Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Toddler Lunch- Spinach Grilled Cheese with Homemade Fries

I can now relate to mommy's who struggle to get their toddlers to eat healthy meals. The biggest battle that I fight now is that she won't eat fruits. She loves fruit purees, but she won't eat them otherwise. (I will gladly accept any ideas)

I have found a way to sneak spinach into her sandwich and I am pretty ecstatic about that. Along with that, I have made some homemade French fries because my daughter loves the potato in all forms. At least this way, it's baked and not fried.
 Ingredients: One russet potato, olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, Italian seasoning
To get a cut similar to a French fry, I used a mandolin slicer. If you have never used one before, they are EXTREMELY sharp. Please use the hand guard you see below to make sure you do this safely.
Nice looking fries!
 Place the fries in a bowl and drizzle a little olive oil on them. About two teaspoons, it does not take much. Then I would season them with a little salt and pepper, and finally a pinch of Italian Season for a bit of flavor.

 Spread out on a cookie sheet lined with Parchment Paper and pop in the oven 400 for about 45 mins until golden brown.
For the spinach grilled cheese, I wouldn't start it until the fries are 5-7 minutes out, this does not take long to cook. I used a honey whole grain bread, organic spinach and provolone cheese.
After I washed a few leaves (about 5 or so) and removed the stems, I chopped them up pretty fine. That is so she can bite through it and not pull out a full piece of spinach. 
 Sprinkle the spinach on the cheese.

Place the sandwich on a Panini press. I do not add butter to the bread, no need for her to have that greasy fat. Watch carefully, this doesn't take more than a minute or two to cook.
 Minus the crust, of course.
Lunch is done! You will notice the fries are not real crispy. I pulled them out earlier because my little one is teething and I didn't want her to have anything real super crunchy. (Not shown is this cut into toddler bite size pieces)
 A face every mother likes to see!

8 comments:

  1. Yum that looks good! Looks like she likes it too! Found you on the SITS forums.

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  2. LOL, I hide spinach in everything too! (Brooke from SITS girls www.babybearhugs.com follow back!)

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  3. I will try this for myself! I love spinach in my smoothies!! Dropping by from Sits!
    www.recreateanddecorate.com

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  4. I will try this for myself! I love spinach in my smoothies!! Dropping by from Sits!
    www.recreateanddecorate.com

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  5. This looks delicious, I need to try and making it at home for my kids.
    Stopping by from SITS I am your newest follower

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  6. What a cutie! My Little One loves berries, because they are easy to pop in his mouth and not to slippery like other fruits can sometimes be (peaches, kiwis...) - but the easiest way to get all his veggie and fruit servings in: smoothies! I'll make a spinach-carrot juice-apple-blueberry-almond milk smoothie, put it in a sippy cup with large holes and he guzzles it down! I even put ground flax seed and chia seeds in there too so he gets his omegas...its awesome! :) Stopping by from SITS Sharefest today :)

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  7. Wow! Nice idea! I bet my daughter would LOVE this meal. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from SITS :)

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  8. Wow! Nice idea! I bet my daughter would LOVE this meal. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from SITS :)

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