I have partnered with Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and Medical City Children’s Hospital to share with you my experience with the Kid’s Fit Menu Challenge featuring a healthy menu including fruits and vegetables.

Back in April of this year, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen partnered with Medical City Children’s Hospital to challenge four chosen two-person high school student teams to create healthy, hand-crafted dishes through the Kids Fit Menu program. Each team incorporated one full serving of fruits or vegetables into their recipes. As well, they followed strict guidelines as to the maximum amounts allowable of sugar, sodium, and trans fats.

Family Night Dinner Time

The two winning teams (four students) received scholarships from Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and now their dishes are available on kid’s menus beginning August 1st, for a limited time. It was such a treat to attend this event and I’d like to again acknowledge Abelardo Villegas and Hope Cachay from Jack E. Singley Academy and Kaitlyn Flenker and Vivian Martin from Buinger Career and Technology Education Academy as the winners. Check out their stories and the dishes they prepared at the Cheddar’s blog.

Trying the Cheddars Kid Fit Menu

We had been anticipating actually getting to try out the winning recipes at one of the Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen locations. We had plenty of options to choose from at various Cheddar’s around the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. You can find a location near you at the website.

We took our youngest kids to a nearby Cheddar’s that was featuring the Kids Fit Menu. The Pizza Dippers were a huge hit with our 7 year old. She really enjoyed this flat bread pizza with chicken, mozzarella, and vegetable packed marinara. It also came with glazed tropical fruit that did not disappoint.

The Honey Lime Chicken Wraps were filled with lean chicken, cheese, crisp vegetables, and a honey lime dressing. It came with a decadent strawberry and key lime mousse for dipping – so good.

 

Something we all had fun with was the family questionnaire on the back of the menu. Basically, there is a series of questions to get everyone talking and interacting. Examples of the questions are:

  • What has been the happiest day of your life so far?
  • If you could only keep 3 items in your room, which ones would you pick?
  • What have you done to help someone this past week?

I have to say, we really had a great meal and the time flew by. We ate, drank, and talked as a family non-stop. It was a pretty cool bonding experience. Who knew the quest for healthy pizza dippers and honey-lime chicken wraps could be so rewarding?

 

Try Out Some Healthy Recipes

Cheddars Scratch Kitchen is a casual dining experience that is both adult and kid friendly. If you want to try out the Kids Fit Menu, it is available right now at these DFW locations.

  • Bedford
  • Garland
  • Allen
  • Dallas
  • Greenville Avenue
  • The Colony
  • Little Road
  • MacArthur
  • Mesquite