These would be great next to healthy meatballs, sheet pan fajitas, or slow cooker whole chicken – three dinners that even my pickiest eaters gobble up! Need another great side? Make my Broccoli Rice Casserole! So with Piper being in full on THREENAGER mode (<—- totally a thing), I’ve been thinking a lot about how hard it is to parent toddlers and make sure they have everything they need. You guys. It’s a lot! I know, I’m preaching to the choir. I think that a sane person could go crazy if they start to think about all the decisions that go into parenting. There are so many different choices to make and lots of times, both choices (or ALL the choices!!) make sense, which makes it even harder. It’s also tricky to make sure that those constantly moving tornados get all the fruits and vegetables they need. I am a firm believer that kids should have some veggies on their plate at every dinner. In veggie form. We do lots of cut up peppers, baby carrots, and roasted broccoli. And when I say roasted broccoli, I mean like two pieces because that’s as big of a battle as I can handle. So I love that these Broccoli Cheddar Cauliflower Tator Tots let me sneak in a little more. They start with steamed broccoli and cauliflower and then you throw in some egg, bread crumbs, cheese, and seasoning and you get a tasty little tot. These are easy to make but a little putsy, so I think it is definitely worth it to double or triple the batch and then freeze some. You could just take the raw tot, line a baking sheet with wax paper and stick them in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Take them out and put them into an air tight container and freeze for up to a month. When you are ready to make them, allow them to thaw and then stick them in the oven and bake.
Tips and tricks
Make sure you squeeze the water out after steaming the vegetables, but don’t stress, a little liquid helps hold them together better. You can definitely mix these up by switching out the cheeses or the spices for different flavors. These use just about a fourth of a broccoli head and a fourth of a cauliflower head, so you will definitely want to double or triple the recipe. Then roast the rest of your veggies to serve with these.
Other toddler friendly foods Apple Carrot Zucchini Muffins Homemade Chewy Granola Bars Chocolate Energy Bites
