Smart Eating  and Great Tasting Tips

If you eat healthy, so will your kids. Use our easy eating tips to help you!

• At dinnertime, most kids do better with a small serving of peas, a small serving of corn, and a small potato as compared to a large serving of just one vegetable.
• Kids feel overwhelmed when they are served adult size portions. Keep serving sizes small, about ½ to ¼ of what you would serve yourself, and let your children ask for more.
• When possible, make it a habit to serve two or three vegetables or fruit with most meals (this also helps if your child doesn’t like one particular vegetable – hopefully they’ll eat one or more of the other two).
• Do you tell your children they can watch TV or have dessert if they eat their veggies? This approach works only in the short-term. When you offer kids rewards for eating a certain food, the food eaten to obtain the reward becomes less preferred. Kids start to think of these foods as ‘bad’ foods or a form of punishment and are more resistant to eat them the next time they are offered.
• It takes a significant amount of time for most kids to accept a new food. Research shows that many children must be exposed to (and ideally taste) a new food 5 to 10 times and as many as 13 times before accepting it. Serve new vegetables and fruit on a regular basis. Encourage, but don’t force, your kids to try at least a nibble of any new food offered.
• To increase enthusiasm for new foods, get your kids involved in the shopping, cooking or preparation whenever possible.
• Be a great role model for your kids and be sure to eat a wide variety of vegetables and fruit every day.
• Kids are more likely to eat a previously disliked vegetable when they see one of their friends eating it.
• Make meals something your kids look forward to. The best way to achieve this is by serving a variety of healthy foods at regular meal and snack times. Once the food is served (now, this is the tough part!), sit back and relax. Your children decide what and how much they eat – no pushing, no prodding from you. The more positive and relaxed the environment, the more food your kids are likely to eat.
• Kids don’t eat something because it’s good for them. They eat it because it tastes good. Prepare vegetables and fruit with flavours kids enjoy. Most kids like mild and sweet flavours.
• Your presence at the table means a lot to children. Even if you’re not eating, if you sit with them, they’re more likely to eat. Have your children eat at the table, not in front of the TV or while they run around. It’s important for kids to focus on their meal and to think of mealtime as the time to eat.
• Do your kids prefer raw carrots to cooked carrots? Most do. Many kids will even eat a frozen pea before a cooked one. That’s okay. While it’s a good idea to get kids used to eating vegetables served in a variety of ways, serving them raw on a regular basis is a good strategy for success.
• Don’t feel bad. It’s okay to use the blender or food processor to hide vegetables in foods kids love like spaghetti sauce, chili or shepherd’s pie. Shredded carrots mix nicely into a tuna or chicken salad sandwich mixture. And pureed fruit or shredded veggies are a must-add for all muffin mixes and pancake batters. You can even add pureed carrots to macaroni and cheese.
• When it comes to a new food, serve just a teaspoon or two to make the food seem less intimidating.
• When eating out at a restaurant, ask whether your child’s entrée comes with a vegetable side dish. If not, make it a habit to order extra veggies on the side.
• The fat found in olives and avocados is primarily the monounsaturated, healthier-for-your-heart kind.
• When you order pizza out, ask for double the veggies and half the cheese.
• Most people, including kids, tend to eat what is handy. Keep vegetables and fruit in reach and in sight. Keep cookies, chips and candy out of sight and out of reach (better yet, don’t keep them around at all).
• To preserve nutrients cook vegetables quickly and only until they reach the ‘tender but crisp’ stage. Use cooking methods that require little or no liquid – microwaving, baking, steaming, and stir-frying.
• Eat different kinds of vegetables and fruit each day. Each vegetable or fruit has its own unique package of disease-preventing nutrients and plant compounds.
• Are you getting enough iron in your diet? Many women and children don’t. Prune juice contains more iron than any other juice. Dried fruits, like raisins and apricots, are also good sources of iron.
• Don’t slather kids sandwiches with butter or regular mayo. Instead add crisp, crunchy veggies and a tangy mustard spread. More nutrition, less fat, great taste!
• Supplement your take-out dinner with vegetables and fruit from home. Microwaved veggies are always fast and easy.
• Instead of butter, add low fat sour cream or buttermilk to mashed potatoes. Delicious!
• Try at least one new healthy recipe involving vegetables and fruit at family dinner each week.
• Worried about the nutritional value of canned or frozen vegetables and fruit? Don’t. Nutrients are more or less ‘locked in’ when produce is frozen or canned.
• Substitute whole fruit – fresh, frozen or canned – for fruit juices more often. While juices have lots of vitamins and minerals, they contain very little fibre.
• Liven up your children’s veggie side dishes with one or more of the following items – fresh herbs (thyme, tarragon, rosemary, dill, parsley or basil), a low fat vinaigrette salad dressing, lemon juice, grated orange peel or salsa. Add raisins, sliced almonds or pine nuts for something different.
• Add fruit – like apples, peaches, kiwi, raisins, strawberries or canned mandarin orange sections – to dark green leafy salads more often. Mix with a sweet, low fat dressing, like a raspberry or citrus vinaigrette, for the ultimate taste sensation.
• Add a sprinkle of orange juice, nutmeg and cinnamon to mashed squash, sweet potatoes or canned pureed pumpkin.
• Mix equal parts of honey and lemon juice – about 30 mL (2 Tbsp) of each. Add to cooked, drained vegetables, like carrots, broccoli or green beans. Heat over medium until glazed – about 2 minutes.