Breakfast for Dinner!

I don’t know one kid that doesn’t like breakfast!  Let’s face it, breakfast is good because it normally involves something sweet and doesn’t typically include a lot of vegetables!  Although breakfast could definitely be included under the theme category, kids love it so much that I wanted to write about it separately.  My kids get super excited when we have breakfast night for dinner and can immediately spout out ideas of what we can have.  When we think of breakfast foods, images of waffles, pancakes, syrup, bacon, butter, French toast, and eggs among others immediately come to mind and a balanced meal is not necessarily at the forefront.  However, all of these items can be modified to incorporate fresh nutritious ingredients for a well-balanced meal that your kids will be happy to help you prepare.  Our most recent breakfast for dinner was carrot cake pancakes, ½ a banana spread with peanut butter and a glass of milk.  I actually substituted 1/4 of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour to incorporate whole grains.  When we have breakfast for dinner, I always try to find a recipe that incorporates at least one vegetable which I am able to do with the pancakes and also egg dishes.  Even though its breakfast, I still really try to make the meal balanced. It’s almost easier to get the kids to eat vegetables through breakfast dishes than dinner dishes!  I frequently let my kids use the fruit and vegetable calculator which calculates fruit and vegetable recommendations based on calorie needs for age, sex and activity level.  My kids think this is a fun tool so I use it to my advantage when I can. I’ve included the link below along with the recipe for carrot-cake pancakes and some tips from Kids Eat Right.  Our breakfast dinner was delicious.  It’s a nice change of pace every week or so to do this and the kids really look forward to it!

 

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/fruitsvegetables/index.html

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/top-rated-recipes/best-pancake-recipes-00412000074355/page3.html

http://www.eatright.org/kids/tip.aspx?id=6442467256

 

Pick a theme night!

Theme nights are not only fun for kids but are also a great way to meal plan with your child!  A theme can be based on a specific cuisine, season, holiday, character, ingredient, or any other idea you can imagine.  Once you have a theme, base your meal plan around the theme whether it's for the week or just for one night.  For example, we frequently have a Mexican themed night for dinner because my kids love tacos.  However, we also focus on incorporating an ingredient into the meal we make which is typically whole grains.  Instead of regular crunchy taco shells, we use 100% whole wheat tortillas.  Instead of Mexican rice, we use 100% brown rice.  Instead of store-bought chips for salsa, I make homemade chips using 100% whole wheat pita which I cut up into triangles, brush with EVOO, salt, pepper and broil in the oven.  I put a lot of focus on incorporating whole grains into our meals because it's very easy to do and the sooner you do this, the sooner your kids will consider 100% whole wheat ingredients as a normal part of their diet.  We also make sure to include lots of fresh cut up vegetables to put on our tacos!  Below you will find a link about incorporating more whole grains into your diet and a delicious recipe for fish tacos!  Enjoy!
http://www.eatright.org/kids/video.aspx?id=6442470405
http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442471695

Have your child help with recipe selection!

Every week we plan what meals we are going to eat for the week. On Sunday we pick out 4 dinner recipes and then make a grocery list.  We always ask our kids (ages 6 and 9) if they have any requests and have them help with our recipe selection.  My 9 year old really enjoys doing this and asks to help every week. The best advice I can offer is to pull out cookbooks with colorful pictures.  Find recipe websites online that have pictures with each recipe.  Ask your child to pick a few recipes that look good based on the picture. Kids are more likely to try something new if they see a picture that looks good to them.  Also, by allowing your child to select recipes, they will gain a sense of empowerment from helping you plan a meal and begin to understand the meal planning process.  One of the websites we use is The Meal Makeover Moms:  http://mealmakeovermoms.com/.  This website was developed by two moms that are both registered dietitians.  It was recipes, cooking ideas, cookbooks and a mom's blog.  We've also used recipes from the Kids Eat Right website:  http://www.choosemyplate.gov/kids/Recipes.html which  has recipes created and tested by kids!  My kids think it's really fun to try recipes created by other kids so this is a fun website to look at when planning for the week.  Remind your kids when picking their recipes and thinking about what they want on their dinner plate, to think about My Plate and how to incorporate a fruit, vegetable, grain, protein and dairy as shown here:  http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/ and have fun with the recipe selection process!

Select one new ingredient to use in a meal!

As mentioned before, kids love games!  Challenge your child to select one new ingredient to use in a meal!  Encourage your child to make their selection from the produce department or the perimeter of the grocery store to avoid overly processed ingredients.  Finding a new ingredient can be presented as a fun challenge and get them excited about meal preparation.  This will not only expose them to new foods but also vocabulary!  Once the ingredient is selected, have your child help find recipes using that ingredient!   The link below provides some great links to get kids cooking in the kitchen!  It has tips, recipes, videos and more!  http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/resource-library/cooking-kids  Don't forget to pick a new ingredient to use this week and enjoy your meal!

Plan a Colorful Dinner!

With two kids under the age of 10, I am constantly trying to think of ways to make their plates look interesting and appetizing!  Children are drawn to bright colors.  Lucky for us parents, bright colored fruits and vegetables are not only delicious but nutritious!  Challenge your child to think of meal ideas incorporating as many brightly colored fruits and vegetables as possible!  I am a big fan of the site http://www.superkidsnutrition.com.  They have a super crew colorful food tracker shown below that enables kids to see what colors they are getting in their diet each week:  http://superkidsnutrition.com/pdf/Super_Crew_Colorful_food_tracker.pdf.  Have your kids aim for 4 colors a day!  Hopefully the meal will not only be pretty but your child will be more likely to try the food if the are part of the planning process!

Play a game using My Plate!

Meal planning with kids can be a challenge but when you make it interactive, kids can view it as a lot of fun!  Have your child use My Plate as a guide for planning each meal!  This will enable them to understand what should be on their plate every day. Additionally, My Plate is a great tool to use in quizzing your children on their food group knowledge!  Here is a link to some great My Plate activities and games!

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/kids/Games.html