Back in February, I sent a survey out to the LHT community. Over 200 of you responded, and wow! Did you have questions! You wanted to know about the best ways to plan healthy meals and tips for getting your kids, even your independent teens, to eat more fruits and veggies. You wanted dinner ideas that could do double duty, pleasing the vegetarians and meat eaters at your table, and a lot of you were eager for advice on cutting sugar from your family’s diet. You asked ... and I’ve got the answers.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Dan’s background in nutrition and his work as my intern
• The easiest things to do to have a healthy diet:
• • Use the USDA’s “Choose My Plate,” and fill ½ with fruits/veg, ¼ with protein, ¼ with grains, and don’t forget to hydrate!
• Quick and healthy dinner meals:
• • Use “Build your own" nights, for tacos, Buddha bowls, or pizza
  • Use versatile, healthy foods like eggs and rotisserie chicken
• Tips about meal planning and prep
• • Check out my 30 meal-planning tips
  • Have a plan and use it for shopping
• Making vegetables more appealing to teenagers:
• • Use veggies with dips, roast veggies to bring out the sweetness, and make quesadillas with veggies
• How to wean kids off too many carbs:
• • Know the difference between whole grains and refined grains, which have added nutrients
  • Use carbs as part of the meal and not the whole meal
• How to deal with kids and their endless snacks:
• • Think of snacks as mini-meals to fill in the nutrient gaps
• Low-sugar options for desserts:
• • Limit soft drinks and sugary “fake” juice drinks
  • Cut back on sugar in most recipes
• How to get healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for the heart, brain, and eyes:
• • Get these healthy fats in seafood, walnuts, flaxseed, edamame, and soy
• How to make healthy substitutes for chicken fingers:
• • Try fish fingers or “no fry” chicken fingers
  • Read labels on frozen chicken fingers to find the most protein and the least amount of sodium
• Adding more fermented foods to your diet:
• • Add kefir to fruit smoothies and sauerkraut to sandwiches
• Getting enough calcium when dairy is a problem:
• • Look for calcium-fortified foods, broccoli, kale, almonds, and salmon and sardines with bones
• Cooking with more spices and less salt:
• • Make your own seasonings, like taco seasoning
  • Use fresh herbs, lime and lemon juice,  zest, and use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
• How to please both meat-eaters and vegetarians:
• • Make a veggie lasagna and put meat in half of it
  • Use “build your own ” nights for pizza, tacos, and Buddha bowls
  • Grill portobello mushrooms and serve as burgers
• Incorporating more inexpensive whole grains:
• • Try Trader Joe’s 10-minute grains that cook quickly
  • Don’t be afraid to try tabouli and couscous
• Tips for feeding an athlete:
• • Try Chicken of the Sea Infusions, which are ready-to-eat seasoned tuna snacks
  • Other ideas include Greek yogurt, cheese sticks, hummus with carrot sticks and crackers, Bush’s bean dips, peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat, ready-made smoothies, and milk

Resources:

www.superhealthykids.com

www.parentsondemand.com 

USDA's Choose MyPlate

 Eggs for Dinner recipes from the LHT blog

 30 Meal Planning Tips from Registered Dietitians

 Jessica Levinson's podcast interview on Dinner Dilemma Solved

You can find my FREE 7-Day Meal Planner and aisle-by-aisle Supermarket Shopping List printables over on the Freebies section of my website.

To find out how many vegetables your kids need each day, visit Choose MyPlate. The amount may surprise you.

12 Tips for Getting Teens to Eat Vegetables Happily

Whole Grains versus Enriched Grains. Slice for slice, enriched white bread, as well as other enriched grain products, are a good source of iron and four B vitamins; thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and folic acid, as well as complex carbohydrates.

 Pumpkin Maple Pancakes recipe

Tips for reducing added sugar from your kid's diets. Listen to my podcast with Laura Hoover, MPH, RDN.

My recipe for Mango Soft Serve.

The scoop on omega-3 fats. They're good for your heart, eyes, and brain ... but how much should you get each day? Visit Always Omega-3s for the answers.

Lentil Alphabet Soup recipe.

 

Products Mentioned:

Bush's Beans seasoned savory canned beans and Bush's Best Bean Dips

Chicken of the Sea Infusions

Trader Joe's 10-minute grains

 Buddha bowl meal ideas:

Asian Beef Bowl

Tuscan Tuna Bowls

Jessica Levinson's build-your-own buddha bowl