Cooking with Kids: Tuna Peppers

Sweet Pea is 4 years old.

From: This healthy recipe from my Great Aunt Grace is great for little hands.

Material:

• 6 oz canned / pouch light tuna.
• 20-30 Mild Whole Peppadew Peppers  (The original recipe actually calls for Tennessee cheese peppers, but those are impossible to locate in our part of the country.  I have found the Pappadew peppers at an olive bar or by the canned olives at the grocery store.)
• 1/4 Cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs.
• 2-4 TBS Olive oil.
• Medium bowl.
• Airtight container to store the stuffed peppers.
• Aunt Grace’s Tuna Pepper Recipe.  (Right click on link and select “Save Link As…” or “Save Target As…”  to save the worksheet to your computer.  This is a .pdf file and requires Foxit or Adobe Acrobat to view.)

Procedure:

• Dump the tuna into the bowl.

• Let your tot add 1/4 cup of bread crumbs and use her hands to mix them into the tuna.
• Drizzle with 1-2 TBS of olive oil and invite your tot to gently mix everything together.  The mixture should be tacky and stick together when it is gently pressed.  If it falls apart, add a bit more olive oil until it is moist enough.

•  Show your tot how to take about 2 teaspoons of the tuna mixture and carefully push it into each pepper.

• Place the tuna peppers in a single layer into a sealable container and drizzle with 1-2 TBS of olive oil.
• Enjoy!
• The left over peppers can be kept in the sealed container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Observations: Sweet Pea loves both making  and eating tuna peppers.  No matter what she is in the middle of, she comes running if I ask her if she wants to make them.  I am pretty sure it is the messy mixing that has her hooked.

This recipe is tasty and lots of fun to make.  If  you like tuna, I would encourage you to give it a try.

Notes from the Trenches:

• I consider tuna a very healthy food, but don’t go crazy and serve these every day for lunch.   The EPA states that children and pregnant woman should limit their intake of light tuna to 2 servings per week (or albacore to only 1 serving per week) because, like many fish, it can contain mercury.
• Sweet Pea is an adventurous eater and these are a tiny bit spicy.  I am a big believer that  kids should eat whatever their adults are eating so this isn’t a problem in our house.  Sweet Pea loves them, but I can see some tots complaining that they are too spicy.
• Sometimes the peppers seem to have quite a few seeds left inside.  If you find this is the case then first rinse the peppers under running water to remove any stray seeds.
• Sweet Pea got a little over-zealous with the mixing, and I’m sure this could be a problem for all children.  I had to remind her to mix everything together gently.

Rating: 2 Stars * (Fun, Easy)

Carnivals:  This post is linked up to It’s Playtime at Quirky Mama.

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♥ Linky Love ♥:  Vi Hart’s blog  is full of the most awesome videos about everyday math.  For example, she uses “fruit by the foot” to play with mobius strips.   If you have even just a teeny bit of math nerd in you, you will love her stuff.  [NOTE: The blog seems dead, but you can still watch their stuff on youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/vihart]