kid friendly chicken dinners

When I stumble upon articles recommending foods kids will love I'm always intrigued to look further into it. Is it wholesome, fresh, simple to prepare and most of all, will Owen love it? One recipe I made specifically with Owen in mind was from a back issue of Everyday Food Magazine July/August 2006 for BBQ Chicken Tenders with a side of Corn Fritters. I was especially happy to finally have the opportunity to use some of the BBQ sauce I made on Father's Day.

Now, I've already stated how Nuno is great on the barbecue, so I can confidently say that tiny boneless pieces of chicken on the barbeque will probably always turn out dry. And that's the reason Owen didn't get too far with this meal. He was telling us the chicken was chewy and we ourselves could hardly break it down. Luckily the corn fritters were delicious albeit totally indulgent.

Another chicken recipe aimed for kids is this Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders from Everyday Food magazine December 2010. This was a dinner I made when a projected spaghetti and meatball meal found me in a pinch with an empty meatball stash.

I opted to use cut up chicken thighs instead of tenders and to fry the chicken as ways of preventing another dry chicken episode. Both tricks totally worked with keeping the chicken moist and delicious. And, really, how can anything wrapped in bacon not taste great? Owen and Nuno loved it and I enjoyed them after removing the outside bacon. It was neat how the bacon actually infused a whole lot of flavour into the meat. 

However I find that our usual dinners, ones that don’t get flagged as kid friendly, seem to go over best with Owen. And it’s of course a welcome surprise to find a meal that all three of us love equally. That’s what we found in Chicken Stirfry in Wraps.

I made this once about a year ago, and while browsing Pinterest I noticed a photo of a lettuce wrap and decided to add this dinner to our meal plan for this week. There are so many things I love about this recipe. First is how simple it is to make. Secondly, it’s very quick to prepare. Finally, it’s healthy and balanced. Although I half expected Owen to eat the rice and stirfry mixed together in a bowl, he actually ate the entire dinner assembled in lettuce wraps. He was such a hoot meticulously placing his rice, veggies and chicken and then holding the wrap together as he ate it. Maybe because he was eating with his hands he had so much fun. If you haven’t tried a Boston lettuce wrap dinner, give it ago on a recipe you’d normally enjoy in a flour tortilla.

More great Kid Friendly Dinner ideas via Everyday Food here and here!