Start with Mac N Cheese
When you find a food that kids enjoy, and that food happens to have some nutritional value, it's a very good thing. Stick with a winner! For variety's sake, you can switch things up a bit.
Take macaroni and cheese, for instance. Kids seem to have an inborn love for the creamy pasta dish. It's a bit high in fat and it does have some artificial ingredients, but you can work around that.
A packaged box mix of mac n cheese is inexpensive and easy to make. If you make your own, you can control the ingredients more easily, and it actually takes the same amount of time! Cook your own pasta, stir in your own milk, and instead of a cheese sauce or cheese powder packet, add a handful or two of shredded cheese—lowfat cheddar, perhaps. You've instantly made it healthier, but it still tastes delicious.
Take your homemade mac n cheese ideas another step further. Add some yummy extra ingredients. Leftover taco meat? Sliced hot dogs? A few chunks of cooked chicken pieces? Maybe some broccoli or carrots? The sky's the limit.
Whether you use the box mix or your own made-from-scratch mac n cheese, this is a winner in most kids' books. And if it works….don't knock it!
Published 06/24/09
