kid-friendly recipes - part two - a few meal ideas

my boys are pretty good at eating what we do - so several of these have basic modifications for self-feeding (in particular for the 1yr old - we did baby led solids with him so he has been mostly feeding himself since 6.5mths)

so when we had spaghetti this week, it was easier to serve with rice for the 1yr old, those sorts of modifications. and when nothing works, often a bowl of oatmeal with agave or banana or pear or apple sauce will work.

this is slow cooker chili from this week

from tonight's meal - my 3yr old polished off a chicken breast cut into strips

sweet potatoes from this week - my 3yr old helped make the letters - the one year old ate the pieces

argh the uploader won't load this right - tried 3 times - grilled cheese - added sweet potato puree in there and garlic and havarti.

kid-friendly recipes - part one - a few breakfast/snack ideas

most of the time, i try to just make food that my boys - 3.5 and 1, will eat as well.
sometimes it doesn't work,
sometimes i have leftovers that won't work
sometimes i just want the food to be easier to manage
or prettier to look at...

i have a gluten free mix and added thawed frozen blueberries, served with a bit of agave on top for the 3yr old, as is for the 1 yr old.

omelette with pesto, garlic and parmesan cheese - the 3yr old helped make the shapes - the extra bits were gobbled up by the one yr old.

omelette version 2 - pesto, shredded cheddar, garlic and a dash of mexican chili spice - used rice shapers - pressed as much as possible in, and then was able to make slices for the 3yr old - 1 yr old ate the ends, pieces.

typical veggie/fruit tray for the boys - even the 1yr old likes dipping.

i like my eggs like this too ;)

kale chips

i've read raves about using kale to make some healthy chips...so i took the plunge - bought, cleaned, took excess stems off a bunch of kale...the rest led to a disappointment, so be warned...it set off my cranky.

ingredients
1 bunch kale - washed/trimmed
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil

toss in a bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat. on a baking sheet in a single layer and in a 275 oven for 15-20min until kale crisps.

...okay, my cranky revisited - why, why, why do people love these? the recipes i saw called for salt, or salt and oregano, and yes they had crunch but yuck - not a good chip replacement.
these are now sitting in the fridge while i decide what to do with them. i think i will use them in a soup and save a few to crumble on top. they taste ok, but i love REAL potato chips and i will take a bowl of the real, get my butt off the couch and work them off later rather than eat this healthy version.

a rare, and unexpected NEVER AGAIN

fruit leather

i found an episode on weelicious that talked about fruit leather...
so decided to use some strawberries and blueberries that needed to be used up to make it

the recipe called for strawberries and agave and in a 250 oven for 2-3hrs

hmmm...not quite. i blended 1lb of strawberries and 2 full pints of blueberries in the blender.
1tbsp of agave
spread it out on a cookie sheet evenly
into a 250 oven
but
after an hour, the edges were crisping and the rest was ready
so a mixed reaction on this one
the parts that didn't burn were tasty

i'll try it again and be ready to pull it sooner.



...yummy berries being washed


...what agave nectar looks like if you haven't used it before


...spreading the blended mix