Healthy Meal Ideas for Kids!

Healthy meal ideas for kids

Eating a variety of food makes our dishes flavorful and colorful. It also helps to balance a healthy lifestyle. Are you running out of ideas of what kind of healthy food to make for your children? Here are some healthy meal ideas for you and your child to try at home.

Breakfast: Breakfast is important for children, studies have shown that children focus and concentration better as well as perform better in school when they consume breakfast. Eating breakfast also helps children maintain a healthy weight.1 Morning time could be hectic to prepare breakfast for your family. Some breakfast ideas that can save your preparation time and that are packed with nutrients for your children:

• Overnight oats (Recipe)

• Adding fresh fruits such as banana, blueberries, or strawberries in cereals.

• Oatmeal with low-fat milk top with fresh fruits and nut butter/ fresh nuts.

• Low fat/ non-fat Yogurt with granola and fruits

• Egg sandwich: Whole wheat bread with eggs over hard along with low-fat cheese

• Egg bites/ omelettes with veggies (Recipe)

Also, make homemade granola bars, banana / zucchini bread, muffins ahead of time, these items can be served as breakfast or even snack.

Lunch/Dinner:

Lunch and dinner should incorporate vegetables, whole-grains, healthy lean proteins, and low-fat dairy products. Try to avoid sugary products and items that are high sodium. Instead, use healthy oil such as canola, soybean, vegetable and olive oil.2 One pan/ one pot meals are a good idea when you do not have time to prepare food for your family. You can also add a variety of vegetables into the meal to encourage higher intake of vegetables.

Some one pan/pot recipes:

• One pot Farmer’s market pasta

• Sheet pan chicken with rainbow vegetables

• Vegetable and star soup recipe

Some colorful dishes:

• Rainbow veggie fried rice

• Firecracker chicken

• Colorful turkey stuffed peppers

Salad dishes:

• Easy pasta salad with chicken and vegetable

• Crunchy taco kale salad

• Steak fajita salad

Snacks/ Sweet treats:

Do not forget that snacks can give your child an energy boost throughout the day. Some snacks that require less or no preparation include: fruits with nut or seed butters, trail mix, hummus with veggies, smoothies with low-fat milk and variety of fruits. Also try some these snack recipes with your children:

• Chocolate chip pumpkin bars

• Strawberry banana smoothie

• No- bake coconut truffles

• Roasted beet hummus

For more information and recipes, Eat Right Pro has lots of healthy recipes for you and your child.

Reference:

1. Ellis E. MS.RDN. LDN. Power up with breakfast. Eatright.org. December 12, 2019. Accessed: Oct 10, 2020 https://www.eatright.org/food/planning-and-prep/snack-and-meal-ideas/power-up-with-breakfast

The American dietetic association. Healthy habits for healthy kids. Eatrightpro.org. 2008. Accessed: Oct 10, 2020 https://www.eatrightpro.org/~/media/eatrightpro%20files/career/career%20development/flyers%20and%20handouts/healthy_habits_healthy_kids.ashx