If you check out some of the more popular recipe websites, you may find very little in terms of a variety of recipes that are kid friendly. Oh sure, there will be recipes there, but I think they are seriously lacking.
Just today, I took a look at one of my favorite recipe websites, allrecipes.com and clicked on the “kid-friendly meals” tab. I was served twenty different recipes that were considered kid friendly. The only problem is that out of the twenty different recipes, only three were for meals other than pizza! And, two of those three used pasta as the main and overwhelming ingredient in the recipe.
What is this saying? Are parents limited to serving their children only pizza and maybe pasta for a bit of variety? While pizza and pasta can be sure bets for kids to enjoy, I think we are really short changing our children when we make them staples of their diets.
Now, I’m not even speaking on nutrition here, but more on developing a child’s pallet. How can children learn to enjoy a variety of tastes if they never get a chance to be exposed to them. How will they be able to tell “real food” from all of the pizza, pasta and yes, chicken nuggets?
While there is nothing wrong with making an easy, no-complaint dinner for kids, such as when you are feeding the kids before going out to dinner yourself, or when you just need to get something out on the table. But, please do expose your kids to the variety and wealth of food. One way I try to do this is to prepare slightly more sophisticated dishes while cutting back on spices and flavors to suit a younger taste. Adding favorite kid-friendly ingredients, such as cheese, can often convince a child to try a dish. Use those favorite dishes to introduce more exotic ingredients, such as a different type of cheese on that pizza.