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Kids
meals can be easy,
fun, tasty, healthy & most all, they love you for taking the
time, the energy, the desire & the attention towards them. One
of the best things about investing time
with your family's food is they will have
more pleasure around eating their food ... just give them some time
& you will see some great results with what they eat, the
excitement around food & the joy of spending time with mum or
dad cooking & preparing.
I
know time is of the essence in many of our homes but your children
are worth the extra effort it takes not only for their own health,
but for your relationship with them.
Kids
love baking cookies & cakes, making fun-shaped sandwiches,
filling wraps up with crunchy colourful foods, crumbing small pieces
of chicken & making a yummy mayonnaise sauce as a dipper -
whatever it is, your child will enjoy it so much more because you
did it together!
Have
some rules about eating - these could include:
- kids need to
sit & eat (not run or walk around)
- have a
relaxing place for the kids to eat at - a table where they can be
close enough to not drop food on the floor, a chair high enough
that they can sit comfortably at the table
- try &
eat together as often as possible without TV - we have so little
precious time, make the most of catching up with friends, school,
sports or just general chit chat - this is a really good time to
keep in touch with children of any age.
- serve meals
on platters so kids can help themselves or you can ask them at the
table what they want on their plate. The rule here is what they
ask for they must eat. This works on many levels - they choose
their own food & they choose their own quantities which makes
them feel a little grown up & encourages responsibility. It
teaches kids about not wasting food & it takes the onus away
from you saying you have to eat what I tell you to eat. Be gentle
in implementing this as it is imperative that you follow through
once you start. Be clear with what you are doing & encourage
small servings to start as they can always ask for more. See below
for ideas of platters
Meal
Planning with
your
kids is the best attitude you can have:
1.
make
a list of
all the meals you & your kids wish to eat - keep it simple
like home-made pizza, crumbed meats with veges, mild curries, salad
platters, creamy tuna ... encourage a couple of weeks meals on the
list.
When
you allow your children to be a part of your meal planning, you have
given them permission to choose the foods they wish to eat. And yes
of course they may ask for foods you don't want to serve them often
but if you make it at home & have it as a special treat, it's
not so bad anymore - they love it & you know what's in
it.
2.
create
your weekly shopping list -
once again if you wish to involve the kids, do it but if you prefer
not to, be easy on yourself & go it alone. Combine as many meals
from your meal planning list as possible.
3.
get
the kids a little involved with
the preparing & cooking of some meals. Ensure you have time to
spend with the teaching of cutting, stirring & reading recipes.
My kids particularly love peeling veges & cutting - ensure
supervision at all times & if the kids get bored - encourage
them to finish what they are doing & then let them on their
way.
4.
have
fun & let some mess happen
. It
is easy to sweep up flour or vege peelings but do be careful
with lids on blenders - that can be messy!!
5.
kids
loooove interesting things
. Now this may sound extravagant but bear with me for a moment. Why
are kids areas created with colour & texture? It's because kids
love looking at colour & shapes so if you can make their foods
with colour, texture & shapes ~ all of a sudden it becomes
exciting for them. Kids generally will not eat boring old carrot
rounds that are overcooked every night. Sorry, neither would I, so
we need inspiration!
Some
foods my kids love at home are:
creamy
salmon & rice:
- use
organic basmati rice as this is the lowest GI of all the
rices
- canned
pink or red salmon is great for all round health, is cheaper than
red meat & easy so keep a can or two in the cupboard for last
minute meals
- add
a teaspoon of curry powder into the creamy sauce for something
different
- add
chopped carrot, peas & fresh corn kernels either in the sauce
or on the side
- squeeze
fresh lime over the top with a sprinkling of zest or a fresh slice
of the lime for beautiful easy colour
- sprinkle
a little soy over the top
picky
dinners:
this
is great for platters,& last minute meals
plus you get to use whatever you have in your
fridge. I usually make small piles of food so the kids can pick
& choose what they want to eat next. The other nice thing here
is that you don't need much of each food, everything is in small
amounts:
- carrot
sticks with a dipper, or grated carrot &
cheese mixed gently together (don't mash them up)
- a
few nuts
- a
tin of fish mixed with a little mayo or lemon
- chopped
tomatoes, halved cherry tomatoes with a sesame oil (if your kids
like sesame)
- cucumber
crowns - these are really easy with a sharp knife or just chopped
up cucumber
- celery
sticks with a few cuts down one side- popped into icy cold water
for 5 minutes so the celery goes curly
- lettuce
leaves filled with different salad bits & pieces so they can
roll them up & eat them like a roll up
- fresh
grain bread, toast or flatbread scraped with tahini, hommous,
pesto, nut butter
- avocado
dip or freshly sliced avo
- large
pieces of cut up fruit
- add
a small dish with balsamic or similar vinegar as a dipping sauce
for all veges - my kids love it!
- as
a specialty add some dark chocolate coated goji berries or a
similar healthy sweet thing which kids are allowed to eat once
they have eaten everything else on the plate - once again ensure
this is followed through!
We
have a really good selection of books with kids recipes & ideas
available in store. Give us a call if there is something in
particular you are after or come in and see Barb for more
information.
If
you have any ideas you would like to share, please just email us at
the store on donna@thenaturalfoodstore.com.au
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