Kids' Nutrition - Time Saving Tips

You know the drill: Our kids need lots of nutritious and energy-packed food to help them grow, learn and keep active. While we’d all like to ideally cook fresh wholesome meals and snacks for our families all the time, it is not easy to find the time or energy to do so.

I thought I’d share a few shortcuts that I use to cut down on time in the kitchen when trying to provide nutritious food for my kids (and myself!)

The Big Chop Up

Something that works for me is to do one big fruit and vegetable “chop up” once per day. Then, I only make one big mess to clean up rather than constantly dragging out the chopping board. For example, at 2pm, before I go to pick up the kids from school, I cut up vegetables and fruit for:

·         Today’s afternoon snack,

·         Tonight’s dinner,

·         Tomorrow’s lunchboxes.

I basically cut up all the same things in one big batch. So, one day it’ll be carrots, cabbage, apple and celery so I can make coleslaw for dinner and lunch and carrot and celery sticks for afternoon tea and lunchboxes. The next day it might be lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and capsicum for a big salad in a bowl that I then divide up into containers for the next 24 hours.

Grab and Go

If I don’t get a chance to do my big chop up, then I rely on easy to pack foods like bananas, a carrot (just washed, not peeled or cut), apples or whole cucumbers to get those nutrient-rich foods into the lunchboxes – basically anything that’s wholesome and easy to grab and go!

Nuts

Keeping a container of nuts in my handbag helps with the munchies when we’re doing a quick car trip, or as a protein top-up straight after school.

Lunch Meat

Freezing small portions of leftover roast chicken makes it easy to include protein in their lunch without relying on deli meats loaded with preservatives.

Of course, I don’t have it all together, far from it! But in terms of making my kids’ lives healthier and my life easier, these shortcuts help to keep us from falling into the “Just go and grab a packet of chips” habit every day. J  

What are your tips for healthy and quick nutrition for your family?

 

Rhonda Mackay

 

*Rhonda is a writer and mother of 2 girls. She has a special interest in emotional health and enjoys both the laziness of the school holidays and the peace of the school term in equal amounts! ;)