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6 Fast, Healthy, Recipes for Frazzled Parents

Posted Thu, Mar 15, 2007, 12:04 pm PDT

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"Knowing kids-and parents-need to eat healthy food is one thing. Getting them to do it is another. For starters, kids of all ages tend to hate at least one thing-say green beans-and devour tons of another, like grapes. Don't worry about a few extremes; if your child's diet over the course of a week, on most weeks, is balanced overall, that's fine," says pediatrician Jennifer Trachtenberg, MD, mom of three and author of Good Kids, Bad Habits: The RealAge Guide to Raising Healthy Children.

"That said, the more fun food is, the more likely kids are to eat it, especially when it comes to veggies and breakfast, two things they often resist," adds Dr. Jen. "Here are some super-easy recipes that can get even teens to eat smarter."

3 TEMPTING BREAKFASTS
Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes Every kid loves these. To regular pancake batter, add oats, raisins, chopped walnuts-all excellent fiber and nutrition boosters-plus some cinnamon and a bit of brown sugar. Pour into fun shapes like snowmen, Mickey Mouse, or turtles. To beat the morning rush, make the batter the night before and refrigerate it.

Breakfast Tacos Teenagers who turn down everything else will often eat these. Spoon scrambled eggs into warm whole-wheat tortillas, top with shredded low-fat cheese, a dollop of low-fat yogurt or sour cream, and salsa.

Smoothies for Two These are a treat on hot summer mornings, and are filled with enough protein, fiber, and nutrients to keep kids fueled for hours. Just combine 2 frozen bananas, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt, and ¾ cup juice in a blender.

3 FUN SNACKS
Graham Sandwiches When your child wants something sweet, here's a delicious cheesecake-like treat that's healthier than kids realize. Spread half a graham cracker with low-fat cream cheese; top with a little raspberry fruit puree and the other cracker half. Yummy!

A Feast for Giants Broccoli "trees" and carrot "logs" are even more fun when you can dunk them in a yogurt-based dip. Mix up to 8 oz. plain low-fat yogurt with some chopped dill, a little Dijon mustard, and a dash of soy sauce. Try dipping bell pepper-strip "canoes," cherry-tomato "boulders," and cucumber slice "bridges" too.

Creepy-Crawley Crackers Spread peanut butter between two round whole-wheat crackers, add pretzel sticks for legs and raisins for eyes, and you've got one fun, spidery snack.

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198 Comments

1. Posted by rl_andtribe on Tue, Mar 20, 2007, 5:19 pm PDT

They are all pretty good ideas, except when your kids won't try something they don't like the way it looks...If one of my kids say they don't like it, the other ones won't even try it...
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2. Posted by ayaliestamales on Tue, Mar 20, 2007, 11:18 pm PDT

Does anybody know how to make graham crackers from scratch ?
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3. Posted by Jennifer on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 1:22 pm PDT

I just made the scrambled egg "taco" for my 21 month old daughter. She likes eggs but I like to give her variety and she LOVED it. I'm going to try the smoothie next. She is a great eater because of the variety of foods we've been feeding her. Keep up the great ideas!!!!
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4. Posted by starflygrrl on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 1:31 pm PDT

I dont have children but I have a husband so its kinda like having children... :) Im gonna try some of these out on him. Thanks!
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5. Posted by Kim on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 1:36 pm PDT

These sound REALLY good. Thanks!
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6. Posted by candimae on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 1:49 pm PDT

I had no idea it took so much work to coax kids into eating?!
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7. Posted by VH1 on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 5:19 pm PDT

If you introduce foods to kids early and often it is not difficult to raise healthy, non picky eaters. In our house we have a 3 bite rule that says you can't decide if you like something or not until you have had 3 bites. It coincides with the list of 3 rule that simply states that everyone in the house has immunity from 3 foods... my daughter's used to be blueberries, eggs, and fish... when she decided that she didn't like bananas for a while she had two choices, keep eating bananas OR switch it for something else on her list of 3... She chose to give eggs a try again...
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8. Posted by jackie c on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 6:07 pm PDT

is it true that if heated, good fat like olive oil and such turns into bad fat?
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9. Posted by lovelydevinelady on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 6:38 pm PDT

you had no idea it took so much work to coax kids into eating?! Getting mine to take a bath is becoming just as hard! :-)
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10. Posted by Ramon D on Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 6:46 pm PDT

There are people who hadn't heard of breakfast tacos (aka taquitos or breakfast burritos)?
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11. Posted by RAVEN on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 1:58 pm PDT

I tried the "little trees" stunt with broccoli with my 5 year old even adding fat free ranch dressing for dipping. He took one look at it and said "I'm still not eating the broccoli mom." Some kids just can't be duped. I'm forunate that his little brother ignores cries of "that's yucky! don't eat it!" He judges by his own taste buds not his brother. As for "feed them a variety of foods from the start and they won't be picky"...yeah right, you just got lucky. When my eldest was little he used to eat broccoli and spinach lasagna and he LOVED sweet potatoes...now he won't touch any of it. Sometimes it is only a phase that they outgrow. What's yucky today will be great next week.
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12. Posted by vicki m on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 2:00 pm PDT

What do you do if you have stepchildren ages 5 and 11 and they won't try anything at all? Their mother only feeds them junk so when they come over they expect me to make the same things except I have a 2 year old that I'm trying to get to eat different foods. Any suggestions?
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13. Posted by hapE2B on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 2:04 pm PDT

My kids love variety in foods. We always have something different every week, like homemade, whole-wheat pizzas or smoothies made with bananas/orange juice (we used to use yogurt, but juice is much more popular)/strawberries/blueberries/apples/pears/and a small hint of ground flaxseed. YUM!
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14. Posted by veronica r on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 2:28 pm PDT

wow! people have never heard of Breakfast Tacos..**and BTW that is no taco** i thought everybody has itleast HEARD of them..
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15. Posted by Joe on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 2:43 pm PDT

It wasnt that no one has heard if these things, like smoothies and pancakes. Relax about the tacos, it was a good reminder.
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16. Posted by on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 3:04 pm PDT

I am afraid it all isn't quite that healthy. About the smoothies: You really should only eat about half a banana at a time, wait for an hour or so, then eat the other half. Why? Because if you eat too much sugar at once, your blood sugar level will go up, so that even if you do not have diabetes, during a certain period of time, you will be, which, as you can imagine, is NOT healthy. Practically every other snack/breakfast there had at least SOME sugar in it, otherwise, great!
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17. Posted by on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 3:09 pm PDT

My daughter loves all of these things, of course, I am grateful for the fact that I do not have a picky eater.
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18. Posted by auntieolie on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 3:10 pm PDT

My son loves breakfast tacos!!! He is a little over 2yrs old and he eats really good!!! He loves peanut butter and bagels...thanks for the great ideas..he goes to daycare every morning and i have to take his breakfast to go..thanks for the ideas...
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19. Posted by space_woman_online on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 3:22 pm PDT

Read books written by Ellyn Satter. She is an expert at feeding children. She knows her stuff.
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20. Posted by d_hunter7 on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 3:36 pm PDT

when i was growing up, i was so happy that i had a mom to cook any type of food for me. if i didnt like it, i still ate it because i knew i was lucky that i didnt have to dig around trash cans looking for little scrapes of food like millions of other kids do in third world countries.
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21. Posted by Ina on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 3:45 pm PDT

as a former picky eater, these ideas are really great. but what really worked for me, and what really works with my nieces (who are pickier than i ever was...) is the 'everyone-tries-it' rule. i use the same rule with my resident campers, even the teenagers, who all try the ethnic cuisine we serve. most of the time the kids discover they actually like something new, and if not, well then there's always a staple food on which they can fill up.
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22. Posted by dixiegirl687 on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 4:21 pm PDT

I don't have kids, but I have a boyfriend who is pickier than I ever dreamed of being, so I'll definately have to try some of these ideas...anybody have others??
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23. Posted by bkmom on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 4:59 pm PDT

we always had a veggie garden, so my kids have always had fresh stuff they grew. When my oldest was 4, he dug brussel sprouts out of the snow to eat. my problem now is that as soon as the broccolli starts to shoot, he eats it! My advice for picky eaters: try growing some from scratch, and involve the kids in the gardening.
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24. Posted by motherofpearls2001 on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 5:17 pm PDT

Some of these recipes sounds yummy for me to eat myself.
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25. Posted by sassielady4700 on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 7:10 pm PDT

I think this are a good idea for a child that need to lose some weight
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26. Posted by Brenda on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 7:11 pm PDT

wow..I agree with Cynthia Ann.. these sound good enough for me to eat... But my children are grown.. keeping the ideas around for grandkids I hope to have one day... Thanks keep emm coming
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27. Posted by jaynemo on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 7:19 pm PDT

this is a message for Vicki M... from one step mom to another...get those kids in the kitchen!! My two step children wouldn't eat anything I cooked for a while...Then I found out someone (we wont name names) told them I might poison it! I got those two in the kitchen they helped cook...one loved the "cheese monster"..(my food processor) and the other loved to "hammer" the chicken...boys will be boys, but they use those recipes now that they are grown. Good luck.
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28. Posted by New Mom on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 7:39 pm PDT

This is a great idea, i tried it out on my children and they eat it alot. And thats my problem. Any one have other YUMMY food ideas.
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29. Posted by overanxious_neurotic on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 8:47 pm PDT

The recipes seem yummy, and I am no kid. I love my parents dearly, but they should never have fed me eggplants.
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30. Posted by Kris on Sat, Mar 24, 2007, 8:48 pm PDT

yay food!
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