Tag Archives: children’s meals

Balance

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A friend said how she tries to make sure her kids have balance in their meals.  I completely agree with her.  My children are not deprived of junk food (especially at birthday parties) and we all love chocolate and ice cream.  But, it’s making sure that they get the healthful foods and limit the junk to special occasions.  I want my children to have a healthy relationship with food.  I don’t agree with Jessica Seinfeld’s method of hiding the good stuff, I bring it front and center.  They start from the time they first eat solids.  If you get them to try it and keep introducing it, they will eventually get a taste for it.   In days long ago there were no junk foods, kids ate what they were given, no fuss.  We are lucky to live in a time and age that gives us the flexibility to give our kids food (and as Michael Pollan coined “edible foodlike substances”) they like and that are convenient. 

Ice Cream!

Ice Cream!

But we must maintain balance with the good food having more weight. 

When we pack our sons’ lunches we make sure the food groups are represented with a sandwich, veggies, fruit and a snack type carb.  Most popular lunch: turkey with mayo on whole grain bread, carrots and cucumbers, strawberries or apples (soak apple slices in lemon juice and water so they don’t turn brown), and goldfish.  

And again, eat with them.  Dinner time is usually the best in this country as it’s usually our biggest meal.  Let them see the foods you eat, even if you aren’t going to feed them the same thing.  Tell them how delicious it is and maybe they’ll want to taste it without being prompted.  If you think they’ll only eat chicken nuggets in dinosaur shapes, get a cookie cutter and cut a whole cooked real chicken breast into a shape.  If the chicken nuggets came in chicken shapes would the kids want to eat them?

You don’t need to completely avoid fats… fats don’t make people fat.  If they did all those eating fat free cookies and fat free cream cheese (how is that even possible!?!) wouldn’t be fat!  It’s the balance being out of balance.  Fats based on only animal products aren’t good in over consumption, but there are good fats that should be in the diet (olives, avocados, nuts, etc).  We need them to live. 

Wow!

Wow!

Enjoy food, just remember the balance—limit the treats to special occasions and get all the fresh fruits and veggies regularly every day.   Your kids will really eat them too!  

©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis

 

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Even at parties with pizza, my kids chose…

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Pizza!  Not really a surprise.  Butmy eldest had a piece of broccoli white pie and my youngest had me add some of the shiitakes that I’d sautéed for the appetizer I prepared.  Funny thing was that other kids were saying “yuck”, “eeww” and such at my eldest eating his broccoli pizza, but he didn’t care.  He just told them how ”yummy” it was.   

My middle son was just into the plain pizza and all three had huge ice cream sundaes with Swedish fish, sprinkles (jimmies) and chocolate sauce.  They are very much like other kids with sweet tooths and love of junk food.   

I went to Trader Joe’s today and knew I had some upcoming gatherings to which I’d have to bring something.  The nan is so easy and delicious. I came up with the idea myself for my book club when I didn’t think I had much to serve.   I sautéed the shiitakes and garlic with olive oil and butter, sea salt and pepper.  I wilted the spinach and added a pinch of sea salt, pepper and pat of butter.  When I arrived at the party, I used the oven there to heat the nan at 425F for 3 minutes, spread the goat cheese on it and then add the shiitakes or spinach or both.  Put in oven for another 2 minutes, remove and cut into 2 bite pieces.  Less than 10 minutes total.  A sprinkle of nutmeg might be nice on the spinach too. 

 

Tomorrow I am going out so I got Bool Kogi, a marinated Korean beef dish traditionally served in lettuce leaves, at Trader Joe’s for my babysitter to make for the kids.  It takes just a couple of minutes in a really hot pan or on a grill.  They’ll have string beans and broccoli with it.  I know those are the babysitter’s favorite vegetables.  I’ve known her since I was born and I’ve learned a lot of cooking techniques from her— besides many other wonderful things, including how to feed your kids the right way.

©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis.com

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Chicken & Mushrooms

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My youngest, 3, loves mushrooms and even asked me to sauté him some the other day for lunch.  Just mushrooms, nothing else.  But my middle child would often say, “I don’t like mushrooms unless they’re in your cream sauce.“  The last few times I’ve served mushrooms in anything besides the cream sauce, he exclaims that he “does like them!“ 

Actually most dinners are accompanied by a whine (from him) of “I don’t want this” and/or “I don’t like …” but every dinner he sits down with the rest of us and eats.  And tonight was no exception, “But I don’t want mushrooms, I don’t want chicken, I just want plain pasta.”  He ate everything on his plate.  He did try to sneak a piece of broccoli onto his brother’s plate so he could have dessert faster, but I caught him before it could happen.

So my tip here is don’t pay any attention to those whines.  I’m not saying don’t ever feed your kids what they want, just that it has to fit in with what is good for them as well.  I am not going to stop what I’m making and cook them something they’d rather eat instead.  And I am not going to cook 2 separate meals, one for me and my husband and one for them.  (Exception is when we’re having something extremely spicy and it is just too hot for their palates.)  My children get to make recommendations for what they’d like, just not after the meal is made. My eldest is craving sushi lately and it even got into a story he wrote today about a raccoon trying to steal his picnic dinner.  After the sword fight he tossed some sushi to the raccoon who had a great meal.  So, I’ll be making or buying some sushi soon.  Oh, and some seaweed salad too because he loves it and likes to bring the leftovers to school as a snack.

 A friend asked me recently what chicken nuggets I’d suggest because she wasn’t sure the brand she was buying was “real” chicken or at least good cuts.  I didn’t know one because as I stated before I don’t really buy them.  I have bought some from Trader Joe’s and I have purchased some from the supermarket, but it’s so rarely and not at all in the past 6 months so I just can’t tell anyone what/who to buy.  Instead I told her about my homemade ones and how delicious they are and how she and her husband would enjoy them as well.  Then she went on to tell me she doesn’t have time to do that.  After I told her how quick they were, and pointed out that she’d save time by not making 2 different meals (which is what she does daily), she agreed but said she won’t change.  Oh well. 

I digress. Often. So, chicken with mushrooms in a white wine cream sauce.

I got d’Artagnan organic chicken thighs with the bones and skins.  You can buy boneless and skinless or remove either, but I didn’t.  You’ll need one container of mushrooms, sliced. (I prefer baby criminis and/or shiitakes for this dish.) Fresh thyme, 1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 cup chicken stock or base, 2 cloves garlic, shallots (optional), salt and pepper.  Sauté garlic and shallots in tsp olive oil, then add chicken (if it’s skin is on) until browned, add white wine and chicken stock, reduce heat to med-low and cover (stirring occasionally).  (If it’s boneless/skinless you can add the chicken after the liquids.) In a separate pan sauté the mushrooms with tsp olive oil and butter.  Add some fresh thyme leaves (strip at least 2 stalks and crush in fingers or chop to release aromatic), salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat when cooked through. Cook chicken for 25-30 minutes in liquids, add mushrooms, black pepper to taste and heavy cream, stirring well. Cook an additional 5 minutes.  Check for doneness especially with thigh bones.  Taste it before adding more salt as stock or base can be salty.

I served mine tonight over fusilli pasta, but you can use rice, other pastas, noodles, or grains.  And my kids loved it!  I served a side of fresh broccoli, which I steam and shock (run cold water over it to stop it from cooking) then reheat with pat of butter and tiny bit of sea salt and fresh ground pepper (Trader Joe’s organic butter is my favorite— and there is NO margarine in this house, ever). 

I do recommend everyone watch Food Inc and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and sign the petition for healthful school lunchesI want to get people to pay attention to what they’re feeding their kids and see that it’s doable to feed them well.

©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis.com

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Chicken “Nuggets” with Homemade Bread Crumbs

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Necessity is the mother of invention… I was watching a girl friend’s children and it was near dinner time.  I’ve had unfortunate experiences trying to feed one of them (and that child was probably traumatized as well) so I thought, how can I compromise— good food I know they will actually eat without gagging?  Chicken nuggets!!  Well, I don’t often have prepared ones on hand (it’s just not our thing) but I did have some gorgeous fresh Bell & Evans chicken breasts and thought, this should be easy enough.  Well, sometimes we have bread crumbs in the pantry, but they were used.  Boy am I glad.  I made the most delicious bread crumbs to coat the chicken, that not only did my kids and her kids gobble it up… I had enough to feed both parents and their friend when they came to pick up.  And everyone loved it- kids included!

In a Cuisinart I took yesterday’s baguette, a few end pieces of whole grain sandwich bread, olive oil, salt, pepper, and Penzy’s “Mural of Flavor” spice mix.  Mural of Flavor is a combo of Western Mediterranean spices and herbs, which is perfect for chicken.  (I often coat drum sticks in it and roast them for an easy meal), it can  be purchased online http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html if you don’t have a store near you.  We have one in Norwalk near Stew’s.  If you can’t do either— a blend of dried oregano, thyme, marjoram, garlic salt, dried onion, lemon pepper and chives would produce a similar product.

I pounded the chicken breasts so they were about 1/4-1/2 inch thick, soaked them in milk and coated them with the rough breadcrumbs.  I cooked them in the oven, turning once, at 350 F until done but still moist, only 10-15 minutes (it depends on the thickness, you can always take one and slice it, if it’s no longer pink and solid its done).  I cut them into nugget size and served them with buttered noodles, spinach and broccoli. You can cut them smaller before you coat them for a more traditional nugget.

Tips for spinach: Baby Spinach only takes a few minutes to prepare— one of the easiest fresh veggies to serve!  In sauté pan add 2 teaspoons water and organic baby spinach.  Heat covered on high until wilted. (Steaming is fine too!)  Drain any excess water.  Keep off heat until ready to eat, then add pat of butter, pinch of sea salt and a couple of twists of black pepper.  Reheat, stirring in the added ingredients until coated and serve.  You can also sauté garlic in a little olive oil and/or butter then add spinch(Garlic powder for those really quick meals).

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©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis.com

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PEI Mussels

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I love all seafood and my children like most kinds.  I’ve told most people that my “go to” meal for them (one I know they will finish happily) is salmon with rice and veggies.  But mussels became a regular dish two years ago when we were in New Hampshire with a girl friend and her two girls.  All five kids loved the mussels we moms ordered, that now we get them/prepare them often when we’re together.  My three year old is the biggest fan.  He orders them out at restaurants too.   He was the one who pleaded with me to buy some the other day.

  • One pound, cleaned and de-bearded PEI mussels
  • 1/2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1-2 cloves garlic chopped
  •  1 shallot chopped
  • handful of chopped fresh chives, parsley and/or basil
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 plum tomato chopped

 Lightly sauté shallots for two minutes over high heat in olive oil.  Add the garlic and cook another minute or two until just done but not brown.  My husband’s trick: add the white wine and take it off heat it stops it from cooking further  – esp. if you’re not ready to eat quite yet.  I always just added the mussels and everything else but the garlic and oil got too brown (it changes the flavor).    I usually use the NZ Sauvignon Blanc we’ve got around (hint: Black Box wines have great value and taste and keep wine fresher than an open bottle.  It’s 4 bottles in one box, so easy for backyard bbq’s!) but any drinkable white will do.  About 1/2 cup for 1 pound of mussels.  Add mussels, fresh herbs and tomato.  Cook covered on med-high, stirring once or twice, until open and cooked through- about 8-10 minutes.  Serve in large bowl with crusty bread on side for dipping.  Amazingly you won’t need salt!  The mussels are usually salty enough.

My kids eat them and several of my friends’ children do as well!  If you like seafood, but think they won’t just introduce it to them… have them try yours and see if they’ll bite!

©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis.com

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