This post is sponsored by Annie’s, makers of bunny crackers, and now frozen Pizza!

On any given weeknight, I am working against the clock to get a healthy meal on the table during the span of a 25-minute block of television (sometimes I have only 12 minutes, but those nights are crazy!). I am a huge fan of two strategies to get the fresh fruits and veggies on our plates: raw and roasted.

Roasted vegetables are some of my best friends

I adore roasting vegetables because the technique is hands-off and delicious. I will often chop them before picking up my kids to streamline the dinner hour and eliminate the need to chase small people with a sharp knife. Veggie cutting can be done hours or even days in advance.

Armed with little more than kosher salt and olive oil, I will pretty much roast any vegetable during my allocated showtime then taste-test a handful of them straight from the pan before they hit the table. My children are expected to take a “no thank you bite” of everything I make. If applicable, I will voraciously inhale the leftovers.

I always plan to set aside a small portion for Sawyer’s next day lunch, in which case, I am better off putting the little vegetable bites directly in a container before I serve dinner (see voracious inhalation confession above). He likes to eat pizza anytime so pizza night means his lunchbox is halfway-packed.

Here’s how to make delicious vegetables the Heather way:

Ingredients

• Vegetable to roast: my current faves are broccoli, cauliflower, or asparagus. I also like the butternut squash that has been pre-chopped.
• Olive oil; can also used infused-oil for easy flavor boost
• Kosher salt

Steps to prepare

1. Wash, chop, and dry your vegetable of choice. (If asparagus, I snap off the woody ends) Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 425.
   Pro tip 1: Do this in advance to make your meal prep super speedy.
   Pro tip 2: No time to dry? Leave them uncovered in the fridge for an hour.
   Pro tip 3: No time to spare an hour? Use a clean dish towel.
2. Toss the vegetables with a glob or two of olive oil and the salt. The vegetables will be shiny but not swimming. Put into a baking dish or on a cookie sheet. I find the glass dish is easier for checking and mixing around.
3. Bake for about 22 minutes, stirring half-way through cooking time (or whenever you think of it). Asparagus takes about half the time (and the skinny mini ones are even less so watch carefully).

Raw fruits and veggies

This is not so much a recipe as a reminder that raw food = easiest side dish ever. I also like the bright colors of fruit on the dinner plate.

Look around the kitchen for whatever you have on hand. Wash and slice as needed, then serve.

Usually, we eat sliced apples or carrots with hummus. Other current favorites: strawberries, kiwi, pineapple chunks, sliced bell peppers, raspberries (always 10 per child, one for each finger) or bananas.

I have also been known to pass fresh fruit off as dessert.

What are your go-to healthy side dishes for a weeknight?

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This post was sponsored by Annie’s Pizza, which can be found in the freezer section of many grocery stores around the country! Save $1.50 on Annie’s Pizza with this coupon.

[Photos: all photos by me of real food in my kitchen. All rights reserved.]

One of the most popular topics people come here searching for is “food ideas for picky kids”.

If you are one of those seekers of answers, I feel you. My son is picky, too.

I can’t resist pointing out, however, that my baby brother was very picky as a child, including NO FRUIT ON HIS PLATE, and now he’s an executive chef at a fancy restaurant, writing seasonal menus for a whole team to prepare. He’ll eat anything, including fruit. So I maintain that picky eaters are simply an inconvenience, and unlikely to be socially inadequate or undernourished adults.

When Jen at Urban Playground blogged about her renewed purpose to expand her daughter Ella’s palette, I thought her 5 tips for your picky eater were really good. The one that resonated most with me was the simple reminder: Just put it in front of them.

Dinner is often something I dread because I don’t like to prepare food and then hear complaints about it.  This has set me on a path of serving up only what I know my kids like, which gets me nowhere in terms of broadening their menus. I want to be kind to myself at the end of the day, and that means serving pizza, pasta, scrambled eggs, and Mexican food. When I stick to those items, dinner is pleasant.  The only groveling I have to do is reminding everyone to eat their veggies.

So I know why I have forgotten to “just put it in front of them.”  But I need to get back to it.

Jen shared an update of her success with presenting salad to her picky eater in an email to me last night.

photo courtesy: Jen Latch

Another good read: What to feed a picky toddler

Sweet potatoes are a super food, meaning that they are packed with nutrients. If you can get your kid to like them, you’ll have an easy veggie to turn to when times are tough — like when you can’t think of anything to make besides pasta. There’s a lot you can do with sweet potatoes, but since my kids were toddlers, we’ve served them in cubes. Here’s a little video to show you my method.

Would your kid eat this?

Today is “World Sweet Potato Day”, created to support ONE‘s efforts to increase awareness about world hunger. The sweet potato is the mascot for the cause and we’re trying to help make it famous! Sign the petition to request our leaders make measurable commitments to reduce malnutrition around the world.

Other blog posts about sweet potatoes from talented bloggers:

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos from This Week for Dinner
Truffle Sweet Potato Frites from Savory Sweet Life
Sweet Potato & Chicken Sausage Stew from Chefdruck
Honey Sweet Potato Biscuits from Food for My Family
Sweet Potato Burgers from Cutie Booty Cakes
What’s Gaby Cooking and Sweet Potato Day
The Mission List and Sweet Potato Day
World Moms Blog and Sweet Potato Day
Go Graham Go and Sweet Potato Day
Cranberry Sweet Potato Crumb Cake from Barbara Bakes
Bourbon and Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes from Boston Mamas
Documama and Sweet Potato Day
Sweet Potato Bread Pudding from Eat the Love
Lamb Shanks with Sweet Potatoes and Sausage from Kitchen Gadget Girl
Sweet Potato Love To Help End World Hunger from Love That Max
Celebrating Sweet Potato Day with Mom Trends
Sweet Potato Chili from Righteous Bacon
Sweet Potatoes and Global Health from Third Eye Mom
Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Kielbasa ONE Skillet Bake from Tickled Red
Sweet, Dude, Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash from Helen Jane
Oh My Sweet Potato Apple Bake from Bowl Licker
Sweet Potato and Peanut Gratin from Non-Reactive Pan
Sweet Potato Fries from When You Wake Up a Mother (also found on Million Moms Challenge)

I just spent the last 15 minutes testing out this simple baby food recipe from weelicious: Eat Your Greens baby food puree so I could share it with you with some authority. I first saw it in my bloggy friend Catherine McCord’s new book: Weelicious: 140 Fast, Fresh, and Easy Recipes (which was sent to me as a gift) but this recipe is on her blog too so you can find it right away.

I vote two thumbs up. I spent a couple minutes gathering the ingredients and rough chopping the vegetables while my water came to a boil, about six minutes steaming the veggies, then another three blending it all together. Fast, right? Find the full instructions for this puree on Catherine’s blog.

And it tasted good enough that I wanted to spread it on a cracker right then and there (which I know because some got on my fingers — oops!). Since my whole point was to make a few creative combos for my 13-month old, I resisted the urge to eat the baby food as a dip (but you totally could!). Here’s a glamourous video promo for the book if you are interested.

If you have never been, let me introduce you to Weelicious.com, a terrific FREE resource for parents looking for baby, toddler, and family food recipes with loads of pretty pictures and an easy search feature. I’m super impressed with the book so far. In the next few weeks, I’m going to put the “one family, one meal” mantra to the test and see if my big people like the food as much as I expect my baby to. I’ll be sure to let you know if we discover anything interesting.

Making baby food from scratch not your thing? Find other cool DIY projects for parents.

[Photo of baby food used with permission by Catherine McCord]

I am sharing my views on healthy snacks for little ones courtesy of Mott’s Snack and Go Applesauce Pouches.

Some time between breastfeeding and back-to-school, there’s a transition: a nursing baby can eat up to 12 times per day while an adult human generally has three meals per day with a snack or two thrown in.

How do we get from one point to the other? By making it up as we go.

As the mom, I am in charge of the what, when, and how of snacking. I decide if the whining preschooler rolling around on the floor needs a snack or is just bored with his usual array of toys and activities. I conclude whether my toddler’s recent boneless tantrum can be blamed on low blood sugar and whether I can learn any lessons for next time.

Since I turn into a huge B-word when I don’t get enough quality calories, I project my worldview onto my children. I offer my little people food about every two hours. I like to keep many healthy options around so all choices are good ones.

Here are five easy snack combos (as excerpted from our book, Stuff Every Mom Should Know):

1. Apples and nut butter. Slice the apples, spread the peanut or almond butter, and serve with an extra helping of napkins.
2. Fruit smoothie. Add frozen fruit, bananas, and yogurt to your blender. Serve with an extra wide straw.
3. Hummus and pita. Offer pita for dipping or spread onto triangle wedges of whole-wheat pita. Older children can be offered carrot sticks too.
4. Sunflower seeds and raisins. Great for a stroller snack, this modified trail mix can be eaten straight from the bag.
5. Cheese and cherry tomatoes. Cheese sticks, cubes, shreds, or circles are a good boost of calcium and protein. Pair cheese with small tomatoes for sweetness.

On the weekends, I announce “Snack Time” like clockwork at 10am and 3pm. The boys tend to ignore me and keep right on playing. But on schooldays, if I don’t pick them up from after-school-care brandishing portable snacks, I’m “the Worst Mommy in the World.” Clearly, there’s no right answer.

I’m curious about your house: Do you push snacks on your child proactively, provide them only when asked, or deny them between meals?

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Disclosure: Mott’s and Technorati have sponsored this article. All opinions, house rules, and stories are my own.

Words from our sponsor: Mott’s Snack & Go Applesauce Pouches have a taste kids love in a convenient package for on the go. They also have no added sugar and are an excellent source of Vitamin C. Find out more here.

The following idea to make mealtime more fun is an excerpt from our new book Stuff Every Mom Should Know because we think every mom should be armed with such clever tricks up her sleeve.

1. Prepare pancake batter as usual, from scratch or from a box.
2. Using a small ladle or measuring cup, create one round pancake in the center of the griddle. This one will be Mickey’s head.
3. As soon as the edges of your first pancake have stopped expanding, place two smaller circles of batter on the griddle, on each side of the head, at 10 and 2 o’clock. These will be Mickey’s ears.
4. If the ears don’t reach the head on your first attempt, simply flip them as regular pancakes and try again.
5. When all the bubbles in the three circles have stopped popping, flip the entire shape.

Bonus points for serving fruit that a child can use to give Mickey eyes and a nose.

Pro tip: Use a turkey baster as a batter dispenser for even greater control. Heck, you may feel capable of adding a bow to make Minnie Mouse or something even more sophisticated.

Want to send a copy of Stuff Every Mom Should Know to a friend? Find it on Amazon.

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We’re assembling a huge list of  DIY projects for parents. Browse them all on our Makin’ It series page.

At seven months old, Sawyer is eating and drinking whatever he can get his mouth on. Still nursing but also bottle-feeding, spoon-feeding, and dabbling in finger food. And, as always, I have some very strong opinions! I have a whole new arsenal of baby feeding products in rotation so wanted to share a few of my favorites:

Milkmakers cookies. First of all, YUM! I was skeptical about these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies that claim to boost milk production, but after trying five cookies, I give them two thumbs way up. These cookies are super tasty, almost like the ones I make at home. Since all baby mamas deserve a special treat, I think these would be a terrific gift. Since there are so many variables in play, I can’t say for sure if my production increased but I think it did a bit. If you want the stats, I can make a chart!

Rookiemoms readers, save $5 off any from milkmakers.com with code ROOKIEMOMS at checkout. Offer expires 4/30/12.

The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet includes a heap of recipes for purees. I’m always looking for new inspiration and this book is focused on nutritious, quick, tasty baby food organized by month. Score. I also dig the cover and green tips. As a third-time-around baby-food-maker, I haven’t found much in there that I don’t already know, but if you’re a rookie, it’s a very handy reference.

Potato ricer. My Mother in Law got this kitchen gadget for us last Christmas to make the perfect mashed potatoes. I busted it out for the first time to convert sweet potato into baby food mush. It works just like a play-doh fun factory extruder (or a huge garlic press). It strains out skin and stringy bits for babies. And when we’re done using it to splooge out baby food, I hear it makes perfect mashed potatoes.

OXO tot feeding spoons. The shape and the squish of these spoons makes it easier to feed a new-to-solids eater. Though Sawyer is still covered with food by the meal’s end, these are my new favorite utensils for scooping and scraping drippy purees. You can’t see very well from the picture, but they’re shaped like spades, soft spades.

Other than these four recent discoveries, I find myself using a few tried-and-true techniques for blending up baby food with my stick mixer and ice cube trays. I will have to share a few of my cheats with you another time.

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I was sent the cookbook and cookies for review consideration.

Milo scoops his cheesy rice

Milo spits out his cheesy rice

So, friends out there, I’ll share with you my go-to toddler meals and snacks for my 17-month old and ask for yours in exchange. Help a mama out, please!

When the cupboards, fridge, and freezer are bare, these are the things I grab for Milo at the store:

Breakfast

• Frozen waffles (I get the whole wheat, some big, some little with no accoutrements)
• Scrambled eggs (currently on the outs)
• French toast (Sunny makes a whole loaf at a time and freezes it)
• Puffins (regular flavor or cinnamon)
• Raisins
• Banana (little dude eats one every day)

Lunch

• Almond butter and jelly sandwiches on hearty bread, cut small (we still fear the peanut)
• Cheese sticks
• Hard boiled eggs
• Mixed berries: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries
• Other fruit chopped up when time permits
• Firm tofu, usually teriyaki flavor or “savory” whatever that means
• Applesauce (organic, any flavor) mixed with baby cereal to improve scoopability

Snack

• Just Peas, Just Corn, or Just Mixed Fruit from Just Tomatoes (freeze dried fruits and veggies with no added gunk — they can go stale quickly, so just open one package at a time until you go through it)
• Veggie booty
• Goldfish crackers and their Annie’s bunny equivalents
• Whole wheat pita and hummus
• Crispy Italian style breadsticks (more hummus for dipping)
• Half a Puffet from Peas of Mind

Dinner

• Taquitos from Whole Foods (the reason for going to TWO grocery stores and why I deserved my chocolate cream treat)
• Frozen organic peas (I don’t even cook them)
• Plain yogurt
• Aidell’s teriyaki and pineapple meatballs (they last for about a week in the fridge, so once I open the package, you know what lunch is until they’re gone)
• Whatever we’re eating
• Black bean quesadillas
• Small pieces of chicken or fish (sometimes he likes, sometimes he chucks on the floor)
• Homemade guac (made by me and Holden, who likes food better if he makes it)
• Crispy kale chips or cooked zucchini (whatever vegetable we’re having, he’ll usually try one or more before throwing on the floor
• Amy’s frozen pizza bites with spinach (I heat them for Milo in the microwave and for myself in the toaster oven; Holden tries to eat them frozen because I think it’s strange. Go figure.

More inspiration for lunches from Laptop Lunches (the best lunchbox for little ones, I hope to write about soon!), Kiddley lunchbox ideas, Vegan Lunchbox, 5 favorite convenience foods from ParentHacks, and VegCooking.com.

If you’re already packing a mean lunchbox, check out the contest at Vegan Lunchbox and win a copy of Jennifer’s new book: Vegan Lunch Box: 130 Amazing, Animal-Free Lunches Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love!.

I told you mine, now you tell me yours!

In the Ragu-sponsored video we are sharing this week, I chat with my blogging buddies Kim Tracy Prince and Renee Ross about leftovers.

Since I make two separate dinners for my family (adults vs kids), I don’t personally struggle with convincing my kids to eat leftovers. The kids are not eating what Ryan and I eat anyway. (If you are also in the Two-Dinner Club, please let me know so that I feel like less of a failure!)

Also? My children both WANT to eat the same thing a bunch of nights in a row. Scarlett is on a pupusa kick. This week, if she doesn’t get a bean and cheese pupusa on her plate, she will be pissed, no matter what else she’s already eaten. Julian would be happy if we made mac and cheese on Monday and fed the remainder to him every day for the rest of the week. Cheese pizza or pasta would be acceptable substitutes.

Do your kids like the same thing every night? Is that an option? Or is that the only option?

P.S. This video was part of a promotional series called Mom’s The Word on Dinner, put together by Ragu. (I know, I know, sometimes Dad is the word on dinner, but folks, that ship has already sailed.) See all the Ragu videos on their Facebook page.

P.S.2. Of course I do not make pupusas from scratch. I buy them pre-packaged in the refrigerated section of the fancy grocery store.

Family Dinner. Almost legendary for its promise to bring your family together for bonding that cannot be replaced, right? Not to mention the guilt we feel when it doesn’t happen.

I strive for a family dinner every night at 6pm. If I have a simple meal planned and can get the children in front of their 25 minutes of PBS kids’ shows by 5:30, I can often achieve it. Kinda. Alec gets home at 6:22 if he and his bus are running on time.

Yesterday was one of those evenings when the stars didn’t quite align. The dinner I had chosen to prepare (from the One Dish Dinners cookbook) was American-style chicken biryani with about 1:15 in prep and cooking time. And I plopped them in front of the TV at 5:45 (with only time for “one chunk of Curious George”). Oops.

I punted on the real dinner for the kids and made one of my fastest meals (at the same time, because I’m magic like that): chicken quesadillas, sliced apple, and frozen peas. Milo also finished the hard-boiled egg and cashews from his lunch. When I brought them milk to drink, I sat down with them to chat while the adult dinner biryani’d.

After other chitchat about our days, I asked Holden if he preferred when we all four sat down together or when the boys ate together and I ate later with Daddy. I expected him to give the right answer. The magazine answer.

Ha ha.

Holden told me that he prefers it when I cook for just Milo and him rather than when we eat together as a family because then I can get up and down (over and over and over) without interrupting my own eating. How thoughtful. Milo agreed.

Now what? I guess I’ll keep aiming for that elusive family dinner that we all share, but skip my guilt trip when it doesn’t happen.

What do you think about the real and imagined family dinner?

Our friend (and everybody’s favorite auntie) has another recipe to share. This time it’s a side dish guaranteed to give you super powers: kale chips! Holden, age 5, and I can eat a whole batch ourselves. Too bad 3-year old Milo won’t touch ‘em.

In my numerous forays into learning about good nutrition, there is one food that pops up over and over again: kale. It is literally one of the healthiest vegetables out there, packed with almost every nutrition buzzword I can think of right now, like antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, phytonutrients, and omega-3s. It’s been shown to prevent cancer, slow memory loss, aid with digestion, and much more.

So you probably want to get some in your diet for you, your kids, your partner, and so forth, so you can all live long and be smart and healthy and good-looking, right? But you have a hard time selling the pile of slimy green stuff on the plate at dinner time, yes? Enter the magical world of kale chips.

I have not enjoyed my run-ins with store-bought kale chips, so I finally just made my own at home and it was surprisingly easy. They turned out delicious, and best of all, they made me feel insanely virtuous for snacking on what is essentially a big pile of dried out kale. I’m surprised my body didn’t reject the sheer concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants from consuming a whole bunch of kale in one sitting. The chips come out delightfully paper-thin and crispy, so once you start eating them it can be difficult to stop. The beauty is that these are made out of KALE so you are really supposed to eat a whole bunch of them! Win win win win win!

Due to the crispy texture, cool color and shape aesthetics, and chip-dependent moniker, I have also had success getting small children to eat these. Kids Eating KALE. I didn’t even try kale until I was like 31, and in fact, I don’t even think I knew what it was. I knew a guy named Kale in high school, but I don’t even think HE knew he was named after a nutritious dark leafy green. Kids these days are so much more worldly!!

If you’re a kale newbie, you may find that your local store or farmer’s market offers different types of kale. For kale chips, it doesn’t really matter which kind you use, as long as it’s not the ornamental type. Some of the most common kale varieties you’re likely to find are Russian Red, Tuscan, Dinosaur, and Lacinato.

Recipe: Kale Chips
makes about 25-30 big chips

Ingredients:

• 12-15 whole kale leaves, rinsed well and patted dry with paper towels
• About a tablespoon of olive oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 250. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper to save on washing later.
2. Rip or cut the kale leaves along the tough center stem on either side. This should give you 2 or 3 kale pieces from each leaf, depending on how the ripping works out. It doesn’t matter if they are different sized pieces as long as the tough center part is gone. Discard the center ribs (er, I mean, compost the center ribs? Heather can feed them to her chickens?) and put the rib-free kale pieces into a bowl.
3. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil (feel free to use less or more depending on preference) and toss the leaves in the oil with your hands to coat. Add a sprinkling of salt to taste and toss again. Lay the kale chips out on the pan in a single layer. They can be touching but not overlapping. (Depending on the size of your pan and your leaves, you may need a second pan or to cook them in two batches on the same pan.)
4. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until crisp through but not brown. Let sit for a few minutes to cool, then eat.

Because they are so delicate, kale chips don’t travel very well, but if you need to transport some, lay them flat in a pile in a container that’s cushioned with a wadded up paper towel on the bottom.

Have you tried giving your children kale chips? How’d it go?

Simple, cheap, healthy baby food nominee of the month: pumpkin.

The fall fruits and vegetables provide a ton of great choices for easy baby food. With all the whipping and mashing, we are pretty much all eating baby food this time of year. One of my favorite go-to, easy peasy options is pumpkin. Just open a can of organic pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix) and voila: baby food!

If you or your baby turn up your nose at this simple suggestion, here are a few embellishments:

• Cinnamon. Sprinkle on cinnamon. Feed to baby. Done. (still too easy?)
• Yogurt. Stir in 2 parts plain high-fat yogurt to with 1 part pumpkin to make more of a custard. Done.
• Applesauce. Mix with an equal part applesauce. Done.

Do you have any more simple pumpkin baby food recipes? And by simple, I’m capping you at 3 ingredients.