Healthy Kids Equals Happy Kids

My first week home this summer, Will had Spaghetti-Os and Chef-Boyardee ravioli every. single. meal.

And then I tasted the meatballs in Spaghetti-Os and the ravioli in that can and I spat it out. No really. I just used the word "spat," too.

Have you ever tasted that stuff? Canned dog food. 

How can that possibly be good for my kid? For anyone's kid?

What I needed to do was get back on the DIY kid food. I don't want to make Pinterest inspired beach scenes with broccoli palm trees, quinoa sand and cheedar cheese suns. I just want to make good food for my kid.

Besides, Reid will be eating solid foods in (gulp) just one month. (That, my friends, is crazy.)

Rather than bombard you with an enormous post of my Toddler Staples, I picked the four I've done the most of in the last couple of weeks, and divided them into two categories: "Takes as much time as the pre prepared crap" and "Takes five minutes longer."

With childhood obesity such an issue that it's the First Lady's undertaking, and my own frustrations in people complaining that the healthy stuff is too expensive, I'm hoping that just one little blog reader takes note and tries something fresh for their kids. 

Here we go.

Takes As Much Time As The Pre Prepared Crap

Mac-n-Cheese. Ah yes, it is revered in this household by kids and parents alike. Pick your favorite noodle--you can even buy them in fun shapes like wheels and stars and Woody and Buzz--and then make a basic cheese sauce: 1 tbsp butter, 1/2-1 tsp flour, 1/4-1/3 cup milk. Mix over heat. Add about a cup of your favorite shredded cheeses and let it all melt into a delicious cheesy sauce that won't send your blood pressure sky rocketing from the sodium. And it takes just as much time as the boxed stuff!

Pizza. Rather than throw those pizza bites/pizza bagels/Tony's pizzas in the oven for a half an hour, have your child spend 20 minutes putting sauce, cheese, and other toppings on a pita, tortilla, or little Boboli crust. Ten minutes in the oven, and like Will, they will proclaim, "This actually tastes like pizza." 

Takes Five Minutes Longer

Chicken Nuggets. Yes, dumping the bag of frozen nuggets onto a tray is, in fact, easy. These are healthier, and take no time at all. Dice up chicken breasts or chicken tenders into two inch pieces. You can either dip them in egg, or brush them with brown mustard. Roll in bread crumbs or corn meal seasoned with onion powder, garlic powder and a bit of salt, and then bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes. Done. 

Snacks. Are you kidding me with the bags of pre-cut up apples? They've got crap in them to keep them from browning! Cut up your own and entice the kids with a smear of peanut butter, Nutella, Biscoff spread, or apple butter. 

I'm always reaching for plain roasted almonds to snack on, but Will, despite trying them every single time, hates them. So I take two cookie sheets and put a handful of almonds on each sheet. I sprinkle a little vegetable oil onto both piles of almonds, and to one pile I add just a sprinkling of sea salt and garlic powder, and to the other I sprinkle just a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix them up, spread them out, and pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Let them cool and then keep them in airtight containers for up to two weeks!