Kids (love these) Food Ideas!

The Headlines:

I am super bad at "kid food!"

But here are 2 easy ideas I just discovered.

Thanks to the Girl Scouts!



I am going to be very honest.  I do not like to cook.  I do it for these reasons:

1. I can not afford to hire a live in cook.
2. I like to throw parties which I don't (usually) like to cater.
3. I'm super picky about eating really good food.
4. I have children who would die if I didn't feed them.  

For all of those reasons, I cook.  Not a lot… but I do it.  And when I do… I have to say, most of it turns out pretty good.  So says my stunned husband.  Sometimes he just looks at me and shakes his head… "never thought I'd be seeing this," he says (it's like me pouring cereal at the time)!  Add a major yum meal to the mix and, I swear, I see him having breathing problems.  However, one thing I do not do well is "kid friendly" food.  I'm not super good about letting them get their hands dirty and making "ants on a log…" know what I mean?

So when I went on a camping weekend with my daughter and her Girl Scout Troop I was not necessarily looking for any food tips… but these 2 just leapt up and hit me on the head!  Let's get one thing out of the way first, I am not a camper.  Like, super not a camper.  (Geez what do I do?)  Now, don't get me wrong, I was happy to go on the trip to be with my daughter and, really, observe the goings on of 2nd grade girls.

***Side note, that's important.  Girls get crazy fast and I need to make sure things in the life of my 7 year old are happy and healthy.  So far so good.  I'm sure this will be another blog post later.

Back to topic: for dinner, the Girl Scouts who were hosting this event did something our girls LOVED… and for that mater so did the moms attending.

Me indulging in camp food

Okay, now for the point.  Look at what I'm eating out of… can you tell?  It's this…

Ziploc Bag

Yep, that's a plastic Ziploc bag.  Here's what the leaders did that had our girls howling for more SALAD… they laid out all the fixings so they could choose what they wanted to put in their bags.  My daughter liked it so much, we re-created the idea for dinner last night.

It was a taco salad so there was lettuce, tomatoes, chips, olives, black beans, corn, kidney beans, salsa, onions, shredded cheese, ground beef, (I added avocado), sour cream, ranch dressing, everything and anything you could imagine in a taco salad.  They had a ball putting it together.

Then, they told us to close the bag and scrunch it all up.  They loved that part too.  After it's mixed, you open the bag, fold it down and enjoy!

Ingenious.  Even my 3 year old ate it!

Super good idea to do for a party, a camp out in your backyard… or maybe even a great way to pack a lunch during a work week.  No dishes!

Okay, the next idea I was super impressed with was also simple.  The girls also loved it!  I haven't re-created it yet but I will and when I do, I may put it on here again with the proper pictures.  But it was so good  I am foaming at the mouth to tell you about it!  They called them Banana Boats and, again, the girls loved making them.

Ingredients:

banana
chocolate chips
mini marshmallows
tin foil

On top of the tin foil (pictured above) take a whole banana and a not very sharp knife and slice along the front two natural lines that go down the length of the banana peel.  Then, from the bottom detach it so it's kind of like a flap.  Next, slice one long slice in the middle of the banana meat so that you can push those chocolate chips and marshmallows in. Once that's done, cover it up with the banana peel so it almost looks like a complete banana again.  Then wrap it in the tin foil and put on the grill.  After a few minutes, pull it off but you want to make sure the banana looks a little gooey.  When it does, grab a spoon, open it up, and eat it right in the peel.  Delicious!

Sorry no pictures.  It didn't dawn on me to blog on this until I got home and my daughter wouldn't stop talking about this stuff!  Once again, a great idea for camping or a birthday party or grilling in the backyard!  Whatever.  Fun and yum kid food!

Now, when can we go camping again?  Wait...