We Can Choose The Healthy Desserts For Our Kids

Nobody can deny the fact that the best part of a meal comes at its very end with a delicious and sumptuous dessert. You may remember sitting at a dinner table at your home or your favorite restaurant waiting for this special part to arrive.

In spite of this, most of the parents don't allow their children to indulge in their favorite desserts. There is nothing wrong in that as parents are highly concerned about the health of their kids these days.

What makes things even worse is the fact that most of the dessert available these days are full of useless calories and are said to be one of the main reasons responsible for the increasing obesity rates among children. It's quite difficult to find healthy dessert recipes for kids, which they can actually love. This may be the reason why so many parents want their kids to skip this part of the meal instead of serving them with useless sugary calories.

So, what are the most important requirements that you need to keep in mind before preparing healthy dessert recipes for kids? The first thing is that these are should be quick and easy dessert recipes.

Secondly, these recipes should be prepared with only natural and wholesome ingredients, to provide maximum nutritional value to children. No doubt, preparing dessert recipes, especially for kids, is one of the most time consuming tasks for anyone; therefore, you should only select quick and easy dessert recipes that can be prepared within minutes.

As everyone knows kids are really fond of desserts, so you cannot stop them every time from having desserts. The real problem arises when kids start buying desserts from market places that are full of artificial colors and flavors. These artificial ingredients play havoc with your child's health.

Apart from the temporary diseases, these ingredients have serious, long-term consequences such as various types of cancers etc. Therefore, the effective solution is not to stop your children altogether from having desserts, but you should make efforts to replace their binge eating habits with healthy dessert recipes for kids.

One thing that kids really like in their desserts is variety. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why they like to have their desserts in restaurants or any dessert shop in the market place. Always remember, if you have decided to include healthy dessert recipes for kids in their meals, learn to prepare several quick and easy dessert recipes for kids.

Here, you need to be creative at the time of preparing these recipes; you can use your own ingredients or you can try to alter your style of preparation for these recipes and so on and so forth. Actually, there are lots of experimentation that you can do while preparing healthy dessert for kids.

Get Away From Fast Food Keep Healthy

Fast food restaurants are popular because they serve tasty convenient foods for a reasonable price. Many people visit these restaurants frequently to eat their main meals. They don't realize that these type of food items are bad for health.
Here are some reasons why fast food is bad for your health.

Fast food contain more calories.

Majority of junk foods are loaded with calories. Large portion size and high fat content are the main reasons for the high energy content.

An average person need to consume about 400-600 calories in a mealtime. The calorie content of many items are far more than that level. For example; KFC chicken pot pie have 790 calories. If you eat that and drink 300ml of Pepsi, which contain 170 calories, you will have a total of 960 calories. A McDonald's Big Xtra Hamburger with cheese have 810 calories. A Burger King's Club Chicken Sandwich is loaded with700 calories.

Think that if you eat 220 more calories a day, you will gain one pound of extra fat in your body in two weeks time. That means, 24 pounds in one year. That is a lot of weight gain. So, don't visit those restaurants more than once a week.

Fast food contain more unhealthy fat.

Most of the convenient foods contain high levels of saturated fat. This type of fat is mostly derived from animal products such as meat, eggs and butter. Palm oil and coconut oil also contain significant amounts of saturated fat. Eating too much saturated fat can increase bad cholesterol level in the blood. Elevated levels of cholesterol is the main cause of heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular diseases.

Another type of fat presents in these food is called trans fat, which is the worst type of fat. We do not need to eat trans fat, even in tiny amounts. Consumption of trans fat is linked to elevated levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood. In addition, it can lower the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) in you body.

Fast foods are high in sodium.

Sodium plays several important roles in our body. We need to consume certain amount of sodium everyday. However, taking too much salt is bad for the body. It can cause high blood pressure, obesity, and osteoporosis. In addition, experts believed that over-consumption of salt is linked to increased risk of developing bowl cancer.

An average adult need to consume about 1200mg sodium per day. Many of the convenient foods contain far more than that amount. For example; KFC double down sandwich contain 1880 mg of sodium. Similarly, McDonald's Angus bacon and cheese contain 2070 mg of sodium. Imagine you eat one of these items for your one meal time. then what are you going to eat for the rest of the day?

Eating too much fast food is bad for your health because they contain more calories, more unhealthy fay, and more salt. They can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, and coronary heart diseases.

Here Are Some Quick And Healthy Lunch Ideas

Whether you work full time or are home with other children, you may find yourself grabbing for a quick lunch. You know that nutrition is important for the baby, but you can't seem to find the time to make a healthy lunch. Fortunately, a healthy lunch can be made in a short amount of time.

Leftovers from dinner can make a quick and healthy lunch the next day. It just takes a minute to set aside a portion in a container and stick it in the refrigerator. In the morning, you just have to grab the container on your way out the door. It can be easily reheated at work for a quick and nutritious lunch.

You can use some leftovers to make a healthy lunch. Leftover chicken, turkey or ham can be cut up and added to a salad for lunch the next day. Leftover turkey makes a great sandwich on whole wheat bread. You can always make the salad or sandwich before you go to bed to save you some much needed time in the morning.

Lunch meat is a stand by for many people. However, this is not the healthiest choice when you are pregnant. Lunch meat can harbor listeria, which is a bacteria that is dangerous for pregnant women. Limit your consumption of lunch meat. If you do eat it once in a while, be sure it is very fresh.

Shop at your local health food store for fast lunch ideas. You can find some ready to eat soups in a healthier version than what you might find in the grocery store. Try to include as many food groups as possible in your lunch. Choose whole grains, protein, calcium and fruits and vegetables. Drink milk or water rather than sugary drinks, iced tea or sodas.

If you are working all day, you will need to pack more food. During pregnancy you will feel hungry faster and will need snacks throughout the day. Pack a variety of quick and healthy snacks with your lunch to help ensure good nutrition. Some ideas for healthy snacks include fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, yogurt, string cheese, granola and trail mix. You can wash and cut vegetables over the weekend and store them in the refrigerator. You can pack granola or trail mix in individual baggies for the week as well. This will save you time in the mornings.

There Are Some Quick Kid's Breakfast Recipes

Preparing healthy breakfast meals for children is simpler than most people think. Over the last 20 years, convenience breakfast foods like super sweet cereal and Pop Tarts have contributed to the obesity crisis in children. Foods like these are laden with high fructose corn syrup, preservatives and empty calories. While they are easy to prepare, there are quick kid's breakfast recipes, which are a much healthier option.

Oatmeal

Steel cut oatmeal is a quick healthy breakfast that can be prepared in bulk and last for a dozen meals.

In a slow cooker combine 2 cups steel cut oats, 2 cups dried cranberries, 2 cups dried figs, 8 cups of water and 1 cup of half and half. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 9 hours or overnight on the low heat setting. Let the oatmeal cool in the slow cooker. Take small plastic containers and measure out 1 and ½ cups of the oatmeal into each container. Store in the refrigerator, every time you want to serve a quick healthy breakfast for kids, take a container; add a tablespoon of milk and microwave to reheat for 1 minute.

Oatmeal is filling and it gives children vital nutrients they need to get through a school day.

Yogurt and Granola

Organic granola, which has not been sweetened with sugar or high fructose corn syrup, mixed with fat free Greek yogurt is a healthy and nutritious option for a child's breakfast. To make the yogurt more appealing, try layering yogurt and granola with fruit in a large glass. Greek yogurt will give your children their daily needed dose of calcium. Dairy also helps maintain energy and sharpen focus.

Taco

Eggs are an excellent start to any morning. They are filled with protein and essential nutrients. Scramble eggs with a variety of veggies; add some low fat cheese to bind the eggs and vegetables together. Heat a wheat tortilla, and spoon the egg and vegetable mixture into the tortilla. Top with salsa, fold and serve. You have a quick health breakfast for your child, which took less than five minutes to prepare and has less than 200 calories per serving.

Totally Bananas

Bananas are rich in potassium and assist with muscle recovery. A quick healthy breakfast your kids will love is a banana and peanut butter sandwich. Store bought peanut butter such as Jif and Skippy are loaded with preservatives, chemicals and sweeteners. Instead, opt for organic peanut butter. Spread 1 tablespoon on a whole wheat English muffin. Top with sliced banana. This breakfast takes less than 5 minutes to prepare, and comes in at about 300 calories each serving.

Cream of Wheat

For children who may not enjoy the texture of oatmeal, cream of wheat may be an option. This hot cereal has a creamier texture than oatmeal and mixes well with fruit. Try making a cup of cream of wheat and adding in a splash of milk, organic honey and fresh fruit for a nutritious and vitamin-rich start to the day. There are many other hot cereals on the market, such as Cream of Rice, Oat Bran and Muesli. Buy a swathe of different options and see which ones your children enjoy. Most of these kinds of cereals are a vegan quick breakfast for kids.

When Healthy is Not Healthy

All too often, parents have been lulled into the belief that sending their kids off with a glass of juice in the morning is healthy. However, store bought juices are shot full of shelf stabilizing preservatives and sugars to increase the sweetness of the product. A typical 4-ounce serving of juice has over 150 calories. Opt out of juice in the morning and think about making your children a smoothie. Smoothie can be prepared with unsweetened almond milk, which has about 25 calories per cup. Mix in frozen blueberries and strawberries and a scoop of whey protein powder to give your children an excellent low calorie brain booster to start their day.

Store bought muffins and breakfast breads also come packed with calories and fat. An average store bought blueberry muffin has more calories than two Snickers bars. These sugary baked goods are a terrible start to the morning. While the sugar will initially boost your child, a few hours later they will suffer the brain fog associated with a sugar crash. If you choose to serve items like this, invest in a good sugar free cookbook and learn how you can bake muffins that are sweetened with Stevia, cane juice or honey instead of sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

There are many options for parents worried that their children are not eating a nutritious breakfast. Breakfast kicks the day off right, and helps keep children focused. Make sure your kids are getting important vitamins and minerals in every breakfast meal.

Great Ideas For Healthy Dinner

It is no longer a difficult choice these days to choose to prepare a healthy dinner meal for you and your family. Even if you are on a busy schedule and you find yourself with very little time to cook, there are many meals that you can create in less than twenty minutes. It makes no difference whether you are looking for a budget healthy recipe or speedy healthy recipe for dinner, here you will discover some of the best ideas.

First of all, before you begin to prepare a healthy dinner, you must have a thorough understanding of what constitutes a healthy meal. In order to have a well balanced meal, you must include whole grains, vegetables and protein. A good rule of thumb is to try to get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each and every day. This should prove to not be a difficult task as you can include at least two to three portions of vegetables in one meal.

It is also important to have protein in your meal, but it is also a good idea to limit the amount that you eat. A lot of people end up eating much more protein in their diet than what is necessary. You should try to limit the amount of red meat that you consume to a couple of times a week. There are alternatives to meat that contain protein such as eggs and they can make you a great healthy meal.

One of my favorite speedy health recipes for healthy cooking is that of a three bean salad. This is very popular during the summer months, but it can also be used throughout the rest of the year. It is very simple to prepare as you simply mix up all of your favorite salad ingredients in a large bowl and then you add a can of mixed beans . There are three different cans of beans that will give you a little variety to choose from. Make sure that you do not use baked beans. You need to focus on healthy beans . The great thing about this recipe is that it is very easy to make and it will last you a few days.

Another healthy recipe that will take you less than half an hour to prepare is homemade burgers. The best healthy choice to use is a good lean meat and then you can add some peppers and tomatoes and have yourself a flavorful healthy burger. They are simple to prepare as you mix up all of your ingredients and shape them into a burger. Depending on how thick you make them, they should cook in about fifteen minutes.

There are also healthy recipes that you can try if you find yourself on a tight budget. One of the ideal meals for this is an omelet. The best thing about this is that you can purchase your eggs in bulk and then add different ingredients which will make them healthier for your body. You can use omelets in combinations with other foods such as a side salad.

Lasagna is another budget conscience recipe that is always a family favorite. It is easy to make as you can buy pre-packaged sauces. If you want to save more money, you can cook it in bulk and have the leftovers the next day or you can freeze it and have it later in the month. As with the omelet, you can also serve the lasagna with a side salad to make it a more healthy meal.

Soup is also an excellent choice for a healthy and hearty meal that you can cook on a budget. The best thing about soup is that you can add all of your favorite vegetables along with a bit of onion and garlic to give it a great fuller flavor. You can add some stock to it and serve it with some whole grain rolls and this makes a perfect combination for a healthy meal.