Kid stuff for dinner

Stephanie was taking care of a friend’s kids recently, and for dinner they had fish sticks and mac and cheese from the blue box. You know, the classic Kraft mac and cheese, food of kids everywhere (and secret weakness of some adults I know). Made me think about some of my kids’ favorite foods. Let’s see…when they were little, they used to eat:

• Sloppy joes and tater tots
• Spaghetti
• chicken fingers
• the classic grilled cheese
• Fairy Cake (recipe here)
• Animal crackers
• Goldfish
• Gummy bears
• String cheese
• Applesauce
• Rice Crispy treats (homemade, the only way to go)
• Oatmeal
• Kid pizza (mostly cheese)
• Fruit leather
• Ketchup (a food group to my daughter)
• Milk (needed a cow in the back yard for my two milk-a-holics)
• Potato soup
• Pop-tarts
• Hot pockets (Alex loved these. I was probably a terrible mom for buying them for him, but looks like he survived that abuse)
• Pizza Rolls (see above confession)
• Beef stew
• Orange sherbet push ups
• Chocolate chip cookies, the original recipe from the chocolate chip bag
• Tiny green peas
• carrots (see, they did eat some good stuff!)
• Bacon and eggs
• Waffles and pancakes
• Strawberries
• Breakfast cereals (shall be nameless here…what can I say, they wore me down)
• French fries
• Chicken noodle soup

The above items were some of their regular and favorite foods. They ate other things too, some of it healthy. I’m usually in the camp of “all things in moderation,” so while I’ve tried to make good choices at the grocery, I’m not fanatical about avoiding sugar or fat. I’m happy to say that they did not grow up on a diet of fast food. That’s one gift we gave to them, mostly by accident of where we bought a house: too far from fast food restaurants to be even remotely desirable for a dinner option. 

Well, maybe that list isn’t so bad. You’re only a kid once you know. And that old blue box mac and cheese…it isn’t gourmet, but it is tasty, especially if you’re a little kid who’s just learned how to open the pantry door and point. And what do you think that kid wanted for breakfast? That’s right! Kraft Mac and cheese. Long live kids! They like what they like, and they don’t get hung up on time of day to eat the right kind of food.