Kid Food Explorers

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Kid Food Explorers

I help you talk to kids about food
Nourish bodies, 🧠, & 💭
🌈 nurture healthy relationships w/ food
Dietitian + mom of 3 I’m here to help.

You want to raise kids who feel good about food and their bodies. I’m Dani, a pediatric dietitian, mom of three, and founder of Kid Food Explorers. If you’re tired of mealtime battles, worried about picky eating, or just trying to undo some of the food and body shame you grew up with, you’re not alone. I help parents like you raise confident, curious eaters through hands-on food exploration that’s rooted in science, built on connection, and free from pressure or guilt. At Kid Food Explorers, we believe food is life’s first teacher. When kids feel safe with food, they don’t just eat better—they grow into the kind of humans who trust their bodies, try new things, and treat others (and themselves) with compassion. Let’s grow a healthier generation, one bite-sized adventure at a time.

09/18/2025

Anyone else already burnt out on dinner ideas… and its only week two of back-to-school? You’re not alone.

📚🥴🍽️
You’re not alone.

Here’s how I’m keeping meals simple and nourishing without a side of fear-mongering from wellness girls or the pressure to serve Pinterest-level plating to my kids.

✨Beef is a brain-boosting MVP✨ and it makes dinner actually doable.

Some standout nutrients worth knowing:
🧠 Iron – carries oxygen to the brain (critical for focus + energy)
🧠 Zinc – supports memory and attention
🧠 Vitamin B12 – helps build healthy brain + nerve cells
🧠 Protein – supports growth, mood, and satiety

(And yes, kids benefit from beef even if it’s not grass-fed, organic, or hand-raised under moonlight 🌝)

Tonight’s dinner? Tacos. Served “Considerate, Not Catering” style.
✔️ One meal
✔️ Easy tweaks for different preferences
✔️ Leftovers repurposed for sliders or pasta on soccer night
✔️ No short-order cooking, no guilt

If dinnertime feels like a battleground, remember:
You don’t need a nutrition degree, a farm-to-table lifestyle, or a freezer full of fancy meat.

You need something your kids will eat. You need something that works for your family.

✨ And if you take nothing else from the reel, take this:
Your kid isn’t “picky,” they’re learning about food and about themselves…

All these tips add up to help kids feel safe, build trust, and make dinner times easier – even if they aren’t eating the beef… yet!

Please share your family favorite meals with beef or quick and easy go-to meals for busy nights ⬇️

08/31/2025

This Sunday night parenting hack rant about feeding kids is brought to you by my husband who just used “the kitchens closed” as a joke against me after he just finished cleaning the kitchen.

happy to answer any questions for you 💜

08/29/2025

Kids are literal thinkers.
So when we say things like “Eat your veggies so you’ll be strong” or “Don’t eat too much sugar, it’s bad for you”…
They don’t hear nuance.
They hear rules.
They hear shame.
They hear: “I’m good if I eat this. I’m bad if I eat that.”

They don’t need adult-level nutrition concepts cut into bite-sized soundbites.

This is why we need a whole new way to talk about food and bodies, one that matches how kids actually learn and grow.

✨ Let’s stop teaching food like it’s a test.
Let’s start exploring it like it’s a story they belong in.

02/04/2025

Think back… Waaaay back. What food rules did you grow up with? How have they shaped how you think, eat, and parent today?

Research suggests childhood food rules can have lasting effects on eating behaviors (PMID: 15000971). We also know that using food as a reward is linked to emotional overeating and picky eating (PMID: 32548949).

So, it’s time to flip the script because the research says what we were doing isn’t working.

But here’s the thing:

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to feeding kids. Every child, every family, every situation is different. Social media isn’t a substitute for nuance, but it can offer guidance.

👉 This isn’t about shaming parents. It’s about awareness and a fresh perspective on how we can support our kids’ lifelong well-being.

If this approach feels new or even uncomfortable—that’s okay! Learning takes time. Just like we want our kids to trust their bodies, we can give ourselves grace, too.

Before you comment, let’s address a few things:

❌ “My parents did this, and I turned out fine!” → Many of us grew up with these messages—but imagine if we had learned to trust our bodies sooner.

❌ “So, what? Kids should just eat sweets all day?” → Nope! This isn’t about throwing out structure. It’s about removing pressure and making food a positive experience.

❌ “This wouldn’t work for my child.” → That’s okay! Every family is different. The goal is progress, not perfection.

⚡ “But nutrition is important!” → YES, absolutely! And that’s exactly why this matters. Because nutrition isn’t just about what kids eat today—it’s about how they learn to make food choices for life.

💡 The takeaway? The more trust we build, the fewer battles we have. And that’s worth considering.

✨ What’s one small shift you can make at mealtimes? Drop your thoughts below! Let’s learn together. 👇

📌 Save & share this post with a friend! 💬

05/01/2024

Continuing this this trend by sharing a bit of the real, messy truths than the public side of life. I love sharing real-life moments and our fun food explorations but there’s so much more happening behind the scenes.

Can you relate to anything I have shared? Or what’s something people don’t usually see about you, your work or passion? ⬇️

11/03/2023

They are 4 and 6.

11/02/2023

Has your 🍭🍬🍫 craze settled yet?

It’s time for a candy reframe!

Stop stressing and start fostering your child’s natural curiosity into meaningful learning experiences - with candy!!!

Candy isn’t just delicious, it’s the perfect tool to invite open-ended play and exploration.

✨ Does your kiddo like to build – awesome! Open a bunch of candy and see what they create – like a castle with a fire-breathing dragon. They have just learned some basic principles of engineering.

✨Does your kiddo like puzzles – cool! Create some patterns to build early coding and sequencing skills. They have just learned some basic principles of math.

✨Do you have a “why” kiddo – love it! Have them toss candy in water to see if it floats or sinks; how quickly it dissolves; or test if a candy expands. They have just learned some basic principles of science.

And with each candy taste, no learning goes to waste because self-discovery takes place, in this playful space.

💫 Have you tried this yet? What are your your child’s interests? Let’s brainstorm how we can bring candy into meaningful learning experiences with them! Tell me ⬇️

11/01/2023

Have you ever heard of an “Almond Mom?”

If you haven’t, it’s a mom who is very controlling of their child’s diet, that are personally stuck in the never ending cycle of diet culture obsessing over what their child eats.

And I get it.

We all want the best of everything this life has to offer our kiddos. And when the messages we hear about food and our bodies are through a healthism lens (including in school) where we are taught that our health is a personal and moral responsibility that we can control - it makes sense.

But in reality, over 60% of our physical presentation of health is outside of our control as outlined by the social determinants of health.

AND with more than 1 in 5 children around the globe identified as having disordered eating (which we know to be much higher because of under-reporting and under-diagnosis) and it is more important now, than ever, to change how we talk about food and bodies.

Halloween is a great place to start. Candy doesn’t have to be vilified. In fact, it can be a great tool for self-discovery and delicious fun!

💫 Check out the full article from the link in my bio.

09/06/2023

🍱 BIG NEWS ALERT! 🚀

Turn that lunch-packing frown upside down because I’m excited to unveil something amazing today!

Are you tired of the daily lunchtime worry and stress? Let me help you transform lunch packing into a mealtime success story!

Introducing the "Let’s Pack! My Lunchbox Roadmap" – your go-to guide for revamping your family's lunch routines in an exciting mini course for families, featuring bite-sized lessons and interactive activities for both parents and kids. 📚✨

This lunchtime game-changer is designed to bring the spark back to your family's meals.

Lunchtime often feels like a battle zone, juggling between picky eaters, nutrition, and ensuring your kids actually eat what's packed.

But it's not just about making life easier (although that's a fantastic perk!) –nurturing your kiddo’s independence, instilling essential life skills, embracing body cues, and cultivating a positive relationship with food that will last a lifetime. 🌟

Let me know if you have any questions!

Enroll today from the link in my bio and happy packing! 💜

08/31/2023

What questions do you have? Drop them below! ⬇️

I love the field of food and nutrition. It matters. How we nourish our body matters. But there is so much more than the physical ways in which we nourish our bodies than the food we consume. Our body isn’t just our physical expression of health – it is the collective of our emotional, social, spiritual, and mental health.

With 1 in 5 children around the world suffering from disordered eating and poor body image, it is more important now more than ever to radically change the way we educate children about food and bodies that actually acknowledges that children are NOT miniature adults with the same cognitive ability and accessibility.

The current environment of our food education system leads to a collective amount of harm and shame from peer-to-peer bullying around body shape, size, and food choices; to food insecure children without enough food to eat and rely on the stigmatized school lunch program; to children with feeding challenges that struggle to find safe foods in safe environments to eat; to neurodiverse children who are pressured to conform to neurotypical eating practices to appease others; and more examples than a simple post can express… its time for a change.

You can transform the way you teach your kids about food and bodies; these conversations start at home. Then we can advocate together for a better way forward in our schools.

🌟 I have a mini-course that teaches you how to talk to kids about food to cultivate a healthy relationship with food, all while teaching your kids skills to pack their own lunchbox releasing next week! Be sure to get on my email list if you’re interested!

And I have a book specifically for your kiddos teaching them about food and what they do for the body that will be available soon! 💜

PMID: 36806880

08/13/2023

You can’t “get” anyone to eat anything. This language implies coercion, control, and manipulation, which will not help you help your kids cultivate a healthy relationship with food.

Your kiddos are individuals with their own preferences, appetites, and bodily cues.

As parents and caregivers we should use language that respects their autonomy and encourages positive choices.

Instead of "getting" a child to eat, create an environment where they can make their own choices, explore different foods, and develop a positive attitude towards eating.

… and you don’t actually have to find a new dream, you just need to change your mindset about “getting” to helping your kiddos explore and find out the flavors and textures they like best.

You may also appreciate my “considerate not catering” series for a little support!

This post was inspired using the same format and similar verbiage of a post I love from - I’ll share it in my stories today!

08/12/2023

My girls and I had the best time last week on Today In Nashville!

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http://www.kidfoodexplorers.com/

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