Having three children in my home ages three, four and five, finding healthy foods these three will eat is a challenge. As with most children junk food, fast food and fried foods are what they crave the most so helping them understand that these things are not good for you is a constant battle. Combining good, healthy fruits and vegetables along with a favorite not so healthy food seems to be the combination that works the best. Here’s a few of our favorite meals:
Meal 1
1 box or two cans of beef broth
1 pound of lean beef or turkey (we like venison for our soup)
6 potatoes (I like the larger red skin potatoes)
3 cans of stewed tomatoes (we grow and can our own so I use two quarts)
2 bags of vegetables found in freezer section of your grocery store, look for the ones with corn, carrots, peas, green beans
Brown and drain your meat
Peel the potatoes and dice into small pieces
In a slow cooker pour the beef broth and tomatoes.
Add the potatoes and vegetables stir.
Add the meat
Fill the cooker the rest of the way with water
Cook on slow cooker high for 8 hours, then check to make sure potatoes are done.
Serve with crackers and cheese toast.
Meal 2
Baked Spaghetti
Angel hair pasta
1 pound of lean beef or turkey (we like venison)
1 large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce I like Prego’s garlic
1 large bag of Kraft’s cheese, we like the Mexican 4 Cheese kind
Cook the pasta according the box.
Brown and drain the meat. Place the meat back in the skillet, add the sauce and cook for about 10 minutes.
Place pasta in a 13 x 9 bowl.
Add the meat and sauce stir to combine.
Cover with the cheese.
Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and cook for 30 minutes.
Serve with garlic bread sticks and fresh fruit or salad
Meal 3
Macaroni and Cheese
Fruit
If weather permits I will grill the Chicken outside, otherwise we use our George Forman grill for the chicken.
Bush’s baked beans heated in the oven with a little brown sugar are great.
Our fruit might be peaches, grapes, bananas, watermelon or cantaloupe.
The Macaroni and Cheese is not the boxed kind though, it’s the made from scratch kind.
Macaroni and Cheese
One box of elbow macaroni
2 cups milk
2 table spoons of butter
¼ cup of self rising flour
Cheddar cheese, a pound cut into small pieces, or 3 cups shredded depending on your time
Cook the elbow macaroni as instructed on the box, drain and place in an oven proof bowl like a Pyrex Dish. Place the butter and flour in a two quart sauce pan, cook until the butter is melted and the flour is blended. Add the milk and cook until thickened, but do not bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add the cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Pour cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir. Place in oven on 300 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Meal 4
Tater Rounds
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Grapes
Cheese sticks stuffed with marinara sauce
Shrimp
Corn on the cob
When the weather turns warm we love to cook outside. Grilled corn on the cob is great and the children really love it. There are many different thoughts on how to prepare corn still in the husk for grilling. I start by soaking the corn in ice water for about and hour. I then pull down one side of the husk, spread with butter, pull the husk back up and then wrap the corn in aluminum foil. I do not try to remove the silks at this time. We grill for about 30 minutes, and then as I remove the husk all the silks tend to come off real easy.
While the corn is grilling, I place the cheese sticks on a piece of aluminum foil and place on the top rack of the grill. Every grill cooks different so you need to watch the cheese sticks and when the cheese starts seeping out of the sides, around 15 minutes, take them of the grill and watch them disappear quickly as you wait for the rest of the meal to finish cooking.
Use olive oil and lightly grease a cookie sheet. Place a single layer of tater rounds on the sheet. Place on the grill and bake for about 20 minutes. Potatoes do not have to be deep fried to be good.
Most grills now come with side burners so as the potatoes are cooking heat about ¼ cup of olive oil in a skill or stir fry pan on the burner. Add the shrimp season to your taste. I use salt, pepper and Asian or Southwestern seasonings from Pampered chef.
Once everything is cooked, we enjoy this meal, of shrimp, corn, potatoes and fruit outside on our deck.
Regardless of what your children love to eat, make dinner time family time. Have as many dinners a week that you can together as a family. When children see adults sitting at a table eating the same foods they are expected to eat, appetites improve and children will start eating foods you never thought possible.
