Seeking Kid Friendly Recipes.

Make pizza from scratch! You can control the ingredients, so making it healthy is simple. Plus, the family can bring home leftovers easily.

Here's a variation of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything pizza dough:
3 cups flour (try 2 cups enriched/white flour, 1 cup whole wheat)
1 tsp quick rise yeast
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbls olive oil, plus 1 tbls for later
1 cup water
1 tbls spices (dried herbs work best so your dough won't be too sticky; I use powdered garlic, oregano and black pepper.)

Mix ingredients with stand mixer. You might need to add a tsp or two of water if there's a good portion of dry flour on the bottom of the mixing bowl. Don't add more than 1/4 cup of water or it will be sticky.

Pour another tbls of olive oil in a large bowl, drop dough ball into bowl and cover with a wet towel. Set aside somewhere warm (I usually preheat the oven to 300 degrees then turn off the oven when I put the dough in the oven).

1-2 tbls olive oil
16-24 ounces of shredded cheese
1 cup crushed tomatoes (you can puree some other nutritious veggies instead or add to crushed tomatoes)
turkey pepperoni or other meat
kid friendly veggies

When dough doubles in size (2 or 3 hours later), cut dough ball in half. Roll out each ball on floured surface, lightly cover dough round with olive oil, sprinkle oregano or whatever spice you like, spoon and smooth crushed tomatoes over the top. Put pepperoni, veggies and cheese on top. Bake on a preheated stone at 500 degrees for 8 to 9 mins.

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I use a free website called allrecipes.com. It is WONDERFUL!!!! not only for kid friendly recipes but everything under the sun. I hope this helps!

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Sounds like my son in the food preference. Chicak nuggets can be healthy if they are baked. I buy either corn flakes already crumbled or actually corn flakes and put them in the blender. you can also use Shake n Bake. Cut up chicken breasts into strips or chunks and dip first in egg (or water or buttermilk if allergies) and then in the crumbs. Spray a little cooking oil and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. For pasta, you can cook the pasta in chicken broth rather than plain water to give a little flavor. Add veggies and a little olive oil (maybe a tablespoon)and some seasoning and toss all together. My kids like this as long as they cannot tell that the oil or seasoning is there. My girls then like to add parmesan cheese or shredded mazzarella. I also dice carrots and potatoes, cook just a bit in water with a little salt or chicken broth until just tender. Then saute a little bit in oil and add peas, celery, or other veggies. This makes a healthy side dish.

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Mom may appreciate a special meal for her, with a separate meal for the kids. You could do a pasta recipe for mom and save out some plain pasta for the kids. That way you would be providing a nurishing meal cooked with love, and an easy option for the kids if they are picky eaters.

I am a mom of five kids who all like different things. I would say Mac N cheese is everyone's favorite. They eat it plain or add hotdogs to it. Lately, I purchased a box of those Supper Bakes (i think that is what it was)it Cheesy Chicken all you do is add the chicken and it was basically mac and cheese with chicken baked on top and my kids LOVE IT! Another one of those is the chicken alfredo they also enjoy that one. But we also make homemade chicken nuggets. I buy chicken tenderloins and cut them into small pieces and bread them with an egg batter and italian bread crumbs and deep fry them. They are the best!

I think what your doing is awesome.

H.,

I work as a consultant with the Pampered Chef. Our main company website has recipe search capabilities (even a section just for kids). You'll find recipes like mini cheeseburgers, sloppy joes, mac n cheese, etc...thousands to choose from. You can go there to search at www.pamperedchef.com or if you'd like to email me direct, I'd be happy to send you some. Email: ____@____.com

Here's an example:(this one is from the kid section showing how THEY can help prepare it)

Mini Burger Bites
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 package dry onion soup mix (about 2 tablespoons)
8 slices American cheese
16 soft dinner rolls
Ketchup or mustard, if you'd like
16 hamburger dill pickle slices

Directions:
1. With adult help: Set the oven to 350°F. Put the ground beef and soup mix in a large (1 gallon) plastic food storage bag. Seal the bag. Squeeze the meat mixture with both hands until it is well blended.

2. Empty the meat mixture into the Square Baker and press it evenly into the bottom of the baker with the Classic Scraper. Cut the meat mixture into 16 squares by cutting 3 lines down and 3 across using the edge of the scraper.

3. With adult help: Bake the meat mixture for 20 to 22 minutes or until it is cooked through. Carefully remove the baker from the oven using the Oven Mitts. Separate the burgers into squares using My Safe Cutter.

4. Cut 4 shapes from each cheese slice using a Creative Cutter shape or 1-inch cookie cutter. To make each burger bite, place 1 hamburger square on the bottom half of 1 dinner roll. Top with ketchup or mustard, if you'd like, 2 cheese shapes and a pickle slice. Cover with top half of the roll. Enjoy!

Yield: 16 mini burgers

Nutrients per serving: (2 burgers) Calories 270, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 4 g, Cholesterol 30 mg, Carbohydrate 30 g, Protein 18 g, Sodium 690 mg, Fiber 2 g

©The Pampered Chef, Ltd. 2009

I did not read any of your responses so someone may have already mentioned this, but it might be better to get them a gift certificate for a local restaurant that delivers. That way they can pick kid friendly and something for themselves if they want. Just an idea.

sproutonline.org is the pbs sprout channel website and they have section called sprouts diner that has some really neat kids things.

It's hard to find something kids will eat- especially not your own kids and they are under stress too. I'd second the macaroni and cheese idea too. Homemade mac n chesse is great, you can make it realitively healthy too. With my kids I'll add in hotdogs or ham and peas or broccoli. If they don't like it, they can eat around it, but at least you are getting in your food groups. Or you can make the extras and leave them separate - give the family a choice about if they want the ham mixed in or on top, etc. --The pizza idea is great too but more work! Good luck!

Some of the ideas that the kids in my daycare love are. Tortia pizza or english muffin pizzas. Take flour tortia shells and add pizza or spaghetti sauce and then pepporoni or ham and then top with shredded cheese and then microwave until cheese is almost melted and then fold. Also cheese broccoli is a great hit. I am fortunate that almost all of the kids are a fruit and veggie lovers. If the kids love fruits and veggies a great idea is to buy them and clean them and cut them up for the kids and then it is also a great side dish to any meal or a snack. The kids love chicken fettachini ( sorry for the spelling) I buy the jar of fett sauce then I cook egg noodles and then I fry up the chicken and then steam broccoli and then add them all together and put in some shredded parmasen cheese and serve. But if they don't like sauce on their pasta that may not be a good idea. Good luck.
B.

You can also try make your own pizza. pre-bake the crust and have the toppin glined up so they can choose what they want. Then they just pop it into the over for 10 minutes or so to melt cheese and heat up the toppings.

Under the same concept we've also done make your own nachos...

How about a homemade mac n cheese casserole? In Jessica Seinfeld's book she makes one with vegetable purees like carrots and squash so that it is undetectable to the kids and keeps it moist.
This would be semi healthy and easy for M. to just throw in the oven.

Maybe a homemade chicken noodle soup with a loaf of french bread?

How about the good-ole pigs in a blanket. Just wrap up little smokies inside crescent rolls and bake. These could be served with applesauce or cottage cheese. Another nice thing might be a cheese tray. My daughter just loves cheese and it would go along well with the fruit/veggies that everyone else mentioned. You could also make these little ham sandwiches that I make, they are:

halved english muffins, spread with mayo and top with deli shaved ham and swiss. Bake them in the oven just until the cheese melts. They are wonderful and you could make substitutions where you see fit.

What's the no sauce about? I've never known a child that doesn't like mac n cheese. You can make it a casserole and put a large can or 2 of all white meat chicken gently broke down into it. Careful not to mush it up. Cover with more cheese and bake in oven for 20 minutes at 375degrees to heat thru. Also, most kids love crispy bacon or sausage and french toast (you can cut tinto sticks and serve).

You didn't say how old the children were, although based on the examples, I'm suspecting one is young enough that the easier the better. No sauce ravioli is great (and you can keep the sauce optional for those who can have it). Also, anything wrapped up tightly in a flour tortilla works nicely for kids too - which opens up a bunch of ideas, IMO. You can make ham and swiss, roll them up and then bake for a short while to melt the cheese.

I agree with another poster that allrecipes.com has some great ideas, and I've loved everything I've made so far off of epicurious.com as well.

Good luck - it's wonderful that you're doing this for them!

How nice of you to do this. I made this one last week and my kids (who are usually extremely picky) actually ate it...well, they picked around the broccoli but I was still pleased. They couldn't taste the cream cheese at all. I served it with garlic bread, which most kids seem to like.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/creamy-chicken-pasta...

My kids also like quesadillas made with shredded cheddar cheese and turkey slices. You could make a few of them & store them in a plastic container for something they could easily re-heat.

Another idea is to make a breakfast casserole. There are tons of recipes out there (I second the allrecipes.com recommendation!) and it could be served for breakfast or dinner. Most kids like breakfasty items, so perhaps they'd eat this.

in my experience almost anything can be made to be kid friendly; what's important is that kids can never agree on the same ingredients and often don't like the ingredients to touch each other. So instead of making a fruit salad, just carve up the fruit and serve each one separately. And when making couscous or rice etc., cook it with whatever seasoning is necessary and then serve the toppings separately so that the kids can top tehir own with whatever they like. Tacos and pizzas work especially well that way. Get a cheese pizza and then saute veggies and have the kids pick which veggies they want to add, if any. For eg. Same goes for sandwiches.

When my sister lost her husband she said the best food she got was a baked ham because she could serve it so many different ways and hot or cold. It was extra wonderful of a friend of hers to be the gate-keeper of meals so they were spaced out to come every couple days (leaving time for leftovers); some arrived warmed and ready for the table and there weren't duplicates. Maybe you could also offer that role?? Someone even just went grocery shopping for her to get basic fruits, cereal, bread, milk - - which was much appreciated. Best of luck. This is such a tough time and wonderful of you to be there for them.