When you're feeding a family, you need to blend the culinary and nutritional needs of both adults and children. Easy meals will allow you to not only feel secure that you are providing a healthy diet to your family, but also ensure that your kids will eat what you've prepared.
Significance
Creating meals that everyone enjoys means a stress-free meal. Rather than battling with children, especially if you have a picky eater, provide a variety of options from which everyone can choose. Don't force foods on kids. Help them try new things by blending new options together or introducing new options in addition to some old options. For example, if your child likes diced chicken and avocado, introduce guacamole and tortillas at a family taco night.
Portions
Make sure portion sizes are appropriate to the varying ages of the family. Children can be overwhelmed by too large a portion. In addition, if a child gets used to eating large portions, she can adopt unhealthy eating habits.
Benefits
When you make an easy meal for your kids, use fresh, quality ingredients. Whole grains, fresh vegetables and unprocessed ingredients contain the most nutrition and ensure your child is getting healthy food that helps him grow. Use meal time to reconnect with your kids, rather than fussing over a particularly difficult recipe. This way, you can be relaxed and engage in conversation.
Snacking
Easy meals don't mean ignoring snacks. Help your kids eat nutritious, healthy snacks even when they're not sitting down to a meal, by ensuring you have cut fruit, vegetables, low-fat cheese sticks, low-fat yogurt and whole grain breads on hand. If you limit the amount of junk food you have in the house, you help your kids avoid the habit of eating unhealthy, overly processed foods not only at mealtime, but also at snack time.
Strategies
One of the best ways to make easy meals that kids will eat is to engage them in the process. Have your kids choose the shape of pasta that you're cooking that night, or have older kids help slice some fresh tomatoes for a pasta sauce. Engaging kids in the process helps them feel ownership of the meal, making it more fun for everyone. Though it takes time to build the habit of and patience to cook with your kids, it pays off with peaceful mealtimes. If mealtimes are too hectic, have the kids start by packing their own lunches, or at least choosing the fruit and salty snack as you make a sandwich for them.
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