Training Children's Taste Buds

It is common today to hear parents say "My son is a picky eater" or "getting my kids to eat vegetables is so difficult." What most people don't realize is part of getting your kids to eat healthy is training their taste buds. Training their taste buds involves more than giving them exactly what they want every night for dinner. It is trying new foods, often times repeatedly along with their favorite foods. If all someone eats is sugary or processed foods that is what their taste buds will know and always crave.

It takes kids 5-6 times of seeing and tasting something new before kids will decide they like it. You can start making healthy choices by replacing foods with wholesome foods. Wholesome foods are all natural foods that your great grandparents ate. For example not twinkies and chips but applesauce, whole wheat bread and the types of food grown in a garden and on fruit trees.

Try introducing one new vegetable or fruit a day or once a week at least to your family. Allow kids to try a bite or two. We have a rule at our house that you are 3 so you need to take 3 bites. Usually when they are 8-9, they don't have to be told to take a certain amount of bites, they'll just do it. This doesn't have to be torturous but something fun. Have them rate the food on a rating scale or other way like thumbs up, thumbs down.

Even if your kids don't seem to be enjoying trying and tasting new foods. Don't give up. You can also include pureed vegetables in your cooking so they are getting the nutrition they need. However, also include vegetables on the side so they can get use to "seeing" their vegetables.

Little by little they will be training their taste buds to enjoy good healthy food. Try different recipes and combinations and get your kids in the kitchen helping. Kids can wash and scrub vegetables, peel and toss a salad together. Older kids that can use a knife properly can cut and prepare vegetables. Get kids involved, knowledgeable about good foods and enjoying meal time.

Steak kabobs

Using this steak marinade. I made an easy kabob dinner that was super delicious and made great leftovers for lunch the next day!

Marinade meat for several hours.

If using carrots and potatoes, boil for several minutes but not until completely done. You want them to still be a little firm but not totally cooked.

Allow potatoes and carrots to cool, then drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper or other spices of your choice.

 Then gather the kids to help put the kabobs together. I cooked mine in the oven at 400 degrees on a foiled lined cookie sheet until meat was cooked through. They would also be great grilled.

Freezer Meals - What Are They and Why Use Them?

What exactly are freezer meals, and how they can help you as a parent with too little time on your hands? Not to be confused with the frozen packaged meals you would buy from a supermarket, these are simple meals you've prepared in advance and then frozen for another time. Our modern lifestyles mean that we often don't have the time or energy to cook when it's mealtime, so it helps to prepare a few extra meals when you have the chance and save them for later by freezing them.

Benefits of Using Frozen Meals
There are plenty of upsides to making meals and freezing them for later on. Let's take a look at a few of these.
For one thing, frozen meals can be a huge time saver. Some parents even get away with making a week's or even a month's worth of meals in a single day and freezing them. Can you imagine getting all the week's cooking out of the way on Saturday and then relaxing every evening for the rest of the week?

If you're an experienced budget shopper, you may have already hit on one of the other big benefits of preparing frozen meals: it can help you save money. We all know food is cheaper when you buy in bulk. Making frozen meals means you can buy more food at a time when you visit the supermarket, helping you save money - and further helping you save time by cutting down supermarket visits.

Another major benefit of frozen meals is the choice available to you on any given night. Imagine having a month's worth of frozen meals stored up - it would be like having your own personal buffet. Most parents tend to stick to a meal plan as they believe this is the easiest way to keep the kid happy and make dinner as stress-free as possible. But the simple fact is you don't want to eat macaroni every Tuesday night - no one does. When you have a whole lot of meals cooked in advance, you can change things up and don't have to be constricted by a meal plan.

What Can You Freeze?
You'd be surprised at the variety of foods you can freeze. Obvious choices include chicken breasts and burger meat. You can buy plastic burger patty containers to divide up the meat and then freeze them all together. When it comes to meal time, all you have to do is slide them out of the containers and into a pan or George Foreman grill.

You can also freeze fruit that is going bad in order to preserve it for making smoothies. This is a great way to avoid wasting food, especially if you're on a tight budget.

Of course, all the standard easy family meals like macaroni or meatballs can also be frozen for later eating. Your best option is to refer to a reliable source of information on frozen meals and preparing meals for your family in general. Visit http://www.kids-meal-ideas.com for more information on how freezer meals can make life easier for you and your family.

Chili Mac Supper

This was an easy recipe for a night I needed a quick dinner. It tasted great and I added a small bit of chili powder and used canned tomatoes with chilies for extra flavor and kick.

Recipe for Chili Mac Supper

Kids Cook Monday: Scrambled Eggs

When your kids are just learning how to cook on the stovetop one of the best recipes to have them start with is scrambled eggs.

It is an easy and quick snack, breakfast or lunch.

My daughter made us all eggs and she was super proud of herself too.

The Kids Cook Monday