Everyone knows one - that picky eater that won't eat a whole list of foods, and if those foods touch his/hers, then that food becomes CONTAMINATED. Hopefully this fun and super-healthy menu provides some ideas about getting kids to pick their own foods, and funking up the menu so the food looks cool.
Big tall glasses and coloured straws, to serve
Blend all ingredients together - get the kids to help, and watch their solid foods become a blended smoothie! Blueberries in particular give a great colour, and are so rich in antioxidents and nutrients. Frozen mixed berries are great too because they keep the smoothie cold.
Use hollowed out tomatoes or capsicums (bell peppers) to form the bowl of a crunchy chopped up salad. Once again, make it depending on your child's preferences, if possible. Here's a good combination - To serve 2-4 kids
Combine all the ingredients together well, and spoon into the hollowed out edible bowls. These are not so much a meal as a great snack, especially as the vegetable mix can be doubled and kept in the fridge for a snack the next day as well. Combined with other parts of a meal, like a protein source, they can become a very healthy side dish.
To make 4 (get the kids to help with the steps in italics)
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Taste for seasoning and adjust - may need salt and pepper. Shape mixture into patties by rolling into balls and squashing a little flatter. Place in a lightly greased frying pan and fry 5-10 minutes on high until well browned. Flip and do the other side. Arrange on toasted wholemeal burger buns with your choice of tomato, lettuce, sauces, and cheese.
Thread together on some skewers your preferred fruits: in winter chunks of banana, apple, pear or orange is in season, and therefore more economical - in summer, peaches, nectarines, apricots, watermelon and even strawberries are available at low prices. Serve alongside two bowls, the first filled with some preferably biogynamic or soy yoghurt, and the second filled with shredded coconut. Let the kids dip away!
This is the ultimate in cheating kids into eating vegetables. Spaghetti Bolognaise is the classic dish, but this pasta sauce can be used as the sauce for a lasagne bake or a cannelloni filling as well. The trick is in using 'meaty' vegetables to make the 'mince'. If making a bake, try using wholemeal pasta or Soyaroni to add some extra fibre, protein and nutrition.
Minced ingredients:
Other ingredients:
In a mixing bowl, combine the minced ingredients and set aside. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil briefly until fragrant. Add the 'mince' and continue to saute until they start to cook. Then add the remaining ingredients, reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least half an hour, preferably a bit longer. The sauce should not be watery when you serve it, it should be fairly chunky.
If we were all perfect our kids would never eat anything as a snack except raw fruit and nuts, and maybe some wholegrains, but the real world is nothing like this. Fortunately, this recipe falls somewhere in between the two. Oats are rich in fibre and are said to reduce cholesterol, nuts are full of essential fatty acids, and if you serve these in a lunchbox with a little carton of plain or flavoured soy milk, all in all that's a pretty good morning tea!
Preheat oven to 180C. Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients seperately and then incorporate into each other. Drop by tablespoons-full onto a cookie sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden and slightly crisp. Leave to cool. Great to put in lunch-boxes with a small carton of flavoured low-fat soy milk.