Fried Eggs on Sweet Potato Hash Browns

 Fried Eggs on Sweet Potato Hash Browns  Rating: 8

My baby went to the farmer's market this past weekend and picked up some fresh grown yumminess, including asparagus and sweet potatoes.  He has a friend at work that generously shares her hens eggs with us.  Farm fresh eggs are amazing!  And just look how pretty those blue ones are--gorgeous!

We had this for dinner tonight.  I doubled the garlic in the hash browns and they came out great.  We just topped them with fried eggs for protein and enjoyed a side of steamed asparagus sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and lemon juice.  Pretty fast and pretty good.

How Do You Get Your Kids to Eat That?

A mom I very much admire asked me this question recently.  She had been looking at this blog and asked, "How do you get your kids to eat all that stuff?"  This is my reply.  It is a combination of things:

1. Start them super young on real food.  We started with our kids super young.  They often help us cook the meal.  Any kid can dump the ingredients into a bowl or stir.  It's unlikely any kid will need a tourniquet for using a butter knife to slice bananas. 

We provide them with several opportunities to try a given food but we may present it in a variety of ways. We act excited about our food and talk about what we like about a given dish or how a given ingredient benefits our body. We model eating healthy foods and talk about how we feel good and have energy.

2. The kids' only option is to eat what we are eating.  We have a rule that you must at least try it.  We are not above bribing. They are NOT excused from the table as soon as they try it.  They can sit with the family and chat while we eat our meals.  If they are hungry we leave out the meal for a while and suggest that they can eat more if they want.  About two hours before meal time, we cut off our kids from snacks.  They can have water.

3. We try our best to provide healthy snacks (namely fruits) so they don't get too accustomed to sugary, carb-loaded, chemical-loaded "food-like" snacks.  If they eat these regularly their bodies are going to demand the garbage rather than the nutrition they deserve.  That's my belief from personal experience.

Healthy snack might be:

Fruit
Granola bars - watch out for sugar
Cheese sticks
Homemade trail mix (nuts, seeds, dried fruit)
Roasted Edamame or Chickpeas
Apple Nachos
Kale Chips
Seriously Healthy Ice Cream


4. Give it a "fancy" or "magical" name.  If you are excited to drink "Lucky Leprechaun Juice" (green smoothie), they will be too. Other examples: Mashed "Florets" for mashed cauliflower, "The Easter Bunny's Favorite muffin/pancake/oatmeal" for anything with carrots mixed in, "Monster Guts Sandwiches" for tuna salad sandwiches with tons of finely chopped veggies in them.  Find what works for your kid.

5. Most importantly, we practice nutritional stealth!  We are sneaky so our kids are getting veggies and nutrients packed into almost every bite.  Here's some ideas:

I put veggies in a ton of stuff. 

• grated carrots, zucchini, kale, spinach in baked goods. 
• canned pumpkin in pumpkin "pie" oatmeal, smoothies, and pancakes and in pasta sauce.  
• finely shredded spinach, celery, grated carrot, finely chopped green onions, grated radish, in tuna, chicken, or egg salad sandwiches and then top with lettuce, arugula, spinach, tomato, etc.
• finely shredded spinach, chard, or kale in scrambled eggs along with other more traditional veggies like mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, etc.
• spinach, kale, chard, romaine, mint in "green" smoothies.  Our green smoothies have fruit in them to balance out the "green" taste.  I call them "lucky leprechaun" smoothies and the kids think it is very special.
• bean purees in baked goods and some smoothies.
• finely or coarsely chopped veggies and herbs can be added to create your own signature spaghetti sauce and no crappy sugar or corn syrup will be in there. Our sauce is almost more "other" veggies than tomato sauce.  Use mushrooms, zucchini, carrot, onion, peppers, finely shredded kale or spinach, eggplant, fresh or dried basil, oregano, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, thyme, etc.
• lots of herbs in homemade dressings
• finely chopped veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green onion, etc.) and herbs (rosemary, parsley, sage, etc.) in mashed potatoes
• pureed squash in sauces like butternut mac and cheese
• pureed sweet potatoes in baked goods or oatmeal

I basically try to very finely chop or puree veggies and herbs and put them into something the kids like and that they can't pick the veggies out of easily-oatmeal, pancakes, mashed potatoes, chili, baked beans, soup, scrambled eggs, quesadillas, smoothies, sauces, muffins, turkey burgers or meatloaf--you get the idea. 

These muffins are loaded with kale and carrots.  Loaded!

This way I know they are getting the nutrition they need from veggies (and fruit) and getting numerous opportunities to get used to their tastes.

I can also say, "You liked it in whatever dish they liked, so tell me what you think about it in this dish(where it plays a more recognizable or substantial part)."

I also add nutrition with a variety of beans, nuts, seeds (ground and whole), and spices.  Nuts and beans can be added to baked goods, salads, and pastas.  Seeds are great in oatmeal, granola, salads, and on veggie sides.  Spices are a great way to pack in flavor and they have their own benefits: ginger (anti-inflammatory), cinnamon (helps process sugar slower), etc. 

I sweeten with the least processed sugar we can afford.  But I am trying to use other sweeteners in place of demerara and raw sugar, when it is needed.  I use fruit (fresh and dried), molasses (high in manganese, copper, iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium), agave syrup/nectar, honey (local and unfiltered, may help fight airborne allergies), and real maple syrup.  I also find I get away with a lot less sweetener than is usually called for in traditional recipes.

Recipes that you can practice nutritional stealth with are:

Apple and Kale Spice Muffins
Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Fresh Corn Pancakes
Heather's Vegetarian Chili
Egg Casserole - put whatever veggies you want in this
Chocolate Chip Blondies

Hope this helps you find new ways to introduce increased nutrition to your children and have fun while doing it.  Some of the things we do may not be for your family.  You will find what works best for you.  We are not perfect at all the ideas listed above but we have become rather consistent and found that this approach has worked for us.

Apple and Kale Spice Muffins

Apple and Kale Spice Muffins  Rating: 8

These muffins run approximately 200 calories each and they are not overly heavy but they are filling.

I have made these a few different times.  Sometimes with apple, sometimes with carrot, sometimes with apple and carrot, but always with kale.  They are tasty.  There is a ton of veggie goodness in there but they are sweet because of the carrots or apple (keep those peels on!) and the honey and dried fruit (I just use raisins).  Yep, no refined sugars.  Whole grain goodness too.  I go heavy on the cinnamon and nutmeg. 

This is a good on catch-all, mix-things-up recipe.  Yogurt instead of milk, all a pinch of cloves if you want, spinach instead of kale, zucchini if you want, cranberries instead of raisins, add ground flax, add nuts or not.  Whatever!  Get funky!

Just look at the obscene amount of kale that got shoved into 12 muffins!  I added the apple in this photo for scale.  I just finely chop that kale in my food processor so there's no "chunkage" or leafy issues in the finished product.  Can you believe you and your child is going to get that many greens in them.  Believe it!

Now add a packed cup and a half of grated carrot on top of that!  You are a super star!

Some finely chopped nuts for protein and omega 3s.  Raisins for sweetness, not to mention fiber.

Tah-dah! With some fruit and some cheese, you have a lunch or breakfast that is quick, yummy, and nutritious.  I love getting veggies before I even leave the house.  The muffins are a nice snack as well.

Check out 365 Days of Kale.  She is a kale maniac!  I love what she ends up doing with it and we have plenty of it growing in our garden to try.

Brussel Sprout Salad with Apples and Walnuts

Brussel Sprout Salad with Apples and Walnuts  Rating: 8

This was take two on brussel sprouts with Neal.  He gave this one a much higher rating.  I liked it too because the mustard dressing was zingy instead of sweet.  We paired it with a baked sweet potato with cinnamon.  For it being spring, this meal had a lot of autumn and winter goodness going on.

Roasted Edamame and Cranberries

Roasted Edamame and Cranberries  Rating: 8

Easy, yummy, healthy snack!  I've seen it in magazines and online but it pretty much goes as follows: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Take a cup or so of frozen, shelled edamame and thaw it.  Drizzle a bit of olive, grapeseed, or coconut oil and salt to taste.  Toss it on a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes, tossing them about a few times.  You want them crisp and golden.  Let them cool and then add in 1/4 cup or so of dried cranberries.  Store in an airtight container.

This is a nice salty, sweet, nutty snack that has a protein punch.  It is very filling.  A 1/4 cup or so does the trick.

Phyllo Pie with Lemon Tofu and Winter Greens and Shaved Spring Vegetable and Apple Salad

Phyllo Pie with Lemon Tofu and Winter Greens  Rating: 8

This was a very time consuming recipe so if I make it again I am going to simplify it a bit.  This was again, from Peter Berley's Flexitarian Table.  I used this adapted on-line recipe.  It was very good.  The lemon tofu was awesome.  Sadly, we didn't taste the sun dried tomatoes at all.  I just can't commit that kind of time to making a recipe that is "very good." 

Shaved Spring Vegetable and Apple Salad  Rating: 8

Again, a recipe from Peter Berley's Flexitarian Table with an online version for you.  This was light and refreshing.  I omitted the sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) and was still happy with the outcome.  We have found that we love shaved fennel in a salad on more than one occasion.  Getting paper-thin fennel and radish slices is a cinch with a mandolin.

Asian Turkey Burgers with Slaw Topping and Mango Cucumber Salad

Asian Turkey Burgers with Slaw Topping  Rating: 9

I used this meatball recipe for meatballs before but on this night I made them into patties and cooked them up on griddle.  They were topped with fresh mung bean sprouts and grated carrot that had been dressed with the dipping sauce.

Mango Cucumber Salad  Rating: 8

This was also well received.  It went great with the burgers.  The sweetness of the mango was nice.

Green Olive and Pine Nut Egg Casserole

Green Olive and Pine Nut Casserole  Rating: 8

This was a marriage of two recipes.  I took the basic egg casserole recipe from this post (minus 1 egg, the zucchini and the chiles) and raised it from a 6 to an 8 by adding in the yumminess inspired by Peter Berley's Green Olive Frittata with Ricotta, Pine Nuts, and Thyme as seen in his book The Flexitarian Table; namely, 1/3 cup slice green olives, 3 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts, fresh parsley, thyme, and rosemary, and a large handful of fresh spinach.

It was a nice pop of flavor with the olives.  The leftovers kept well and the toasted pine nuts were even better in it the second day.  It was quick and easy.

Raosted Beets with Quinoa and Feta

Roasted Beets with Quinoa and Feta  Rating: 8

So I did not go with the golden beets called for in this recipe. I didn't even look for them at the store because I thought the color from the regular beets would be fun in this dish for my kids and I love eating a rainbow.

There was a good mix of acidity, salty, and sweet going on in this recipe and nice textures too.  I added a bit more spinach (from our garden!) than called for and a touch more feta.  This was Neal's first attempt at beets in our marriage and he did not die!  He was less enthusiastic but enjoyed the dish.  The kids ate it up pretty well.  My mother was visiting and she really liked it.  We served it with a simple green salad from our garden.

Ginger Chicken with Coconut and Kale Chips

Ginger Chicken with Coconut  Rating: 7

This recipe came from Tyler Florence's Start Fresh: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating and it was pretty good but nothing overly special.  It felt like comfort food because the coconut milk used.  We used veggie stock in place of chicken stock.

The big hit of this meal was the kale chips.  The whole family could not get enough of them.  A great side or snack for us and our kids since we grow it in our backyard. 

Kale Chips  Rating: 10

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Put a large bunch of kale, stemmed, and torn into chip size pieces in a bowl, drizzle with a bit of oil (we used garlic infused grapeseed oil) and toss until lightly coated. Spread out on baking sheet and lightly sprinkle with kosher salt.  Put them in the oven and after 5 minutes toss them around on the baking sheet a bit.  Once back in oven check every few minutes.  They get crispy and you don't want too much browning at all.  You are just trying to dry them out not brown them. 

Banana Nut Oatmeal

Banana Nut Oatmeal  Rating: 10

I made this three days in a row it was so yummy.  Just throw 1/2 cup dry rolled oats, one half to one whole very ripe banana mashed, 1 cup water, and 3 Tbsp. flax meal into the pot over medium high heat and stir until it is to your desired consistency.  Take it off the heat and stir in a bit of vanilla extract.  Plop it in a bowl and top with chopped walnuts and a glug of maple syrup.  Quick and yummy.