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Convenient and healthy kid-approved recipes
We all know that it’s best to offer up a variety of nutritious foods for optimal growth and development of our children. However, getting our kids to chow down on these foods can sometimes feel like a battle of wits, leaving both parents and children frustrated.
Never fear: we’ve compiled a handful of kid-approved recipes that not only hit the mark nutritionally but are also affordable and convenient to whip up on a busy weekday night.
When it comes time to get into the kitchen and prepare a meal, it might surprise you just how much your kids would be willing to help, given the opportunity. Not only is it great bonding time, but chances are also good that once they see the result of all their hard work, they’ll be more inclined to gobble it up!
Read on before heading into the kitchen, and get ready for some smiles and clean plates from the kids and kids-at-heart in your household.
These breakfast pops are the perfect way to start a summer day. The surprise addition of homemade granola embedded in the pop takes this from a snack-time treat to a filling breakfast to fuel the day ahead. Incorporating fermented foods, such as yogurt, into our diet helps to enhance the body’s absorption of proteins, vitamins, and minerals.
Here, the perennial kid-favoured mac and cheese gets a plant-based makeover. One of the key ingredients in this recipe is cauliflower. This standout superfood is all the rage at the moment, and for good reason. Cauliflower is rich in glucosinolates, sulphur-containing compounds with potent antioxidant properties.
This two-tone shake is a fun and nutritious pick-me-up any time of day. Spinach is a functional food hero thanks to its diverse nutritional composition that promotes health beyond basic nutrition. Beetroot not only provides an eye-popping colour but also lends a good source of fibre to this drink, which, in turn, contributes to a healthy digestive tract.
Dippable finger foods always go down a treat with kids, and these fish sticks are no exception. Salmon is a nutritional powerhouse that, among other benefits, is a wonderful source of omega-3 fatty acids and protein, both of which you must get from your diet. To complete this meal, try serving the fish sticks and zesty yogurt sauce alongside roasted sweet potato wedges or celery and carrot sticks.
As indulgent as it sounds, this dip is loaded with nutrient-rich functional foods that help support a healthy immune system. Black beans are a great source of protein and fibre, while raw cocoa powder contains compounds that have been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on our bodies.
First bites
Our food preferences are shaped over our entire life. Genetics, culture, memory, and early feeding patterns all contribute to our palate preferences. One of the key times in which we develop our preferred tastes is during the transition from a liquid diet to a solid diet as babies.
Being repetitively exposed to a variety of textures, tastes, and flavours during this time helps us to accept these flavours when we’re older. This, by no means, indicates that we can’t learn to love new flavours later on; it may just take a little creativity, a few more tries, and a bit more patience.
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Purple Cabbage and Apple Soup
This vibrant soup is a soul-soothing hug in a bowl. Blue and purple fruits and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins that promote health and proper brain function. Apple swap Try swapping out the apples in this recipe for pears. Just like the apples, the subtle sweetness of pears helps balance out the earthiness of the cabbage.
Herb and Greens Frittata
Deep green fruits and vegetables are high on the list of health-promoting foods. Green foods have been shown to contain high amounts of antioxidants and nutrients that promote good cardiovascular health and can inhibit certain carcinogens. Serve this frittata alongside a leafy green salad for an unbeatable green culinary experience. Versatile leftovers Any leftover frittata makes a wonderful filling for a sandwich along with other thinly sliced vegetables you have on hand and a smear of hummus.
Eating the Rainbow for Immunity
As children, we were instructed, and sometimes pleaded with, to eat our vegetables or try a fruit when in search of a sweet treat. While I was not particularly jazzed about the steamed broccoli on my plate as a kid, as I got older and started cooking for myself, a whole world of multi-hued produce opened my eyes to the delicious possibilities. With the start of colder weather nearly upon us, eating foods in a rainbow of colours is more important than ever to help keep our immune systems strong and ready to combat colds, flus, and other viruses. Colourful fruits and vegetables contain valuable phytonutrients. These compounds not only give plants their distinctive colour, aroma, and taste, but when we eat them, phytonutrients have been shown to have an array of benefits from anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects to reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Eating a rainbow of produce is easy. Nature provides so many colourful options readily available in any grocery store or market. Try to aim for two to three servings of different coloured fruits and vegetables at every meal, as well as one to two at every snack. Read on and get ready for some eye-catching and tasty inspiration on how to paint your plate with the colours of the rainbow.
Caramelized Fennel and Yogurt Dip
This creamy dip will be your go-to for dunking vegetables or for spooning over roast chicken or root vegetables as a sauce. Compounds found in fennel have been shown to stimulate the production of T-cells in our body, which, in turn, may help improve our immune response to infections. If white is right If you would like to stay on the white theme, try serving this dip with an array of white vegetables such as endive leaves, jicama sticks, daikon rounds, steamed nugget potatoes, and cauliflower florets.