For months Emma ate pureed fruits and veggies to her heart's content. She ate any fruit and veggie combo we put in front of her. Fast forward to finger foods and the green beans and peas are getting tossed on the floor night after night.

There is something about the consistency of the veggies Emma just doesn't like. She won't even put them to her mouth, they just go straight to the dog. Oh yes, Emma loves feeding Ariel.

I've had to get creative to get Emma to eat her veggies, and to have dinner ready quickly when I get home from work. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest, in fact I have a whole board for finger food meals. Some of the recipes I've tried, and some of them I've pinned to keep as ideas to try in the future. It is amazing how the addition of some cheese, an egg, a little flour or bread crumbs, and spices transform veggies into something Emma is asking for instead of throwing on the floor. 

These are some of my favorites. I enjoy fixing a batch and freezing the leftovers to have on hand for weeknight dinners. A good 30 seconds in the microwave (maybe twice) and they are good to go. Emma sometimes gets mad when they are going into the microwave before going to her, patience is something she is still learning. When she wants her food, she wants it now!

If I'm cooking chicken and broccoli stir fry for dinner, then Emma gets some Broccoli Bites. I found these on The Test Kitchen of Melissa Fallis. Emma gobbles them up. So much so that my mom made some to keep at Nana's house. Here they are before they went in the oven. 

I adapted her recipe and make it with fresh broccoli instead of frozen. I use a whole staulk of broccoli, slice off the hard ends and then put it through the food processor while it is still raw until it is nice and crumbly. I think it results in more broccoli then is called for in the recipe, which I'm ok with. I'm all for more veggies than breadcrumbs. At first I made it in mini muffin tins, and now that Emma is eatting larger portions, I make them in little patties, almost like a burger. When I flip them over half way through, I squish them down a bit to make them into flatter patties and make sure they cook all the way through. I can make a good dozen or so broccoli bites from this recipe. They cook to a nice golden crisp.

Mark and I eat a lot of spinach. I put in in smoothies (another great way to hide veggies) every morning for my breakfast, and Emma has become a smoothie thief so sometimes I make them just for her. It's become a weekend afternoon snack staple. My favorite smoothies consist of a banana, soy or coconut yogurt, frozen fruit, spinach, and soy or coconut milk. You can have fun with different fruit combos, mango and peach, strawberry and peach, strawberry and blueberry ... the list goes on. I promise you can't taste the spinach so don't let the green colored smoothie scare you off. Both you and your kiddos will enjoy these, and depending on the fruits you use the color smoothie will be differ.

I use a Ninja blender and the individual smoothie cups to prepare two at a time for easy weekday breakfast prep in advance. I assemble all the ingredients in the cup and put them in the frige unmixed, so that in the morning I can pop them on the blender, and go. 

If I cook spinach with dinner, then Emma eats Cheesy Spinach Bites. I found this one from Feeding Audrey. It even works to mix up a batch a night in advance and leave the dish uncooked in the fridge. Then I can pop them in the oven after work, and they are fresh out of the oven for dinner. I'll have to remember to take pictures next time I make these, here are two freshly thawed from the microwave. I definitely realized I didn't take any pictures shortly after I finished putting them in the freezer a few nights ago.