Mealtimes - healthy eating ideas
We’re all busy these days, so here are some ways to help you make time for mealtime.
Mealtimes
Try to organise the day around three regular mealtimes. It’s easier to keep kids from pestering for snacks if they know when their next meal is coming.
Start at breakfast
A healthy breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it’s certainly a great way to give kids the energy they need. Don’t let them skip breakfast! Try low sugar cereals or toast, and if you add chopped fruit or a glass of unsweetened fruit juice then that counts toward their 5 A DAY too!
For more healthy breakfast ideas, have a look at Breakfast4Life.
Eat together when you can
Children like to copy their parents, brothers, sisters and friends. So if you can get them to eat together, or you can eat with them, they can see and copy others eating a variety of foods - plus kids enjoy it and it can save a bit of time too.
Make meals fun!
Get the kids involved and make a real occasion out of your meals so they look forward to sitting down together and eating. Let them lay the table with proper placemats, napkins and maybe even hats or balloons! You could go a step further and get them making menus with My Change4Life Cookbook, and choosing music to listen to as you eat too like a proper restaurant!
Make a date
If you don’t have time to eat as a family all the time, try setting aside a particular day that suits everybody and make it a time you all keep free. So whether it’s Sunday lunch, a relaxed Saturday morning breakfast or teatime on a Friday, get everyone involved and start having a special meal every week with family or friends.
One-pot meals are great for sharing!
Great big pots of stew, casserole or healthy curries are great for sharing and easy to prepare. And you can just put the dish on the table and everyone can help themselves – although do keep an eye on how much the kids are giving themselves and make sure they’re having the right sized portion for their age and size. You can find out more about this in Me-size Meals.
Turn off the telly!
Try and use family meal times to get everyone talking. If the TV is on, you can guarantee they’ll watch it instead of having a conversation so try and get them into the habit of TV-free dinners. If that seems like a step too far, you could put the radio on instead and let them choose the station.