One of the reasons I am always getting my kiddos in the kitchen with me is because I love the idea of raising men who know how to cook. What woman doesn’t love a man who knows his way around the kitchen? Someday, my boys’ future spouses will be so happy their mama taught them a thing or two when it comes to food! It’s so fun to see Brady looking forward to our cooking sessions. He drags his little step stool up to the counter and now (thanks to mommy’s super Target clearance find!) puts on his Planes apron!

For this weeks meal, I wanted to see just how many veggies I could pack into a meal. Nolan is not the greatest when it comes to eating his vegetables, but he loves spaghetti, so I thought I could sneak some in that way. Although, I don’t really like the idea of being “sneaky” when it comes to food per se- I think it’s important for kids to know what they’re eating so they are aware that they actually like certain foods. I just like the idea of presenting new foods in a way that’s somewhat familiar, and of course, tasty. If I just gave the kids a bowl of spinach, it probably wouldn’t go over so well, but by cooking a yummy sauce with spinach, I’m showing Brady that he likes spinach.

I called this sauce “Awesome Sauce” because it tastes awesome and it has some awesome ingredients in it…

Ingredients:

1 onion
1 bell pepper (I had an orange one on hand)
2 cloves of garlic
1 pint of grape tomatoes
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 bag of spinach
2 cans of tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
~1 Tbs. Italian Seasoning
~1/4 cup Heavy Cream (optional)
1 box of your favorite pasta

B and I chopped up the onion, pepper, and garlic and sautéed them together in olive oil. Then, we added the shredded carrots. Once they were all tender, we added the grape tomatoes. I left them whole, seasoned the pot with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, and let all the veggies hang out together for a while (until the tomatoes started bursting.) Then we threw in the bag of spinach and let them wilt for a minute or so before adding the 2 cans of sauce.  The sauce was super chunky at this point so I took my immersion blender and let Brady give it a few pulses to smooth it out. Last, we stirred in a little cream to give it a little creamy sweetness.

Brady was quite proud of this creation. The spinach adds lots of vitamins and protein to this otherwise “carby” meal. And even though it really doesn’t change the flavor too much, the little specks of green throughout, remind you just how good this sauce is for you. It would be super good over ravioli, pizza or in a veggie lasagna and this recipe makes a bunch so I now have a container in my freezer as well. Awesome Sauce!

I’m always looking for ways to sneak veggies into our diet, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than with CHEESE! This was a recipe I adapted from Better Homes and Gardens. Their recipe called for making your own white sauce…and well, that sounded hard. So, I used my handy dandy jarred Alfredo sauce that I got on BOGO, and it was delish! While Brady was a big “help” cooking this meal, I did do a little prep before he came in the kitchen. I boiled a family sized package of cheese tortellini, drained them, and set them aside to cool off. I also did a quick saute on some asparagus, squash and mushrooms and let them cool off a bit. Here’s how the rest of the recipe went down…

Ingredients:

1 large pkg. of cheese tortellini
1 jar of Alfredo sauce
1 yellow squash
1 small bunch of asparagus
pint of grape tomatoes
1 cup of mushrooms
1 pkg. mozzarella cheese

After preparing the tortellini, and sauteing all veggies (not tomatoes) set them aside to cool off. Then layer as follows- Tortellini, half of alfredo sauce, sautéed veggies, tomatoes, other half of alfredo sauce, and top with mozzerella cheese. Then bake at 350* for approximately 30 minutes (or until it’s bubbly on top.)

**Note: I let the pasta and veggies cool off because I had little toddler hands putting this meal together. If I were making this by myself, I would not have needed to let them cool before assembling the dish.

Even though this was packed with veggies, when you eat it, all you can think is, Mmmmm….cheese….

Today’s meal was less about my kid cooking, and more about my kids eating something new. I’ve made veggie lo mein quite a bit, but I added a little different flavor this time around. I’ve noticed that Nolan prefers his food with lots of flavor (who can blame him?) It seems as though the more spice or seasonings in a meal, the better for him. When I first gave him squash I was afraid he wouldn’t like it because I had cooked it with garlic and onions and then quickly realized he loved it WAY more than plain squash. So, today we made veggie lo mein with lots of garlic and ground ginger. It was so fun to see Nolan’s faces as he took bites with different textures and flavors! Here’s how this quick and easy meal came together…

Ingredients:

Onion
Garlic
Broccoli Slaw
Green and Yellow Squash
Mushrooms
Whole Wheat Spaghetti
2 tsp. Ground Ginger
2 Tbs. Soy Sauce

I sauteed all the veggies together in olive oil adding each one in order of what takes the longest to cook…(onions, squash, garlic, slaw, mushrooms.) Once the noodles were cooked I tossed them in with the veggies and continued to cook for a few more minutes, adding the ginger and soy sauce.  SO easy! And way healthier than anything you could get from take-out!

I usually serve this meal with a veggie egg roll. “Chungs” brand is the best frozen egg roll ever!! It makes for a good scooper when you get to the bottom of the bowl.

My little guys are pretty adventurous eaters but don’t always eat their vegetables like I’d like them to, so this is an easy way to sneak a ton of veggies into what looks like a bowl of spaghetti!