Organic Cooking for Kids

You want to feed your kids delicious, nutritious meals with the healthiest, purest ingredients available. Luckily, it's easy to find organic produce and dry goods nowadays. Visit farmer's markets and health food stores, then put together simple recipes that are 100 percent organic. Even your children's snacks can be completely organic when you bake your own granola bars.

  1. Buying Organic

    • A good way to get fresh organic food is to shop at your local farmer's market. The produce there usually comes from farms relatively close to your home, which cuts down on the ecological damage caused by trucking food thousands of miles before it's eaten. Since protecting the environment is part of the reason why we eat organic food, eating local organic food makes even more sense.

      At many markets, both non-organic and organic local farmers sell produce. To get your kids involved in the selection of organic food, bring them along to the farmer's market. A lot of stalls have samples of fruit and vegetables. Let the kids have a bite and base some of your purchases on what they like best.

    Pasta and Cheese

    • A hearty, healthy dish like baked pasta with tomato and ricotta can be made entirely from organic ingredients. In addition to organic fruits and vegetables, Whole Foods and other health food stores carry organic pastas made from whole wheat durum and semolina flours. Brands of organic pasta include Bionaturae and Road's End.

      Organic cheese is widely available. Everyone from Kraft to Dean & DeLuca now carries it. To make baked pasta with tomato and ricotta, you'll first need to make a basic tomato sauce with organic tomatoes, basil, garlic and onions.
      In terms of organic pasta, ziti and mostaccioli hold sauce nicely. Layer in a baking dish--first a layer of ricotta, then a layer of pasta, then a layer of sauce. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

    Snacks

    • Snacks are essential for kids, both to nourish growing bodies and to ward off the hungry grumpies. Granola bars are a favorite between-meal option. These healthy treats contain whole grains, fiber, fruit and sometimes protein. Granola bars at the health food store can cost a dollar and more. If you're feeding multiple mouths, or if your kids are big granola-bar fans, that could add up to quite a bit of money--plus you don't always know if every ingredient is organic. If you make the bars yourself, though, you can control the final product and spend much less money. Combine whole oats, raisins, dried apricots, and almonds with honey or peanut or almond butter. Add spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. Egg whites will help hold the mixture together. Make sure all the ingredients are organic. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 to 40 minutes. When the mixture is cool, cut it into bars. Because this recipe contains egg whites, peanut butter and nuts, it's not for children under one year of age.

    2. Previous:

    Next:

    • How to Encourage Children Who Are Very Slow Eaters to Eat Faster
      Some children can take up to an hour or even longer to finish a meal, which can become frustrating for parents. When a child takes a long time to finish a meal it can indicate that the child is not hungry. Other times it may be just a child acting st
    • Why do kids eat there boogers?
      Its perfectly normal for kids (and sometimes adults!) to eat their boogers. Heres why:* Curiosity: Young children are naturally curious about their bodies and the world around them. They might simply be exploring their senses and figuring out what th
    • Balanced Diet for Children
      The Food Guide Pyramid, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed, is a good reference when it comes to a balanced diet for your children. Use the recommended doses of the five food groups as a guideline, but keep in mind that each child is