Never say never. Never ever. I’m breaking my own rule right now. See. It’s not a good idea to make grand declarations. Want to know what one of my own was? Well, pre-children, I declared I would never-ever make special food for my kids. You’re laughing right now, aren’t you? What vows did you make before you had children? How’d that work out for ya?
Probably about as well as my no-kiddie food thing worked out for me. In all actuality, it worked for about ten months. Yep, all through the bottle stage, that kid ate exactly what we ate. Or nothing. And as it turned out “nothing” was exactly what he needed. As soon as he actually got to the eating stage, like all parents, we caved.
Green beans not doing it for him? How ’bout with a little ketchup? Ketchup getting boring? Let’s throw some sprinkles in the stuff and serve it with a song and a dance. You see, it’s easy to get carried away when it comes to entertaining children with their food. It all starts out with good intentions and somewhere along the way that green bean ends up getting deep fried and sugar coated so he eats it. And you end up wearing a clown costume every night at dinner. I’m not big on clowns.
So instead, I’ve come to rely on a few staples for healthy food fun, all inspired by the aisles from my local Harris Teeter. Nothing over the top. Just a few tricks up the mom-sleeve to make otherwise boring veggies awesome and healthy snacks crave-able. Sound good? Stick around for kid-approved food tips, pics and recipes, then enter to win the Harris Teeter $100 Gift Card giveaway below.
Tip #1: Put it on a stick. Deli meat, cheese and veggies may sound ho-hum, but when you put it on a stick, they become Pirate Sword Bites or Princess Wand Snacks, and life is good again. We layered ours with Boar’s Head Prosciutto (it’s my favorite deli meat, so that’s what they get), colby cheese and cherry tomatoes, but layer up any fruits, cheeses, meats or veggies that floats your toddler’s boat.
Tip #2: Pretend it’s an ice cream snack. Call it ice cream and you’ll have the kids hanging off of the freezer door.
To pull off this tasty treat, round up a pint of blueberries, and using toothpicks, dip it into your favorite Harris Teeter yogurt, and place the coated berries on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Once done, put them in the freezer overnight. Transfer to ziploc bags for storage or serve immediately.
Tip #3: Give ’em what they want. Are your kids calling for mac ‘n cheese? Again? I’m over the microwavable noodles with powdered cheese. You can actually make the real deal in the microwave and use honest-to-goodness dairy-case cheese, too. My kid declared this “Delicious.” I swear.
For the Homemade Microwavable Macaroni and Cheese, combine 1/3 cup whole grain elbows with 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon of water. Microwave for six minutes, stirring at 4 minutes, 2 minutes, and one minute. Be careful. The bowl will be crazy hot. Once pasta is cooked and there is a little bit of pasta remaining, stir in 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used Harris Teeter four-cheese Mexican blend). Return to the microwave for 30 more seconds. Remove from microwave and stir in 1/4 cup of milk or half and half and season with salt and pepper. This will be the creamiest microwave pasta you’ll ever have!
Tip #4: Call it a Popsicle. Much like Tip #2, if it’s frozen, and it’s sweet, it’s A-Ok in the Official Children’s Handbook. For our “popsicles,” I poured Harris Teeter blueberry yogurt in layers mixed with Harris Teeter brand Fruit O’s.
I actually had the kids sitting side-by-side for fifteen minutes with no fighting when I presented them with this treat. Even the dog was intrigued!
Tip #5: Make food art. Confession: I’ve never made one of those fancy kiddie lunch bento boxes. But I do make my children “Flower” Breakfast Sandwiches. Why? Because it’s easy. And, because it gets my no-veggie-toddler to eat veggies without even knowing it.
This breakfast or lunch is simple. Slice bell peppers and place in preheated and oiled skilled over medium heat. Break eggs into bell peppers. It’s okay if they run out a bit, you can scrape off any excess. Meanwhile, broil a few English muffins topped with your favorite shredded cheese until melted and golden. Once the yolk is set in the eggs to your taste, simply place on top of muffins and serve with sprinkle of salt, pepper and basil. If you’re good with an open face sandwich, serve as is, or top with another piece of toasted English muffin.
Tip #6: Combine Kid-Favorites in an unusual way. My kids LOVE a waffle. They are also big into pizza. How ’bout Waffle-Pizzas? Now, this is a cinch to make, and crazy easy to cut (those waffle grooves are PERFECT for pizza slicing). Plus, you can get the Harris Teeter wheat-grain frozen waffles and turkey pepperoni, which kicks up the health quotient a tad too!
To prepare, coat a baking pan with cooking spray. Top frozen waffles with you favorite Harris Teeter spaghetti sauce, cheese, and pizza toppings. Bake at 375 degrees until cheese is melted and golden, approximately 12 minutes. Serve and enjoy the peace while your children enjoy their meal!
Do you have a kid-approved favorite we missed? Let us know and enter the giveaway for a $100 Harris Teeter gift card! a Rafflecopter giveawaySponsored by:
*Harris Teeter provided me with the supplies for the picnic and compensated me for my time. All opinions are my own.
I would really love to just send my child to your house for a week and see if he comes home eating any new food. I hate that he will not even try any of this.
pizza waffles? riley would flip out! gotta try this 🙂
My kids would love those “ice cream snacks”!
Call it a Popsicle !
I have a very picky eater. He won’t even eat most fruits. But the kid loves him some baked goods (wonder where he got that?) So I do a lot of muffins, scones and quick breads (the latter 2 I call “muffin bread” – it’s all in the marketing!). Used the typical fruits, plus blueberry and zucchini together. Though I haven’t made it in a while, I’ve done savory ones too (cheese and spinach). Better than nothing I guess.
These are great ideas too. I hope I can get it together and try some.
I think I will have to try the microwave mac and cheese tonight! And the the pizza waffles!!
the waffle pizzas look great!
I gotta try the Microwave Mac ‘n Cheese! It’ll save me lots of time, not to mention the pots i don’t need to wash!
GREAT ideas!
Fried chicken, yes please and also some good potato salad.
Definitely the waffle pizzas.
Take a hotbot. Dip in ketchup or mustard. Roll in bread crumbs.
Bake until crispy in toaster oven. Can be served on a skewer to older kids.
eggs in peppers is great also inside cut out wheat toast with heart or star for egg shape! (toast not listed but is one of my kids favs 🙂
These ideas sound really good, especially the pizza waffle.
These are some great ideas! I love the waffle pizza!
Would love to win!!
I can’t wait to make Waffle Pizzas for dinner this weekend!
We have a four year old that is sooooo picky! I like the pepper idea, however he knows what they are. But I do cut a hole out of bread and cook an egg in the middle, and top it with shredded cheese, we call them a toad in the hole! HE loves them!
I also can’t wait to try the blueberries with yogurt! They will be a hit with him!
I use the waffles to make Nutella or PB sandwiches with fresh fruit. Never thought of using it as a base for pizza. Great idea!
I want to do the bell pepper flowers for my toddler. He loves eggs and peppers so I’m sure he’d love them together!
Can’t wait to introduce the mac and cheese recipe to my son : )
I started to make homemade smoothie “Popsicles” for my girls recently and they are a hit on hot summer days. Bought cheap Popsicle molds, blend milk, juice, fresh/frozen fruit, agave syrup or honey and any other healthy add-ins, freeze and a few hours later healthy frozen treats!
We will try the waffle pizzas, what a great idea! Not that getting my kids to eat pizza is difficult, but this would be so much quicker for lunches!
I love these ideas, they sound great!
Yogurt blueberries. . . 2 of my kids favorites!
Mac and cheese in microwave looks yummy. My kids are grown but the ideas are awesome for my nephews and future grandchildren.
All of the foods look amazing, however the frozen ice cream snacks would be a hit.
I love the idea of individual pizzas. My kids favorite was always pizzas made with lightly toasted english muffins, then topped with sauce, pepperoni/mushrooms/sausage/hamburg and cheese. Surprising how much more they ate when they made it themselves. Very kid friendly.
These are some great recipes. I would enjoy them as well 🙂
These are some great recipes! Even I would enjoy them!! 🙂
The macaroni and cheese would probably go over the best.
Great ideas! We also make ‘scenes’ on our plates (or high chair trays). We’ve had celery palm trees, graham cracker sand and mini goldfish crackers frolicking in the blueberry yogurt water under a banana slice sun. Sometimes there are even strawberry boats with cheese sails in the water! We also have made ‘insects’ in the woods with broccoli trees and shrubs, colossal olive ladybugs (cut mini bell peppers for the features), hot dog slice centipedes, pretzel and gherkin ‘logs’. In our house we also see teddy grahams having a ‘picnic’. They sit on a ham/bologna slice blankets use mozzarella cheese plates, and eat green peas, shredded carrots, or tiny chopped salads from their woven wheat cracker basket.
I confess…we also do the bento box type things for when we go out. I picked up a dozen divided containers and set them all up on Monday morning. They are stacked in the refrigerator, and everyone takes whichever one they want. We are usually out of our homemade ‘go boxes’ by midweek, but we find the save time and money. They are also much healthier alternatives than hitting a drive thru or eating something loaded with sodium, sugar, artificial food dyes, trans fats, and preservatives.
The ice cream. He loves yogurt and fruit.
the frozen blueberries
It all sounds so easy and deliciious
Fresh fruit and sandwiches
The Ice Cream!!
Pizza
I will totally be making the food art! (Flower Breakfast Sandwiches) Super cute.
Fruit smoothies!
I would love to win 🙂
put it on a stick
My son would love the yogurt dipped blueberries! I can’t wait to try them!
I like the idea of making everything “like” ice cream. I will be trying to freeze the fruit in yogurt. I think I will try to put the food on a stick because I think that it would appeal to my young preschool children.
I have no kids, so I have no idea what they’d hypothetically like. Those pepper flowers are pretty rockin though. That’s what I’d feed my kids.
It is great to get little ones to eat by making foods look attractive!
Waffle pizzas
We will definitely be trying the frozen yogurt dipped blueberries.
Love the food art!
My next picnic? I will be making homemade smoothie popsicles.
yummy
Yogurt blueberries
What a great way to get my kids to eat healthy. Thank you!
we’re excited to try the frozen yogurt-berries! sounds great!
The pepper-egg sandwich looks yummy! I can’t say the same for those popsicles though. Fruit loops? Doesn’t scream healthy to me.
LOoking forward to trying the pizza waffles!!
Love blueberries, so will try that and the waffle pizza’s sound yummy as, well as the eggs in the peppers…easy and yummy for the tummy!!! Thanks!
What great ideas! I’m definitely going to try the Mac-n-cheese, rather than the powdered stuff!
My daughter will eat anything she gets to dip. Sure lots of kids like ketchup, but it stains everything, so I got her hooked on plain fat free yogurt for most things. Other common dips/condiments are salad dressings (favorites are ranch or catalina).
We do frozen yogurt all the time!!! Great healthy treat!
I want to try the cereal Popsicles!
Can’t wait to try the flower pepper eggs for breakfast this weekend!!
Love the kid art. That’s my son’s favorite and I can get him to eat nearly anything when we get creative!
I think most kids would love these ideas. Although as a grown-up, I’m going to try the mac and cheese myself!
Ice cream snack
Fruit on a stick, for sure!!!
Some interesting ideas and not just for kids!
Looks great! One thing they left out~ besides frozen and on a stick, my kids love things that they get to dip. I can get a lot of new veggies and dinners out of making a “tapas” type plate with different sauces to choose from. One favorite? Grilled chicken “nuggets” with a creamy BBQ ( white BBQ) sauce, grapes ( on sticks!) with a lemon yogurt dip, and raw veggie “chips” ( kale anyone?) with a spinach/cheese dip.
LOVE these ideas! Thank you!
Use cookie cutters to make fruit shapes and then put them on a stick. Lots of fun.. decorate the plate with shapes and faces using veggies
Love these ideas!!! Thank you! Especially the bell pepper to make egg sandwiches, great idea!
I have found that kids love grilled shikabobs, especially if they can help load their own stick to grill!
Also, My kids tried the macaroni today and approved! Thank you!
Great ideas!
Definitely trying the yogurt/ice cream blueberries! My boys love blueberries, and this will make them even yummier! Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for the neat ideas! I love the yogurt and cereal popsicles! 🙂
I use HT waffles to make waffle sandwiches-filling can be berries, cream cheese, peanut butter, jelly-whatever you like the most!
Thanks for the yogurt-berry tip! My son loves both but yogurt can be so messy- good idea.
My picky eater wouldn’t try any of them.
Fun!
These all sound amazing. I want to try them for myself. Also, I think it would suddenly catapult my popularity as an aunt =)
Pizza waffles
I have a very picky eater so I’ll have to give these a try.
Fresh fruits at picnics are a must. When watermelon is on sale at Teeter it is even better!
I love putting their food on a toothpick. Makes them eat it faster too because they think it is cool 🙂
My kiddos would love the blueberries. They love yogurt covered raisins so I know they’d definitely try the blueberries.
my kids LOVE the food on a stick – I do this for them for their lunches a lot! We’ll probably have to give the “flower breakfast sandwiches” a try …. those look fabulous!
My kids wouldn’t try any of these things…they are so picky, and nothing I try seems to appeal to them 🙁
My daughter would like the blueberry “ice cream” snacks 🙂
I want to try the waffle pizzas!
I think my kids would eat most of these but the waffle pizza would certainly be a winner.
Ice cream snack
Pizza waffles might just be the greatest thing I’ve ever seen!
Fruit cut up in a cup…kids love to pick and dover them…yum!!!
I love the “popsicle”!
The mac and cheese or the pizza
Pirate sword bites! What a great idea my little boys will love it!
Waffle pizzas for sure!!!
My SUPER picky 4 year old would most likely try the waffle pizzas and the popsicles. 🙂
Yikes, my son is 3.5, so the toothpicks scare me a bit …. of these options I think he’d like the frozen yogurt covered blueberries the best!
Egg flowers are too cool!
I love to offer protein as a “dipping sauce” — they’ll eat anything with baby carrots or chips! Favorites are hummus, black or white bean dips.
My kids would probably go for the pizzas, the frozen yogurt blueberries, and the Call it a Popsicle HT Fruity O’s Roll-up.
Frozen yogurt with blueberries…yeah!
Meat/Cheese/Veggie Skewers!
“ice cream” snack! Great idea! i’ve done fronzen blueberries sprinkled w/ sugar, but this is much healthier!
My nephew would be crazy for that waffle pizza!
Yogurt covered blueberries – I don’t have a kid, but the kid inside my husband and I would LOVE these!
waffle pizzas
My daughter would most likely try something if I told her it was a popsicle. She never turns down a popsicle.
the microwave mac n cheese since mac n cheese they love
For my kids it would be the mac and cheese for sure!!
I love the pretend ice cream snack
The waffle pizzas look delicious.
Mac and cheese
My kids would like to try the waffle pizzas.
the ice cream snack for sure !
Anything on a toothpick.
What great ideas!
love these ideas….now to try them out on the big kids (adults)
I guess I was fortunate to have kids that were not picky eaters and would try new things. But cute ideas.
Mac and cheese can be used to sneak in veggies- pureed sweet potatoes or carrots can be mixed in with no child the wiser
Green “spaghetti” made with zucchini and a spiral peeler is always fun- I told my little ones that it was Martian spaghetti!
Pizza is always a favorite- anything can be piled on (and funny faces make it fun)- and most kids will dig in
Grown up kids like these too!
my children always enjoyed seeing thier food grow in the garden. so when the blueberries or strawberries came in, we would snack right from the plants. homegrown tomatoes are considered a side dish in the summer.
We love making homemade smoothies and popsicles.
Food on a stick – looks like fun.
I am so fortunate that my girls are pretty good eaters. When we do have an issue we have what we call the “No Thank You Bite” – they have to try at least one bite before they can say they don’t like it. They are usually surprised to find they do like it! 🙂
Can’t wait to try the Mac and Cheese for my daughter. While she does love veggies sometimes she’s just not interested. I also love the HT Hidden Veggie pasta for those days!
My granddaughter is so picky. Just getting her to try something new is a challenge but she loves waffles. So the waffle pizza may be the answer
Great ideas!! Can’t wait to try these out. Keep sharing.
My kiddos are past the needing to be coaxed to eat stage, but they love fun foods. I think we’ll all enjoy the yogurt blueberries, yum!
The icecream snacks would be perfect for my son.
we will have egg salad!
i want the waffle pizza!
Great ideas for kids, especially eaters.
yogurt covered blueberries… yum
My kids are not terribly picky-yes, I know how fortunate I am, but I could try the waffle pizza idea.
Eggs in peppers are the only healthy looking things there.
the waffle pizza I even want to try it
Going to make the mac and cheese this afternoon! My youngest LOVES mac and cheese! This is so much better than the power stuff
my kids would love the mac & cheese.
Going to try the breakfast eggs cause they are cute. My kids will eat salad, they love different toppings.
I’ve been wanting to make my own fresh macaroni and cheese.
Waffles as pizza is a fun idea!
both kids would like the mac and cheese and my daughter would be all about the ice cream
My kids would like “give them what they want” – they LOVE mac n cheese!
I am SO excited to try the mac n cheese! It looks soo yummy and sounds so easy!! My daughter eats mac n cheese several times a week for lunch!
I like the yogurt & blueberries idea
My “kid” is 37 but I can say without a doubt his choice would be the mac and cheese!
My family would really love the yogurt covered blueberries and also the popsicles made with yogurt and cereal. We will probably try at least one of these!
put it on a stick
cereal popcycle
waffle pizza
I love food art!
My family loves pretty “fancy” foods. And by that I mean, anything that looks special or fun! Our kids eat what we eat, and that is any number of things ranging from healthy smoothies for dinner, or Easy Layerd Tacos! My kids are not picky eaters, and love (most of the time) what I fix!! 🙂
The waffle pizzas look great.
THIS! Great idea!!! “To pull off this tasty treat, round up a pint of blueberries, and using toothpicks, dip it into your favorite Harris Teeter yogurt, and place the coated berries on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Once done, put them in the freezer overnight. Transfer to ziploc bags for storage or serve immediately.”
I think the waffle pizzas would definitely be a hit in my house!!
question… what pic am I suppose to “pin” to Pinterest??
Waffle Pizzas!
waffle pizzas would be great
Waffle pizza…sounds great!