Kid friendly healthy food

twinkle

Thu, Feb 05 2015, 8:28 pm

I have been working on making healthy food especially kid friendly so that my kids enjoy it. I feel like I am in the kitchen all day, and always have a mess from peels and pots. Does anyone have any tricks for foods kids would like especially fruits and vegetables, that are easy to make and not too expensive. I.e. my kids love roasted broccoli and cauliflower but its so expensive to keep buying bags, checking vegetables, making healthy muffins, stir fries, I am getting overwhelmed. Thank you! I feel ok with the proteins its the startches, soups, desserts, snacks, frutis and vegetables. My kids like flavorful and cooked food. they will eat plain apples or baby carrots but only when its balanced with other more interesting options.

ra_mom

Thu, Feb 05 2015, 8:47 pm

twinkle wrote:

make use of your oven so it's not so tedious

baked tri colored vegetable fries
garlic roasted green beans
roasted zucchini sticks
roasted vegetables
baked apples
oven poached pears

rachel6543

Thu, Feb 05 2015, 8:53 pm

Have you tried Making things you can freeze. Bake/cook once a month and freeze. I do that. You can make healthy mini muffins, healthy cookies, protein bars, soups, brorekas, meatballs, fruit shakes.... Etc. there are lots of websites with freezer friendly healthy food ideas.

amother

Thu, Feb 05 2015, 11:01 pm

Sometimes I hide extra veggies in other foods. For example, I'll grate lots of zucchini and carrot into a meatloaf or any ground meat recipe.
This way if they don't eat their veggies I know they ate it in the meatloaf.
We also eat a salad with dinner every night coleslaw, brocolli slaw, Israeli, garden/lettuce, crudités? Dressed simply with olive oil, salt. Heavy dressings are only for shabbos and then used sparingly.
Soups are also a great way to get your veggies. My family likes puréed soups. Butternut squash, brocolli, mixed veggies. I simply boil any veggies at hand and purée it with a bit of salt. I don't make anything fancy. Since its puréed I don't worry about checking veggies too much. A quick check and rinse. Ask your LOR, about puréed veggies and checking for bugs.

supty

Fri, Feb 06 2015, 7:59 am

My two year old is the pickiest eater- only eats a few different foods. He loves pizza so I sometimes make homemade and hide small pieces of squash, carrots, garlic under the cheese. Sometimes he notices but usually not Wink

I put fruit in his yogurt and try to make a lot of healthy soups but he doesn't always eat them. Muffins are a good idea but time consuming and don't last long unless you freeze them.

cbg

Fri, Feb 06 2015, 11:15 am

Cauliflower crust pizza.
It's a bit of work, but I usually make 3 or 4 pre baked crusts and freeze them.
I top pizza with sauce, veggies, mushroom, pepper, onion, spinach, brocolli, eggplant, anything really) and cheese.
Even if I make it plain sauce and cheese, I know they got a good serving of veggies in the crust.
Pizza and salad great dinner everyone loves, and if the crust is already made, easy.

wereafamily

Fri, Feb 06 2015, 11:25 am

ra_mom wrote:

make use of your oven so it's not so tedious

baked tri colored vegetable fries
garlic roasted green beans
roasted zucchini sticks
roasted vegetables
baked apples
oven poached pears

My 2yr old loves this!

cbg

Fri, Feb 06 2015, 4:32 pm

ra_mom wrote:

make use of your oven so it's not so tedious

baked tri colored vegetable fries
garlic roasted green beans
roasted zucchini sticks
roasted vegetables
baked apples
oven poached pears

Yum
Can I have your recipes for tri colored veggie fries please

Blue Sky

Sat, Feb 07 2015, 9:32 pm

Apples and cinnamon :
I dice up a few apples into small cubes and mix w / cinnamon . Bake at 375 til soft. Great after school treat

Roasted sweet potatoes:
I dice up a few sweet potatoes w/ 1/2 onions and spray w/ Pam. Bake @ 375 til soft and carmelized.

Bananas w/ carob/ chocolate (not so healthy, but good)
Microwave a banana w/ a few carob/chocolate chips.

Blue Sky

Sat, Feb 07 2015, 9:32 pm