Healthy Lunch Tips For You and Your Kids

For a mother, there is nothing more important than feeding her children the most nutritious meals fortified with calcium, complete with the nutrients, and of course, hits the trifecta of child-friendliness. In this article, you will not only find the best vegetable recipes that your kids will enjoy eating but also the foods to avoid as well as the right combination of food groups to create the healthiest lunch!

Avoid Convenience Foods

Bagged chips, pre-made fruit bars, and packets of small baked products are some of the convenience foods that you must avoid including in your child’s lunch box. However, considering home-made and packed convenience foods also provides insufficient nutrition for your child. With that, take a look at some of the lunchbox favorites that only serve as sustenance to get them full during the entire day in school.

• Cheese Curds
  

• Toaster pastries

Refined sugar, added colors, and bad fat, these are some of the ingredients that make toaster pastries enjoyable for the kids. In reality, these packaged toaster pastries contain plenty of ingredients to preserve their quality. Although they are convenient to be packed, it is best to skip that ingredients-packed convenient food. 

• Hotdogs

Aside from cheese, hotdogs are kids’ favorite food at any time of the day. Whether for breakfast, lunch, merienda, or dinner, they will never have too many hotdogs. The most alarming ingredient hotdogs contain is the carcinogenic and sodium nitrite that infuses the red coloring into the meat. These ingredients are found to be cancer-causing in humans. 

Incorporate All Food Groups

The key to preparing a healthy lunch for your kids is including the 5 food groups: dairy, fruit, lean meat, poultry, vegetables, and grain. With the right proportion of each food group, your child will surely receive all the nutrients and vitamins needed by his or her body to function. It also fuels the mind to be as active as the physical body. 

Among all the food groups, the vegetables and fruits must have the largest serving sizes. Vegetables should be encouraged at every meal to obtain the vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and phytonutrients which are present in plants. Conversely, fruits have the same wealth of health benefits that should help your child stay healthy and active.  

Try Vegetable Recipes

Classic Spaghetti with Vegetables

Pasta is a good source of carbohydrates that should provide your child’s body with the right amount of energy. The great thing about pasta is you can add different kinds of toppings according to your preference. With that, you can add other healthy food ingredients like vegetables and lean protein. For this recipe, replace meat with vegetables. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups Broccoli
• Cheese, grated
• 900 grams of tomato sauce
• 900 grams of Spaghetti noodles
• ¾ cup red onion, chopped
• ¼ cup garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons oil 
• Salt 

Instructions

1. Boil water and cook the pasta according to the instructions in the packaging. 
2. Prepare the broccoli by cutting it into small bite-size pieces. 
3. Sauté the garlic and onion, add the broccoli and a little water. Cover the pan and wait for 5 minutes until the broccoli is tender. Make sure heat is kept at medium to prevent the garlic and onion from burning. 
4. Take out the pasta noodles and remove the water with a strainer. 
5. Add the pasta into the pan of sautéd broccoli and pour in the tomato sauce. 
6. Stir until the pasta is covered in sauce. Bring it to a boil.
7. Wait until the spaghetti recipe is warm before packing. 

Veggie Nuggets

Kids love finger food, they love dipping the finger food into different kinds of sauces, and most of all they love nuggets! Take off the frozen chicken nuggets you find at your local grocery store and replace them with homemade veggie nuggets. Not all kids like the taste of vegetables. With that, adding vegetables into the food they love presents the best way to make them eat it. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups of seasoned breadcrumbs
• ¾ cups of shredded cheese
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Shred the carrots or slice them into thin cuts lengthwise and crosswise to make little bits. 
2. Steam the broccoli in the microwave for two minutes at the highest temperature. 
3. Place shredded carrots, steamed broccoli, garlic, a cup of breadcrumbs, cheese, onion powder, and black pepper in a bowl and stir. The mixture should be done well so that it is easier to form it into balls.
4. Add water, one teaspoon at a time, until perfect consistency is achieved. 
5. Form the mixture into balls. Flatten the balls to create round discs or form into a square shape. 
6. Place the remaining ¼ cup of breadcrumbs in a shallow dish and coat each veggie nugget with it.
7. Cook the coated veggie nuggets on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy. 
8. Take out the nuggets and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Make sure the nuggets are not extremely hot before packing. Include ketchup, mayo, barbeque sauce, or honey-mustard sauce to make it more enjoyable!

Key Takeaway

Preparing your child’s lunch at home with healthy vegetable recipes should ensure your child eats food with the nutrients that are crucial for his or her growth, as well as increases their mental and physical ability. Make sure your child gets the wealth of health benefits that each of the food groups has to offer by creating the best meals that they will surely love.

See also:- Vegetarianism