Making Food Cool

There's a reason why ten to twelve years olds are called tweens. It doesn't so much have to do with age but the fact they're between listening to their moms and dads and heeding the dietary advice of their friends. What may be healthy and good to the folks may be icky and disgusting to them. What to do to insure good nutrition and keep their eating habits healthy? Make food cool.

As kids grow and enter middle school, they tend to assert their independence in a variety of ways. Most times it's how they eat. There's nothing better than hanging out at the mall and grabbing a burger there. Hopefully they've learned from all those nutrition classes and nix the accompanying fries and cola, but they don't. If you want , make your dinner or even Saturday lunch as tasty as mall meal. Think about serving sliders those fun mini hamburgers. Instead of beef, sub in turkey or spicy bean veggie burgers. Another fun idea is pulled chicken tacos. Shred cooked chicken with a healthy tomato salsa. Have the kids pile on beans , onions and guacamole or avocado slices for a more nutritional variation.

Kids love pizza.It's just that simple. However they're probably munching on the greasy oily stuff at the local pizzeria.Surprise them and yourself with a home baked  whole wheat one. You can add cheese  to it but you can also have an old fashioned kind with fresh chopped tomatoes along with some other veggies rich in antioxidants. Think about making individual ones that your tweenies can enjoy.Grilled chicken , usually considered an "adult dish" can be made kid friendly as well. You can cut it into bite sized pieces and serve over pasta.it's also good over a flavored rice which is a kid favorite. To broaden their palates , add saffron to it along with almonds for a more exotic spin. You can also have the chicken with sweet potato plank fries  and a garlicky mayo dip.

Tweens are probably the most discriminate of all eaters. Get them fired up over eating by making food cool again.They'll have not only tasty food but healthier meals.