Every parent wants the best for their growing child. Whilst preparing a healthy meal for kids sounds an easy enough task, getting them to actually eat it is another thing altogether. Yes, I’m talking about those dramatic dinner table meltdowns, all-play-and-no-eating food action on the plate, and outright “Eww!”s. Serve up these healthy versions of all-time favourites like chips, mac and cheese, and even popsicles that picky eaters (and adults) will find hard to resist. Click on the links to call out the recipes — happy cooking!
Ah, chicken nuggets, the quintessential fast food on every child’s plate, and in every parent’s freezer. But how healthy are they? Recent alarming studies reveal that most commercial chicken nuggets out there contain only less than 50 percent meat, with the remainder a mix of blood vessels, nerves, pieces of bones and cartilage. With homemade chicken nuggets, your child gets ‘real’ chicken, with an added boost of heart-healthy oats, without any harmful preservatives and additives. Use whole wheat bread crumbs in place of panko for added wholegrain goodness.
2. Kale Chips
Photo credit: Food Network
Addictively crunchy and crispy chips that are actually good for you, i.e. no calories, sodium or trans fat, sounds a bit hard to believe. But that’s what exactly what this snack, made up of superfood kale, is. Rich in nine essential amino acids, vitamins as well as omega-3 and omega-6, the sturdy leaves of the plant bake up into thin and crisp ‘potato’ chips. Once you can convince your child to look past its green colour, he will never guess this crunchy snack is actually 100% vegetable. The best part is, you can easily adapt the recipe to suit your preferred chips flavous: parmesan, wasabi, curry, or soy sauce (for that nori seaweed taste)!
It’s hard to resist a burger for a convenient meal, but with all the evils of processed food, it’s best to bring fast food into your own home. With lean beef, carrots and zucchini, these burger patties pack a punch in both flavour and nutrition, a far cry from the high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sodium store-bought patties. Give your child the essential dose of weekly whole grain by serving the patties on whole wheat bread, or whole wheat tortilla wraps. Serve with a side of oven-baked sweet potato fries for a complete fast food joint experience.
4. Mac & cheese salmon veggie bites
With the amount of cheese and milk that goes into macaroni and cheese, it is hardly thought of as a healthy meal. But growing kids still need their calcium, so you can increase the nutrition factor in this popular favourite by adding vitamin-filled vegetables, and omega-3 rich, brain-boosting salmon chunks. That’s all of the goodness of a complete meal in a muffin-sized snack your kid can easily munch on while on the move! Add a range of colourful vegetables, call them rainbow mac and cheese muffins, and you can be sure it will be a hit.
Eggs offer muscle tissue-building protein, and are one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D, which helps the body absorb calcium. But having scrambled eggs each morning may not sound an enticing way to start a child’s day. A healthy snack, and a convenient meal-on-the-go, the mini frittata muffins are not only perfect for tiny hands, they’re the perfect vehicle for any preferred toppings. Make a batch with a variety of add-ins, so your child will enjoy different flavoured egg muffins each day! To lower the cholesterol amount, you can use a combination of whole eggs and egg whites, without any noticeable difference in taste.
Before you scrunch up your nose at the thought of a vegetable popsicle, I assure you this tastes anything but. With a unique blend of a nutritious superfood (kale), a brain-food antioxidant (blueberries), and vitamin-enriched fruits (orange juice and banana), the bitter taste of kale, along with its dreaded green colour, are masked perfectly in this delicious sweet treat. Feel free to substitute kale with a milder-tasting leafy green like spinach, or use milk in place of orange juice for that added bone-building calcium.
Top photo: Huffington Post
