How to Feed Your Kid

“I wrote this to help other new parents who, like me, find the whole stuff element overwhelming. Shopping lists like this also have the bonus of being excellent gift guides. So go, shop and gift generously!” -Hillary Dixler Canavan

HDC: “Is there anything more delightful than a fifth grader explaining why Takis are the ultimate cool kid snack? No. There isn’t.”

HDC: Yes, I’m plugging the cookbook (out in September!) but also including this link for the sneak peek of the halo-halo recipe from Kamayan in Atlanta. Dessert can be a fun entry point for kids to become more adventurous with tastes and textures—especially when Fruity Pebbles are involved.”

HDC: “The work of feeding your kids doesn’t stop when they become tweens and teens. I’m already reading ahead and pieces like this one that frame the job in terms of building peaceful relationships to our bodies are especially helpful.”

HDC: “Discovering the Solid Starts food database changed the game for my family when we were introducing solids to our baby. The database outlines the nutritional profiles of each food, plus how to cut and serve it safely based on the age of your baby. Seriously, game changer.”

HDC: “Author/journalist Virginia Sole-Smith’s Substack is a guiding light for me as a parent who is eager to protect my child from the long-lasting damage diet culture and anti-fatness can have on her (and my!!) physical and mental health. I love how Sole-Smith so clearly synthesizes complex research topics while also offering concrete, actionable advice to parents in the trenches.”

HDC: “What if we didn’t wage wars on bodies? What if we didn’t shame children at the doctor? These questions, asked by influential writer Aubrey Gordon aren’t just hypotheticals; as a child in a large body, she faced the very real effects of the ‘war on obesity’ and her experiences should make anyone reconsider our ongoing ‘battle.’ You might know Gordon from her viral anonymous essays penned under her pseudonym Your Fat Friend, or from her hit podcast Maintenance Phase, or her two books: You Just Need to Lose Weight and What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Being Fat.”

HDC: “Why is finding a lunch box so hard?? There are SO many more options now than when we were kids, and sorting through the good from the merely Instagrammable is exactly what the Strategist excels at.”

HDC: “We can’t talk about feeding our kids without acknowledging that too many children struggle with hunger. This piece is a great starting place to understanding the how’s and why’s of food banks and the importance of supporting them.”

HDC: “My toddler LOVES this show, and I do too: The rice episode is a great invitation for kids to think about food as it relates to culture and history. Culinary historian Michael Twitty’s discussion of the history of rice—including a clear explanation of what enslavement was—is a particularly compelling example of just how well this show tackles the hard truths that food can reveal about our history in a kid-friendly way.”

HDC: “Take it from a real chef—in this case, Momofuku founder David Chang—mac and cheese, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets are just part of kid life. There are so many smart feed-your-kid-fast strategies in this video: from the best way to slice a hot dog to quickly cook it, to assessing when frozen veggies are better than fresh, to planning ahead for leftovers.”

HDC: “This is the truest truth of feeding kids.”