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How to Make Kids Eat Healthy?
Children are very finicky when it comes to having their meal and it can be a hard time for the parents to convince them to eat healthily. A growing child must need the required nutrients to ensure that the body gets complete nourishment. Thus, parents need to make their kids eat healthy by making new snacks. These snacks must be appealing, tasty, and colourful to look at. In this article, we will share some great snack recipes that will impress your children.
Healthy and Fun Ways to Create a Healthy Snack Box
Make snack time healthy by ditching processed and sugar-laden products. These products might be tasty and easy to purchase but they do not have any nutritional benefits. You can make healthy snacks at home using seasonal fruits and vegetables. Here is a list of ideas that you can follow to make your children choose healthy snack options.
- Make fruit yogurts at home rather than buying them. Homemade yogurts are much creamier and consist of less sugar.
- Freeze fruit yogurts into popsicles and serve them as desserts or summertime snacks.
- Add sweetness to your snacks by using honey or homemade peanut butter.
- Make chocolate dips for fruits and vegetables.
- Use whole-wheat tortillas for making rolls.
- Add colorful vegetables and a variety of cheeses for making savory snacks.
- Convert fruits and vegetables into your children’s favorite cartoon characters.
Tips and Tricks to Make Healthy and Tasty Snacks for Kids
It is common for a growing child to feel hungry all the time and it is a good idea to keep snacks handy to satisfy their hunger cravings. Here are some tips and tricks that you can follow to make your snacks healthy.
- Prepare Ahead - It is wise to plan and include snacks into the list as well. This gives you ample time to make them and you wouldn’t have to visit a store to purchase snacks.
- Stock up Essential Ingredients - Keep necessary ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, and condiments ready to create a healthy recipe at a short notice. You can clean the fruits and store them in the freezer to make frozen fruits and serve them with yogurt.
- Buy Healthy Ingredients - Buy healthy alternatives such as dates, nuts, oats, millet cookies, and yogurt.
- Get Ideas from Your Kids - Include your children in the snack making process. This helps you to determine their likes and dislikes.
- Decorate Your Snacks - Get creative by decorating your snacks with sprinkles, sizes, and shapes that will impress your kids.
- Allow Them to Choose - Allow your children to choose their favorite ingredients that will be used to make a snack. They will surely enjoy the process and you can experiment with various ingredients.
Cool Ideas to Make Snacks Colourful and Attractive for Kids
- Choose colourful and fun cutlery for your kids to make them enjoy eating.
- Limit distractions during mealtime such as watching TV or playing.
- Serve snacks that are easy to eat and less messy.
- Opt for finger foods such as fruit kebabs and vegetable sticks.
- Make the food colourful by adding children-friendly and edible food colours.
- Shape the food into alphabets, smileys, hearts, and other quirky shapes.
- Serve small quantities in frequent intervals to avoid boredom.
Best Fun and Healthy Snacks for Kids
1. Colourful Fruit Snacks
Fruit snacks are always are favourite among kids due to their taste, colour, and texture. Make your kids love a variety of fruits by making them into a color tasty snack in various designs and shapes. You can model after their favourite cartoon characters. One can also add sweetness to these fruit snacks by adding a few healthy sugars such as honey. You can serve yogurt along with these frozen fruit cubes as a healthy snack for your children.
Ingredients required
- ⅔ cups - fresh lemon juice or fresh orange juice
- ⅔ cups - frozen or fresh berries (raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries)
- ⅔ cups - frozen or fresh fruits of their choice
- 2 tbsps - honey
- 5 tbsp - gelatin
Procedure
- Step - 1: Pour fresh lime/orange juice along with the berries and fresh fruits in a saucepan.
- Step - 2: Heat the saucepan and cook the fruit mixture until they are tender.
- Step - 3: Add honey to the tender mixture and combine well until it is dissolved.
- Step - 4: Remove the mixture from the saucepan and add gelatin sheets to the mixture.
- Step - 5: Stir in the gelatin sheets well into the mixture to avoid any lumps.
- Step - 6: Puree the cooked fruit mixture in a food processor or using an immersion blender.
- Step - 7: Pour the pureed mixture in a wide glass dish and refrigerate the mixture until it is set.
- Step - 8: Once the mixture is set, cut it into small squares and place it into transparent packs.
2. Banana Sushi
Fishes are usually used for making world-renowned sushi but have ever made sushi out of a banana? Impress your children by making banana sushi that is tasty, easy, and very fun to make.
Ingredients required
- 1 - Whole wheat tortilla
- 1 - Peeled banana
- 3 tbsp - Peanut butter
- 1 tsp - Nutella
Procedure
- Step - 1: Place a whole wheat tortilla and toast it slightly under it is done on both sides.
- Step - 2: Place the cooked tortilla on a rolling sheet.
- Step - 3: Smear 3 tablespoons of peanut butter on the tortilla and spread it well.
- Step - 4: Apply 1 teaspoon of Nutella on the tortilla.
- Step - 5: Place a peeled banana on the tortilla and roll it tightly.
- Step - 6: Secure the roll in place by using a toothpick.
- Step - 7: Slice the rolled tortilla into one-inch roundels and serve.
3. Guac Crocs & Veggies
When compared to fruits, children are very much picky when it comes to eating vegetables. However, we an awesome recipe that you can use to make your children eat vegetables as a healthy snack.
Ingredients required
- 1 can - garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 3 tbsp - mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp - lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp - garlic salt
- 2 large - ripe avocados
- 1 cup - assorted bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, olives any vegetables of your choice
Procedure
- Step - 1: Add the chickpeas, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor.
- Step - 2: Grind all the ingredients well until they are smooth.
- Step - 3: Remove the seeds from the avocado and cut it into lengthwise pieces.
- Step - 4: Scoop out the avocado flesh from the skin and add to the blended mixture.
- Step - 5: For the crocodile heads, fill avocado skins with the blended dip.
- Step - 6: Add colorful bell pepper pieces as teeth and olives for the crocodile eyes.
4. Chocolate-Hazelnut Fruit Pizza
Did you know that you can make pizza from fruits and chocolate-hazelnut spread? This snack will be a favourite among your children and their friends.
Ingredients required:
- 1 - Whole wheat tortilla
- 2 tbsp - Nutella
- 3 to 4 - sliced fresh strawberries
- ½ cup - medium-firm banana, peeled and sliced
- 1 - small kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
Procedure:
- Step - 1: Place a whole wheat tortilla on an assembling tray.
- Step - 2: Smear the top side of the tortilla with two tablespoons of Nutella.
- Step - 3: Arrange the sliced fruits on the Nutella spread tortilla such that it resembles a colorful pizza.
- Step - 4: Using a pizza cutter, slice the tortilla into triangles and serve.
- Step - 5: You can also add sprinkles and nuts to make them healthy for your children.
5. Arts and Crackers
Crackers are handy snacks that satisfy your children’s hunger cravings. However, over time these crackers can turn into boring snacks and you might need to step up your snack game. You can make changes to your humble crackers by transforming them into art that your children will cherish.
Ingredients required:
- 2 slices - provolone cheese
- 2 slices - cheddar cheese
- 1 - large apple, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp - butter
- 2 tbsp - peach preserves
- ¼ tsp - ground cinnamon
- 20 - crackers
Procedure:
- Step - 1: Cut the cheese into a variety of slices using cookie cutters and keep them aside.
- Step - 2: In a small saucepan, add butter and saute the chopped apple pieces until they are cooked.
- Step - 3: Add the peach preserve into the mixture and mix well.
- Step - 4: Add ground cinnamon to the cooked mixture and combine well.
- Step - 5: Place the cheese on the crackers and serve along with cooked apple mixture.
6. Mini Zucchini Pizzas
Convert boring zucchini into mini pizzas that your children will gobble up in no time. These zucchini pizzas are very easy to make with limited ingredients and serve as the perfect snack when they are hungry.
Ingredients required:
- 2 - large zucchini squash, sliced into roundels
- ¼ cup - finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup - fresh oregano and basil for topping
- ½ cup - pesto
- 1 - sweet corn, grilled or roasted
- 4 slices - bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 tbsp - unsalted butter
- ½ - red onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp - brown sugar
- 1 cup - marinara sauce
- 4 ounces - blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 tsp - Italian seasoning
- Salt - as required
Procedure:
- Step - 1: In a saucepan, add butter and caramelize the onion over low heat.
- Step - 2: Add the brown sugar and a pinch of salt for caramelizing the onions.
- Step - 3: Drain excess water from the zucchini roundels by tapping it with tissue paper.
- Step - 4: Divide the zucchini roundels into two portions.
- Step - 5: Take the first portion of the roundels and apply pesto sauce on it and add sweet corn, bacon slices, and caramelized onion.
- Step - 6: Take the next batch of roundels and apply marinara sauce, blue cheese, fontina cheese, and Italian seasoning.
- Step - 7: Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 375 degrees F.
- Step - 8: Finally, place the assembled zucchini roundels into the pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese starts bubbling.
- Step - 9: Remove the zucchini pizzas from the oven and garnish with grated parmesan cheese, basil, and oregano.
7. Apple-Raisin Baked Oatmeal
Combine oatmeals and apples to make a delicious snack that your children cannot refuse. It can be easily served hot with ice cream or packed as a school snack.
Ingredients required:
- 1 cup - rolled oats
- ½ cup - unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup - milk
- ½ cup - apples and raisins
- 1 tbsp - flaxseed
- 3 tbsp - maple syrup
- 1 tbsp - coconut oil
- A pinch of cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla extract, and sea salt
Procedure:
- Step - 1: In a large mixing bowl, combine rolled oats and milk.
- Step - 2: Add the unsweetened apple sauce, flaxseed, and maple syrup.
- Step - 3: Combine coconut oil, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt to the mixture.
- Step - 4: Finally, add chopped apples, raisins to the mixture, and combine all the ingredients.
- Step - 5: Pour the oats mixture into a baking pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Step - 6: Once it is done, slice them into squares and serve them hot with ice cream or store it in a clean container for future use.
8. Crunchy Guffed Rice Balls
Puffed rice is crunchy and a favourite snack among children of all ages. Impress your children by making sweet balls from puffed rice as snacks or dessert. It is an ideal snack for kids of all ages due to its sweetness and crunchy texture.
Ingredients required:
- 2 cups - puffed rice
- ½ cup - jaggery
- ⅛ cup - water
- ⅛ tsp - cardamom powder
- ⅛ tsp - dry ginger powder
Procedure:
- Step - 1: In a saucepan add the jaggery and add water to dissolve it.
- Step - 2: Heat the jaggery until it is melted and switch off the flame.
- Step - 3: Strain the jaggery with a strainer or a fine cloth to filter the impurities.
- Step - 4: In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups of puffed rice, cardamon, and dry ginger powder.
- Step - 5: Pour the jaggery syrup in the mixing bowl and combine all the ingredients well.
- Step - 6: Once the mixture is cooled, make balls out of the mixture and set them aside.
- Step - 7: Store the puffed rice balls in an airtight container and serve them.
9. Apple and Peanut Butter Stackers
Make easy burgers using apple slices and peanut butter along with colourful sprinkles. This is a perfect snack for your children, and this will be a star attraction at parties as well. These healthy stackers are very easy to make and can be made at very short notice.
Ingredients required:
- 2 - medium-sized apples
- ⅓ cup - chunky peanut butter
- 1 cup - favorite fillings such as granola, miniature semisweet chocolate chips, and M&M's minis
Procedure
- Step - 1: Remove the core from the apples and cut them into 1-inch roundels.
- Step - 2: Spread peanut butter on all the roundels and add fillings of your choice.
- Step - 3: Place one roundel on another to create a stacker.
- Step - 4: You can secure them in place by using a toothpick.
- Step - 5: You can also dip the stacker in liquid chocolate to surprise your children with a healthy chocolatey snack.
10. Chocolate Dipped Rainbow Strawberries
Chocolate dipped strawberries are easy to make and taste heavenly. Treat your children to these chocolate-dipped strawberries by following these easy steps. Explore your creativity by decorating them according to your kids' liking.
Ingredients required:
- 1 cup - strawberries
- 1 cup - white or brown choco melts
- A pinch - food coloring
- 1 cup - sprinkles of your choice
- 1 tsp - vegetable oil
Procedure:
- Step - 1: Add the chocolate to a mixing bowl and melt over a water bath.
- Step - 2: Once the chocolate starts to melt, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil.
- Step - 3: Once the chocolate sauce is ready, pour them into ramekins or small bowls.
- Step - 4: Add food colors of your choice to the chocolate and mix well.
- Step - 5: Dip the strawberries halfway into the chocolate sauce.
- Step - 6: Add some sprinkles on the chocolate covered strawberry.
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Use Snack Times as a Way to Increase Fruits and Vegetable Intake
Kids do not take the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Snack times offer a great opportunity to increase access and exposure to these nutrient-dense foods. You can pair them up with dairy products or whole-grain cereals and bread. Arrange your children's foods to show the beauty of fresh, brightly coloured foods. Talk about the farms where food comes from and the farmers who help grow it.