Good Family (with toddlers) recipes?

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weebee05
weebee05 Posts: 22 Member
in Recipes
Hi all! My have a couple toddlers ( 3 years and 15 months)....anyhow have any good recipe ideas for my whole family? I seem to make alot of the same things....

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  • bmannen1
    bmannen1 Posts: 77 Member
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    A treat meal that my babies (18 month twins) love is tortilla pizza. Just put pizza sauce cheese and what ever other tops you like and bake at 400 till the edges are golden. Soooo yummy.
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    My kids loved sweet potato gratin (thinly sliced orange sweet potatoes, thinly sliced yellow onions, a modest amount of shredded smoked cheddar and a little water or apple juice, baked until the potatoes are tender & the cheese is bubbly). Usually with steamed broccoli on the side, since the boys could eat their weight in broccoli.

    I made Cooking Light's stovetop macaroni & cheese for YEARS....still do, occasionally... for the guys...and broccoli...

    Crockpots of pinto beans are a staple for us: unseasoned with cheese for the guys when they were smaller; sauted onion/garlic/peppers now. Also, refried for burrito filling or dip.
  • sistrsprkl
    sistrsprkl Posts: 1,013 Member
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    Bump! I've been running out of ideas, myself. We do lots of pizza, mac & cheese, meatloaf, teriyaki chicken & rice, asian dumplings (they love these), veggies & hummus, grilled cheese & quesadillas.
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    Vegetable-laden Lasagne
    In a food processor, combine a yellow onion, a drained can of artichokes, 3 oz feta (I usually use garlic & herb), 3 oz neufchatel (if desired--I usually leave it out), a handful of spinach & dried basil & pepper (to taste). Add an egg white if you want.

    (Or skip that step, if you like ricotta. I don't, so a bunch of veggies go into that layer).

    Slice a medium (or two small) zucchinis thinly. Also about 5 roma tomatoes. And possibly a handful of mushrooms.

    You'll need sauce, about 8 oz grated mozzerella, no boil noodles. (I make a very plain tomato-garlic-onion sauce)

    Sauce, noodles, artichoke-mix, sliced vegetables, sprinkle of cheese. Repeat & bake like a "real" lasagne.

    It's not as cohesive as regular lasagne, but it's really tasty.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    My kids love a homemade manwhich made with turkey instead of ground beef. They are 3 and 1. My 3 yr old eats it on a roll, but the 1 year old just eats it in a bowl with his veggies mixed in to hide them. I use:

    1.25lbs 85/15 ground turkey
    1 tbsp steak seasoning or seasoned salt
    1 carrot, minced
    1 medium onion, minced
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
    4 oz mushrooms, minced
    1 tbsp red wine vinegar
    1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
    2 cups tomato sauce
    2 tbsp tomato paste

    Without a bun they are about 120 calories for 1/2 cup. They are about double that if you use the can manwhich.

    I also like the zucchini tots on skinnytaste.com

    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/07/zucchini-tots.html

    We are also huge fans of anything made in the crockpot. I get boneless, skinless chicken thighs and cook them in a jar of medium salsa then we have a create your own taco night. Both my kiddos love tacos.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Hi all! My have a couple toddlers ( 3 years and 15 months)....anyhow have any good recipe ideas for my whole family? I seem to make alot of the same things....

    Wish I had some slam dunk recipes for you, I'm here for the ideas just like you! I have a 5 year old and 3 year old. They eat all the kid food really well: Mac n Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, Grilled Cheese (they do love tomato soup with it!), Pizza, Fish Sticks, etc.

    They eat a handful of veggies - raw carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, and are pretty good with fruits.

    I try to put a little of what I am making for myself and my husband on their plates, but also include some of the things I know they will eat, like string cheese and fruit, so they definitely have something familiar on the plate.

    This site has a lot of kid friendly recipes and one section in particular, called Family Meals, is focused on cooking one thing for everyone. I haven't really tried anything, I need to get back into a routine of planning meals before school starts again.

    http://weelicious.com/family-meals/
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    A treat meal that my babies (18 month twins) love is tortilla pizza. Just put pizza sauce cheese and what ever other tops you like and bake at 400 till the edges are golden. Soooo yummy.

    When I was in middle school Home Ec, we made tortilla pizzas and it became my go to meal that I used to cook with my brother when my Mom worked late. We used taco sauce instead of pizza sauce, and usually hamburger and pepperoni. It is great with leftover taco meat!
  • berry987
    berry987 Posts: 11 Member
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    My kids love homemade fried rice (rice, egg, chicken, carrots, peas, broccoli, sesame oil, soy sauce). I do seafood a lot too - frozen cod, tilapia or shrimp, baked in butter and lemon, seasoned with salt and pepper. So easy and the kids love it. I do a frittata once a week or so - egg, cheese, sausage and spinach (chopped finely so they barely notice it).
  • Lesleycali
    Lesleycali Posts: 236 Member
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    My kids (a toddler and soon to be kindergartener) are pretty good about eating whatever I make for dinner- especially my 5 yr old. I usually just have them eat what I eat for dinner, if I'm looking for something quick I do eggs, or a fruit , hummus and cheese plate- takes 2 seconds and is healthy...and of course the occasional grilled cheese.

    Some all time favorites are rice and beans, roasted whole chicken (they LOVE this, plus you can use the leftover chicken to toss in pasta or on sandwiches), carrot soup, veggie stews, bean and cheese quesadillas, roasted broccoli, baked sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, pasta with eggplant (peel the eggplant and the insides just melt into the sauce they don't know they are eating it!) Huevos rancheros, turkey tacos is always a big hit- served with tomatoes and avocado, turkey chili made very mild, anything with beans, salads with feta and tomato and cucumber.

    I really really really adore the Jamie Oliver cookbooks, they have real food that kids will eat. I've gotten loads of ideas from him, my favorite is "Jamie's dinners".
  • Lesleycali
    Lesleycali Posts: 236 Member
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    Also my first job in LA was cooking for 4 small kids of the director Sam Rami (spiderman moves, evil dead etc...) I had no idea what kids ate at the time but the mom insisted on me making whole, minimally processed foods. Little did I know 10 years later I would be using some of those ideas for my own kids. They loved green beans!
  • Mangopickle
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
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    The kids eat what we eat but these are some of the top requests.
    Summer squash pizza crust, bell pepper pizza boats, quinoa crust quiche,fried okra, fried zucchini, panko fried eggplant, tempura carrots sweet potatoes and green beans with yogurt dip, Farinata, egg plant noodle lasagna, Posole, pot roast with carrots onion and parsnips. Ratatouille, tuna salad with frozen corn and edamame, fresh rolls with veggies,shrimp and avocado.halibut chowder. Halibut with spinach Alfredo sauce. Any flavor broiled salmon. Celery stuffed with yogurt dip wrapped with light bologna is a huge favorite for a snack. Steamed cauliflower with Knorr bearnaise sauce. Boiled shrimp. Avocados stuffed with crab and canned pink grapefruit sections topped with Catalina or Russian dressing. Low fat kiwi Splenda cheesecake.
    Brownies made with raisins, canned dark cherries and walnuts.
    cherry clafoutis.
    Raisin bread peanut butter, bacon and fig jam sandwiches.
    All cheeses, smoked oysters,smoked clams...actually any smoked anything. Anything pickled from quail eggs to asparagus.
    Any dip, clam, spinach, artchoke, Cadillac pimiento cheese, curried egg salad.

    And, drum roll, the number 1 request
    Green eggs. It is just Stouffers spinach soufflé blended with a dozen scrambled eggs.

    In our family most people just have 1 or 2 items they cannot abide. Brother doesn't like raw tomato, mother can't stand white rice or tofu, daughter dislikes saurkraut, grandpa hates raw celery and raw carrots, one child only likes canned pineapple on a sandwich, one child will only eat mushrooms raw, another will only eat broccoli raw. One child hates cottage cheese, I decline to eat kidneys.
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    I have a book "Kawaii Bento Boxes", that mostly has to do with presentation, and is maybe time consuming, but will encourage your toddlers to eat their vegetables!

    It teaches you how to achieve effects like this:

    d52d713a73f1fa61e224b975710d867c.jpg
  • LAT1963
    LAT1963 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    Aside--after two kids close together...if you're thinking about a third soon, make sure you take pre-natal vitamins well before starting. You're probably depleted in trace nutrients at the moment.
  • weebee05
    weebee05 Posts: 22 Member
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    Thanks all! Great ideas. I am lucky to have kids who eat almost every veggie I make. :) They do like the "kid" foods but will eat most things I make. I am big on one meal, I don't cook something special for them. Occasionally they won't eat much of the meal, so we supplement them with cottage cheese or something similar that night. But I consider myself very lucky.

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