We all know it’s not easy to get kids to eat veggies. However, we’re excited to team up with Birds Eye to tell you about their new nutritious, veggie-rich side dishes to kids, featuring Disney characters they know and love. To make it even more fun – we threw a “Frozen” Dinner Party!
Disney fans will be thrilled to see the Disney offerings by Birds Eye that feature pastas in the shape of today’s favorite Disney characters including Anna, Elsa, and Olaf from Disney’s Frozen; Lightning McQueen and Mater from Disney•Pixar’s Cars; and classic characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Birds Eye sent us some VIP Coupons to try out their new Disney by Steamfresh line and some goodies.
When you have picky eaters like I do, you catching their interest is key. When my original picky eater, B, was little, I had to make sure I really piqued his interest. He would have gone crazy it if I had served him these pasta side dishes. Now I have three kids who sometimes don’t want to eat what I make, so I have to make things fun or interesting. According to the State Of The Plate report, nine out of ten people in the United States do not get enough vegetables. If we want our kids to eat vegetables, we have to find ways to make it more appealing.
So what can you do to get kids to eat more veggies? There are a bunch of ways, but here are my tried and true ways:
- Serve veggies that are full of bright colors – carrots are a rich orange, broccoli is a brilliant green, corn is a bright yellow. Make their dinner plate pop with color!
- Let your kids pick the veggies they want (basically give a choice of two vegetables and they have to choose one).
- Serve cooked and raw veggies at the same meal. I serve raw with a dip first when my kids are hungry and then again with the main entree – usually chicken or fish.
- Mix veggies with pasta (this way the veggies have the sauce of the pasta on it and it amps up the flavor of the vegetables). The new Disney offerings by Birds Eye are perfect for this. The pastas have veggies and a light sauce that really will appeal to kids. Plus they cook quickly and you can serve them with chicken or fish as a main dish. What little frozen fan wouldn’t love to enjoy that feature pastas in the shape of Anna and Elsa?
- Plan theme nights like a Frozen Night, or a Cars Night. Use decorations and small accents to make things special for your kids. Screen the movie after for a family treat.
Our Frozen Dinner Party:
We threw a Frozen Dinner Party! I made breaded chicken tenders (recipe at the end of the post) and served the Anna and Elsa pasta and the Olaf Pasta. I decided to make some signs to make things even more fun! I added a bright yellow tablecloth and places a crown on the table to dress it up.
My kids were delighted! My daughter put on her Elsa dress.
While we waited for the food to be ready – my older son grabbed a sharpie and decorated a white shirt to be the “Snow Monster”. “Queen Elsa” tried to command him.
Then we feasted. Elsa & Anna’s Pasta & Peas was a big hit.
And so was Kristoff’s Breaded Chicken.
I whipped up a berry smoothie to serve with it. I used frozen organic blueberries and strawberries, plus almondmilk and a little agave.
Even Picky Eater 2.0 enjoyed himself.
Queen Elsa loved it. Her favorite was Olaf’s Pasta and Carrots with a Tomato Sauce.
For dessert, I quickly took some pre-made croissant dough, added some chocolate sauce and baked it.
Recipes:
Kristoff’s Breaded Chicken
Kristoff's Breaded Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs uncooked chicken breast
- Whole wheat bread crumbs
- 4 eggs beaten
Frozen Inspired Berry Smoothie
Disney by Steamfresh’s varieties include: whole grain pasta and corn with a butter sauce, pasta and broccoli with a cheese sauce, pasta and peas with a parmesan cheese sauce, and pasta and carrots with a tomato sauce. We love that Birds Eye is striving to increase vegetable consumption among families with convenient and flavorful veggie-filled options for every age group! These four varieties are available now, and for more information on Birds Eye products, visit www.birdseye.com.
Why we liked it: Birds Eye Disney by Steamfresh was really easy to get on the table and was the perfect veggie packed side dish. Kids will like the lightly sauced pastas and love the fun shaped pasta. Frozen fans will love seeing Anna and Elsa or Olaf, Cars fans will love seeing Mater and Lightning McQueen, and Mickey and Minnie Fans will be excited to see them.
I think my grand kids would like the pasta and peas with Parmesan cheese.
The whole grain pasta with butter sauce sounds yummy!
How could I say no to pasta and broccoli in cheese sauce?!
We would love to try the Disney Cars pasta with cheese sauce!
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The Pasta and Peas with cheese sauce sounds good!
We would like to try the mickey mouse pasta.
I like the broccoli, cheese and pasta one the best.
I would love to try the pasta and broccoli with a cheese sauce! Yum!
the cars pasta and brocoli in sauce
Would love to try the one with peas. I know my so would love it!
i wanna try the mickey mouse pasta
Oh I cannot wait to try the Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Whole Grain Pasta and Corn!
They’d like the Pasta and Peas in Parmesan Sauce.
Our kids would be most interested in the “Frozen” vegetables, not necessarily because of the food, but more for the characters.
We would love to try the Cars themed pasta.
I would want to try the Disney Cars Pasta & Broccoli with a Cheese sauce! That sounds delicious….and so do all the other kinds!
I think my family would like the pasta and broccoli with cheese sauce.
Pasta with corn and butter sauce
The Pasta & Broccoli with a Cheese Sauce sounds good.
We would like to try the pasta with broccoli!