One of our favorite stands at our local farmer’s market is Peacock Family Farms. Kenya has been madly in love with the woman who helps run it since he was 8 months old — so much so, his name for her is “girlfriend” (he’s such a little flirt). Beside the gorgeous raisins, walnuts, almonds and peaches they sell, they also grow THE most incredibly delicious eggplant, which I love almost as much as Kenya loves “girlfriend”. With it, I make Baby Ghanoosh and Ratatouille for the family, but I bought a ton of it last week and wanted to make something special and different that I knew the kids would really enjoy.

These eggplant sticks turned out shockingly delicious. I say “shockingly” because even a couple of people I know who aren’t normally fans of eggplant ate almost all of my test batch. Crispy on the outside and creamy and tender inside, I bet even kids that say they don’t like veggies will devour them — they’re like eggplant French Fries!

I guess the biggest reason I love going to the farmer’s market as a family is that there’s always something (or someone) to fall in love with.

Eggplant Parmesan Sticks (Serves 4-6)

1 Medium Eggplant, peeled
1/3 Cup Flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated OR 1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast**
2 Large Eggs, whisked
Canola or Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Accompaniments: 1 Cup Weelicious Tomato Sauce (or your favorite jarred Marinara)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut the eggplant into 1 inch wide by 2 inch long sticks* (1 medium eggplant makes about 40 sticks).
3. Making an “assembly line” of three bowls, place the flour and salt in the first bowl, the beaten egg in the second and bread crumbs and parmesan in the third.
4. Dip the eggplant sticks in the flour mixture, followed by the egg and then in the bread crumbs.
5. Place on a cooking rack over a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking oil spray.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until soft inside and golden outside.
7. Serve with red sauce on the side.

*I placed the cut eggplant sticks on a paper towel for 5 minutes to absorb any moisture before dipping them.

**Dairy Free option

Lucky me that I have a cousin with two growing boys who loves to cook and feed her kids healthy foods. She makes a version of this recipe in a pie dish and has been trying to convince me that her boys absolutely devour it whenever she makes it for them. Although I sometimes find statements like that hard to believe when we’re talking about green foods and highly independent little boys, I’m always game for recipes that defy the odds.

I decided to take my cousin’s original recipe, make a few tweaks to the ingredients and then cook them in mini muffin cups instead of a pie dish, because it cooks faster (and after all, what kid doesn’t like something mini?). As for my my initial doubts about the kid appeal of this recipe, after watching Kenya repeatedly walk by the cooling rack to grab three of them within 15 minutes and Chloe scarfing down four at dinner, I realized these could be one of the all time greatest kid and parent friendly recipes I’ve ever made. Delicious, healthy and SO easy to make. My cousin gets total props for this kiddy culinary hit!

Spinach Ricotta Bites (Makes 20 Bites)

2 Tbsp Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (low or full fat ricotta will work)
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 10 Oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained WELL (I use my hands to squeeze as much liquid out of the spinach as possible)
1/4 Tsp Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.
4. Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
5. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.
8. Serve.

Some vegetables take less effort to get kids to eat than others. While brussel sprouts and lima beans might not always be favorites of your little ones, I bet carrots are a pretty easy sell. For starters, they’re not green, a color most kids associate with their veggies. And along with being naturally sweet, carrots are a gold mine of nutrition and a great source of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene converts to Vitamin A, which is essential for good vision.

Still, some kids will avoid vegetables at any turn. The fun part of this recipe is turning carrots into something they won’t be able to say no to. These carrot chips couldn’t be easier to make and they are so delicious and fun to eat, you’ll likely find yourself running back to the market for more carrots for the next batch! Best of all, they are a great way to get kids to eat their veggies, and that should make every mom happy.

Carrot Chips (Serves 4)

4 Carrots
Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Using a mandoline or a knife, thinly slice the carrots into rounds.
3. Place the carrot chips on a silpat or parchment-lined cookie sheet, sprinkle lightly with salt and bake for 45 minutes.
4. Serve.

We used this to make this recipe:

Kyocera CSN-202-RD Adjustable Mandoline Slicer, Red

Tater Tots! Just the name itself sounds kid-friendly. I’d bet that in 1953 when Ore-Ida came up with how to make use of the leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes and created these little bites, they realized the name alone would be a huge selling point. Especially for kids. Accorfing to the company, Americans eat approximately 70 million pound of Tots each year and based on how often I ate them in my youth, I can only imagine that kids comprise a big part of that figure. Whether you remember them from the frozen food aisle at the grocery or your own school cafeteria, I’m sure you consumed at least a few of these crispy, deep fried potato nuggets in your day.

I’ve got nothing against the frozen tots that I grew up on, but this homemade recipe is really easy to make and so much more healthy and delicious then the frozen kind (no frying for starters — these are baked). But if you’re still nostalgic for frozen tots, just grab some more potatoes, double the recipe, and you’ll have plenty extra to freeze and enjoy at a later date. No more heading out to buy fried potatoes in a bag. Now your kids can discover all the joy of tots without you having to worry about all the fillers and additives of store bought brands. It’ll be like reliving your own youth — only healthier!

Tater Tots (Serves 4)

2 Large Potatoes (about 1 lb), cut into 2 inch cubes (they don’t have to be perfect)
Salt
1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Egg, whisked
1 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs (white or wheat)
Canola Oil Spray

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Boil the potatoes in salted water in a pot for 12-15 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Drain off all the water and cool the potatoes.
4. Using the side of a box grater, grate all of the potatoes into a bowl.
5. Place the flour, whisked egg and breadcrumbs in THREE separate bowls.
6. Take about 1 tbsp of the potato mixture and shape into “tater tots”.
7. Roll the tots into the flour, followed by the egg, then the panko bread crumbs, coating lightly.
8. Place onto a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet and coat evenly with cooking spray.
9. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
10. Cool and serve.

*Shape them into tots and freeze before you bake them – After freezing, just pop them in the oven from the freezer adding at least another 3-5 minutes baking time.

We recently did a poll on the weelicious Facebook page asking parents what their kid’s favorite green vegetables is. While broccoli and peas ranked high on the list, zucchini was barely even mentioned. Maybe that’s because people aren’t familiar with how to prepare it. A lot of people tend to steam zucchini, which I find makes it a bit limp and so I can understand why kids don’t take to a vegetable with that kind of texture. Since I’m always playing around with fun ways to prepare vegetables that kids are actually excited to eat, I decided to revisit zucchini this week.

Coincidentally, we’ve got zucchini growing in our garden right now and it’s all over our farmer’s market too. Zucchini has a very delicate flavor, so I focused on a simple preparation. These zucchini coins are baked, which makes them crunchy on the outside and soft and tender inside — a real textural treat for kids (and Kenya gets a kick out of eating “coins” because he feels like he’s got edible pocket change on his plate). Add a little tomato sauce on the side and they’re the perfect side dish for your family to enjoy with any meal.

Baked Zucchini Coins (Serves 4)

1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Panko or Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Large Egg
1/4 Cup Flour
2 Medium Zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch coins
Optional: Weelicious Tomato Sauce for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl.
3. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl.
4. Place the flour in another bowl.
5. Make an assembly line with the bowls, and first dip the zucchini coins into the
flour, then the egg and finally into the bread crumb mixture, coating evenly and repeating with all the zucchini coins.
6. Place all of the coins on the baking sheet/rack. Arrange so they’re not touching, spray with oil and bake for 20 minutes or until the
bread crumbs are golden.
7. Serve.

*After step 5 place on a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove and place in a ziploc bag, label, and freeze. When ready to eat – take them out of the freezer and put them in the oven adding at least another 3-5 minutes baking time.

After posting a picture of these Turkey Pesto Meatballs last week on our Facebook School Lunch photo gallery, I got so many requests for the recipe that I decided I should put it up ASAP!

A weelicious reader emailed me recently saying that she had tried a version of these meatballs at a friend’s house, and while she knew the flavors and ingredients, she could not recall the amounts or how to make them. I love getting requests to figure out recipes because part of the fun for me in testing is discovering new family favorites. I’m so grateful to that reader because everyone under my roof loved these bite-sized gems. Shockingly, the person who ate the most — Chloe, our 14 month old — downed six (six!) in one meal. She probably would have eaten the whole batch had I let her, but even babies need to share!! Next time I have to remember to make double the amount.

Turkey Pesto Meatballs (Serves 4-6)

1 1/4 Lb. Ground Lean Turkey
1/4 Cup Pesto
1/4 Cup Breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Tsp Salt
2 Cups Weelicious Tomato Sauce or Marinara Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place all the ingredients (except for the marinara sauce) in a bowl and using your hands, combine until everything is incorporated.
3. Using about 1 tablespoon of the mixture per meatball, roll into balls and place on a plate.
4. Pour the marinara sauce into a 9 x 9 inch baking pan and top with the meatballs.
5. Cover the baking pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Serve.

*Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet and freeze. After 30 minutes place the par-frozen balls in a ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours or put them straight in the oven with sauce increasing cooking time by 5 minutes.

This recipe hails from Greece, but the inspiration for it actually came from my cousin in Kentucky. She always sends me suggestions for recipes based on foods her boys love and believe it or not, Spanakopita is one of them. Spanakopita is a savory Greek pastry comprised of flaky phyllo dough filled with spinach and feta cheese. The phyllo can be homemade, but it’s a time intensive process that is unnecessary since you can purchase quality prepared phyllo in the freezer section of your grocery. Spanakopita is a fun lunch, snack or dinner choice for your family because little kids can hold the individual servings in their hands and they are easy to eat.

I played around with this recipe a lot, worrying that it might be too involved compared with most of the simple recipes featured on weelicious, but once you get the hang of making them, it only takes minutes. And in my opinion, they’re worth it. I made this for dinner the other night with Kenya and he loved getting to stir the filling as I layered the phyllo and rolled the Spanakopita into triangles. An added bonus is that this recipe freezes beautifully, so you can store half of what you make now and just pop it into the oven on the nights you don’t have time to cook.

Whether you’re making this dish in Athens, Georgia or Athens, Greece, your family will definitely love you for it!

Spanakopita (Makes 30 Triangles)

1 10 oz Block Chopped Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained well (I drained it once in a fine mesh strainer and then once again, squeezing it in a towel to remove any excess moisture)
1/2 Cup Feta Cheese
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (you can use either part skim or whole milk ricotta)
1 Egg, whisked
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Pkg. Phyllo Dough, defrosted
1 4 oz. Stick Unsalted Butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place the first 5 ingredients into a bowl and mix.
3. Gently place one sheet of phyllo on a work surface and brush gently with melted butter (while you work, make sure the remaining phyllo dough is covered with a damp towel because it dries out quickly).
4. Place another sheet of phyllo on top and brush with more butter.
5. Add a third sheet of phyllo to the top of the stack, giving you a total of 3 layers (no need to brush the top with butter).
6. Cut the buttered stack into 3 lengthwise strips (each about 12 inches long and 3 inches wide).
7. Take one strip and put 1 tbsp of filling near the corner nearest to you, then fold corner over to form a triangle.
8. Continue folding over, like a flag, keeping a triangle shape.
9. Place the stuffed triangles, seam side down, onto a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet and lightly brush the tops with butter.
10. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
11. Cool and serve.

*I like to bake half of the Spanakopita and freeze the other half. To do this, after step 9, freeze the triangles on the baking sheet for one hour until solid, then place triangles in a zipper bag and freeze for up to four months. When you’re ready to cook them, continue with step 10. No need to defrost before baking.

Below is a diagram on how to fold the Phyllo triangles:

In my experience, there are two things that kids always seem to love — noodles and pancakes — so why not make them a meal that combines both of them into one? Whenever we have pasta for dinner, I make extra to put in the fridge and use for this recipe the next day. Noodles on their own can be difficult for some little ones to eat, but these pancakes are perfect for little hands to hold on to and munch away. Still, no matter what your child’s age, I find that most kids are only too happy to do away with their knife and fork whenever possible. These Noodle Pancakes easy to toss together and they also pack a ton of protein, veggies and carbohydrates into one scrumptious handful, making them perfect for any meal — even breakfast!

Noodles Pancakes (Serves 4 – about 8-10 Pancakes)

2 Cups Cooked Egg Noodles
3 Eggs, whisked
1/2 Cup Ham, diced (about 3 slices)
1/2 Cup Swiss Cheese, shredded
1/3 Cup Corn (I used frozen corn that I defrosted first)
1/3 Cup Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Tsp Salt
Olive Oil

1. Place all the ingredients (except for the olive oil) in a bowl and stir to combine.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
3. Pour about 1/4 cup of the noodle mixture per pancake in the pan and cook for 3 minutes (you can pour as many pancakes at once as fit comfortably in your pan).
4. Flip the pancakes and cook an additional 3 minutes. Continue making the pancakes with the remaining mixture.
5. Serve with ketchup or alone.

*Allow to cool, then place in ziploc bag, label and freeze. When ready, pop them into a oven at 300 for 10 minutes or until warmed through or defrost in fridge for 24 hours then heat in a dry pan.

Whenever I tell people that Kenya’s favorite vegetable is okra, they look at me like I’m crazy. How in the world could a little boy ever want to eat okra?! Well, it’s true, he loves it and it’s not the result of me pushing it on him. From day one it’s always been his veggie of choice.

When I was growing up in the south, my mother and grandparents made okra all the time. My mother’s favorite preparation of it was fried. So for any okra lovers out there, I decided to make my family’s favorite version but with a healthy twist. Baked Okra Nuggets are crunchy and really fun to eat. If you’ve never tried okra before, this recipe is a good introduction to it and a great way to get kids to eat a veggie that they might have avoided before!

Okra Nuggets (Serves 4)

2 Cups Okra, cut into 1 inch rounds (you could also use frozen okra that’s defrosted)
1 Tsp Salt
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Cornmeal
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the flour and salt in a bowl and stir to combine.
3. Whisk the egg in a second bowl.
4. Place the cornmeal and parmesan cheese in a third bowl and stir to combine.
5. Roll the okra in the flour and pat to remove excess flour.
6. Dip the flour coated okra in egg and then roll in the cornmeal/parmesan mixture to coat.
7. Place the okra on a cookie sheet sprayed or greased with olive oil (I use Spectrum Canola Oil Spray) and when all the okra nuggets are on the tray, spray again to lightly coat.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
9. Serve.

*Freeze before baking. When ready to eat – take them out of the freezer and put them in the oven adding at least another 3-5 minutes baking time.

Our family loves eating brown rice, so I always try to keep a big bowl of it in the refrigerator. It’s a nutritious, healthy and versatile base for so many dishes. On nights when I’m stumped as to what to make for dinner, I make these Tex-Mex Rice Cakes. Since I always have the rest of the ingredients on hand, it only takes me minutes to prepare. The best part is that I can make a few extra for Kenya’s school lunch the next day. I just pop a couple in his Lap Top Lunch Box and we’re both happy!

Tex-Mex Rice Cakes (Makes 14-16 Cakes)‬

1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
3/4 Cup Frozen Corn, defrosted
2 Tbsp Cilantro, chopped
1/2 Tsp Salt
2 Eggs, whisked About
2 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil for cooking

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs.
3. Add eggs to the rice mixture and mix to combine.
4. Using about a 1/4 cup of the mixture, shape mixture into patties.
5. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add patties, cooking 2 minutes on each side until golden brown.
6. Serve alone or with salsa.

*Shape into patties, place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 30 minutes then place in a ziploc bag and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, allow to thaw then follow step 5.