Womenshealthmag.com, Parents.com, Foodnetwork.ca, Usmagazine.com