Or a tray… whatever.
Sometimes this is all I have the energy for.
And that’s okay, right? I mean, the kids seem to love it. They all just hover around the tray of random, mostly healthy things and pick off it much like lion cubs would pick off of a fresh kill their mom laid before them.
Freaking lionesses have it so easy. They don’t have to cook and they can just leave the mess behind to decompose.
I recall this being something exciting from my own childhood. I believe my mom would call it a “cold dinner”? And we were like, “Cold dinner?? YAY! WE LOVE COLD DINNER!”
Kids are easily impressed. That’s something I need to take advantage of more often.
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17 comments
that looks like a lot of meals, actually. plus it’s healthy, mostly unprocessed, and delicious! I think “lazy” is a little closer to opening a can of spaghettios, and not caring if utensils are even used.
I think your tray is a great idea! 🙂
I don’t think anyone is ever going to give you the *tsk, tsk* for feeding your kids fruits and veggies. I do something similar when I’m just not up to cooking and I even let her eat it in the family room so I can make better use of the couch. That last part is probably *tsk, tsk* worthy.
Love these meals! My mom called them a “cold plate” and they were a summer favorite. I make similar meals for my boys and they love getting a bit of everything. Their favorite right now is anything with raisins. Today I gave them cut up chicken enchilada with raisins 🙂 familyfoodtravel.blogspot.ca
Totally brilliant. If my kids wouldn’t fight over the other person touching their plate, I would TOTALLY TOTALLY do this. Also, they refuse to eat the same things. Jonas loves eggs, Jules won’t touch them. Jonas loves peppers, Jules won’t touch them. Come to think of it, the only thing Julesy eats is yogurt and bread. How do you get Kendall to eat healthy food? I think Julesy’s trying to get taken away by CPS for malnutrition.
Those are the best meals. My kids love to eat like that and getting a variety of foods is so good for them.
We do stuff like this a lot for lunch. Some grapes, string cheese, crackers, & broccoli and I call it good. I think your trough looks delicious.
PLUS, you live in TX where it’s hot. What are you supposed to be eating in June– pot roast?!
I love it. Plus…that tray of food looks absolutely delicious.
This is brilliant. Storing this in the vault for the future….
Is that pita bread? Because that’s the only thing on that tray my kid will eat.
Your posts always make me laugh:) I totally agree about the lioness:)
My favorite “special” dinner when I was little was a fruit and cheese tray my mom would make. It was always in the summer, and was often eaten around our NOWA weather radio (yeah, this is what is considered fun in the country). Anyway – love the post!
You BOILED eggs. That takes time. Cutting up fruit and veggies isn’t lazy. Tossing some processed boxed meal at them is lazy. And hey, that’s okay too sometimes. My kid eats a plate like the one you photographed ALL THE TIME. It’s healthy, balanced, and it’s not messy. Kudos!
My kids love things like that. It’s practically all I feed the youngest. He usually gets a couple of fruits like strawberries or kiwi, veggie of some sort (cold peas, cold edamame, spinach, or sweet peppers), cheese cubes, and Cheerios or some other grain. He loves it. I think your tray looks healthy and tasty!
Brilliant! “Cold dinner” will have a place along side ‘breakfast dinner’ in our house. Nice!
We call it the plate of “everystuff” 🙂
HA! My husband and I do this all the time, pick your own stuff salad bar, tappas plates (greek junk mostly), veggie trays, whatever nights. I love it because he can eat what he wants and I can eat what I want, no questions asked about how he assembles his food. I totally plan to still do this when we have kids… like 10 years from now : P