How To Make Your Kids Eat Better

As a parent, ensuring that kids eat healthily is something we all want to do, but the reality can often be rather different from our ideas and ideals. Children aren’t always happy to try new things, and sometimes it can be completely frustrating and even upsetting when they are struggling with their food. This can have a knock-on effect and cause tempers to flare. To prevent this, and to make sure that your kids eat as healthily as possible, here are some useful tips.

Information

Simply placing food in front of a child and expecting them to eat it when they don’t know or understand what it is could well be the cause of the problem. By giving children more information about what they are eating, perhaps even taking them to the grocery store with you to see what ingredients are being used, can make a big difference. As with anything in life, the more information you have, the better prepared you are to deal with it. You wouldn’t buy a property through Roofstock, start a savings account, or purchase a car without knowing all the details – it’s the same with your kids’ food. Give them the background and information, and they will be more willing to try it.

Smoothies

Smoothies

Smoothies are a fantastic way to get a lot of goodness into a child in one go – and they will enjoy the taste too. Even if they don’t want to eat the greens that you put on their plate at dinnertime, presenting them with a bright green ‘monster smoothie’ could very well be a great alternative. That’s because it is exciting and interesting, and they will be keen to try this new thing that doesn’t look like the vegetables they have been offered before. You can add dairy, fruit, oats, and more to ensure that they are getting a good range of foods and are feeling full.

Use The Familiar

Finding something that your kids love, such as pizza or spaghetti and meatballs, is a good thing, but they can’t eat that all the time or they won’t be getting a well-balanced diet. However, using the familiar items that they enjoy to introduce new foods can work really well. Take pizza for example; you can switch the standard base for a wholemeal option, to begin with. As time goes on, you can start adding different toppings that are healthier.

DIY Food

If your children help you to prepare their meals, they will have a greater understanding of what has gone into them, to begin with. This will also help them to engage with the food, and encourage them to try it – they will be proud of what they have done and want to taste the results. They will also want everyone else to taste the results, so be prepared to sit with them and all eat the same thing; this is a good habit to get into anyway. Alternatively, you could set up a ‘bar’ of goodies, which are all healthy, and your children can pick their own food. This is ideal for snacks, or perhaps for breakfast.

Benefits of Eating Fish

Cooking with Fish

There are numerous benefits to eating fish on a regular basis. From preventing depression and dementia to keeping your heart health on par — the fact of the matter is that eating fish twice a week can save you a lot of trouble as you grow older.

But the reality is that many people steer clear of this type of food, especially seafood because they might have heard that the risks of food poisoning upon consuming dishes made with these ingredients are rather high. That might be true, but if you cook your own fish and seafood recipes, you will know for sure that you have used the right temperature so as to avoid getting yourself and those you care about sick.

Is cooking with fish complicated?

Unlike meat and poultry, fish has a different consistency, which means that you need to use gentler methods of cooking. It can be grilled, fried, or baked, and the best thing about fish especially is that it cooks fast. Serving it is also simple because you’ll often need a bit of lemon and maybe some fresh parsley if you really want to be fancy.

Seasonings

Both some seafood dishes and fish courses call for the same seasonings. You can use chili, ginger, as well as many herbs and lemon. You can add a tomato-based sauce or vinegar, too. There are mixes of condiments available these days, and they are formulated especially for fish.

Overcooking

Unfortunately, due to the texture of the meat of fish, you might risk overcooking it. Raw fish is somewhat translucent, but it has a solid color when it is adequately cooked. When it comes to preparing this type of food, it’s more of a trial and error kind of business than anything else.

You’ll notice that, when the heat has penetrated its core, and the meat has been cooked, the fish will turn flaky. The one that’s overdone is too dry. If you’re ever feeling unsure about whether the meal is ready, it’s better to turn off the heat and allow the fish to cook using its internal temperature and that of the pan.

How can you tell if the fish is fresh?

If you have the opportunity to buy fresh fish instead of frozen one, don’t hesitate to do so. There are several basic guidelines to stick to, though. If the fish is fresh, you’ll notice that its gills are red and its eyes are shiny and clear. The skin on the fish body also has to be tight and firm. As for the smell, many folks think that fish should smell fishy, but the fact is that any fresh one will remind you of an ocean breeze more than a stench per se.

Besides, there’s always the method of testing whether the fish is fresh by giving a small piece to one of your feline friends. Just make sure that no bits are dropped or left in one of the funny beds for cats you might have in your home.