Kid-friendly, Mama Approved

I have 8 pamangkins. And like any kid, these aren’t adventurous eaters. They will eat anything that’s crunchy, or sweet or red, and nothing else. The only sour food they know is pork sinigang. And they (like other kids) despise spicy food.

So instead of the usual fried chicken, roast chicken, pork barbeque, menudo, spaghetti, pork sinigang, or adobo fares, I introduce them to some nice tasting food that, without their knowledge, are actually nutritious.

One dish that has been kid-approved in our family is teriyaki. But I don’t use pork or the usual chicken. I use bangus. Yep, I make bangus teriyaki. And surprisingly, they love it. Well, maybe because the only 2 kinds of fish kids eat are bangus and tilapia.

My nephew Christian is a fan. He calls it Sweet Fish. I don’t argue; as long as he will eat it, whatever he calls it is fine with me. Another dish the kids like is my Chicken Binakol. It’s like tinola, only better because of the fresh buko juice and buko meat.

For snacks, I tried making pinwheel sandwiches in my brother’s house once. The kids found the sandwich amusing, not so like the regular sandwich they know. And so they ended up finishing the entire batch I made.

Sometimes feeding children can be very tricky. But really, all it takes is some imagination and a little creativity. So, try these recipes and see if your kids approve.

Bangus Teriyaki with Stir-fried Bean Sprouts

• 1 pack bangus back fillet, cut into cubes
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Half a thumb-sized ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tsp cooking oil
• Roasted sesame seeds

In a heavy sauce pan, combine all ingredients and marinate for about 10 minutes. Boil over medium fire until fish is cooked and liquid is reduced to about half. Drizzle oil into the teriyaki and simmer for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of roasted sesame seeds.

For the stir-fried bean sprouts, just heat a tablespoon of oil, add in the bean sprouts and stir-fry until tails are translucent. Serve along side the teriyaki. (To add color to the bean sprout dish, I usually add julienned carrots during stir fry.)

Chicken Binakol

• 2 tsp cooking oil
• 1 thumb-sized ginger, cut into thin strips
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 whole chicken (ask butcher to cut tinola-style)
• 2 tsp patis
• Juice from 2 fresh buko (mature)
• 1 cup water
• 1 unripe papaya, peeled and cut into 2” chunks
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• Meat from 1 buko, cut into 2” strips
• 2 bundles sili leaves

Heat up oil and sauté ginger, garlic and onions. Add the chicken and patis and cover. Cook chicken over medium fire in its own juices for about 5 minutes. Then add the buko juice and water and allow to boil. When chicken is about done, add the papaya and chicken cube. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the buko meat and simmer for another 10 minutes or until papaya is done. Turn off heat and add the sili leaves. Cover for about 5 minutes. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Pinwheel Sandwiches

I usually get the rainbow-colored bread for this. If you can’t find rainbow bread, use any sandwich loaf.

Spreads like creamy peanut butter, strawberry jelly/ jam, butter, mayonnaise, cheese spread

sweet ham slices

First, remove crust from the bread. Flatten each piece with a rolling pin. Spread with desired palaman (ex. peanut butter and jelly, butter and jelly, mayo and ham, cheese spread and ham, cheese spread and jam) and roll tightly like you would a jelly roll. One bread slice would be too thin, so it would be good to roll another piece over the other. Wrap tightly in foil and refrigerate for about half an hour.

To serve, cut into half-inch thick rolls and arrange on a plate. You can put fancy toothpicks on the loose end if you want. You can also stick into thin skewers alternately with cheese cubes, drained pineapple chunks, hotdog balls or seedless grapes for fancy sandwiches on a stick. (And then, watch kids gobble them up!)