Do your kids want nothing but pizza and chicken nuggets? Oh wait, throw in the occasional hot dog, right? Getting fruits and vegetables into my kids is a full-time job. I was a picky kid growing up so I do have compassion for them, but that doesn’t mean they get to choose what they eat.
I am trying desperately to be role model (it has been through much retraining of my taste buds) to them. Any advice you have about getting picky kids to eat fruits and vegetables, I am all ears!
My super awesome cousin did it right with her son and trained him at a very young age to like everything. I am super jealous but I do get to glean some of her recipes at times that I test on my kiddos.
These chicken nuggets with fruits and veggies worked! This week I made them with baked sweet potato fries and roasted broccoli.
The best part is they a super healthy and we eat them too.
It is pricey at on Amazon but I used it to can applesauce every year as well as make purees and homemade fruit roll ups.
So I took boneless skinless chicken breasts and ground it up to make ground chicken. Here is a picture of what it looks like.
Recipe:
- Make 2 dozen nuggets – 20 calories each
- 1 cup ground chicken
- 6 baby carrots or one peeled medium carrot
- 1/2 small onion
- 1 medium apple (I keep the skins on)
- 1/2 tsp of minced garlic
- egg yolk (beaten)
- pinch of thyme
- pinch of pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
- 1/4 cup of whole wheat seasoned bread crumbs (click here to make them yourself – TIP: just use whole wheat bread and cook at 300 degrees for 30 minutes flipping halfway then add the spices in the recipe I just linked too. Store in freezer.)
How To make the Fruit and Vegetable Nuggets
1. In a food processor add carrots, onion, apple, and garlic and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Beat egg yolk. Add blended fruits and veggies with chicken, bread crumbs and spices and mix well with a spatula.
3. Form into 24 little nuggets. They are a little wet, just make sure you squish them together well so they don’t crumble when baked.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes flipping them over midway.
5. To freeze, let them cool and then flash freeze for 30 minutes on a tray. Then add them all to a gallon freezer bag.
6. Once frozen, you can heat them in a microwave for a couple of minutes or reheat at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
Shhhhhh!” Don’t tell your kids they are eating fruits and veggies too, believe me it will ruin it.
All then all of the sudden they won’t like it.
Serve with a dipping sauce of your choosing.
For more of my tried and true recipes my kids will eat check out….
Does the apple make the nuggets sweet?
Yes, Tabitha. It does make them a little sweet, which I think is some of the appeal for the kiddos. 🙂