Tomatoes are great. When eaten garden-fresh at their peak in the
summer, it can be a gastronomic revelation. Conversely, a hot house
tomato on top of a sad salad in January is like eaten a mushy piece of
cardboard. If your kids aren't hip to the wonderful flavor of tomatoes,
give it some time. But also realize that the way you present it to them
has a lot to do with their acceptance of it. Picture this: a plate full
of vine ripened sliced tomatoes, sprinkled with sea salt and eaten on
the back patio on a summer's evening with your family.
For our family, tomatoes aren't really worth eating unless they've been purchased at the local farmer's market or grown in our own backyard. My mother-in-law grew the MOST delicious variety of orange-colored cherry tomatoes. My kids ate them like candy. We're planting the same variety in our grow boxes this year. But if these options are not feasible for you, here are a couple of ideas that might get the tomato juices flowing in your house:
Tomatoes on everything! Try putting slices of tomatoes on foods in non-traditional ways. The other night we enjoyed grilled cheese with a twist. We sliced up tomatoes, sprinkled them with salt and broiled them in the oven for five minutes on a cookie sheet. Then we took them out, put them on a piece of wheat toast, and topped them with grated mozzarella and parmesan. Then we stuck them on the same cookie sheet and broiled them another five minutes until the cheese started to bubble. I'm telling you, my kids loved me just because cheese was involved. Also, it was delicious!
We also put fresh tomato slices on our delivery pizza in the summer. It's better than it sounds, I promise, and it's a favorite way to eat pizza for our entire family. Slice up three to four tomatoes on a dinner plate or platter and lightly sprinkle them with salt. As you serve the pizza, place 2-3 tomato slices on each pizza slice and revel when your kids say it's great.
Lastly, and this is a polarizing issue, eat fresh tomatoes hot. My kids go for large chunks of tomatoes in soups. Often when a soup calls for canned tomatoes, I substitute fresh, diced tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes are less processed, which means more nutritional health for your family.
Tomatoes are beneficial to a healthy lifestyle and they're worth offering to your family again and again, until they finally realize how wondrous tomatoes can be. Hopefully, these ideas will aid you in providing a nutritious diet for your family.
For our family, tomatoes aren't really worth eating unless they've been purchased at the local farmer's market or grown in our own backyard. My mother-in-law grew the MOST delicious variety of orange-colored cherry tomatoes. My kids ate them like candy. We're planting the same variety in our grow boxes this year. But if these options are not feasible for you, here are a couple of ideas that might get the tomato juices flowing in your house:
Tomatoes on everything! Try putting slices of tomatoes on foods in non-traditional ways. The other night we enjoyed grilled cheese with a twist. We sliced up tomatoes, sprinkled them with salt and broiled them in the oven for five minutes on a cookie sheet. Then we took them out, put them on a piece of wheat toast, and topped them with grated mozzarella and parmesan. Then we stuck them on the same cookie sheet and broiled them another five minutes until the cheese started to bubble. I'm telling you, my kids loved me just because cheese was involved. Also, it was delicious!
We also put fresh tomato slices on our delivery pizza in the summer. It's better than it sounds, I promise, and it's a favorite way to eat pizza for our entire family. Slice up three to four tomatoes on a dinner plate or platter and lightly sprinkle them with salt. As you serve the pizza, place 2-3 tomato slices on each pizza slice and revel when your kids say it's great.
Lastly, and this is a polarizing issue, eat fresh tomatoes hot. My kids go for large chunks of tomatoes in soups. Often when a soup calls for canned tomatoes, I substitute fresh, diced tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes are less processed, which means more nutritional health for your family.
Tomatoes are beneficial to a healthy lifestyle and they're worth offering to your family again and again, until they finally realize how wondrous tomatoes can be. Hopefully, these ideas will aid you in providing a nutritious diet for your family.
For more ideas on feeding kids healthy meals, and teaching healthy habits with the new MyPlate, visit Super Healthy Kids
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