Cooking Kids

I recently spent a week in Branson, the land of shows and fun. I went to Celebration City, White Water and Silver Dollar City. Of the three, Silver Dollar City had the best food.  We munched on the traditional themepark fare, such as popcorn and chicken tenders. But we also had a great skillet succotash with okra, corn, peppers, potatoes, and chicken. My father-in-law also dined on a sweet potato fry and sausage meal early in the day. I don’t care for anything other than breakfast sausage, but everyone else tried it and said it was good. They also had these great arctic drinks in either lemon or strawberry that really cooled us off.

So what I want to know is- What’s your favorite themepark food and which themepark is it found at? Silver Dollar City was voted as the park with the best food in a national survey, but they can’t be the only one’s who serve good food. So where else serves up food and fun that’s worth remembering?

Here is another list of more healthy restaurant choices for kids. I’ve included some more kid-friendly type restaurants, where some of the healthy pickings are still slim. These restaurants are budget friendly, but not always health friendly. There is one exception, MiMi’s Restaurant. I included that because it won an award as one of the best family restaurants by Parenting Magazine. Happy eating!

 Mimi’s Cafe- They offer a soup and salad meal or a turkey dinner plate that comes with stuffing and fruit.

Fuddruckers- The pickings are slim at Fuddruckers if you want nonfried foods. But you should do okay with a hamburger and fruit cup side.

Cheeburger, Cheeburger- Here’s another that leaves little that isn’t fried. But they do have a grilled chicken sandwich that you can side with either applesauce or carrot sticks and ranch dressing.

Denny’s- This is a popular breakfast spot for families, and I must say that the healthier choices lie in their breakfast menu. I don’t think I saw one non-fried item on the kid’s dinner menu. Opt for the Jr. Grand Slam for breakfast with juice or milk. If you are eating dinner there, get the sampler of chicken nuggets and mozzarella sticks. Even though they’re fried, the chicken is protein and the cheese is dairy, and you can always choose the fruit dish as the third option.

IHOP- Another favorite breakfast place whose healthy choices lie in the breakfast menu. Try the Jr. Scrambled Egg and Pancake breakfast, a fresh fruit dish, or, if you must eat there for dinner, try the pan fried Tilapia with a vegetable side.  

One lunchbox staple is the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. There are few kids who can say they went their whole elementary school life without at least one peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I even had one, even though I hated jelly. I guess it slipped my mom’s mind. Well here is a twist on the traditional PB&J….PB&J pancakes.

Start by making your traditional pancake batter. We use Bisquick with eggs and milk for ours. Add 2 tbsp. of peanut butter to your batter. If making a large batter, double the peanut butter. Cook pancakes as usual.

Give each child two pancakes, a small amount of peanut butter and their favorite jelly. Have them spread one pancake with peanut butter and one with jelly. Lay one on top of the other like a sandwich and you have PB&J pancakes. Most kids will eat these without syrup, but some will like it with syrup. You can also do PB&J add on’s, just like you would a sandwich. You can add bananas, honey, raisins or cinnamon. My husband actually likes these, too. Enjoy!

Both my kids adore broccoli. Since it’s the staple vegetable on many restaurant kid’s menus, I’m assuming there are a handful of kids that also adore broccoli. Below is a simple recipe for a one dish broccoli and noodle supper that includes chicken. It’s fast, simple and sure to please.

Broccoli and Noodles:

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into pieces

2 small broccoli heads, cut up, stems removed

1 pkg. egg noodles

1/2 stick butter

1 c. grated parmesan

2-3 tbsp. seasoned salt

Olive oil

Heat oil in a pan and toss in chicken. Sprinkle chicken with seasoned salt and cook until done. While chicken is cooking, boil a large pot of water and toss in the egg noodles and broccoli together. Let cook approx. 8 min. and drain. Noodles should be done and broccoli tender but firm, not soggy. Mix broccoli and noodles with butter and cheese in a large bowl. Toss until butter melts and cheese is spread all over broccoli and noodles. Add chicken to the top and serve.

Making salsa with a kid is a slooooowwww process. My daughter helped me make a garden fresh salsa today, and it took us a good 30 minutes. I have to remind myself not to rush her when we cook so that she learns and enjoys it all on her own. Of course, this means slicing 15 cherry tomatoes in half and waiting as she picks up each one slowly, puts it into the mini-dicer, checks that each tomato is in the proper place, makes a cute comment like, “There you go little t’mater” and repeats the process.  

We aren’t tomato eaters in this family, but I was given four tomato plants this year by a friend and couldn’t resist seeing if I could grow them successfully. Well I’ve been more than successful, with my garden bursting with cherry tomatoes and Big Boy tomatoes. Today was our first harvest and I figured we could make a simple salsa. My intention was to use it as a dip and chips type salsa, but after tasting it, we decided it would be best over grilled chicken or steak. All the ingredients are fresh from my garden except the lime juice and salt and peppers. If you like a tomato tasting salsa without too much spice, then this is for you. My daughter enjoyed tossing the cherry tomatoes into the mini-dicer and stirring the ingredients. My son enjoyed being the guinea pig.

Simple Summer Salsa Recipe:

Handful of garden fresh tomatoes. (We used approx. 15 cherry tomatoes and 2 large tomatoes)

1 ear of sweet corn

1/4C. diced onion

1 bunch of parsley (we just picked a handful from the herb garden)

Ground red pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste

1 tbsp. of lime juice

3tbsp. sugar

Chop up tomatoes until thin and juicy; you can use a mini-chopper if it’s easier. Toss the tomatoes into a bowl, and cut up the parsley over it using scissors. Slice the corn off the cob and add the kernels to the salsa. Add lime juice, peppers, salt and sugar. Mix well. Refrigerate at least an hour so flavors can blend. Serve over grilled meat or with chips. Here’s a picture of our finished product served over grilled chicken:

 My husband and I never noticed how fattening the kid’s menus were at restaurants. We knew fast food was death in a cute, cardboard box, but we just assumed restaurant food was better. When our son, who is now 8, was around 3 years old we found out that he didn’t like fried foods. This meant our restaurant choices were extremely limited. Most places only offered fried chicked fingers, hot dogs, corn dogs, french fries and other fried type foods. We were lucky to find a local steak house that offered a kids chopped steak plate with a potato. We ate at that restaurant until we just couldn’t take it anymore. That’s when we decided to try Red Lobster, thinking we could just share our shrimp with him. We were not only amazed but extremely happy to see that Red Lobster offered snow crab claws on their kid’s menu. Our son gravitated towards them at 3 years old and still loves them to this day. Within the next couple of years, restaurants started jumping on the health and nutrition bandwagon, offering a variety of healthier foods. Although most kid’s menus still run amok with fried foods and fattening side dishes, restaurants are making an effort. Below is a small list of restaurants with a healthy food choice for your child. I’ll be adding more restaurants and foods in the very near future, but this list should take care of your night out dinners for a few weeks.

 Restaurants

Applebees: Miniburgers with a side of broccoli.

Red Lobster: Snow Crab Legs with a side of applesauce.

Ruby Tuesday: Grilled Chicken with a side of broccoli.

Chilis: Grilled Chicken Sandwich with either a side of black beans or cinnamon apples.

California Pizza Kitchen: Grilled Chicken with broccoli, or a Macaroni and Cheese dish with edamame thrown in.

Cheesecake Factory: They don’t have a kid’s menu, but they do offer a “baby plate” of bananas, oranges and fresh bread for kids still in boosters or high chairs.

One of my son’s favorite dinners is ramen noodle stir fry. After attending a Pampered Chef party where the host made a pork stir fry dish using ramen noodles, I tried duplicating a similar recipe at home to much success.  This dish is slightly high in sodium, so I only make it once every couple of months. You could reduce the sodium by using reduced sodium soy sauce and only using half the ramen noodle spice package.

Recipe:

1 package of chicken breasts, cut up

2 packages of ramen noodles, slightly crushed

1 red pepper diced

Handful of scallion, sliced

Soy sauce

Sesame seeds

1 tsp. ginger

Cook chicken in pan with a little bit of oil or spray until browned. While browning the chicken, boil the ramen noodles until soft. Do not add seasoning packet to noodles. Once chicken is browned, add chopped vegetables to the pan. Cook approximately 2-3 minutes. Add enough soy sauce to cover the bottom of the pan, approximately 1/4-1/2 cup. Add ramen noodles, sesame seeds, ginger and ramen noodle seasoning to pan. Stir fry until noodles soak up soy sauce and veggis are crisp-tender. Serve and enjoy!