4 Healthy Recipes for Kids That You Can Make Together

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Let’s face it: kids can be picky eaters. While some kids may run to yummy green leaves and juicy red apples, others may turn their noses up at the healthy menu. This can be frustrating for parents who want their little ones to have a balanced diet rich in nutrients and vitamins. They're also fickle because they grow fast, learning about new flavors and spices every day. Of course, they will not stay picky forever, but you need to find ways around this phase so that their taste buds don’t revolt against anything that isn’t cheese or chocolate when they grow older. Even if you feel like you’re losing the battle with your child, there are many things you can do to help them embrace a healthier lifestyle while giving them a healthy relationship with food.  Creating these kid-friendly recipes together is the perfect start!

Make-Your-Own Tacos

Kids adore tacos, as long as they are not expecting ground beef in a tortilla. Instead, try making these tacos with chicken, lettuce leaves, and crunchy jicama. Jicama is a root vegetable that tastes like a mix between a carrot and a pear. Be careful when you slice it, though, because it’s easy to cut yourself on this one. And, if you want to go the vegetarian route, you can sub in some refried beans or black beans for the chicken. Another fun way to make tacos is to let the kids make their own, which can be as simple as placing all the ingredients out on the table and letting your children put together the tacos however they’d like.

Zucchini Noodle Veggie Pasta

Making pasta can be pretty scary with kids in the kitchen. It’s a messy and dangerous task that many parents would love to get out of their kids’ hands. Zucchini noodles, or zoodles, can be a great alternative to regular pasta.  You can serve zoodles with almost any sauce, so you don’t have to worry about the kids not liking the taste. Also, you can cut the zucchini into any shape or size you’d like so that the zoodles can look just like spaghetti noodles. The only thing you need to remember when making zoodles is to use a vegetable peeler. If you try to use a knife, you’ll probably cut yourself. You can also use a spiralizer if you want zoodles that are more like traditional pasta.

Fresh and Light Rainbow Salad

All kids love a good salad, but most kids hate salads packed with veggies and healthy ingredients. Rainbow salads are a fun way to get a bunch of different flavors and colors into one meal. People often serve rainbow salads with dressing on the side, so your kids can choose how much dressing they want to put on their salad.  For dessert, you can also try making a rainbow fruit salad together!

Beef Jerky as a Snack

Kids love snacks, and there are many healthy options out there, but kids must be eating right, so finding healthy snacks can be tricky. Jerky is a great option that people often overlook. It has protein and vitamins, and it’s also easy to find vegan or vegetarian jerky. There are many easy recipes for beef jerky that you can create and even adapt to be made with different types of meat, depending on your children’s preferences.