a question for moms

[blueschef]

I am doing a cooking demo for mothers of pre schoolers and I need some food ideas. I have 16 Pork tenders donated for the event, however, I can buy whatever I need to make with them. I also can not use them at all if I wish not to.
I would like to make something appealing for the moms to cook (note: perhaps with a nutritous spin) and that the kids would like.
I have 1.25 hours for the presentation, it is 40 moms and I would like to do at least 2 items. All the stuff I see kids eat now is Chicken fingers, Fries, grilled cheese, burgers, Mack and cheese and hot dogs. I would like something a bit more ............. unique.

[Suzanne]

I'm not a mother, but I have worked on cookbooks on feeding children (one, up to toddler; another for school-age kids). What they say is: just give kids REAL FOOD, only in smaller, more manageable portions. They didn't even shy away from a low level of spicing, on the premise that kids need to develop a palate for something other than sugar and salt. The idea is that if kids are going to grow up to eat properly, they have to be fed properly from the get-go. So you want to demo recipes for the whole family, really.

If all you have is an hour and a quarter, you need quick dishes. Do you have access to a grill -- a regular outdoor grill, grill pan, or indoor grill (George Foreman type)? How about marinated grilled pork (using the donated stuff) and grilled vegetables? And for a second dish, a stir-fry, again with lots of veggies. Both are fast to prep, fast to cook, and provide good nutrition.

[shroomgirl]

Pinapple spears, chunks or cubes always fun.....use fresh and show them how to cut it up. Maybe a homemade sweet/sour sauce with pineapple juice, soy, ginger, garlic, alittle acid (cider viniager).

Recipes...make sure these moms all have recipes to walk away with.....good to have your contact info incase they have questions or need a caterer.

[AprilB]

What about some sort of light breaded pork parmigianna with veg marinara? Specifically brocolli or maybe brocoflower. Maybe the name will hook the kids. You could hide the carrots in the sauce...and different color curly pasta is kind of fun...LOL. Or a pork meatball? Would seem a shame to grind or fine chop a nice tender, but...

Thin pounded pork schnitzel with noodles. (as in raindrops on roses ...you know, Sound of Music)

Some sort of stir fry, or fajitas with taco veggies...You could add a little shredded carrot, finely chopped brocolli florettes (to hide them) and maybe zuchini for more nutrition. I don't know of many people who don't like roll-ups.

I found all three of my kids actually like veggies, so it was easy. Either that or since I was always cooking, it was just natural to be exposed to them and they found they liked them...but then maybe we're weird. My youngest can't get enough artichokes or brocolli.

I'm assuming you want to shy away from Shake n' Bake. <although the home-made recipe is kinda nice>

April

[tigerwoman]

pork taco - pork quesadilla

bbq pork

pork slow braised with garlic and beer or ale served with mashed potatoes

panko coated pork cutlets with asian greens

chili with cubed pork

mexican pizza - spicy tomato sauce, chunks of roasted pork, melted fresh mozzarella, garnish with sliced avocado & fresh cilantro - we just had this for dinner tonight at a pan mexican restaurant here in NYC and it is still one of our favorites. They call it grilled mexican pizza - the dough is made with cornmeal and grilled.


chipotle mayonaise with grilled pork

vietnamese grilled pork with marinated veggies, greens, bean sprouts and rice noodles with a lime, fish sauce and sugar dressing (typical vietnamese cold salad - very delicious)

pork is my favorite meat

pork enchiladas using a chipotle tomato sauce and oaxacan style cheese with black beans and corn.

chili rellenos stuffed with pork picadillo

korean meatballs made with pork, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy, green onions, garlic, ginger and some panko bread crumbs.

[blueschef]

thanks for the input. I love pork too! I am not sure how some spicy items will go with the kids or a to complex culinary method or ingredents will go over with the moms though. I am leaning towards:

a Fajita/soft taco/Quesadilla item
Paramgana style with a veggie pasta dish
Stir Fry
BBQ skyewers with Pineaple (good idea shroom!)
Some kind of easy/good marinade so that dad can participate in the cooking (perhaps with his kids) by grilling and slicing the meat.

I am also considering bringing some quality store bought stuff to make it less intimidating on the moms.

Any thoughts or input on these ideas is appricated!

[tigerwoman]

moms always appreciate time savers - so maybe show how you can cook the pork loin in different ways and even reuse a second time as another dish.

So for example, the roasted pork loin from night one,
gets made into soup and sandwich/quesadilla supper the next night,
and a pork chili the third night. Kids seem to like chili and sloppy joe type of meals as well as meatballs, pasta, and pizzas.

But maybe half the loin could be made into breaded into pork cutlets to start with (eg the parmisan idea) to be frozen and pulled out for a quick meal in the following weeks.

[AprilB]

Depending on the ages of the kids you might want to consider younger children and wood, or any kind really, skewers if you plan to serve.

Not that I expect anything to happen, but it's nice to err on the side of caution.

Thin sliced bbq pork sandwiches sound good.

April

[blueschef]

Just an FYI, I was originaly told that this event was for Thursday the 27th. I get a call at 9:00 this morning that it is for TODAY at 9:45!!! There is a meeting Thursday but I am not cooking at that one!
I grab what I have in my Fridge and pantry as well as my equiptment and get there at 9:44. Set up and rock and roll. Made 3 dishes in an hour, without a hitch, and they loved it!

Pork Tenderloin Caccatori
Pork Tenderloin Enchaladas
Stir fry with Broccoli and Asparagus

LOL, what a crazy business we are in!!!

[Jim C]

Congrats on pulling it off.

You do not have to be nuts to be in the food biz......but it helps

When I do kabobs for kids, I use a popcicle stick. Yes, you need to poke a hole first in some foods, but the rounded ends makes me comfortable giving them to the kids. Plus that seems to be the right portion size for most kids

[diane]

For quick baby food, whiz up various veggies, even some meat, and freeze them in ice cube trays, so you have a couple of trays of broc. a couple of trays of kumara, a couple of trays of peas, etc. I never gave my kids solids until they started reaching for food from my plate. About 10 months. They were breast fed until they preferred a cup. Thereafter, I gave them what we had prepared for ourselves, appropriately prepared for them. They never got puddings, but stewed fruit was prominent in their diet. As was custard. I gave 4 meals a day, on waking, and after bath, about 7 am. At 11 am after morning sleep, at 4pm after afternoon sleep, and 7.30 or so after pm bath, and before bye byes.

7am was usually coddled egg with very finely chopped ham, peeled tomato with seeds, about half a buttered slice of bread finely cubed, a grate or two of mild cheese S&P, and avocado when I had it. And various other things as they came to hand.

11ses I mashed banana with a sharp cheese. The potassium calms and the cheese flavours. As they grew, about 18 mths or so, I gave peanut butter sandies, or vegemite or somesuch as well.

4pm or so they had veg and meat, mashed with gravy, Any veg, any meat.

7pm Tired time. A wee offering of apple custard, bread and butter puddding, maybe even a bit of ice cream (home made) and jelly. A chopped pear went down nicely, as did (sieved) passion fruit and stewed apple. Or rhubarb. Or plum, or anything really.

7.30pm. Bath, Teddy bear, snuggly bed and Dr. Suesse.

That just an example of course. We never had soda, and yoghurt was made at home, not from mix, or pots. I had such fun good people.

[diane]

They are between 25 and 30 years now, and none of them are fat, or even a bit overweight. Although I would like to see a little more about older son, youngest son is a brick wall, nothing but muscle. So their diet cannot have been too bad. Short though, neither of them is quite 6 ft, and my daughter barely made 5 ft.

[Jamieloo]

Maybe I read the original post wrong, but as a mother of 3, none of my kids would look at "Pork this this this, marinated in this type of oil" or anything as sophisticated as a lot of the ideas. These are kids. Simple kids. What about just a roasted chicken leg with a bit of seasoning, a creamy, homemade mac and cheese with broccoli bites in it and a fruit cup? I'm telling you, my kids eat pretty healthy but they wouldn't want anything really sophisticated. If anyone watched the chef show on Bravo...that was a huge problem in one of the tasks they had. One team clearly knew what kids would eat and the other did not.

"Give the people good food and they will come."