February is heart month.
While much of our focus is on gooey, chocolate desserts, take a moment to balance that with kid-friendly, heart-healthy options.
We know diets low in added sugar, trans-fat, saturated fat and sodium are best for us. Yet, with kids, finding recipes that are easy, light on the ingredient list and welcomed by tiny hands are difficult to find.
Here are some heart-healthy, kid-approved ideas to try:
Find ways to sneak in vegetables so they do not seem so unappealing. Make fruits such as apple slices into smiley faces and cut grapes as eyes. A spiral veggie cutter can turn a plethora of vegetables into noodles. You can also find pre-riced cauliflower to add to soup dishes to sneak in additional vegetables.
Pre-package snacks for trips. Cut carrots are an excellent way to keep the brain engaged during homework time. Refusing to buy typical snack foods at the grocery store means they are not available for your kids to munch on at home. Instead, keep a basket of readily-available fruits within their reach.
Finally, smoothies are an excellent way of throwing together a drink and snack combo. A few years ago, the Unicorn Drink was all the rage at Starbucks. Not wanting to have my kids basically drink a grande of straight-sugar, we recreated this at home. Below is our recipe for you to use for a heart-healthy treat!
Tips:
- Add the frozen fruit on top. If you put frozen fruit in the bottom of your blender, it will jam up.
- Add the sprinkles to a small amount of yogurt and then let it warm up. This causes the yogurt to be drippy. If you want it to hold a bit firmer, stir it right before you use it.
- Call it “the Unicorn Drink” when you give it to kids. This is half the magic. Wrap them up and make them feel like this is a complete treat. Both of my kids were freezing the day we made this, so bathtime became accompanied with a smoothie.
