How to Prepare Yummy and Healthy Treats for Tots

It is very common to hear from moms how hard it is to feed healthy foods to their children. I have my share of “food conflicts” with my boys even up to now. My firstborn, who’s already 17, still tends to be picky with what he eats every now and then. I also remember my youngest son refusing to eat any dish I cook (like kare-kare and calderetta) if he so much as smell the peanut butter in it. 

Photo borrowed from http://topnews.ae/ 

Thankfully, my children do eat chopsuey without any protest. They also love it whenever I cook beef with broccoli and sinigang with lots of kangkong. 

Unfortunately, not all kids are fond of the good stuff. Some even have food fetishes like the son of a mom I interviewed before. The kid only eats anything that’s white! So his bread only had to have mayonnaise on it and when they cook spaghetti, it should only have white sauce. 

There are also children who totally prefer junk foods rather than eat fruits and veggies. So it’s a given that many families go through regular mealtime battles.

 

me, toasting the crushed whole wheat crackers

for the chicken breading

At an AQIVA event I attended recently, I got to try my hand at preparing a couple of easy-to-cook dishes that hide the healthy ingredients. Chef Carina Guevarra shared with us her recipes for “Super Healthy Kiddie Spaghetti” that has blended spinach in the sauce, and crispy “Baked Chicken Fingers” where we used crushed whole wheat crackers for the breading. (Click on the dishes’ names for the recipes)

Chef Carina explained that the treats are enticing to the eyes and have the inviting smell that will attract children. “Meals prepared like these will definitely draw and encourage young ones to take a variety of healthy, yet tasty, foods.”

Above is the photo of what our group prepared and the dishes are really yummy. Kids won’t even suspect that there are green leafy veggies in the spaghetti sauce!

When parents introduce picky-eaters to a wider variety of foods, we were reminded that it is important to consider that the kids have to get their daily dose of much-needed nutrition. And one way to do this is to add milk to the menu. 

AQIVA addresses that need. It is a nutrient-enriched milk supplement from Wyeth that is formulated to fill in the nutritional gaps of children age 4 and older. Ingredients include Adequate, Quality, and Important (A.Q.I.) nutrients to help ensure balanced nutrition. AQIVA contains more than 40 ingredients including 25 essential nutrients to help provide growing children with the proper nutrition they need when there is nutrition gap brought about by unhealthy eating habits.

My youngest son loves the great-tasting vanilla flavor which, I found out, was a hit with one of my good friend’s son as well.

If you need more information and tips on healthy eating for children, log on to www.facebook.com/AqivaPH or contact the Wyeth Careline at 81-WYETH (81-99384) for Metro Manila and 1-800-10-884-2222 (toll-free) for provinces.