Kid-friendly ideas

-The kids like egg salad/chicken salad/whatever kind of sammy but use cookie cutter shapes to make the bread "cool". Dinosaur shapes, fish, dog, pretty much anything is fun for them.

-I've found that my kids don't like eating whole, adult-sized burritos, so I take a pizza slicer to a tortilla and make smaller sized ones for them.

-The kid will eat almost anything if it has some fun dip or topping associated with it. I put different toppings in ramekin's and let them put what they want on their food.

-mini quesadillas with broccoli, sweet peppers, etc. in them are usually a hit.

-personal pizzas made on a Skookie pan.

-I sneak ground flax seed in homemade pancakes, bread, etc and the kids don't even notice it's there.

-homemade chicken nuggets. They are good made with crushed Fiber One cereal as the coating. (misplaced my recipe, but it's in the Hungry Girl book.)

-Laughing Cow Light cheese wedges and crackers (Costco has the cheapest price on the cheese)

-hummus with fresh veggies for dipping

-homemade yogurt popsicles

-a really yummy and healthier substiture for sour cream is called Fage ( it's greek yogurt.) Tastes just like sour cream and my kids and hubby eat it like crazy. Works great in any recipe that calls for sour cream or use as a topping. (I buy mine at Costco)

-we've bought Veggie Straws from Costco before. They are chips, taste yummy, and have veggies in them.

　

Amost Oreos

I think these are better than oreos!

1 box devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
3 T water
3 T oil
1/2 c cocoa

Preheat to 400. Combine ingredients. Form into balls and place on greased cookie sheets. Flatten and bake 6-8 minutes. While they cool, make the filling.

Filling:
1 c shortening
about 1 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c water

Beat shortening. Add one cup sugar, vanilla, and water. Beat, add half the sugar, beat, add the rest, beat again.

Make into sandwiches.

Green Drink

This is my mother-in-law's tried and true trick that she used to get her kids to eat some greens. She said to put celery in, but I thought it made the texture weird, so I leave it out. I think it is pretty good, and Jeanette(who refuses to eat vegetables) doesn't exactly guzzle it, but she drinks it.

Place in the blender:
a handful of spinach
a sprig of parsley
a cup of pineapple juice
Blend until very smooth (you don't want them to detect any bits or chunks!).

Killer Mac and Cheese

You can do this recipe in a crock pot or in the oven. It freezes really well, so small containers are pretty handy to pull out during the summer and just microwave. My kids are the pickiest bum eaters on the planet, and they scarf this down.

1 lb macaroni elbow noodles (or shells are fun, too)

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can milk

4 T butter

6 cups shredded cheese (whatever you think your kids will like--I normally use some cheddar and some colby/jack blend)

Boil pasta until almost done (overdone pasta will be nasty!), then strain and add some olive oil to keep from sticking.

In the pot you just boiled the noodles in, put butter and cheddar cheese soup and whisk together on med-low heat. Add milk and rest of cheese. Whisk until cheese is completely melted, about 5 minutes. You can add more milk to make the sauce thinner if you wish.

Mix with pasta noodles.

From here, place mixture in a crock pot on low for 3 hours or bake in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

*Try other things in it like ham or just use white cheese. One of my family's favorite things to do with this is ladle hot tomato juice or tomato soup over the top of the macaroni in a bowl and eat it that way.

Noodles and White Sauce

I love the theme for this month. I am looking forward to all of your ideas. Here is one of my favorite kid lunches.

bowtie or spiral pasta
Alfredo sauce from a jar mixed half and half with pureed cauliflower
chopped chicken (from a can or leftovers)
peas and carrots (my philosophy is even if they get picked out, at least you tried!)
whatever else you have laying around and think your kids will eat!

I also like to make breakfast foods for lunch: cheesy omelets, waffles, breakfast burritos.

Polynesian Coconut Rolls

Coconut milk is amazing. It makes everything taste so yummy and exotic.

1 can coconut milk
1 c water
6 T sugar
4 tsp corn starch
dough for 12 rolls

Combine coconut milk, water, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl, stir well until cornstarch dissolves. Coat a 9x13 with spray. Pour in mixture. Place rolls on top of coconut mixture. Let rise until double in size (1 hour or 25 minutes in a warm oven), then bake at 375 for 20 minutes.
from The Lion House Bakery cookbook.
I used white whole wheat in my roll dough and it was still great.

The Best Carrot Cake You've Ever Had

So when I was in high school, I used to babysit for a family in our ward twice a week, every week.  One day when I went over there, I saw a carrot cake on the counter.  I was never a huge carrot cake fan, but it was right after school and I was starving so I tried a piece.  Oh my goodness!  It was AMAZING!  So moist . . . so tasty . . . Heaven!  I scoured her cupboards and drawers looking for the recipe and finally found it.  I copied it down and have been making it ever since.  And because Easter is coming up, here it is for you too. 

Beat together:

3 ¼ c grated carrots
4 eggs
2 ¼ c sugar
1 ½ c oil
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 (8 oz) package softened cream cheese

In a separate bowl combine:
2 ¼ c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
A dash of allspice

Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture. Pour into a 9x13 pan and bake on top rack at 350° for about 55 minutes. Frost when cool.

Frosting:
1 package softened cream cheese
½ c softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar

Buttermilk Syrup

This one is perfect with the oatmeal pancakes recipe below.  It's also heavenly with pumpkin pancakes, and buckwheat pancakes, and Bisquick pancakes, and ice cream, and just with a spoon . . .

Buttermilk Syrup
3/4 c. butter
3 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
3 Tbsp. light corn syrup
3 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. vanilla

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a large pot.  (And I mean large.  Don't think you can get away with a little sauce pan.  It really does froth up quite a bit!)  Remove pot from the burner; add baking soda and vanilla. Mixture will froth up and rise considerably. Stir regularly and let sit until the syrup settles and bubbles are gone. Serve warm.

Pancakes

This is from the book Deceptively Delicious, which I am really enjoying. The idea is that you add vegetable and fruit puree to everything so that your kids get some vitamins even if they are refusing to eat their vegetables. I'm not sure if its enough to really make a big difference, but its worth trying. You can always use baby food if you don't want to go to the trouble of making the purees. These are really yummy.

1 cup water
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup pancake mix

Mix the batter and cook the pancakes. Serve with whatever you like.

Cinnamon Burst Bread

I got this recipe from Everydayfoodstorage.net

I made some the other day and it didn't turn out too bad. I didn't have enough cinnamon chips though, so it could have been better. It is great to make french toast out of too!

(The picture of the bread is not what I made)!

3 T. yeast
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten lightly
3 3/4 cup warm water
4 1/2 tsp. salt
3 T. vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups cinnamon bites
11-12 cups flour (you can use white or wheat or a combination of both)

Combine in mixing bowl 4 cups flour, yeast, and sugar. Add water, eggs, and oil. Beat well to “cake batter” stage. Stir in salt, cinnamon bites, and 7 more cups flour to make bread-dough consistency. Let mixer knead it to the right texture (add up to 1 more cup flour if needed). Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour. Shape dough into 4 loaves. Let rise for another hour or until doubled. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.

This recipe is similar to the one Heather posted, but different and still really good!

1/2, cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, use 1 cup regular milk + 1TBS lemon juice)
1/2 cup skim milk
2 egg whites (I use 1 egg instead of egg whites)
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1/ 2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 /2 teaspoon baking soda

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, buttermilk, and milk. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to let the oatmeal soften.
Beat in the egg whites and oil and mix well- Add the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, then the baking powder, baking soda, and flour.
Stir just until moistened.
Heat a lightly oiled or nonstick griddle over medium-high heat (375 degrees for electric frying pan). Pour batter onto the griddle. Turn when the tops are covered with bubbles and the edges look cooked, Turn only once.

Oatmeal Pancakes

February is breakfast month, right? This is a recipe from Angela, and I LOVE it!

2 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups buttermilk

Place in a bowl and mix together. Cover and leave on the counter at least 6 hours or overnight.

Add in:

4 beaten eggs

2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

Stir together. Then add:

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Stir mixture well, then cook on hot griddle.

I like to serve with buttered maple syrup (place maple syrup in a small saucepan and add some butter and melt together on low heat), blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, etc. I LOVE these pancakes!