Kid-friendly healthy foods
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Sometimes when it comes to kids, food is all about presentation. If something looks ?yucky? they probably won?t touch it. Most kids I know, including my own, usually do not like their foods mixed together, even if we as adults know they taste better that way.
When I served tacos to my kids when they were much younger, I would fill the shell with meat and cheese, knowing that anything resembling a vegetable would not be tolerated?at least not in the taco.
If your kids are willing to eat veggies or salad on their own, serve the shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes as a little salad on the side. My boys would always eat this taco/salad combination.
I?m sure there are many kids who won?t touch chili, since it looks like a bowl of mysterious ingredients. I usually serve chili over rice. For the kids, I pick out any bits of onion, tomato and pepper and give them a serving of ground beef and beans. Sometimes, they?ll pick the beans out and sometimes we?ll get lucky and they?ll clean their plates. I serve their rice on the side instead of beneath the chili.
Presentation can also mean making the food look fun. I saw an idea somewhere for making a ?sailboat lunch?: Serve a sandwich cut into two small triangles as the sail, connect it to an apple slice boat with a carrot stick.
Many healthy snacks can be cut up with cookie cutters. Cut sliced cheese into fun shapes, such as stars, or make heart-shaped PB & J?s.
Fruit can be cut up and served on a skewer as a fruit-kebob. Make a colorful combination of banana, grapes, orange slice and melon.
There are many fun plates, cups, straws, etc. made with kids in mind. I recently picked up some brightly colored plastic plates with little compartments for different foods. My little guy won?t be using these anytime soon but at 75% off (end of summer clearance) I figured I?d buy them and put them away until he?s a bit older.
What have you done to make food more appealing for your kids?
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