New dinner recipes to try, kid friendly?
Filed in Category Gourmet Cheese
I am a gourmet cook. All my meals are very appealing to adults, because ya know, the spices, the steamed veggies, the flaming hot fish with sauces glaore, ect. ect. Dinner
My husbamd also loves it to. But unfortunantley kids arent as out going with meals as adults are. They don’t like anything I cook, and I have never made just plain spaghetti, or plain mac & cheese. It’s just not me. But thats what my 4 and 6 year old seem to want. I’ve been doing it now for a while, but it just feels weird, cooking somthing not by me, that boring and plain. I don’t want to continue to cook like this forever for my kids,because i’ve heard when kids get older they want new food, and if we have kind of a schedule of always eating plain stuff, I might not want to get home from work and then cook somthing gormet again. So what can I make thats creative and kid friendley? And for all meals:
Lunch
Breakfast
Dessert ( occasioanlly)
12 Comments so far
Keep it simple, maybe if your making a “gourmet” dish for dinner with chicken, set some aside toss it in crumbs and serve them chicken tenders, etc…? Vegetables on the other hand are tricky, try hiding them, or add cheese to them!
well as you well know, the great thing about cooking is that you can put your gourmet twist on just about anything, make your pasta sauces from scratch. last night we made home made pizza with whole wheat home dough…made the sauce the kids cut up the veggies and designed their own small pizza.
Try these recipes from Jessica Seinfeld…Jerry seinfeld’s wife…http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/
use their favorite veggies with a healthy dip that they like. kids are so different and picky. try different soups and toppings also. i have seen grapes paired with cheeses and different crackers for snacks. breakfast: eggs with a mild salsa or BBQ sauce mixed in. lunch:tuna salad no mayo, use fat free sour cream with sweet pickles mixed in. dinner: burritos with low-fat meat {i like buffalo.sirloin mix}, low fat cheese, lettuce and tomato on top, with a fat free sour cream. hope this gives you some ideas.
How about having some seasoned chicken fingers?
Here’s a recipe for some easy-to-make strips that your kids will gobble up.
Crunchy Chicken Dippers
2 eggs
2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch wide strips
41/2 cups honey bunches of oats cereal, finely crushed
1 cup Kraft original BBQ sauce
Preheat oven to 375F. Beat eggs lightly in shallow dish. Dip chicken in eggs, turning over to evenly coat both sides of each strip. Coat chicken evenly with cereal. Place in two 15x10x3/4-inch baking pans sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
Serve as dippers with the barbecue sauce.
Try alfredo it is something everyone loves. Homemade strawberry icecream is the best just add cut up strawberries chopped up in vinilla icecream.
I appreciate you wanting to please your kids, but I also think they need to appreciate the foods you cook. You are a chef! And you are also the adult. I think you should cook what you want to cook (maybe spice it down a little). This is a part of your life that I think you should expect your children to respect! I would tell your kids they can choose to eat or not eat, but this is what is served for dinner. They are not too young for this message. My husband and I have used this with my step-son and he is a great little eater now, when he would hardly eat anything 4 years ago!
I am a teacher and a mother, and what I have learned in my experience is we’re over-empowering children. We forget who the adult is. You will teach your children not to be ‘picky’ about food and teach them a valuable life lesson…to respect you and other adults…by sending the message you are in charge. Children need boundaries. The students I have that are the best kids are those who have parents that know this.
I wish you well…parenting is the hardest job we ever have!
well for dessert theres always apple delight if ud like the recipe, please do send me an email
For breakfast, take your favorite basic pancake batter and add cocoa and a bit of extra sugar with some chocolate or butterscotch chips. Smoothies are great too. Plan yogurt with a banana and frozen mixed berries with a cup of milk and icecubes blended. Add a bit of protein and it is mom-friendly too.
Salads make great kid lunches if you let them help pick the veggies. My litle brother and sister love making salads and rolling them in whole wheat tortillas. Carrot sticks w/ peanut dip are also a big hit. mix equal parts plain or berry yogut with melted PB and a touch of honey.
At dinner try pizza with premade shells that they can top themselves. We have ne everthing from taco to spaghetti pizza on garlic flavored cust to asain themed chicken and broccoli pizza with eggplant that was hiding under the cheese.
Getting them involved takes some work, but will pay off by expanding their appetites.
Welcome to Reality, there was a time Eons ago when I to was a gourmet cook, fresh herbs and spices, sauces, and of course Presentation, then along came children and I had to learn to cook all over again. You will have to swallow a great deal of Pride and start with basic kid food. One glimmer of hope though, as they reach their teens they will gradually allow you to experiment on them. Stick to things like pastas, Noodles, oven roasted/baked chicken, potatoes, things with cheese, pancakes, eggs, bacon, ham, simple gravies, and basic vegetables. As they near their teens you can gradually introduce sauces, more flavorable herbs and spices. I started out by buying the usual kid fare..mac & cheese, Dinty Moore stew, etc, not only did i prepare these things but I actually tasted them, I them used my skills and imagination and tried to copy them…at least that allowed me some creativity. Good Luck.
P.S. for any of their Favorite restaurant/fast food “meals” go to KopyKat recipes, they can duplicate almost anything.
Deep Dish Taco Squares
2 cups biscuit mix
½ cup cold water
1( 8-oz )carton sour cream
1/3 cup prepared Ranch salad dressing
1½ pounds ground beef
½ green or red bell pepper – finely chopped**
2 Tbsp. chopped onion**
1 pkg taco seasoning mix (¼ cup)
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
½ cup mild salsa
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Combine biscuit mix and water, stirring with a fork until blended. Press mixture in bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 x 2” baking dish. Bake at 375ºF for 9 minutes.
Combine sour cream and Ranch dressing. Spread over baked crust and set aside.
Cook ground beef, green bell pepper, and onion in a large skillet until meat is browned and crumbled; drain well. Stir in tomato sauce and taco seasoning mix, spoon over Ranch filling.
Sprinkle cheese evenly over meat mixture. Bake at 375ºF, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until casserole is lightly browned. Cut into 12 squares to serve.
** If serving to picky children, you can omit the bellpepper and use 2 tsp. onion powder instead of fresh onions. Omit salsa and add a second can of plain tomato sauce.
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Creamy Chicken and Noodles
Prep: 10 min., Cook: 15 min.
1 (0.6-oz.) envelope Italian dressing mix
1 (8-oz.) package wide egg noodles
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1. Remove 1 Tbsp. Italian dressing mix from envelope, and set aside; reserve remaining mix for another use.
2. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain well, and return noodles to pan.
3. Stir in 2 Tbsp. butter, and toss to coat. Stir in chopped chicken, next 3 ingredients, and 1 Tbsp. dressing mix. Cook mixture over medium-high heat, tossing to coat evenly, 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.
Yield: Makes 6 servings
VARIATIONS:
1.Chopped Ham and Peas: Stir in 8 oz. diced ham and 1 cup thawed frozen peas.
2.Southwestern Style: Omit Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese. Stir in 1 (10-oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chiles and 1?2 cup (2 oz.) shredded Mexican four-cheese blend.
3.Italian Style: Add 1?4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes and 1 cup turkey pepperoni slices.
–Southern Living
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Sugar Pie’s Blueberry-Stuffed French Toast Casserole
Nonstick cooking spray
9 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
¼ cup melted butter
½ cup maple syrup
12 cups cubed stale French bread
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, cut into small cubes
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Blueberry Syrup or maple syrup (optional)
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 3-quart rectangular baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
In a smaller bowl combine eggs, milk, butter, and the ½ cup maple syrup. Whisk until combined. Place bread cubes in large bowl; add cream cheese and the blueberries. Slowly pour the egg mixture over blueberry-and-bread mixture; gently fold mixture to evenly moisten the bread. Pour into greased casserole dish.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. If necessary, cover with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Cut in squares. Serve with Blueberry Syrup or additional maple syrup, if desired. Makes 12 servings.
–me!
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Potato Soup, Slow-Cooker
4 russet or baking potatoes, peeled, cut into small pieces
2 leeks, coarsely copped (white and light green only)
2 onions, coarsely chopped
3 ribs celery, coarsely copped
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 (10 ¾ oz) can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 (10 ¾ oz) can Cream of Celery Soup
1 Tbsp. dry parsely flakes
4 cups water
1½ tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. butter
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
Garnish: chopped chives
1. Place all ingredients except evaporated milk and chives in slow cooker.
2. Cook on low 10 hours, or on high for 5 hours.
3. Stir in evaporated milk the last hour of cooking time.
4. Garnish each bowl of soup w/ fresh chives.
Serves: 8
–Costco cookbook
Dinner: my fav for kids is “Wednesday Night Special” (we seem to always eat it on wednesdays not all wednesdays but always a wednesday) is 1lb ground beef or turkey mixed with a good hand full of good pepperoni and one med onion diced. Cook in a skillet until the beef is brown and the onions are tender. Next add 1 can diced tomatoes with basil garlic and oregano and one cup water. wait for this to come to a boil then add 2 pakets ramen noodles (kids fav) wait for the noodles to become soft then top with a couple of hand fulls of motzarella cheese.
Lunch. Make home made mack with whole wheat shells, cheddar cheese and milk. Much better for the kids and taistier too!
Breakfast. homemade waffles are always a hit! Also make your own bread! This will keep your skills honed and be much better for all.
dessert. grabanzo bean cake!
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 (19 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
Place the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds after the first minute, until chocolate is melted and smooth. If you have a powerful microwave, reduce the power to 50 percent.
Combine the beans and eggs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the sugar and the baking powder, and pulse to blend. Pour in the melted chocolate and blend until smooth, scraping down the corners to make sure chocolate is completely mixed. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan.
Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving
Some other things to try are chickpea burgers, tortalini pasta, or try comming up with recipeas that the kids like that you can make from scratch like the mac and cheese. Soups and stews are always a big hit too and you can be as fancy as you want and they will still love it! Also try mexican or chinese dishes. These have lots of flavor and my nieces and nephew love them! Also let the kids help cook. Kids usually eat it if they got to help cook it! Good luck!