How To Make The Most Of Fall Produce For Kids

One of the best ways to save money on groceries is to shop in season produce. In this post, I’ll show you what seasonal produce you can expect to see this fall and some deliciously unique dish ideas just for fall. You’ll also learn different ways to use fall produce for kids, specifically. Plus, I’ll show you how to save those fall favorites to enjoy throughout the holidays without spending a bunch of extra time in the kitchen.

What produce is harvested in the fall?

When it comes to following a healthy diet, it isn’t all about calories and restrictions. Especially if you’re wanting your children to eat healthy, you don’t want to restrict all the good stuff. They’ll never learn to properly choose healthy foods for themselves if the “junk” is always unavailable.

You can still eat your favorite foods, but instead of focusing on cutting or reducing the unhealthier options, focus on adding in more healthy options. This is easy to do when it comes to eating seasonally. For the fall, try to incorporate more of these fall superfoods into your diet.

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Greens

Fall is the perfect time to add more greens to your diet. There are many greens that are considered superfoods in the fall season, starting with turnip greens. If you haven’t tried them before, now is a great time. They are loaded with nutrients, like vitamin C and vitamin A, as well as a lot of vitamin K. You can also get calcium in turnip greens. These are a little bitter, so combine them with a citrus-based dressing. 

Another green that is king of the show in the fall is kale. Start making some kale salads or add it to your smoothies, and you will be getting lots of the same vitamins – A, C, and K. It also has an excellent amount of antioxidants. 

Veggies

In addition to greens, there are some other veggies that are in season during the fall. Can we really talk about fall produce for kids without including these delicious fall vegetables? While you can find these year-round, getting them while in season will mean more affordable produce, and often higher quality.

Fall vegetables in season include:

Sweet Potatoes – Who doesn’t love a good sweet potato? You are probably used to enjoying these in the fall, where you get a slight sweetness with this complex carbohydrate. Make a healthier baked potato, slice it up into fries, or enjoy it mashed with some grass-fed butter.

Cauliflower – Cauliflower is all the rage these days, since it is not only a taste most people can get behind, but because it is a low carb vegetable with a lot of versatility. It also happens to be in season during the fall. Cauliflower is excellent because it freezes really well. So stock up during the fall and freeze it to make it stretch.

Brussels Sprouts – Brussels sprouts are also a fall superfood, and they contain some amazing nutrients, including fiber, folate, vitamin C, vitamin K, and antioxidants.

Pumpkin – Pumpkin is one of the most popular fall vegetables, and for good reason. Not only is it delicious, but it can help increase your vitamin A and vitamin C. Pumpkin is another fall vegetable that freezes really well. Buying seasonal produce at a discount and freezing it will help stretch your grocery budget farther!

What is considered a fall fruit?

Fall is also a great time to add fruits to your diet! Some of the best fruits you can eat are in season during the fall, including:

Apples – Fall is the perfect time to start eating apples if you haven’t been already. They are more flavorful and often more affordable as an added bonus. Try to look for apples that are firm, without bruises. Much like some of the fall vegetables above, you can freeze apples, too. Try your luck at homemade applesauce for an extra special treat!

Pomegranate – Pomegranates are a source of fiber and antioxidants, plus provide a slightly tart and sweet flavor in the fall season.

Pears – Another great type of fruit to enjoy in the fall season is the pear. Pears are sweet and very versatile. You can eat them on their own, dipped in peanut butter, or even on a sandwich or topped on waffles for breakfast.

Why should we buy seasonal fruits and vegetables?

As we transition from summer, stocking up on fall produce in season is a great way to stretch the grocery budget into the holidays. Maybe you’re not thinking that far ahead yet, but consider some of the ingredients in your holiday favorites when shopping for fall produce this season. If you have the resources, stock up now and save for later.

Have a delicious pumpkin recipe your kids love? Wait for the pumpkins at your local store or farm to go on sale then snag some at a discount. You can freeze the pumpkin and use it later for the holidays.

Need a healthier, kid-friendly alternative to mashed potatoes this holiday season? Perfect. Stock up on cauliflower now. Freeze it and save it for those delicious mashed potato wannabes later this year.

My mom makes a killer apple crisp dessert. She used to always have people requesting she make her apple crisp for them. But, we were a forced frugal family, that meant we didn’t have the extra money to splurge on hundreds of pounds of apples every year. That didn’t matter though.

Related: How To Seriously Reduce Your Grocery Budget – Shelftember Challenge

My mom would always manage to find someone with an apple tree and more apples than they could handle. She’d make a deal with them, sometimes for a whole truckload of apples. We’d spend hours in the early fall peeling, slicing, and cooking apples to get them ready to freeze. By the time she started getting requests, we always had plenty of frozen apples stocked up and ready to be turned into apple crisp.

Cost Benefits of Buying Fall Produce In Season

Of course, there’s also the money aspect of buying in season produce. If you only buy fresh produce when it’s in season, you’ll automatically save a ton of money on groceries every week. Even opting for frozen with one not in season produce item per week will save you a decent amount of money over time.

Obviously, this isn’t necessarily possible for everyone. But, if you’re looking to save money on groceries, stop buying fresh produce that isn’t in season and opt for frozen as much as possible. Some recipes call for fresh produce specifically, so you’ll have to make some choices or maybe even find some substitutes.

Related: How To Save Money on Groceries Without Coupons

Remember, there are a ton of recipes that you can make ahead of time and freeze. So, buy the fall produce in season, double the recipe, then freeze the excess to eat later, when the fall produce isn’t in season anymore. This is a great way to ease the stress of meal planning during the holiday season, stock your freezer with freezer meals during the fall.

Unique Vegetable Dishes for the Holidays

Speaking of freezer meals, we could probably all use a little more veggies in our diet this upcoming holiday season, right? If you’re worried about your kids eating healthy during the holidays, maybe try some new dishes this fall or make some favorites and freeze them for the holidays.

Fall is the perfect time to add in extra veggies because there are so many vegetables in season. It’s also a great time to try new vegetable dishes when fresh produce is cheaper. It’s not quite as awful to waste vegetables nobody likes when they’re cheaper than normal. Use in season fall produce to try out these vegetable dishes and save your favorites for the upcoming holiday season. 

Depending on your kids’ tastes, these may or may not be a hit. Don’t be afraid to try new things together and ask for their input on how to make them better. Try making new meals together to get them excited about trying a new dish.

Brussels Sprout Coleslaw

These tiny cabbages might not always make the list of people’s favorite veggie lists, but they have an unexpectedly tasty punch that sits in just the right place for the taste buds. The main part of the dish is the shredded, or thinly sliced sprouts, followed by parmesan cheese, and sliced almonds.

You could also add dried fruits like berries or raisins. The dressing most associated with this slaw is honey mustard, which you can buy or make yourself, but you can actually use an oil and vinegar dressing as well. To make this kid-friendly, simply add things your kids would enjoy.

Broccoli and Asparagus BBQ

Sometimes simple is best. When it comes to veggie dishes, a solid simple and tasty dish can send your main course into the highest levels of praise. One such side dish is BBQ broccoli and asparagus. All you need is one cup of broccoli and about 10 – 14 asparagus stalks.

Mince about a teaspoon of garlic and mix it with about 2 tablespoons of oil. Toss the broccoli and asparagus in the oil and garlic mixture, and lightly dust the vegetables with black pepper, sea salt, cardamom, nutmeg, clove and fennel powders, and place over a high heat on a grill, or in a pan on the stove. 

Now you’ve just made flavorful and delicious Super Broccoli Trees and Asparagus Rex Tails that the kids will hopefully love!

Baked Eggplant Parmesan 

If your kiddos enjoy chicken parmesan, why not give eggplant parmesan a try? Eggplant Parmesan has become a favorite for people who are looking to eat less, or no meat and still have a main course that everyone can enjoy.

There are many different recipes available, but one thing that always had to be observed is the process of soaking the eggplant slices in salt water to reduce its bitter flavor. Once prepared, this resilient dish can be frozen so that you can reheat it and get it ready to be served up to 2 weeks later! 

Yay for freezer meals! Remember, double the recipe and cook it all at once. Then freeze the leftovers for an easy way to stock your freezer full of delicious, kid-friendly meals.

Expand Your Menu

There you have it, a few vegetable dish ideas to try with your fall produce. If you’ve been thinking about increasing the amount of veggies your family eats, the holiday season might be an excellent way to get you started on some really healthy habits you can take with you into the new year.

Of course, there are tons more veggie recipes and ideas for vegetable dishes available online. They can show you how to prepare some delicious dishes for fall and beyond. Practice and sample with the kids now so that you can make some new amazing vegetable dishes for the holidays. Just give it a try this year, and hey, you might even find new favorites to add to your list of Meals You Know!

Related: The Ultimate Meal Planning Action Guide (home of the Meals You Know resource)

Tips for Sneaking in More Fruits and Veggies Into Holiday Dishes

Let’s switch gears a bit here. Trying new recipes, using fall produce in season, and adding more fruits and vegetables is great and all, but what if the kids don’t eat it anyway? Now you’re in a tricky situation. You’ve just spent time, money, and effort preparing these foods, you want the kids to actually eat them, right?

Related: How To Get Kids To Eat Veggies – 13 Healthy Eating Tips

So let’s explore some ways to use that fall produce for kids, specifically. You can save money by buying seasonal produce and turn it into healthy fall foods your kids will actually eat.

Special Salads

There are a number of salads that incorporate fall fruits and vegetables into them such as the notorious waldorf salad. This salad is made of mayonnaise, apples, raisins, berries and other fruits. This can be a great and even fun way to get extra fruits in your kids.

If the waldorf doesn’t tickle your taste buds, you can also try something a little more relaxed like the brussels sprouts slaw from above that uses thinly sliced brussels sprouts, tossed in a light dressing with cranberries and parmesan cheese.

Of course, when making salads, you can always leave out the items you know your kids won’t eat, I’m looking at you, raisins. Mincing and dicing the fruits and vegetables into very small pieces can help disguise that not so appealing healthy fall produce, too.  

Rice Dishes

Rice dishes are great for hiding vegetables. Few people have a serious issue with things like Spanish rice, and it usually contains up to 3 different types of vegetables.

Cutting your vegetables to sizes around a quarter of an inch can add rich flavor and a beautiful aesthetic that has the potential attract even the pickiest of eaters. Mince and dice the not so appealing vegetables and leave the favorites a little bigger. Add some great seasonings and you’re all set.

Soups

This is one of the best ways to get your vegetables in if you have trouble eating them. When a soup is made it boils the contents until they are very soft. This could be very helpful for kiddos who don’t like to eat vegetables much.

It makes a difference when you don’t have to actually chew the veggies. In a soup, the broth becomes the carrier of the nutrients. So pack in that goodness, mama!

Plus, soups are so easy to make, they’re the perfect dish for the busy holiday season. Throw a bunch of seasonal produce together, add some seasoning, and voila!

Smoothies 

The ultimate tool for making the most of fall produce for kids: smoothies. Start the holiday prep the healthy way with a fruit and veggie smoothie! This is a lot healthier than making a batch of cinnamon rolls, and reduces the guilt later in the day when you indulge in all those taste holiday meals.

Smoothies are so great for hiding vegetables because you can customize the flavor to please your kids’ taste buds. Add some in season fall vegetables, like fall greens, with your child’s favorite fall fruits. They’ll never know they’re drinking vegetables!

What foods are good in the fall?

The ones the kids actually eat that aren’t junk food, right? Apples, pumpkins, pears, sweet potatoes and the not so popular ones like brussel sprouts and cauliflower, they’re all examples of healthy fall produce. Throw in some cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, or cardamom and you’re sure to have a dish that smells and tastes like fall.

We’re trying to simplify life over here, though, so the best foods for fall are the ones that are easy to prepare and easy to cleanup. That’s why soups are a hit at my house throughout fall and the holiday season. They fill you up, leave you warm, and are usually pretty easy to make and cleanup.

Now that you have some great ideas for making the most of fall produce for kids and adults this year, what are you going to make? Of course, the healthy fall foods are a necessity, but I’m a sucker for yummy fall desserts, too! I’d love to hear about your fall favorites in the comments down below.

Until next time,
Stay Courageous!