Pasta and hot dogs have long been favorites of children all across the nation – with the exception of perhaps vegan parents!  Combining the two is nothing short of kid nirvana!  Have you seen the recipe where hot dogs are cut into smaller pieces, then several pieces of spaghetti go through them. Drop them in boiling water and you have hot dog spaghetti.

Or you can try a mac & cheese dog.  From For Rent.com,

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente and drain.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the evaporated milk and chicken stock and cook until thickened, stirring regularly. When thick, add in the mustard powder. Working in 3 batches, stir in the cheese until melted.

Add the pasta into the cheese sauce and stir to combine.

While the sauce is cooking, bring a small amount of water to a boil in a shallow pan. Add the hot dogs, cover, and cook until the hot dogs are warmed through.

To serve, place a hot dog in a bun and top with the mac & cheese.

That’s the “how to” so now click through to see the ingredients!

I still fight my adult child to eat her vegetables.  Every now and then she’ll go on a salad splurge.  I can’t even imagine what it would be like trying to get her to eat delicacies from another country (unless it’s Indian food, then she’s all in). Pamela Druckerman wrote a column in the Huffington Post about how French children learn to appreciate food.

Not only do French kids consume all kinds of foods; they mostly do so happily. So what exactly are French parents doing differently?

For starters, they don’t let kids snack throughout the day. In general, French kids eat at mealtimes and at the official afternoon snack. That’s it. Parents don’t panic if their kids get a little bit hungry (I’m not talking starving, I’m talking hungry.)  This creates a virtuous cycle. When hungry children sit down to lunch, they’re more likely to eat what’s put in front of them. 

So put food in front of them when they’re hungry. Actually really and truly hungry. I could do that, but I still won’t likely eat escargot.

My friends and I have an ongoing joke about how truly ugly some cakes are – so ugly in fact that it would be an embarrassment to receive one.  However, parenting.com has a link to some pretty fabulous birthday cakes for kids.  Check them out here.

Here’s an owl cake (and in my opinion, the cutest!).

Click through to read the entire recipe and all how-to instructions. But here’s a snippet:

To complete the decoration:

1. Snip a small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe a dot of frosting on the head area and attach the cookies with cream for the eyes. Pipe a dot of vanilla frosting on the cookies and add the mints as the pupils.
2. Insert one banana Runt below the eyes for the owl’s beak. Insert the remaining banana Runts into the bottom of the white chest area for the owl’s feet.

One of my favorite snacks is mixing vanilla yogurt with frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries).  It’s wonderful!

I sure admire Moms who take the time to make food interesting!  This is a brilliant idea, but I would fall short on 1) painting the clothespins, and 2) gluing on the googly-eyes.  The rest of it would be easy-breezy!  From Squakfox,

While passing by the bagged salads, fresh fruit cups, and tubed yogurts I couldn’t help but notice an entire section devoted to individual packages of carrots, snap peas, and apple slices. It all looked like cute kid snack food to me. Intrigued, I glanced at the pocket-sized produce prices. I must admit that these little single servings of fruits and veggies were pretty darn cute, and shockingly expensive.

They are expensive, so it’s GREAT that parents can brilliant create something even better at a much lower cost!

It’s so cute how babies and toddlers always love to put things in their mouths.  Of course we prefer the “things” to be edible and not tiny legos or other choking hazards!  So as long as baby is into finger foods, you might as well pick food that is healthy!  iVillage has a great article with tons of ideas for feeding babies,

Soft pieces of ripe, peeled, seeded and cored fruit — peaches, bananas, pears, honeydew, and cantaloupe — are perfect first finger foods. Grapes and blueberries are favorites, too; just be sure to quarter the grapes and halve the blueberries to avoid a choking risk.

This year I have to pack Erin’s lunch for school. We’ve never had a problem with her eating cafeteria food until now, and only because it’s her senior year and by the time her lunch hour rolls around, they are out of food!! It’s very frustrating!

I have so far made her only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and packed chips. So not healthy, but at least I know the stuff won’t go bad like a turkey sandwich could!  I am looking for ideas, Love Shak’ers!  This one is wonderful from Food Your Way,

I love this creative take on the classic PB&J, with tortillas instead of heavier bread. Our favorite combo is actually peanut butter, honey & banana, and we love to roll it up like this for a yummy lunch or treat!

YUM!

Babies have such sensitive stomachs. Doctors seem to be loosening up on their requirement of waiting until six months old before introducing cereal to an infant’s diet, but some folks don’t even pay attention to advice on eating even healthy food like this.  Take Honey Boo Boo’s big sister who was feeding her bigger sister’s baby Mountain Dew,

Alana’s sister Pumpkin dipping Chikadee’s newborn daughter’s pacifier into a can of Mountain Dew Code Red and then shoving the pacifier in baby Kaitlyn’s mouth. 

… A report last year from the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that children who have too much caffeine are at raised risk of neurological and cardiovascular problems. 

Although this is not a “foodie” site for kids, this looked too cute not to share!  A bubble bath bears recipe made from brownies, mini-marshmallows and Teddy Grahams!  From Food.com,

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
24 Rolo chocolates, unwrapped (optional)
2 cups miniature marshmallows
48 Teddy Grahams honey graham snacks (any flavor) or 48 Teddy Grahams chocolate graham snacks (any flavor) or 48 Teddy Grahams cinnamon graham snacks (any flavor)

To see the rest, click through here!

Photo from Real Simple.