The adult palette matures over time, increasing the preference for salty or bitter foods while diminishing the preference for sweet ones. In terms of organic foods, this maturation of the taste buds can contribute to increased health as quinoa, broccoli, and kale can be viewed as bitter or unpleasant.
Conversely, a child's taste buds are primed for sweet foods. This biological difference between a child's taste buds and those of an adult can make mealtimes difficult for parents trying to offer their children healthy meals because many children might not want to eat a healthy meal even if it looks good or took some time and effort to prepare.
The trick, of course, is that parents must be able to balance the taste and nutrition of organic foods with the inconvenient childhood eating preferences. Doing so might seem difficult, but there are actually a multitude of snacks, fresh foods, and organic recipes kids will find delicious. It is important to find and prepare these foods because poor childhood eating habits can result in a lifetime of adult eating problems that function as the foundation for poor health. The good news is that some of these meals can be made for an entire family and can be prepared in less than 15 minutes. Many others require no more than 30 minutes.
It might seem a curious choice to begin this list with one of the most bitter of nutritional foods, but organic quinoa can serve as the foundation for some of the tastiest meals. For instance, you can mix sauces or spice with it or mix it with someone's favorite veggies. Specifically, it can be used in the following dishes.
For pancakes, all you need to do is follow a traditional pancake recipe using organic quinoa flour with organic foods like egg replacement and soy milk. You can use mashed bananas as a sweetener and xanthan gum to provide that familiar pancake texture.
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To make this dish especially fun and easy on the schedule of school-age children, you can pour the batter into silver-dollar pancakes, allowing you to serve multiple children at once while also limiting serving size. Of course, pancakes often serve as the foundation for butter and syrup. However, in this case, you can mash organic blackberries into a paste. Topping off the pancakes with mashed blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries will provide all the flavor of jam without any high concentration of calories and sugar.
Tip: if you mix the bananas into a chunky paste, the banana chunks will provide an added burst of flavor in every bite.
Nachos are similar to pizza in that you can throw a variety of ingredients together for a delicious dish everyone in the family will simply devour. For instance, instead of using beef and flavoring as a foundation for nachos, you can use organic beans mixed with tofu and nacho flavoring. For added spice, you can include organic jalapenos or red peppers.
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When preparing this dish, you should brown the tofu for 20 minutes on high heat. While the tofu is browning, you should mash the black beans. Browning the tofu will toughen the texture. When you cut the tofu into small chunks and mix it with the mashed black beans, it will take on the consistency of beef. Once you add nacho flavoring or taco seasoning, it will be a light, organic base for a delicious meal. Because kids likely already have eaten nachos, they will be love this take on it.
The trick for this meal is twofold. First, you should chop up the tomatoes after mashing the beans. The tofu will still be browning, so you will be right on schedule. With the tomatoes chopped, you should dice the spinach and mix it with the tomatoes at a ratio that his heavy on the tomatoes and visually light on the spinach. If you get this wrong, you will know as the result will look like a spinach dish instead of a tomato base.
Second, with the tofu browned and the plates piled high with chips, beans, and tomato-spinach dip, everyone should retire to the living room for an action movie. Of course, this last part is not a requirement as conversation at the table will work just fine. However, if you associate a fun yet organic meal with action movies, your children will likely not have time or the interest to wonder about the spinach or tofu. Instead, they will simply know they had a great night and an even better meal, which will make them ask for nachos again--the way their parents make it.
Helping kids snack is easier than you think, and granola or trail mix is the template for this food that will become an afternoon or school-time favorite.
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This snack offers all the flavor and nutrition as salty snacks without all the unhealthy fats and salt. The reason you need cashews is because traditional nut mix is heavy on the peanuts, and cashews or some other nut can shift this snack into something not commonly found in a can.
Additionally, browned tofu left over from nacho night can be a tasty snack alongside dehydrated fruit slices. Raisins provide a lot of fiber, and they also balance out the snack by being one option that contains more moisture. The good thing about this snack is that every time kids reach into a bag, they can can select their favorite food item. Because each item is healthy, there is never a wrong choice, and the zipper-seal bag helps teach portion control.
It is simply cruel to mention pizza on a list such as this without actually including pizza. Although it is the one dish on this list that takes more than 30 minutes to prepare, much of that preparation consists of watching the pizza in the oven to keep it from burning, which qualifies this dish as extremely easy. Because it involves pizza, this dish could arguably be the most popular dish you can offer.
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To make this dish more authentic, it is important to cut the pizza into squares prior to placing it into the oven. Doing so will brown the edges of each square into a crisp, cracker-like edge. If you do not cut the pizza prior to baking it, the inside edges of some squares will be soft, and the outer edges of some pieces will be crisp.
When you prepare this particular menu item, it is important that you consider your child's preference of cheese versus cheese substitute. Cheese is so important to this dish that if you attempt to initially impose a substitute instead of offering traditional cheese, it can be a disaster. That said, you can find ground veggie-based cheeses that have both the taste and texture of real cheese. However, when it melts, it must be watched rather carefully as it can brown faster than regular cheese.
Once you settle the cheese dilemma, it is important to create a healthy supreme pizza experience, which should involve a lot of healthy and organic veggies as well as a lower proportion of meats. A couple of pieces of organic sausage, for instance, or one piece of organic pepperoni can still make for a delicious pizza square that is packed with organic foods, such as tomatoes, pineapple, or tofu.
The 10-minute wrap is perfect for school or weekend lunches. Additionally, since a long tortilla wrapped up into a roll can be cut into hand-size segments, it is easy to pack into a lunchbox and easy to hold.
Because it can be based around a variety of foods, wraps are one of the most versatile and delicious meals. However, as a spread, hummus is the healthiest organic spread you can find if you do not mind the high salt common in many brands. If you want to avoid most of the salt while maintaining the flavor, you can purchase regular hummus along with organic chickpeas. If you mash the chickpeas and add the hummus into the mix, you can maintain the excellent flavor of pre-made hummus while also reducing the per-serving salt levels.
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Because a wrap is basically a sandwich in a tortilla, you have great flexibility. However, it is important that the wrap contain protein. The chickpeas accomplish much of this, but you can sprinkle edamame into the wrap, which will provide an extra dash of flavor and additional protein. As with many sandwiches, lettuce provides crunch, and cucumbers or tomatoes help provide a burst of veggie flavor.
In terms of a healthy snack, chips and dip can include a variety of foods. For the dip, kids will love hummus or tofu-based bean spread. Because bean dip can be dry, you can include diced tomatoes. For the chips, cucumbers are the best neutral-tasting vegetable. For something with a little more zing, red radishes work very well with both hummus and bean dip. If you want a hot experience, white radishes can also be used.
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The important thing to remember about this meal is that it should be based around veggie chips rather than actual salty chips. As a snack, it is quick to prepare. As a meal, it works perfectly as a casual lunch on the weekend. Of course, if it is packaged in an appropriate container, this meal can also work as a school lunch.
If you experiment with the dip, you can select a spicy or southwestern flavor of pre-mixed hummus. Additionally, you can select a spicy flavor of bean dip, or you can dice other veggies into it for a more varied texture. If you experiment with other types of chips, you will find your child likely loves cauliflower slices even though he or she might not actually like cooked cauliflower. Cauliflower is a very bland cruciferous vegetable that works very will with spicy hummus or bean dip.
If you would like to experiment with the chips, it is important that you make them easy to eat, and you can do so by slicing a cucumber lengthwise into quarter segments. With the cucumber cut into spears, you should then scoop or scrape out the seeds and soft matter. Once the seeds have been removed, the remaining cucumber stick is perfect for dipping and eating.
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