Family Foodies

Sushi is a food that many children and adults shy away from because the idea of eating raw fish is less than appetizing. You can always opt for the California roll with imitation crab, avocado, and cucumber. But even that is a bit much for the squeamish.

If you have a hard time getting your children (or their adult parent) to try this international delicacy try putting a spin on the standard dish.

Frushi: Made With Fruit And Sweetened Rice

• Cook sushi rice or any short grain rice as directed. Once cooked add coconut milk, almond milk or soy milk and sugar.
• You can get fancy and roll your rice in the traditional way or form your rice into shapes for the fruit to rest on.
• Add any fruit that your children enjoy: thinly sliced watermelon, kiwi, raspberries, strawberries etc.
• Serve with yogurt on the side for dipping.

Breakfast Sushi: A Fun Way To Rise And Shine

• Take a tortilla (whole wheat or flour will work) and spread with your favorite nut butter (peanut, almond, even chocolate hazelnut spread). 
• Or use a cream cheese base and add chopped strawberries and a little confectioners sugar. 
• Lay fruit like bananas, kiwi, or strawberries on your tortilla. Roll, cut, and enjoy.

PB&J Sushi: An Old Favorite Made New

• Change up your routine peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by flattening your bread with a rolling pin. 
• Spread peanut butter and then add on the toppings: jelly, apples, bananas, even raisins.
• With the help of plastic wrap roll your sandwiches up and slice into individual pieces.

As you can imagine there are many variations of this modern take on an ancient dish. Get your children involved in picking out what you use in your sushi and let them help you make it. The options are endless.

What creative alternatives can you think of for sushi your children will love? 

Making a meal that everyone in your family will love can be a challenge. Sometimes we moms hit it out of the park and our children think we’re the Dinner Diva. Sometimes we strike out royally and they crown us the Dinner Dud!

Here are a few tips on how to help your kids try new things.

Use foods you know your child likes

If pasta is always a winner in your house the variety can come in the form of sauces like garlic Alfredo, roasted red pepper and tomato, or something as simple as butter and Parmesan cheese.

You might also be able to get away with adding zucchini or spinach to your rice casserole as long as you cut the vegetables up in bite size pieces and the seasonings are something your children are used to.

Consider offering condiments that they love with meals that you might not normally like ketchup, sour cream, ranch dressing, or barbecue sauce. You can even make sure that your side dish or bread is something you know that they will love to offset the new dish.

Let them play an active role in cooking

Have your kiddos scour the Internet or your cookbooks and pick what they’d like to make. Children usually choose what looks appealing to them which will make them more likely to eat it.

Allow your children to assist you in cooking the meal. This will get them used to the cooking process as well as the satisfaction that comes from preparing a dish from start to finish. They will be proud of their accomplishment and be happy to serve it to the entire family.

You can also let them name the different dishes you venture out in making. My girls named one of my made up recipes years ago because they were tired of calling it noodles with the white sauce. Instead they donned it “Special Creation.” It’s hilarious to me but they love it and I make it often.

Avoid bringing attention to new ingredients

Announcing that you made mock meatloaf with nuts, rice, and carrots will not go over well. PB&J sandwiches will soon follow. Trust me. 

Gradually add more and more things once their palate changes. You do not want to scare them off from trying too many new things at once so go slow.

I suggest one or two new things a week to start. If you do too much too soon your children will be suspicious of anything you try to feed them in the future and less likely to try anything you put in front of them.

Be flexible

Work on not making this process difficult and tiresome. Sometimes your children will love a recipe that you experimented with and sometimes they will look at you like you’ve lost your mind.  If they whisper among themselves at the bomb you just served them and called dinner, don’t let it discourage you.

Keep trying to add your own flair to the foods you want your family to try and you may just end up with a family favorite!

I have been a juicing for most of a decade but it has been a couple of years since I’ve had a juicer in the house. So, this past Monday when I started craving juice I went out to the stores to see if I could find a deal. I ended up bringing home the same juicer I’ve used in the past, this basic model offered by Jack Lalanne:

I bought some organic carrots and spinach, then loaded up on Fuji apples, cucumbers, blueberries and raspberries.

Carrot and apple is my all time favorite fresh juice. With that as a base I can add all kinds of green stuff to it and enjoy it going down.

Another favorite juice addition is a beet. Beets add a dark red color and you don’t need much to add a lot of flavor.

My son loves the juice I make at home too. He guzzles and asks for more most of the time.

Since I started using a Magic Bullet for smoothies and other small blending tasks, I decided to mix up my juicing with my blending. I juiced my apple and carrot, then took it and my spinach over to the bullet and blended it all together. It was a tad chunky, I probably overdid the spinach LOL!

I also use the bullet to blend in the berries – you don’t want to ‘juice’ the berries, they just turn to mush and you don’t much out of them. Blend them in and get all the goodness!

Next I need to head over to the farmer’s market. There’s so much more that I can add to juice if I have available to me. This time year tough because a lot produce items are expensive.

How about you? Do you juice? Do your kids enjoy it?

P.S. I bought this: Jack LaLanne’s PJEB Power Juicer Express

Fall is is finally here in North Texas, and with the crisp cool weather comes the craving for comfort food.  Pot roasts, stews, soups, and of course – the casserole.  Casserole is by definition a baked dish consisting of meat, vegetables, a binder, and a cheesy or crunchy topping.  And one dish that lives up to this simple definition is the Tater Tot Casserole.

What is a Tater Tot Casserole?

In it’s simplest form, the tater tot casserole combines creamy soup, cheese, and frozen Tater Tots.  These three ingredients can form the basis of a meal or a fabulous side dish.

But many variations of the basic recipe exist to mix things up.  You can add meat and vegetables for a “one dish meal”.  You can add different seasonings to make it a Mexican Tater Tot Casserole, or a Pizza Tater Tot Casserole.  You can go lean(er) with ground turkey, light cheese, and a bechamel sauce made with skim milk to help cut calories and fat.  Or you can go indulgent, adding sour cream, rich melting cheeses, and topping the already crunchy tots with fried onions.

Can’t decide which version you crave the most?  Here are some of my favorite versions of the humble Tater Tot Casserole.

Classic Tater Tot Casserole:

First, let’s start off with the classic recipe for Tater Tot Casserole.  The basic recipe features browned ground beef, cream of (your choice) soup, cheese, and Tater Tots.  Dana Clover at The Homesteading Housewife has a great post on the classic Tater Tot Casserole recipe.  You simply layer the ingredients and bake – easy peasey.

Now let’s try some variations.

Tater Tot Casserole for Breakfast

Why not try Tater Tots for breakfast?  Here are two recipes to help you start the day off right?  Tater Tots aren’t much different from Hash Brown potatoes, and adding them to the classic breakfast casserole adds a fun twist to a morning dish.

Hanan at Lilac City Momma posted her version of a Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole featuring bacon and eggs topped with cheese and tater tots.  Six ingredients, five steps, and fabulous results!  This would be a great recipe to take to a brunch, morning baby shower, or just for one of those lazy Sundays when you want to impress your family without too much effort.

For a spicier version, Stephanie from the Cookin’ Cowgirl adds hot sauce and sausage.  The result – a spicy, cheesy Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole, topped with crunchy Tater Tots.  If you really like the heat in the morning, you can substitute spicy Italian sausage for an extra peppery kick.  The bonus here – Stephanie adds step by step pictures.  My mouth was watering by the end of the post!

Spicy Tater Tot Casserole:

Speaking of spicy, some folks just like it hot!  Luckily, the Tater Tot Casserole recipe lends itself well to peppers, Cajun spices, and hot sauce.  Mary Foreman of the Deep South Dish blog posted her spicy version of Tater Tot Casserole (a Southern staple dish).  As a bonus, you get a little bit of Tater Tot trivia along with the recipe.  Did you know that Tater Tots are made up of the leftover potato material?  The Griggs’ brothers at the Ore-Ida factory were looking for a way to bits of potato leftover after making French Fries, Hash Browns, and other Ore-Ida goodies.  They put all the bits together with a binder, and fried them up.  Clever, no?

For a Mexican twist, Lee at the Vegan Version blog created a Mexican Version of Tater Tot Casserole by replacing the meat with refried beans, and the “cream of” soup with salsa.  Although the recipe is Vegan, you could easily add shredded chicken or beef to the refried beans for more protein.  To kick up the Mexican flavors, you could also add diced green chiles or chipotle peppers for a smoky kick.  That’s what Kirby at Dancing on the Table did when she created a smokey Chipotle Tater Tot Taco Bake recipe that just oozes cheese and Mexican flavors!

Chicken Variations:

Finally, lest you think Tater Tot casserole is only beef based, let me share two tasty chicken variations of the classic.

First, there is the Broccoli, Cheddar, and Chicken Tater Tot casserole from Jill at Meet the Dubiens family blog.  One of my favorite casseroles of all time is Chicken-Broccoli, and this casserole takes those same classic tastes and tops them with crunchy Tater Tots.  One caution – the recipe calls for four cans of creamy and cheesy soup, so the end product may be a bit runnier than some of the other recipes highlighted here.

Finally, I wanted to share a slow cooker version, perfect for busy cooks.  Brandie, at the Country Cook, whips up a version with bacon, chicken, cheese, and Tots, all of which blend together in a slow cooker.  Throw the ingredients into the cooker in the morning, and savor the comfort food that evening.

 

So next time you are in the mood for some solid comfort food, why not give one of these Tater Tot Casseroles a try?