While burgers and pizza still reign supreme as kids' favorite meals, children are ordering more healthy foods while dining out, according to a study by the NPD Group, a market research firm based in Chicago. Healthier foods such as soups and grilled chicken are growing in popularity, while purchases of chicken nuggets, French fries and hot dogs are on the decline. Instead of completely eliminating kids' favorites and replacing them with salad and tofu, you can replace unhealthy ingredients in kids' meals with some of the upward-trending foods to serve more balanced meals.
Pasta
The NPD Group study found pasta had surpassed pizza in kids' preferences at full-service restaurants. Despite the hysteria surrounding "carbs" in recent years by high-protein diet advocates, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends whole grains as the key component of their healthy eating pyramid. Adding fat-laden sauces, cheeses and meats to pasta turns dishes such as macaroni and cheese, lasagna and spaghetti into unhealthy entrees.
Serve a pasta meal in several courses, starting with a low-fat vegetable soup. Follow with a salad with plenty of your child's favorite vegetables. Add nuts for crunch and use a low-fat dressing. For the pasta course, use a whole grain pasta. Skip the hamburger in marinara sauce and try canned tuna, rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Use lean ground turkey breast for meatballs and skip the eggs for binding. Use fat-free milk and cheese for mac and cheese, and again, skip the eggs or use an egg substitute for your cheese sauce. Finish with fresh fruit for dessert. Substitute large chunks of vegetables for sausage in lasagna.
Chicken
Forget the breading and deep frying when you make chicken. Make chicken fingers in the oven, baking them on a rack to let fat drip away while they cook. Add breading using skim milk, egg whites and whole wheat bread crumbs or corn flakes. Use lean chicken breast meat, and consider free-range chicken that has no growth hormones or preservatives. For whole or cut-up chicken, bake instead of pan frying. Serve chicken fingers with baked fries or wild rice. With your faux fried chicken, serve mashed potatoes made with skim milk, a trans-fat free butter substitute and your favorite herbs. Instead of burgers, serve skinless, grilled chicken breasts on whole wheat buns with lettuce and tomatoes. Grilled chicken sandwiches were one of the highest-trending food items in the NPD Group survey. Add a low-fat honey mustard instead of mayonnaise. Serve with carrot sticks-- another food item that showed increased favor with kids on the NPD Group survey. Serve a low-fat yogurt for dessert.
South of the Border
"Better Homes & Gardens" recommends more than 20 Mexican dishes for kids, suggesting healthy preparations like using lower-fat skirt steak when you use beef. Make Mexican meals fun for kids by letting them build their own tacos, quesadillas, burritos, flautas, tamales, enchiladas and fajitas. Put out an array of colorful fresh vegetables such as tomatoes; green, yellow and red peppers; lettuce; avocados and onions. Use low-fat protein choices such as fish, shrimp, lean chicken and ground turkey. Try fish tacos, bean burritos or veggie quesadillas. Serve with refried beans or black beans if you are not offering meat to add protein to the meal. Offer low-fat cheese and sour cream. Flan is a fat-free dessert, but relies heavily on sugar, so balance that choice based on the rest of your meal's nutritional content.
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