Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tips on Tuesday- Tricks to getting kids to eat!


I thought of this topic yesterday before I made dinner. I planned on making zucchini and lean turkey meatballs for dinner. Amara is not a fan of zucchini and the meatballs are hit or miss since I never make them the same way each week. I asked her to help me make dinner. She was very excited to help, especially with the meatballs. I don't really follow any type of recipe for these. I just got a bunch of seasonings on the counter, an egg and some wheat germ and let her go to town. She had a lot of fun sprinkling this and that in the raw turkey. She was not sure about mixing the meat, but once she got her little hands in there she was sure that she liked it; although she asked that we might pick up some " cooking gloves like they use on The Food Network." Of course. Her favorite part by far was shaping the meat into balls. The zucchini was fun for her too I think. She got to sprinkle seasoning on the slices and I also let her put them in the pan and move them around with the spoon. It might have taken a little longer than I usually take to prepare dinner, but that's just fine. She had a great time ( so did I), and she was very proud of herself. She ate every bite of dinner too. No prompting by mom or dad either!

I also used this opportunity to teach her some kitchen safety and kitchen hygiene . We washed our hands so many times I lost count. And she did not burn herself, even when she stuck her hand in the pan to turn the zucchini over (Ooops!--lesson learned!).

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