Kids, unlike adults, require a special diet because their bodies aren’t fully functional. Kids like sweet food and they never care much about the nutritive value of that food. However, as a parent or caregiver, you have to be the one to decide what to cook for the children. The health of the kids will depend on the recipes you choose and how easy it is for them to cook using such recipes. The following is what you should do when coming up with an easy recipe for kids.
First, you have to be the one in control throughout the decision making process. It is obvious that the kids will pester you a lot so that you can give them some food that they like. However, you shouldn’t bow to that pressure but instead you should choose what is right for those children. You are supposed to stock your house with nutritious food so that the kids don’t starve. However, you shouldn’t completely avoid their favorite snack despite its non-nutritive value. This is because, if you fail to provide them with their favorite food, they will feel deprived and they may even hate you. This is why you should consider availing their favorite snacks once in a while so that they can enjoy a little bit. However, you must be ready to keep vigilant on what you prepare for the kids because their health depends on your choices and decisions.
The other issue worth considering is giving the kids a chance to make some decisions. You should come up with a schedule on what food and snack will be eaten throughout the week. You can then let the kids to choose what they want to eat, and the amount of it. This may seem to be a lot of freedom but provided you chose nutritious foods only, the kids will still be limited in terms of what they choose. Granting them this freedom will make them feel a little special and the feeling of being deprived will slowly go away. You should never force the children to finish whatever has been served to them. Traditional parents used to compel children to eat and it made them overeat most of the time. You should allow the children to stop eating when they feel full, even if there is food remaining in their plates.
Finally, you should train the kids when they are young to eat certain foods. If you give the kids a lot of snacks and sweeteners in their early ages, then it will be hard for you to change them later in future. You should encourage the kids to try new foods and they may surprise you on how they will like it. You can choose to take the kids for dinner somewhere away from home and ask them to eat the available food. They may end up liking it more than they like the normal food. You can as well consider rewriting the menu. You can add some new foods but you should never compel them to adjust into that menu. Instead, you should find a way to lure them into that particular recipe.