Hidden Nutrition - What Your Kids Don't Know Can Help Them

Getting the proper nutrients, vitamins and minerals into their young children's body is a challenge for most parents across America. There are so many food choices out there, but kids seem to love the same meal over and over-and of course it isn't a very healthy one! I know my kids could eat macaroni and cheese for every meal if I prepared it for them. Unfortunately there is no super meal out there that will provide your children with the necessary nutrition their growing bodies need.

What there is though, are some fun tricks you can try to use on your children to fill their bodies with healthy food without them even knowing it! Try some of the following tricks on your children's meals to see if you can sneak in the vitamins and minerals they need from the foods they won't eat without them even knowing it!

If your kids like meatloaf or meat balls, you can add an arrangement of food in the mix prior to cooking. The delicious taste of the meal will hide the nutrients and the kids won't even know they are eating the healthy foods they need. Try grating carrots, onion and even spinach into the meat mixture and the nutrient content of the meat loaf or balls will greatly increase. You may even find that the kids like it better and you may too!

Another great trick is to blend any healthy vegetable into your children's spaghetti sauce. Be sure to grind the vegetable very smooth or children will notice the different texture and may refuse to eat it. Some great vegetable choices include squash, carrots, broccoli and dark leafy greens such as spinach.

If your children love to eat pancakes and waffles, why not try to add to the batter. Using whole wheat flower will increase the fiber content. You can also add some bran to the batter before cooking the pancakes. You can even mix in some canned pumpkin to the batter to increase the flavor and vitamins!

When baking, substituting applesauce for the oil ingredient will reduce the fat and increase the fiber content. Applesauce also provides a natural sweetener so you don't need to add so much sugar.

When making sandwiches such as peanut butter and jelly, or ham sandwiches try u sing whole wheat bread. There is even some special children designed bread on the grocery store shelves that are loaded with extra nutrients in each slice. Most children cannot even taste the difference.

A simple way to increase the calcium content in your children's meals is to mix in dry milk to their meals. Any sauce or soft food can hide the powdered milk. Mixing it into meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, rice and pudding can increase your child's calcium and dairy consumption.

When you go grocery shopping for your children's meals, always look for healthy alternatives to the standard choice. The shelves are stocked with fortified meal choices that make nutritious meals easy. Even the standard macaroni and cheese now comes in "super" style. By always being conscious of the nutrient values in your children's meals you can make the meals go easier and help your children to eat healthier! It may take some extra work and thought, but the reward is having an easy meal that your kids will love that is stuffed full of vitamins and minerals! Kids that eat healthy stay healthy!