Now I have already managed to find great, non-grainy, 100 percent whole wheat pastas that are cheap -- thanks to our local Whole Foods Market. And they are not picky about what kind of ground meat I put in. I have used beef, buffalo, pork, and turkey, and I mostly use turkey as is is much lower in saturated fat (though the thought of using ground meat in marinara makes my close Italian friend cringe -- so don't tell her if you see her). Of course you can use plain pasta if your little (and older) eaters are super-picky.
The difficulty comes with trying to get in some good, dark greens and brightly colored vegetables into a meal that my five-year old will eat. I've tried the Ragu pasta sauce that has the extra vegetables (which is good, by the way), but the moment he sees the chunks of veggies, the vault is closed. I finally came up with an alternate plan.
I made homemade sauce last night, but this would work with store bought sauce as well. I put my can of crushed tomatoes, a couple garlic cloves, and some left over sliced onion into my all metal drive blender. I added a couple large handfuls of raw spinach (you may want to use less to start) and an enormous carrot, and blended it until it was completely smooth.
Then I poured it into a pot and simmered it with lots of basil, salt, and pepper. I added the browned meat, and then poured in the cooked pasta (I like to use penne because it isn't quite so messy for Eli).
Drew and Eli ate double helpings, raved about how good it was, and were none the wiser for getting all the extra nutrients... unless you count the increased brain power that comes with a healthy diet!
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