A scrumptious meal is sure to elicit the gorgeous smile of any child. Creating a meal that is both good for your kids and tasty can be a task within itself. Taking tiny increments towards healthy eating for kids can make the arduous task much easier. We'll start with the infamously hard food group that kids just can't seem to stomach, vegetables.
Most kids would much rather have a juice box or ham sandwich than any amount of vegetables. Kids have sensitive taste buds that are new and fresh, and can pick up on the smallest of tastes. Using another food item as cover, we're going to mask a helping of vegetables within it, thereby supplying a portion of your child's daily requirements. Muffins, cakes, and bread react very well with a cup of spinach, carrot, or beet pulp, as all three have natural sugars that combine with yeast. The biggest hit in our household is the beet-pulp muffins, and the kids often ask for them for dessert!
Healthy eating for kids isn't limited to pulps in baked goods, though. In many dinner instances, vegetables on the plate go unnoticed, ignored, or pushed to the side. Simmering and chopping vegetables finely and putting them in lasagnas or marinaras is a great way to get a helping of vegetables in - I recommend spinach for both. Dark, leafy green salads that include collards or kale and topped with a sweet dressing to dampen the bitter taste are great for kids.
If your family eats meat, consider buying free range beef, pork, and chicken. The expense of free range meat is offset by the assurances that come with it - none of the animals are exposed to controversial, potentially harmful chemicals. With an unproven but highly attested to higher count of healthy fats, organic eggs provide bonus nutrition. Milk is a staple on all of our shopping lists, and switching to organic milk has the same benefits as free range meat. Two percent milk is not advised for kids, as the fat cells in milk have been proven time and time again as important building blocks of a child's growth.
Olive oil can sub in for butter whenever applicable, and is a healthy alternative. If you'd like to take the oil implement one step further, sesame and coconut oil are trickier to cook with, but also provide varied benefits. In my personal experience, coconut oil of a high grade works incredible magic as a stand-in for butter in baking; just be wary of the measurements.
Proportions are a vital and delicate balance in any part of healthy eating for kids. A one to one ratio should be established when serving meals; one meat, twice the amount of vegetables, and one similar serving of carbs as meat. Unhealthy fats and the maximum amount of beneficial nutrients are ingested by your child using this sometimes difficult, but worthwhile, ratio. Maintaining a 'colorful' plate while incorporating healthy eating for kids is important - the more color on a plate, the more nutrients there are.