Parenting

The do’s and don’ts of holiday eating with kids

Kids are more likely to eat something they've helped prepare.

For many kids, long-standing traditions and memories are made during the holidays. This makes it a perfect time for parents to set good examples for their children in terms of generosity, good will — and healthy eating.

Because most traditional holiday foods (though delicious) are not so healthy, it is more important than ever to spend time this Thanksgiving and throughout the holidays teaching kids about good nutrition.
 
This is often a challenge for parents — which is where chef Melissa Graham, founder of Chicago’s Purple Asparagus, comes in. She is on a mission to help local families and community organizations find fun, creative ways to steer kids toward healthy food choices. 

“If you get your kids into the kitchen, even just one or two nights a week, that’s enough to get them on a path of learning about and enjoying food,” Graham says.

When it comes to healthy holiday eating with your kids, she recommends keeping the following “do’s” and “don’ts” in mind: 
 
Do:
• Make healthy eating fun and engaging. If you don’t, it’s just another chore for kids, and who wants to do chores?

• Cook with your kids. They’re much more likely to eat something they’ve helped prepare.

• Celebrate fruits and veggies with fun facts while you are cooking and eating, rather than giving a lecture. It’s easy to Google “fun facts” about tomatoes, for example, and find loads of them. 

• Bring your kids grocery shopping and let them help pick produce. Fall farmers markets are perfect for this since there is often a bigger variety of unusual fruits and veggies.

• Ask your kids to take at least one bite of something, even if they think they won’t like it. After a taste, discuss what they did or didn’t like about it – Was it too sour? Salty? Bitter or sweet? Just right?

• Buy kid-friendly utensils, like a kid-safe chopper, so they can help out in the kitchen. It’s fun for them and safe to use.

Don’ts:
• Give up on certain foods. Your child might continually refuse to eat healthy holiday foods like squash;, then one day, she’ll eat it and enjoy it. It just happens.

• Take accountability away from kids when it comes to food. When kids refuse to eat certain foods, it’s often about their taking control. When parents give up and say, “my child only eats chicken fingers and tater tots” you’re abdicating responsibility. It might take your child seven or eight tries to start enjoying a particular food. 

• Spend the whole holiday season baking cookies. It is fun, but if you only make sweets together, your child will associate cooking with solely unhealthy foods. Try making soups and main dishes, too.

Another important part of teaching kids about healthy foods is giving them healthy foods that are also delicious, according to Graham.

Try out the following healthy Thanksgiving recipes that your kids can help you prepare:

Cranberry-Orange Sauce
Serves 6-8

1 pint cranberries
1 orange, juice and zest
1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, finely chopped
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Pinch salt
Mix all ingredients in a medium sauce and cook over medium to medium-high heat until the cranberries have popped and the mixture’s soft and combined. Cool and serve.

Root Veggie Mash
Serves 6

2 medium sweet potatoes
2 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes

1 medium turnip
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup crème fraiche
Salt to taste

Peel sweet potatoes, potatoes and turnip and cut into chunks. Steam until soft, about 10 minutes. Dump the warm veggies into large bowl. Add butter and mash until butter melts. Add crème fraiche and salt to taste.  Mash until you have the consistency you want, adding more milk if necessary, a dribble at a time. Serve warm, and enjoy!

Potato-Kohlrabi Pancakes
Serves 4

1 medium Yukon gold potato, peeled
1 kohlrabi bulb, peeled
½ yellow onion, peeled
2 teaspoons chopped chives, optional
2 large eggs
¼ cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
vegetable oil or clarified butter

Coarsely grate the potato, kohlrabi and onion in a food processor. Wring out any excess liquid from the veggies by wrapping them in a clean, lint-free dish towel and squeezing it out. Dump the drained veggies into a medium bowl. Add the eggs, flour and salt and mix until combined. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add two tablespoons of vegetable oil or clarified butter. When hot, drop ¼ cup sized dollops of the batter into the pan. Press down on the cakes with a  spatula to flatten. Cook until browned, several minutes. Flip and cook for a few more minutes. Remove from pan and place on plate or baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter. Pancakes can be reheated in a 350 degree oven. Serve warm, garnished with avocado cream.

Avocado Cream
Makes about ¾ cup

½ avocado
1/3 cup sour cream or crème fraiche
1 teaspoon lime juice
salt to taste
Puree or mash together the avocado, sour cream and lime juice. Salt to taste.

For more information and recipes, go to: www.purpleasparagus.com/2011recipes.html

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