Healthy, balanced meals are usually not tasty. So why would this be a surprise to you? My mother is a health-nut and does everything she can to eat organic/healthy things. I eat out at least once a week and love carbs (though I'm not overweight, and neither is she). She's in a degenerative state of health, I am not- and she is only 18 years older than me. "Healthy living" helps some people, doesn't affect others. Everyone's bodies are different.

The simplest thing you can do is to learn to use spices. Not only do they have (in general) negligible health effects, but they actually decrease caloric intake and increase water intake. Making spicy foods, especially with the capsaicin found in jalapeños, Tabasco sauce and other hot peppers, will actually increase metabolism, in addition to lowering caloric intake. Invest in kosher salt and black pepper, and use them as a base for rubs for meats (rubs are spice mixtures which are, well, rubbed into the meat before cooking). Kosher salt will help tenderize meats, as well as flavor them, and black pepper just tastes good. Use fresh and ripe vegetables whenever you're serving them raw. Variety. Pretty self-explanatory. Allow some boxed or canned meals, and feel free to play with the recipe. For example, when I cook macaroni and cheese, I generally boil some corn or peas with the pasta, then add a can of tuna in with the cheese and milk. Add some oregano and garlic to Beefaroni. And for F***'s sake, listen to your kids and ask what they like.

High protein, high fat (healthy fats like olive and fish oil), low carb meals are generally pretty good tasting. Healthy and good tasting are in no way mutually exclusive. It just takes more effort initially, eventually you'll be running on auto-pilot.

#8 scares me a bit. Probably because it's hard to detect sarcasm in text. HOPEFULLY because it's hard to detect sarcasm in text.

Kids who are young enough not to recognize the effort DO NOT LIKE healthy food. In that universe, canned food alone rules. And it pretty much rules until they're your age with their own whiny kids. THAT is when you win.

it's all the same to a kid

I don't think #8 was being sarcastic. What #8 doesn't realize is that all that crap that's in unhealthy foods stay in your system--they don't magically disappear when you exercise. Chwis88 was a complete and utter idiot to comment so. Eating healthy will do wonders for them. Don't stop. They'll thank you for it when they get into their teen years and their self esteem doesn't suffer from taunts from being overweight.

When you attempt to make food healthy on purpose it tastes bad, honestly eating "unhealthy" food isn't that bad for you unless you never excercise. The american lifestyle isn't about the unhealthy food it's about the way we live it. Trust me as a south indian we have some of the most fattening and unhealthy foods on earth. For example we have something called dosa very fattening and we eat them for breakfast all the time, notice there isn't an obesity problem in India while America is the unhealthiest country. We focus on health like it's a chore just live your life and make smart choices. For all those guys who think your kids will thank you in their teen years they won't because being fat isn't about the food, half of the most athletic/popular teens have terrible eating habits, if you wan't to cook healthy find a meal that is healthy not make a meal healthy if that makes any sense. Just take everything in moderation

Kids like to eat garbage. Can't blame them.

Everyone knows healthy food tastes like crap.

#6, if you're a female, I'd kiss you. And to miss "health food", seriously, why not, for once think of your kids?

Not an FML. Take a break from healthy stuff. Too much of anything is bad for ya.