I love any excuse for a celebration, especially if it involves food and festivities for the whole family!  The problem is that kids can be picky when it comes to trying new foods.  The struggle at my house is to find festive foods for picky eaters.  Over the years I have come up with a few tricks to combat this problem.  While these ideas aren’t exactly traditional, they are majorly kid-friendly!

Step one to making a special St. Patty’s Day for the kids is to buy some green food dye.  While I typically try to avoid unnecessary dyes in foods, my philosophy is that every once in a while kids should have a little fun.

Start the morning off by dying all of the milk in the carton bright green with a few drops of the food coloring.  That way when the kids wake up and pour themselves a bowl of cereal, they will be in for a surprise when it comes out green!  If you want to add a healthy component to breakfast try “Green Machine” by Naked juice (or any other green juice).  It tastes sweet and the kids will be more likely to drink it since it’s festive.  Just make sure not to tell them how incredibly healthy it is!

If you can find a small shamrock shaped cookie cutter (approximately 1 inch across) you can make a super simple, healthy snack.  Kiwis are already bright green and a favorite of kids, but cutting them in a cute shamrock shape makes them festive too!  You might need to put a tiny bit of oil on the cookie cutter to make sure that the kiwis come out intact.

For a festive meal you can continue with the green-foods theme and dye color neutral foods (green mash potatoes?) or if your kids are more adventurous eaters try pots of gold! 

Ok, it is just butternut squash soup in the most pot-of-gold looking pot you can find, but it’s a fun, healthy St. Patty’s Day food that is both kid and mom friendly!

My inner child gets excited any time there is a holiday with a corresponding colors because growing up that meant one thing, surprise cupcakes!  Surprise cupcakes are just normal cupcakes with a yummy surprise filling.  To make these fun treats just make your favorite cupcake batter (chocolate, vanilla, box mix, from scratch, anything!) but only fill the tins half way.  Then mix an 8oz. block of cream cheese with a ½ of sugar and 1 cup of mini chocolate chips.  Since it’s St. Patty’s Day add 4 drops of green food coloring to the mix.  Drop a small spoonful of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of each cupcake tin, and then fill the rest of the way up with the cupcake batter.  Frost with some bright green frosting and let your kids dig in and enjoy the bright green surprise!

Since it’s a holiday, why not have two dessert options?  A super easy, fun dessert is minty green milkshakes.  Throw a few scoops of vanilla ice cream in a blender with milk (a 2-to-1 ice cream-milk ratio works well) add a few drops of green food coloring and ¼- ½ teaspoon mint extract.  Blend well and top with whip cream and a gold medallion!

Finally we have a non-dessert drink, Green Grape Iceberg!  These would be great with lunch or a healthy dessert.

Green Grape Iceberg

Recipe Courtesy of Lori at Family Economics Blog

Ingredients
4oz. of Sparkling Water

4oz. White Grape Juice

10 Green Grapes (frozen)

Green Food Coloring

Directions
1. Freeze green grapes
2. Pour grape juice into blender
3. Add 8 frozen grapes
4. Add 2 drops green food coloring
5. Blend for 15 seconds
6. Pour mixture into glass
7. Add sparkling water to taste
8. Stir and garnish with remaining grapes 

I love holidays because they are an excuse to make a day extra special and build lasting memories with my family.  With a few of these simple tricks you are sure to make St. Patrick’s Day a holiday to remember!

The post Picky Eater’s St. Patty’s Day appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Fall is the time for food that makes us feel cozy. As much as we may want that crab bisque, it may not be as welcoming to the smaller and sometimes more finicky eaters in our households. Kids will usually try what they know, so incorporating familiar things into something new makes it easy to introduce a new dish.  Check out these “familiar” sounding soups that will have your kids begging for another bowl!

Macaroni and Cheese Soup

Yields 20 servings

Ingredients:

•  3 quarts water
• 5 tsp chicken bouillon granules
• 1 1/2 cups celery (sliced)
• 2 large carrots (shredded)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1 medium green pepper (chopped)
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 cup butter (cubed)
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups milk
• 1 pound processed cheese – ex: Velveeta (cubed)

Directions:

In a stockpot, bring water and bouillon to a boil. Add celery, carrots, onion and green pepper; cook for 4 minutes or until tender. Add macaroni. Cover and return to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; let stand for 8-10 minutes or just until macaroni is tender. 

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in cheese until melted; add to undrained macaroni mixture. Yield: 20 servings.

Nutritional Facts:

1 serving (1 cup) equals 261 calories, 17 g fat (11 g saturated fat), 49 mg cholesterol, 619 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 9 g protein

Taco Soup

Yields 6-8 servings

*This is an AKA Mom Favorite!!

Ingredients: 

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 1 TBS olive oil, if ground beef is very lean
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 2 cans (15 oz) pinto beans
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans
• 1 bag frozen corn (11 to 15 oz)
• 1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes (Mexican style if available)
• 1 can Rotel (original)
• 2 pkgs. taco seasoning mix
• 1 pkg. dry ranch dressing
• 2 1/2 cups water or more, to make soup broth

Directions: 

Brown ground beef and onions in a large skillet with olive oil if needed; drain off fat. Meanwhile put all other ingredients in a stockpot and heat on low. After beef and onions are ready, add them to the stockpot with the other ingredients and stir. Best served with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips, corn chips and/or cornbread.

Nutritional Facts:

No nutritional info available for this recipe.

Cream Cheese Potato Soup

Yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups potatoes (peeled and cubed)
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 – 8oz package cream cheese (cubed)

Directions:

Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices in soup pot. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Smash potatoes to release their starch for thickening. Reduce to low heat. Add cream cheese. Heat, stirring frequently, until cream cheese is melted completely.

Nutritional Facts:

1 serving (1 cup) equals 353.6 calories, Calories from Fat – 189, Saturated Fat 11.4 g, Cholesterol 62.4 mg, Sodium 938.4 mg, Total Carbohydrate 30.5 g – Dietary Fiber 3.5 g and Sugars 4.1 g, Protein 11.4 g

Cheeseburger Soup

Yields 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb of ground beef
• 3/4 cup onion (chopped)
• 3/4 cup carrots (shredded)
• 3/4 cup celery (chopped)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups potatoes (cubed)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups Cheddar cheese (cubed)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine over medium heat in a large pot. Add vegetables and ground beef and cook (stirring) until ground beef is brown. Stir in basil and parsley. Then add broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes. In a separate bowl mix the remainder of the butter (melted) with the flour. Add the milk, stirring until smooth. Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat thoroughly. Keep simmering, do not boil the soup.

 Nutritional Facts:

1 serving (1 cup) equals 411 calories, Cholesterol 81 mg, Fiber 2.6 g, Sodium 596 mg, Carbohydrates 22.6 g, Fat 27.3 g, Protein 18.9 g

Hot Diggity Dog Soup

Yields 8 servings (2 quarts)

Ingredients:

• 4 medium carrots (cut into thin strips)
• 2 medium potatoes (peeled and cubed)
• 2 medium parsnips (peeled and chopped)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 TBS all-purpose flour
• 1 pkg (1 pound) hot dogs (halved lengthwise and cut into bite-size pieces)
• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ½  tsp pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, saute the carrots, potatoes, parsnips and onion in butter for 5 minutes. Stir in flour until blended. Add the hot dogs, milk, soup, water, basil and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. 

Nutritional Facts:

1 serving (1 cup) equals 418 calories, 28 g fat (14 g saturated fat), 64 mg cholesterol, 968 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 12 g protein

The post Soup’er Delicious and Kid Friendly! appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.