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Adventures in Playful Family Living

Made-to-Order Pizza Pasta Bowls

Happy Wednesday! I am sharing one my girls’ favorite meals over at Make and Takes today – yummy and simple made-to-order pizza pasta bowls. My kids love pretty much any meal that involves a big buffet of toppings!

Pizza Pasta kid-friendly meal

If you missed our recipe last month, we shared another family favorite – slow cooker lentil sloppy joes. This is a healthy and delicious vegetarian meal that my girls can make on their own. Score!

I’m always on the look-out for new recipes that the whole family will enjoy. What are your kids loving at meal time right now?

Gingerbread Boy & Girl Veggie Pizzas

We’re cooking-up some meal time fun at Make and Takes today! Take a break from December sweets, and decorate gingerbread boy and girl pizzas instead. My girls have already declared this activity a new family tradition!

Head over to Make and Takes for the full scoop!

Playful Routines :: Meal Time

This is Part 2 of a series on adding playful elements to daily routines with our kiddos. We’re anchoring playtime to routines so we can be present as parents and have some fun!

To read more of my thoughts on playful routines, check out Part 1 of this series.

A good part of our days are spent prepping for meals and eating together, right? Quick and easy meals are often the name of the game with kids to feed, and playful meals are a great way to make a simple, last-minute meal (like popcorn and smoothies) into something special.

Here are some of our favorite ways to shake things up at mealtime – I hope you’ll share your ideas, too!

Living Room Picnic

A change of scenery can make an ordinary meal special. Spread a blanket in the living room, grab a snacky plate (crackers, cheese, veggie sticks, fruit), and enjoy an ant-free picnic at home. Living room picnics are a standby mood changer in our house!

Pretend Restaurant

When you have time for a leisurely meal, create a simple hand-drawn menu and invite your kids to Mom’s Cafe. Take orders, serve their food, refill the drinks, and don’t forget the bill! This is a great time to pull out the fancy dishes, too.

My girls love switching roles and being waitresses and cooks. Notebooks in hand, they write down our orders for custom salads or sandwiches, then zip into the kitchen to assemble the meals.

Funny Face Food

Who says we shouldn’t play with our food? Since my girls were toddlers, we’ve had fun making silly food faces at meal time.

Here are some of our favorite funny face meals:

  • Pita pizzas with cheese and veggies
  • English muffins with peanut butter and fruit
  • Bagels with cream cheese and veggies
  • Pancakes with whipped cream and fruit slices

Dessert for Dinner

Once in a while, a rough or busy day calls for some sweet reconnection in the evening. It’s hard not to relax and smile over make-your-own banana splits. Save this one for the day a serious pick-me-up is in order!

How do you mix things up at mealtime? Maybe you present the food in an interesting way, or play a game that gets the family talking and giggling. I’d love to hear about the playful meals in your house!

3 Vegetable Dishes My Kids Will Eat

We’ve been working very hard to broaden our girls’ vegetable-eating repertoire. I find that when the kids are involved in the choosing, picking, or prepping, they are even more willing to taste with an open mind.

Here are three of our favorite veggie recipes, all with our girls’ stamp of approval. These recipes have kid-friendly steps in the prep, too – from whisking to tearing to tossing with our hands. Go veggies!

Broccoli Slaw

My girls have never been big fans of traditional cabbage coleslaw, but they love broccoli slaw. I buy organic broccoli slaw in a bag, which is just shredded broccoli stems and carrots.

The girls love to whisk the dressing ingredients and toss the dressing with the slaw. Two forks are great tossing tools!

Dressing:

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons honey
  • pinch of salt and pepper, or to taste

Whisk the dressing together and toss with the broccoli slaw. Chill overnight or for a few hours. We eat this as a side dish, and also as a topping on veggie burgers. So yummy!

Sometimes we get fancy with some add-ins, like julienned apple slices, cranberries, sliced almonds, or sunflower seeds.

Roasted Green Beans

In a large bowl, drizzle a little olive oil on 1 pound of green beans. Use your hands to toss and coat the beans with oil. Spread on a pan and sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 425° for 25-30 minutes, turning once during cooking.

We eat these with our fingers like fries – tasty!

Kale Chips

We’re growing extra kale in our garden this year, just so we can make many batches of these chips. The whole family loves them – crispy, salty, green goodness!

  • 1 large bunch of organic kale
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
  • salt to taste

Preheat oven to 300°.

Wash the kale leaves and dry thoroughly – get your kids working the salad spinner. Tear the leaves into pieces, discarding the thick center stem.

In a large bowl, combine the kale, olive oil, and lemon juice and toss to mix well. We use our hands for this, and make sure the oil gets all over the kale.

Spread the kale in a single layer on a cookie sheet or two. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, till the kale gets crispy and dark, but not burnt. Add a little more salt, if necessary, and enjoy!

Veggie recipes we want to try:

Parsnip Chips :: Mel’s Healthy Kitchen – We’ve never tried parsnips. Sounds like grocery store scavenger hunt!

Sauteed Shredded Zucchini :: Annie’s Eats – Kids can help wrap the shredded zucchini in a towel and squeeze out the water.

Sweet Potato Hummus :: My New Roots – I love sweet potatoes, and dips are always a good vehicle for raw veggies.

What kinds of vegetable dishes do your kids like? I would love it if you would share your family friendly veggie recipes or techniques!

Homemade Seasoning Blends

My girls are not the most adventurous eaters, but they do enjoy smelling all the different spices when I’m cooking. Earlier this summer, we spent a fun afternoon mixing up some special homemade seasoning blends for my dad.

I printed two recipes for the girls to read and follow. This was pretty much a hands-off activity for me – I did have to grind a few spices in the coffee grinder. The girls were in charge of reading the spice labels, measuring the correct amount, and stirring. They loved it all!

We packaged our seasoning mixes in glass jars and included laminated recipe cards so my dad can remake the mixes when he runs out.

Here are the seasoning mix recipes we used – they are both delicious!

We’re looking forward to making more seasoning blends for ourselves and to give as gifts.

Do you make your own seasoning blends? If you have a favorite recipe, please share!

Fun Ways to Eat Toast

Toast seems to be the breakfast of choice for the girls lately – usually with cinnamon sugar or strawberry jam. I’ve been looking for some ways to jazz-up our toast breakfast and thought I’d share my finds with you.

Enjoy!

Waffle Iron French Toast :: Cooking with my Kid

Rainbow Stuffed French Toast :: i am mommy

Peanut Butter and Jelly French Toast Sticks :: Rachael Ray

Simple Sprinkly Sandwich :: Little Nummies

Sunshine Egg :: Super Healthy Kids

French Toast Kebabs :: Martha Stewart

We also like these yummy toppings from time to time:

  • cream cheese + fruit
  • nutella
  • peanut butter + nutella
  • cheese (melted under the broiler)
  • mashed avocado (actually, I’m the only one who likes this!)
  • Laughing Cow spreadable cheese
  • honey

What’s your favorite way to eat toast? Do your kids like breakfast variety or the same thing every morning?

In the Kitchen: Quick & Easy Breakfasts

{Originally posted March 2008}

As my girls get older, they want to be more and more involved in meal preparation. In addition to fixing snacks and helping with dinner, breakfast offers wonderful opportunities for healthy and simple meals prepared by little ones, with virtually no grown-up help. Here’s some of the yummy, confidence-boosting meals we have been enjoying for breakfast (or lunch… or snack…):

  • Yogurt Parfaits – yogurt, fruit (sliced bananas, berries, apple chunks, etc.), granola or other favorite cereal, raisins, sometimes even a few sprinkles or mini chocolate chips!
  • Fruit Salad – I put out a tray of sliced & diced fruit, allowing the girls to assemble their own bowl of fruit salad. They have also had success slicing bananas and strawberries with small butter knives.
  • Tortilla Roll-Ups – Ours are usually peanut butter & honey, but cream cheese & jelly would be yummy too.
  • Breakfast Faces – On a piece of toast, a tortilla, or even on a plate, arrange various foods to make a face. Again, offering a tray of choices works well, including sliced fruits, various cereals, scrambled eggs or sliced hard-boiled eggs, cheese cubes, veggies cut in matchsticks, etc.
  • Smoothies – Kids choose the ingredients, grown-ups run the blender. Start with milk and/or yogurt and add fruit, maybe a little honey or vanilla. Bananas add nice “froth” and frozen fruit helps make a thicker smoothie.
  • Cereal with Milk – Can’t go wrong with this classic breakfast! Pour milk into a small pitcher so little ones can practice pouring their own milk. Have your child fix you a bowl too!

What do your kids like for breakfast? Please share!

Around the House: After-Dinner Jobs

Thanks to our new after-dinner jobs, I have a pretty tidy kitchen every night. I am constantly surprised by how much I love walking into the kitchen in the morning and seeing clear counters and an empty dish drainer. It’s such a mood-booster to start my day!

I followed the lead of Molly at Mommy Coddle – she posted about her girls’ after-dinner jobs 5 months back and I tucked it away, thinking it would be a perfect fit for us.

We used our Chore Bucket for years. I still think it is a great way to encourage young kids to help around the house in a fun, relaxed way. After about two years of use, it was finally losing it’s magic, so I knew it was time to move on. Also, at ages 6 and 8, my girls are old enough to learn more detailed tasks.

Enter the after-dinner jobs! We have two lists of jobs. The girls stay on one list for a week, then switch for the next week. They each have a magnet to mark their current list. Here are our jobs:

List 1:

  • Clear dishes from the table
  • Wipe table and chairs
  • Put away toys (in the kitchen & living room – this includes shoes, too!)
  • Feed Lola
  • Put away dishes in the dish drainer

List 2:

  • Put away food on the table
  • Put away leftovers
  • Wipe counters
  • Sweep floor (mainly under and around table)
  • Put away dishes in the dish drainer

We have been doing this for about two months now and it is amazing how proficient the girls are at their tasks. The first month involved a lot of modeling and teaching – and not expecting perfection, by any means. Wiping the table without just brushing all the crumbs on the floor is still something we’re working on!

While the girls are working through their lists, my husband and I are working, too – washing dishes, loading the dishwasher, and drying dishes for the girls to put away. This is also my time to clean off the large counter area, since it is often the dumping spot for mail, projects, and other miscellaneous stuff.

The girls often help dry dishes, too. Natalie has expressed some interest in washing dishes, so we’ll work that in at some point.

With the four of us working together, we walk out of the kitchen in about 15-20 minutes (especially if I have given us a head-start by washing pots and pans or drying dishes as I prep dinner). Sometimes we play music while we clean, while other times we enjoy visiting as we work. I love this new addition to our daily routine!

Do your kids help out with dinnertime prep or clean-up? What are your favorite ways to incorporate chores into your daily routine?

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