Food Storage Friday: For The Little Ones

As I have mentioned before, my kids are picky eaters. Ridiculously picky eaters. And just because I feel I have found something that is delicious, healthy and uses my food storage doesn't mean that my kids will try it. I would say that most of my greatest food storage recipes are for things that my kids won't eat. And how useful is my food storage if half my family won't eat it? So we make adjustments. You have to store things that your family is going to eat, or it isn't that useful. I generally make things far less spicy than I would like, in hopes that my kids will try it and then pour the Tabasco on mine. I also have several recipes that call for some kind of meat, sauce and vegetables over rice. My kids turn their nose up at meat, sauce and veggies (unless it's modified Hawaiian Haystacks). So I use this simple recipe to at least get them used to eating rice and let them have fruit on the side. Yes, I know it's not really a complete meal, but it's a starting place for the ridiculously picky and it gets my children familiar with food storage without me having to make a completely separate meal for them. If we're having sweet and sour chicken, this is what they are having.

Cheesy Rice for Kids
1/2 cup prepared rice
1 heaping tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon of chicken broth

1. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. 2. Microwave until cheese is melted. (Approximately 30 seconds) Serves 1.

Other food storage items that I have found to be winners with my kids:

1. Craisins (For Thing 2, but not Thing 1)
2. Popcorn (It's a grain, stores for a long time and if you prepare it right, it doesn't have to be bad for you.)
3. Canned mandarin oranges (which I store anyway for Hawaiian Haystacks)
4. Canned pineapple (Haystacks and smoothies)
5. Canned peaches
6. Canned pears
7. Canned corn (store it anyway for Wheatberry Salsa and Taco Soup, Thing 1 loves it, but not Thing 2)
8. Macaroni and cheese (My favorite is the homemade variety with pureed cauliflower mixed in, but I can only get them to eat that on occasion. They prefer the box variety. I have also come to the conclusion that it is worth the extra money to get the Kraft variety, it just tastes so much better.)
9. Annie's shells and white cheddar cheese. (I generally see organic and think expensive, but these are decently price and everyone in my family loves them.)
10. Ramen noodles (I'm not sure why they love this so much, but they do and it's super cheap and easy.)
11. Cookies made with oatmeal 
12. Muffins made with oatmeal (which I can also sneak powdered milk, dried carrots and dried apples into.)
13. Fresh bread with jam
14. Pancakes/waffles (Recently I made a whole wheat and orange variety that was a hit, I'll have to make it again so I can take pictures and post them.)

What food storage items (or recipes) have you found to be the most effective for you and your little ones?