Healthy Kid Friendly Meals

Healthy kid-friendly meals may seem an unreachable goal however, with some tweaking here and there in some of the most common favorite kid meals, the unreachable becomes attainable. You can have cheesy, ooey, gooey favorites that are nutrient rich, you just need a few modifications. These are some of my own favorite ways to help healthy kid-friendly meals become a reality.

Chicken Nuggets

What kid won't sit eagerly sit down to eat a portion of chicken nuggets fit for a large adult man? If it's lean chicken that is being served in the nuggets, you've already covered good ground, but you can bump it up a notch with some tenders that are pre-cut. You can also use a firmer type of white fish rather than any chicken whatsoever. Then toss them into a mixture of egg and whole wheat flour to bring the whole foods well into the picture. To top off your healthy kid friendly meal, bake these chicken nuggets rather than placing them into a deep fryer.

Mac 'N' Cheese

One way to cut calories when you serve this typically unhealthy kid favorite meal, is to cut back on the portions your child gets of it. Instead, fill the rest of their plate with veggies and dip, or a fruit medley of various types of fresh fruit to please their palate. You can also use whole wheat noodles for this meal to add fiber and valuable B vitamins into the picture.

Spaghetti with Meatballs

Whole wheat pasta is the way to go when you're looking to make this favorite Italian meal healthier. It's always nice if you can sneak some veggies in the sauce too. If you have older kids like I do, attempt getting them to tolerate some onion, green peppers and black olives in their sauce for even more of a dose of nutrition.

A great way to get the sauce smoother for those kids that don't like the "chunks" of tomatoes in the sauce is to puree your sauce in the blender first. This will make the sauce smooth, pleasant, and "chunk" free as it goes down, and that's kid-friendly.