Not a debate: Kid friendly recipes

Melissa - posted on 06/13/2011

I make veggie or fruit pancakes...my very picky eater eats them up! i just add 2-3 jars of purred vegies or fruit to the mix...yummy!

Jessi - posted on 06/13/2011

question: how old is your daughter? when i was younger my ma bought me a kid cook book from pampered chef and then just about last year i bought a sesame street cook book from scholastic for my son. maybe if your daughter can help you make the food even if it's just throwing in ingredients you premeasured she will be more inclined to eat it. both kids cook books i have have adult friendly recipes a recipe i really liked was "chicken riddle soup" from pampered chef:

-1 small onion, garlic clove
-2 medium carrots, celery stalks, packages chicken ramen noodles, Tbsp snipped parsley
-3 chicken breasts
-1/4tsp salt, pepper
-5cups water

cut veggies and chicken to larger bite size chunks. fry chicken with pepper, salt, onion and garlic until chicken is cooked through. stir in carrots, celery, parsley and ramen seasoning...reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15mins. increase heat to medium, break up noodles and add occasionally stirring for 3mins. serve. 6 servings.

another that i'd like to try (looks like a good fall treat) is called "Oscar's sticky gooey syrupy squash"...don't be fooled by the name, it looks really good in the book!

-3 acorn squash
-2Tbsp veggie oil, butter
-1/2 cup maple syrup
-1/4tsp nutmeg OR cinnamon
-1/3cup fresh cranberries
-salt and pepper to taste if desired

preheat oven to 400, halve each squash and dig out center. place squash in baking dish cut-side down and fill dish with a 1/4in water for baking, bake 30mins. while baking, cook oil, butter, syrup, spice and cranberries in sauce pan over low heat stirring often for 5mins, remove from heat. remove squash and turn over (sprinkle salt and pepper if desired) and fill center with cranberry mix. bake again for about 15mins more. serve warm. 6 servings.

Rosie - posted on 06/13/2011

when i was little my mother used to have us make pizzas out of biscuits in a tube. we each got to personalize our own little pizzas, and they taste good,lol.

my kids also love baked ziti. just boil the noodles, add equal amounts of spaghetti sauce and beschamel sauce, and some mozzarella cheese and parm cheese. top with fresh breadcrumbs and bake at 425 for 25 minutes.
beschamel sauce is 3 tb butter melted, add 2 tb. flour and cook that mixture until it is a golden brown color, like 6 minutes. add 1 1/2 c of warm milk. cook till thickened. add in 1 t. salt and a pinch of nutmeg (optional) and pepper.

Holly - posted on 06/12/2011

I agree with the pizza thing. If you don't want to make your own pizza dough (which is VERY easy to do it you want - look in pretty much any cookbook) there are mini pizza dough things you can buy at the store. Give your daughter all the fun stuff (even let her spread the sauce herself) and let her have fun. I do this about once a week with my younger daughters (ages 3 and 2 ) and they love it.

I also make quesadillas a lot. I put in a lot of different things, depending on what the girls want (olives, mild taco sauce, lunch meats, leftover dinner meat chopped up, etc.). In fact, right now my girls are enjoying quesadillas stuffed with leftover grilled chicken from last night, olives, diced tomatoes and (of course) lots of cheese.

Another one is homemade mac-n-cheese. Boil some pasta (any pasta is good - my girls like the bowtie noodles or elbow noodles). In a pyrex dish spread about 1/2 the pasta into an even layer. Over that sprinkle cheese and any other stuff you want to put in there (like the quesadillas, I put lots of stuff into mac-n-cheese). Then over all that spread the rest of the pasta. Over that put more cheese (cover the pasta completely). Then put a dash of salt and pepper on the top and pour 1/2 can of evaporated milk (I buy 8 ounce cans, so you'd use about 4 ounces). Bake the whole thing at 350 degrees (F) for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is all melty and gooey (you can bake it a little longer if you want a crispy cheese crust). Yumm! :)

Those are all lunch, so here's some dinner ideas:

Meatloaf. I swear, my kids LOVE meatloaf. Like everything else, you can put pretty much anything into it, so it's great for picky eaters. I put crumbled cooked bacon, mushrooms, celery, carrots and corn in mine. First, I brown the ground beef, then I mix it with the "add-ins" (saute the veggies first if you don't want them to be crunchy in the finished meal). Mix it all together with either a raw egg or a couple pieces of torn up bread. Put it in a Pyrex baking dish (I line my baking dish with tin foil because this makes a lot of grease and all the grease drains down under the foil and keeps it away fromt he food). Bake at 350 degrees (F) for about 30 minutes.

Homemade chicken noodle soup (this is my specialty). In a big pot mix 12 cups of water and 14 tablespoons of powered chicken broth (I find it in the Mexican food section of the grocery store - it's cheaper than liquid chicken broth and it makes a lot more). Put in the spices (I use garlic, onions, parsley, and a dash of pepper). Heat all that up. While it's heating, bake chicken (about 4 breast pieces). While all that is going on, chop veggies and anything else you want in your soup (my favorite things are carrots, celery, noodles - sometimes I make them from scratch - rice, potatoes - chopped really small so they cook all the way through - corn, etc.). Put everything you want into the broth. IMPORTANT: NEVER LET THE BROTH COME TO A BOIL. When the chicken is done cooking, chop it up into bite-sized pieces and put it in. After putting the chicken in, let everything simmer for about 5 minutes and then serve :)

Kate CP - posted on 06/12/2011

My daughter loves angel hair pasta with olive oil and parmesan cheese. She also will scarf down a white pizza:
(* denotes optional topping)
1 Flat bread
1 container of Borsin Cheese
Mozzarella
Broccoli*
Carmelized Onions*
Cooked Chicken*

Cover the flat bread with the Borsin cheese in a nice, thick layer. Top with enough mozzarella to cover completely. Add any other toppings you think you or your daughter may like (make sure all toppings are pre-cooked). Stick under the broiler in the oven until mozzarella is melted and slightly brown. Cut and serve. It's AWESOME.

Jenn - posted on 06/12/2011

My kids love rice, veggies and dip, homemade pizzas, homemade burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, whole wheat egg noodles, lima beans (they call them turtles LOL), edamame (baby turtles), broccoli (trees), spaghetti, fish (last night we had fresh caught perch thanks to Brian).

Stifler's - posted on 06/12/2011

My 17 month old LOVES creamy garlic chicken pasta. He eats every bit and he hardly eats all of his dinner any other time.

Sal - posted on 06/12/2011

ohh the other thing is to make it fun, my girls wanted happy meals for dinner, even if i was feeling slack and agreed i am 40 km from the neaest maccas so we made our own, home made chicken nuggets, (made to the catchy tune of shake your grove thing, or shake your boobs off if you listen a little too carefully to ursula) just use chicken breast pieces coat in flour, then egg then bread crumbs, i put all the coatings in seperate containers (with lids) and the girls "shake shake shake" then home made oven fried and for a treat a little lemonade (half water), i wropped then nuggets and chips in kitchen paper and gave them a place mat to colour in, and easy and kids loved doing it and ate everything and it was almost healthy....and pizza faces, like cathy said, let them make their own. my youngest can't even have cheese and she still loves making pizza man, olive eyes, capsicum mouth, mushroom ears, ham hair, pineapple nose, cabanossi cheeks, let them go crazy and be creative...

Cathy - posted on 06/12/2011

I'm right there with you Sarah! My 2 year old is the pickiest child. He only eats yoghurt and nutella sandwiches. Everything else is randomly hit or miss.
He does drink smoothies so you can sometimes get some veggies hidden into those... he's a work in progress.

My eldest went through a phase with food at the same age and he eats everything now . So try not to worry to much. Most do grow out of it eventually as long as you keep trying.

I broke my eldest of his picky eating with pizza. Started by getting him to help me make a really basic pizza with ready made bases, tomato puree mixed with ketchup and sprinkled with mild cheese. When that worked we moved on to extra toppings. Then we started making our own pizza sauce with a variety fresh veggies. When he decided he liked that we started to mix it with pasta....It was a slow process but it worked.

Use her favourite food and get her involved.

Good Day! - posted on 06/11/2011

Two nutrition packed meals my three year old kid likes right now: Chicken Joes and burritos. The recipes are kind of made up so nothing is exact. That's the beauty of cooking...nothing has to be perfect to get an amazing meal!



Chicken Joes: (crock pot recipe so do this in the morning)



Cut up an uncooked chicken breast and put it in a crock pot. Dump a can of tomatoes and a can of diced tomatoes into the pot. Add some herbs and spices (tonight I used basil and oregano and pepper). Cut up a small onion and small bell pepper into tiny pieces and add to the pot. Put carrots into a food processor so that you get teeny tiny carrot pieces and add that to the pot. Put it on the slowest setting to cook all day. When it's done, put on whole wheat hamburger buns. You could probably add cheese if you wanted...I may try that.



Chicken, Rice and Black Bean Burritos: (makes a ton of burritos, great as leftovers)



Cook a cup of brown rice. Meanwhile, cut up the chicken breast and cook on medium in a skillet with diced bell pepper and onions. Mix the rice, chicken and a drained can of black beans in a pot (I usually add carrots that have been diced up in the food processor. Also, I usually use dry black beans but that would make the recipe a little more complicated). Add cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder (or just buy taco seasoning and add that). Put a little bit on a tortilla shell and add whatever 'fixins' you like....sour cream, cheese, lettuce, guacamole.

Sal - posted on 06/11/2011

my kids are great eaters as a rule, but i know without a doubt kids love to eat what buy, grow or cook......let her choose the vegies at the supermarket,put in a little veg patch, or even some herbs on the window sill, and let her help in the kitchen, cut them up or peel,measure stuff, mix or pour of just play with them while you are cooking, i don;t know how old she is so what ever she is upto (and yes i know a kid helping in the kitchen is anything but help), also my kids will eat just about anything if it is in a pie, curry, vegi, left over pasts sauce anything.......i am happy for people to hide vegi in other foods, but if you do that just pop a few on the plate too so that she gets used to them, and i have read some where that you have to give it to the child over 8 times before it isn;t "new" anymore and the kids just accept it, so even if you have to throw them out each time just keep puttine the there and she will get used to them and maybe even eat them....

ME - posted on 06/11/2011

Homemade Marinara Sauce is a staple at my house...We do a lot of different baked pastas with light sauces and veggies mixed in, actually. Pasta is the one thing both of my picky eaters like...I just dice the veggies (mild ones like carrots, zucchini, yellow squash and broccoli up really small and they don't even notice them. I also don't have much trouble getting them to eat pureed veggie soups with a hunk of whole wheat bread and a smear of butter...I know how you feel tho...my son is the pickiest eater of all time, and his baby sister is beginning to take her cues from him...good luck...

√v^√v^√♥ - posted on 06/11/2011

That's exactly what I was going to ask, Liz. What do you try to feed her? What does she like? How long has she been picky? And..... how old is she? :)

Liz - posted on 06/11/2011

What does your daughter like to eat now?