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Should my child become a vegetarian?

Is It Safe for My Child to Become a Vegetarian?
By Erica Leon, MS, RDN, CDN, CEDRD

Photo Credit: Pabo76 via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: Pabo76 via Compfight cc

My daughter was ten when she refused to eat meat because she didn’t want to harm animals. A class discussion had raised this topic and she was sold.  I listened calmly to her rationale, and it made sense. The bigger question for me was how to manage dinner for a vegetarian and a meat-and-potato-loving husband and preteen son!

Preparing different meals is a common concern I hear from parents with kids becoming vegetarian. Additional questions I often hear include: Is it safe? How will my child get enough protein? What other nutrients should I worry about? Here are some suggested guidelines for responding to the topic of vegetarianism if your child or teen brings it up:

Listen. Talk calmly with your child about their reason for eliminating meat. If it is about animal rights or another reason that you feel makes sense to your child, be respectful of his or her choice(s). It is not worth a power struggle and shows that you value what your child feels. If you have any concerns that your child is cutting out a category of food(s) for weight-loss purposes, it is important to talk about balanced eating and healthy habits rather than weight. In some cases, a sudden change in diet can indicate potential eating-disordered thoughts, and you may have to take the opportunity to address this swiftly.

A well-planned vegetarian diet can be nutritionally adequate according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. A healthy vegetarian diet will contain a variety of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and calcium sources. Your child must learn that a steady diet of pizza, pasta, mozzarella sticks, and bagels does not constitute a “healthy” vegetarian diet.

Photo Credit: elana's pantry via Compfight cc
Photo Credit: elana’s pantry via Compfight cc

Nutrients in shortest supply in a vegetarian diet, particularly a vegan diet (one that excludes dairy and eggs), may include:

    • Protein: Vegetarian sources can include eggs and cheese, legumes (beans), nuts and nut butter, seeds, tofu, and other soy products.
    • Calcium: Vegetarian-friendly sources of calcium include: cow’s milk, yogurt and cheese, calcium-fortified soy, rice, oat or hemp milk, calcium-fortified juice, and tofu, broccoli, leafy greens, beans, almond and almond butter, sesame seeds and sesame butter, and soy nuts.
    • Iron: Rich sources for vegetarians include fortified breakfast cereals, enriched breads and pasta, eggs, beans, and dark leafy green vegetables. Soy products such as veggie burgers are generally fortified with iron. It is important to consume a good source of vitamin C in order to increase absorption of iron. Vitamin C is found in citrus, tomatoes, and peppers.
    • Vitamin B12: Vitamin B12 is found only in animal products including eggs and dairy. If your child is a vegan, he or she will need supplementation. Many soy products and milk substitutes are fortified, so read labels.
    • Vitamin D: Considered the “sunshine vitamin” since our body can make it from exposure to sunlight, some vegetarians who do not consume fish, eggs, or dairy and/or do not spend time in the sun will benefit from supplementation.

 Do I need to prepare two dinners? A vegetarian diet can be healthy for the whole family, so this is your chance to slowly introduce some new foods into the entire family’s diet. I usually involve my kids in planning several meals for the week.

Simple meal suggestions my kids came up with:

    • Whole grain pasta with ground turkey (son) AND vegetarian crumbles (daughter). We added salad and soy milk for calcium and protein.
    • Stir-fried vegetables with chicken AND tofu and quinoa or brown rice.
    • Rice and beans was a great main meal for my daughter and a side dish for my husband and son. Smaller amounts of red meat and vegetables rounded off the meal.
    • I experimented and would make dishes that everyone could enjoy such as whole grain vegetable lasagna using tofu instead of ricotta cheese, with lots of vegetables and soy cheese instead of mozzarella.
    • Turkey tacos and bean tacos were common fare.
    • When I made breaded chicken cutlet, I make breaded tofu cutlet.
    • On hectic nights, I confess that I have used frozen foods such as Amy’s Organic Bean Dishes, Morningstar Farm or Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burgers, or Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods frozen vegetarian meals. Even a dietitian needs a night off from cooking!

 

Where can I read more about vegetarianism? Some great websites for vegetarian nutrition include:

 

 

 

 

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Looking for Lunch Ideas?

Back-to-School Loveable Lunch Ideas
By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD and Mom

When meal prepping, be sure to include a carbohydrate, a protein, and a fat at lunch time (or any meal time) to help ensure that your child is adequately fed, evenly energized throughout the day, and without a blood sugar roller coaster. Combining macronutrients is KEY especially if you have a child who is easily distracted, acts out in class, or comes home wiped out.

Photo Credit: Wendy Copley via Compfight cc

Here are some suggestions to get the first week of school off on the right foot.


Monday Lunch

Pasta/bean salad with cubed chicken sausage

Side: mandarin oranges; milk

Tuesday Lunch

Whole wheat quesadilla with pineapple salsa and red peppers

Side: Mango and yogurt

Wednesday Lunch

Lentil soup with corn muffin

Side: Carrots and pretzels with hummus; milk

 

Thursday Lunch

Teriyaki chicken satay with edamame and sticky rice (or rice crackers)

Side: Bitsy’s Brainfood Cookies (zucchini gingerbread carrot flavor is my favorite!)

 

Friday Lunch

Apple and cheese sandwich (can get fancier with different types of cheese like brie or goat cheese)

Side: Olives (one for each finger) and yogurt squeezer

 

– See more at: http://bitsysbrainfood.com/blog/#sthash.9QU75bpn.dpuf

 

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How We Do Dessert

“What’s For Dessert?”
By Adina Pearson, RDN of Healthy Little Eaters

Photo Credit: Alexis Fam Photography via Compfight cc

Why I Serve Dessert With The Meal

In most households, dessert is served at the end of the meal.  When everyone has gotten their fill of the main course and sides and is patting their full tummy in satisfaction, the hostess clears the table, vanishes into the kitchen, and then reappears flashing a proud smile as she presents…DESSERT:  The decadent reward for getting full on nutrition!  The hard work is done, you may now enjoy a moment of pleasure.

^Not teaching that lesson is one reason why we now serve dessert with the meal in our house.  I don’t want to teach the unintended lesson that dessert is for full bellies.  I want my children to stay tuned in to their signals of fullness and satisfaction.  Sweets are desirable enough to children that they can learn to override their fullness if they have to do it to get cookies–especially if cookies are scarce.  A small study in Appetite demonstrated that kids will eat more calories in order to squeeze in dessert if it was served at the end of the meal.   The study authors interpreted the results as a way to help kids eat fewer calories.  But that’s not really what I take from this.  I’m not into micromanaging calories because I think kids do an adequate job of regulating themselves when they get reliable meals and snacks.  What I take from this is that the way we feed our kids can either support their natural self-regulation and ability to respect their fullness or it can teach them to overeat to get what they really want.  My personal experience is that if they know it’s coming, they’ll just get antsy at the table or become preoccupied enough with the-sweet-thing-to-come that they won’t stop to eat the main meal.  It certainly was the case with my 4 year old before we made the switch.  But each child is different and older kids may be more willing to do the required ‘eat your veggies first’ work in order to win pie at the end.

That’s something else I don’t want to teach.  I don’t want the meal to be considered ‘work’ while the dessert is elevated to a higher status.  When it comes to picky eaters it is all too easy to slip into the dessert-for-broccoli power struggle: Okay, darling, eat another bite of your chicken and two more bites of your broccoli and then you can have dessert.  I see this happen in the families who come to me for nutrition counseling.  I see it happen with picky eaters whose parents are worried because of their low weight and with picky eaters whose parents are concerned because of their higher weight.  It’s not working for either group.  Broccoli is wonderful!  Chicken is wonderful!  Dessert is wonderful!  Yet we certainly make a big deal out of sweets.  When dessert is a reward it takes on more power.  Kids are already naturally drawn to strong sweet flavors, we don’t need to make those sweet flavors into a bigger deal.  Plus bribery & coercion as well as other types of pressuring kids to eat typically makes them eat worse, not better.

What If That’s All They Eat?

You might now be wondering, what if that’s all they eat?  How can it be okay for kids to survive off of cake and cookies until their tastes mature?  Well, for one thing, I don’t serve dessert at every meal or every day.  How often you serve dessert is entirely up to you.  And portion size matters because, it’s true, dessert may very well interfere with the nutrition of the meal if it is served ad libitum.

It’s Okay to Limit Dessert Served with a Meal

At meals we only serve one portion to each person at the table.  And kids get a ‘child-size’ portion rather than a full adult portion (translate that to suit your preferences).  It’s treated very much like a scarce food item (filet mignon, $9-a-pint raspberries, etc) and there are no seconds.

Some examples of portions I’ve served: 1 square of chocolate, a lollipop, small slice of pie/cake, 1 coconut macaroon, small brownie, 2-3 tiny candy pieces, teacup full of pudding, teacup full of yogurt mixed with fruit, 1/2 to 1 cupcake (depending on size).

If my kids want to start with their cookie, fine.  I know it’s not all they will eat.  And even if my kids gobble up their dessert and consequently decide they are done eating for the meal, they  probably weren’t terribly hungry to begin with.  If that is the case, without that dessert at the table, they would not have eaten much of anything anyway.  The dessert didn’t ruin any appetites, it just masked their lack of appetite.

With my kids, it seems the presence of dessert actually warms them up to the idea of coming to the table and relaxes them immediately, improving their attitude about the meal overall.  They don’t eat any worse, and possibly better with such a sweet ‘appetizer’ on the table.  I love when I catch my oldest going back and forth between bites of dessert and bites of the meal.

Unlimited Portions as Snack

Any food that is scarce, especially one as desirable as sweets, can create a strong preoccupation in a child.  For some kids with a strong sweet tooth, that desire or preoccupation can lead them to overeat the desired food when they get the chance.   Serving only a small child-size portion of dessert creates a kind of scarcity.  To mitigate this scarcity and to allow my kids a chance to regulate their own portion size of dessert, I will, occasionally, serve an unlimited portion of sweets at snack time.  If snack time is appropriately timed (so it’s not too close to the next meal) it won’t interfere with meal food.  Serve the dessert with a glass of milk (for example) and you’ve got a balanced snack.

I have to admit, the first candy experiment left me practically biting my fingernails as I waited for my daughter to complete her snack.  But with each ‘ad lib sweet snack’ I’ve served, I’ve never ever been disappointed in my kids’ ability to stop.  They have never eaten a whole cake, half a cake, or even a quarter of a cake.  And I’m confident that my trusting them teaches them to trust themselves around sweets.  After all we have serious structure in place.  Eating happens seated at the table, not running around.  Eating happens at set meal and snack times, there’s no all-day grazing.   And I get to choose how often I serve various foods.  But within that structure, the freedom of the Division of Responsibility, teaches some important lessons that I don’t think I could teach if I micromanaged every bite.

Photo Credit: chotda via Compfight cc

How Often Should Dessert Be Served?
Honestly, I think only you can answer this question for yourself and your family.  I love desserts and baked goods.  I love chocolate.  I could live without them, but I sure prefer not to.   For me I serve dessert often enough for us.  I know I’ve gone perhaps too long when my kids start begging for dessert–or if I’m longing for it.  And if I serve something sweet just to keep them from feeling too deprived, it doesn’t take much to accomplish my task.

 

Adina Pearson, RDN has been a registered dietitian for 12 years. Before having children of her own, she had no interest in pediatric nutrition. Kids change things! She’s now most thrilled when she sees a child patient on her schedule. Her new passion for helping parents feed their kids well inspired her to start a facebook page and blog. More recently, she has started an online toddler feeding course in collaboration with another dietitian.  Adina lives in southeastern Washington with her husband, two kids, and two labradoodles. To read more on Adina head to her website: www.HealthyLittleEaters.com

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Fancy Fish Sticks

It was over a year ago that I wrote a blog on my sons’ eating habits and their preferences for frozen fish sticks. While their food preferences continue to develop and change, I have this recipe at the ready for a night when the boys want to join me in the kitchen and make homemade fish sticks.


Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise with olive or canola oil
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon Creole mustard
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
  • Cooking spray (I like to use canola oil spray)
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons creamy mustard blend (such as Dijonnaise)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
  • 1 pound halibut or other lean white fish fillets (such as cod or pollack), cut into 4 x 1-inch pieces (about 12 pieces)
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 4 lime wedges

Preparation

  1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cover and chill.
  2. Preheat oven to 425°.
  3. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, and spread evenly with oil; heat in oven 12 minutes.
  4. Combine flour and black pepper in a shallow dish. Combine 1/2 cup chicken stock, mustard blend, lime juice, egg whites, and egg in a shallow dish; stir with a whisk until foamy. Place panko, cumin, and chipotle pepper in a food processor; pulse 20 times or until coarse crumbs form. Place panko mixture in a shallow dish.
  5. Sprinkle fish evenly with salt. Working with one piece at a time, dredge fish in flour mixture. Dip in egg mixture, and dredge in panko mixture until completely covered.
  6. Remove preheated baking sheet from oven; place fish on pan, and return to oven. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork, turning once. Serve immediately with sauce and lime wedges.
  7. Sustainable Choice: If Pacific halibut is not available, you can use Alaskan pollack and U.S. Pacific cod as alternatives.

 

 

This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light, the original can be found here.

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Does your child need a Speech Language Pathologist or an Occupational Therapist?

Behind their Bite: When your child needs more than mom?
By Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD, CDN and Mom

 

Is your kid a picky eater, or is something else going on?  Read on to learn if your child needs an evaluation by a speech and language pathologist or occupational therapist.

 

The logic behind why a child does or doesn’t eat something is difficult to understand. There is no clear and easy direction to point when determining the preferences of one taste or texture to another. In fact, there can actually be a variety of factors at play.

 

If your child is showing signs of picky eating alongside a series of additional symptoms, he/she may need more than mom. Symptoms would include hypersensitivity to textures, tags in clothing, delays in daily activities such as dressing, brushing teeth, sitting and standing, slow developmental skills in the classroom and with crafts, delayed or slurred speech, excessive drooling while eating, coughing while swallowing, and/or difficulty chewing and swallowing.

Photo Credit: whologwhy via Compfight cc

Ideally it is best to work with a team of health care professionals, who can help you assess if your child’s aversion to certain foods is more than picky eating. A team would consist of a pediatrician, a psychologist, a speech and language pathologist, an occupational therapist, a registered dietitian and of course, the parents. In the perfect situation the team would do the following:

Sample case: Greg, age 4, makes a horrible face each time he sees and tries broccoli. He will not swallow it and spits it out. Claims it hurts his stomach.

  • A doctor will test to make sure there isn’t an allergy or sensitivity causing the stomach pain.
  • A psychologist, if required, will consult with the doctor to see if there is any pattern of disordered eating or need for therapy.
  • A speech and language pathologist will assess his ability to swallow, chew, and move the food through his mouth and esophagus to make sure there are no issues with feeding and swallowing.
  • An occupational therapist, in this particular situation, will assess anything that ranges from the plate to the motion of putting food into the mouth and the various factors that may affect this.
  • Using all of this information, and barring any allergies/sensitivities, a dietitian will help to integrate this food into the child’s diet or help find an alternative nutrient and/or food sources to replace this food in his diet.
Photo Credit: Leonid Mamchenkov via Compfight cc

Realistically parents do not always have access to this kind of multidisciplinary team. Remember it that it takes roughly 10-15 tries before a child acclimates to a new food. If your parent’s intuition leads you to believe something else is getting in the way, use the tips below to determine who should evaluate your child’s eating.

  • Get Evaluated by a Speech and Language Pathologist if:
    • Coughing or choking upon swallowing
    • Gaging
    • Poor tongue motion or movement
    • Inability to close lips while chewing and swallowing
    • Non-food behaviors (that could indicate challenges in overall sensory integration or motor planning affecting eating):
      • Hypersensitive to textures (e.g. Avoids “messy” crafts or toys such as painting, glue, play dough, sand box)
      • Hypersensitive to tags in clothing
      • Delays in other daily living activities (dressing, brushing teeth, climbing in and out of chair, manipulating toys, writing, cutting with scissors)
      • Late talkers
      • Excess drooling
      • Articulation errors (unclear speech)

 

  • Get Evaluated by a Occupational Therapist if:
    • Hypersensitivity to taste, texture, or tags
    • Refusal or inability to lift silverware
    • Refusal or inability to eat
    • Spiting food out
    • Throwing food
    • Any mechanical or behavioral interruption of feeding before consumption of food
    • Delays in development
      • Dressing
      • Brushing teeth
      • Climbing in and out of chair
      • Manipulating toys
      • Writing
      • Cutting with scissors, crafts

 

Look out for clues that suggest there may be a swallowing disorder or an inhibition restricting your child to self-feed outside of just being a picky eater. And remember, sometimes people just don’t like certain flavors or textures—and maybe that is what’s behind their bite.

 

Is your child a picky eater? What signs do they show that they dislike food, taste, or texture? 

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DIY: 7 Steps to Progress Your Picky Eater

DIY:  7 Steps to Progress Your Picky Eater
By Laura Cipullo RD CDE CEDRD CDN and Mom

 

“I just want to go home and eat what I eat everyday for lunch.”

 

Is this your child? It is most definitely my child, as this is what he said to me on Friday when we walked into the burger joint known for its burgers and milkshakes. When he said this, I just let out a deep breath and decided it would be milkshakes for lunch. He doesn’t like change, and therefore he doesn’t like change in food, rules, or where he puts the furniture in Minecraft.

But this does not mean that you or I should take the summer off from exposing our kids to new foods and/or textures. Actually, summer is ideal because schedules are changing, and you can create a new schedule that incorporates trying new foods, say, twice a week. There is no school, stress, or homework, so take advantage of this time.

I am trying to incorporate different foods into dinner meals on Sundays and Wednesdays. Just yesterday, the boys tried fresh mozzarella, which neither would eat. They liked it melted but not cold. Last week they tried vegetarian sushi with avocado (they both licked it). Remember, touching, licking, or just getting it on their plate can help. Of course, they get these new foods alongside their faves or sometimes before their favorites are served. They tried a falafel burger and cocoa-dusted almonds!

My oldest, Bobby, has taken to eating fresh corn on the cob with butter and salt each night with his dinner, while Billy has incorporated strawberries without the skin at each of his dinner meals. That’s right, no skins. One night he said, “Mommy, I like the insides of strawberries.” My husband told me that Billy would eat the strawberries’ flesh, but he could not take a big bite. So I got the peeler out and voila!! He is now my strawberry man. So as summer begins, we will take this opportunity to continue exposing the boys to new foods and even former foods.

The food exposure may follow this progression or something similar.

Recognize that this is helpful for toddlers, children, and even pre-teens.

  1. First, get the food on the same plate
  2. Next, get touch involved.  Maybe your child touches the food with their fingers or puts the food to his/her cheek or lips
  3. Employ the One Lick Rule
  4. Employ the One Chew and Spit—if you must
  5. Use the One Bite Rule
  6. Use the Three Bites Rule if your child has achieved the One Bite with that food
  7. Make the food part of the main meal on a regular basis

 

If you think that your child may have issues with sensory integration, get the expert advice of a speech pathologist and/or an occupational therapist. Books that may help include Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids: How to Teach Your Child About the Joy of Food by Melanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLP, and Ellyn Satter’s Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family: How to Eat, How to Raise Good Eaters, How to Cook.

 

Keep your eyes open for MDIO’s (Mom Dishes It Out’s) upcoming blog on when to get a consult from a speech therapist versus, occupational therapist or dietitian.

 

And of course, let us know what works for you. Does your child fit the description of Potock’s case examples, or does your child easily follow the flow set by Satter’s “Division of Responsibility”?

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Mother’s Day Dinner

Mother’s Day Dinner:
A perfect opportunity for every picky kids’ food issues to surface.
By Laura Cipullo, RD CED CEDRD CDN and Mom

For Mother’s Day, we went to Marc Forgione’s American Cut—a very fancy steak place. The décor was beautiful and masculine. The food—well, just incredible, as expected! Normally, I would not bring my kids to such an expensive restaurant but they are usually pretty cheap eaters. And it was Mother’s Day as well as our family’s celebration of my birthday which was the day before.

 

Bread

First, we were served an “everything” biscuit with vegetable cream cheese. The boys quickly grabbed the biscuits (despite all of the seeds on top) and took giant bites. And they both quickly realized they didn’t like what they were tasting! Not one bit! That was the end of their bread experience for the night. Meanwhile, I thought the biscuits were so delicious that I ate two!

 

Menu Selection

There was absolutely nothing listed on the menu that my younger son Billy would eat—and, of course, the bread was no longer an option. But oh, there were French fries—something to save the meal! But I was only saved until the fries arrived at our table. They were large slices of potatoes—heavily salted and spicy. Billy did try them, but nope, they were just not his thing. As usual in a situation like this, he sat happily in his seat but ate nothing. We played “tic tac toe” and he loved the evening.

Dinner Served

My older son Bobby had filet mignon. Now, I did not buy him his own steak, rather I know he eats only an ounce of steak at a time so my husband cut him a slice of filet from his dish. Bobby noticed that the meat was softer than usual. He asked if it was a different steak. I explained that it was filet mignon—a very good, very tender cut of meat, thus very soft.

 

So I watched Bobby performing his normal routine when chewing steak and even chicken. He munched on a bite for what seemed like five to ten minutes. (A homeopathic MD might say this is great as one should be chewing food at least 30 times per bite.) However, I find this similar to a toddler who plans to pocket the food in his/her mouth. Without jumping to any conclusions, I simply observed and he did eventually swallow. I know it’s purely because meat has a different feel and can truly be difficult to chew.

 

I remember hating steak for this very same reason. Who wants to work that hard to eat? Not me! I don’t even want to debone my fish, nonetheless eat chewy meat. Bobby recognized that this meat was softer and I assumed it meant he’d take a few less chews. Nope! I guess it really is just what it is. I’m just happy he eats some form of high quality (biological value) protein.

 

I also ordered cavatelli for Bobby. No sauce. No butter. No anything! He ate a few pieces and then said it tasted funny. It sure did; it had butter on it. I wasn’t going to return it though. So I ate it. I asked him to eat a few bites and finish the rest of his steak. And he was content. The boys just really like going to fancy restaurants with great fancy décor. Most especially, they really like the fancy-looking desserts!!

Dessert

The boys’ favorite time of the meal had finally arrived! Of course, they didn’t want to actually eat the fancy desserts. They just like their desserts to look fancy! Bobby ordered peanut ice cream with chocolate sauce; for Billy, I ordered sweet cream—the closest flavor to vanilla. Billy also decided to eat the peanut brittle that came with his grandparents’ Cracker Jack Sundae. Bobby wouldn’t even try! Mind you, Billy wouldn’t try the cavetalli –or even guacamole when we ate out on Friday night.

 

Well my super taster, Bobby, noticed right away that he was served the wrong ice cream. They accidently had given him coffee ice cream. And it happened twice! He finally got his peanut ice cream and chocolate sauce. Meanwhile, Billy gleefully spooned up his sweet cream and chocolate sauce. The boys were in ice cream heaven and so was I. I ate the scoops of coffee Stracciatella ice cream!

It was truly a wonderful evening and a positive eating experience too, but…

 

Two Points:

Despite constant role modeling and their continuous exposure to all foods, my sons purely prefer plain and simple foods. Ironically, it remains beneficial for me to continue the positive food role modeling and exposure to all foods. Why? Because that’s how Bobby began to eat steak and Billy had the desire to try both the bread and the peanut brittle.

 

So, moms and dads, keep trying to do what you know is best for your kids. Recognize that your food and nutrition efforts are realized in sometimes very small ways over many years of positive reinforcement. You are not wasting your money! When your children don’t eat their meals or don’t like particular foods, you are helping your children create opportunities to neutralize foods and flavors, create positive food memories, and ultimately learn what they truly like to eat.

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Likable Lunches: Citibabes' Style

Need nutritious ideas for likable lunches? Here are some flavor favorites you can add to your child’s springtime lunch box: remember exposure to new flavors and textures are key to increasing your child’s nutritional repertoire.

If you have a picky eater, introduce one new flavor with other favorite lunch foods.

* Whole-wheat wrap with thinly sliced fresh roast beef with thin layer of olive tapenade and an apple.

* Sushi bowl: Rice in a bowl with edamame, baked terrakyi tofu cubes, fresh corn and side of pickled ginger or cucumber slices.

* Whole grain sandwich with Cheddar, hummus, grilled red peppers, spring lettuce on whole grain bread with side of mini heirloom tomatoes.

 

To read more on likable lunches head over to Citibabes to read the rest of Laura’s article by clicking here.