Rucksacks have been packed, uniforms are ironed and ready for students who are starting their school year back this week. Packing a lunch is a whole other challenge, with children notorious for their fussy eating habits and in particular their distaste for food that contains any powerful health benefits.
With the hustle and bustle of the New Year, parents can sometimes find it difficult to free up enough time to get the creative the juices flowing and brainstorm new ways to disguise healthy ingredients and incorporate additional vitamins and minerals into their children’s lunch boxes.
Is this feeling resonating? If so, as part of Blackmores’ partnership with the Australian Open, we asked leading nutritionist and Blackmores influencer Dr Joanna McMillan, to fill us in on which ingredients and superfoods our kids would benefit from eating and how to sneak it into their daily meals.
Here are her top 5 choices:
- Natural yoghurt – contains substantial nutritional value; make sure you’re getting natural, unsweetened yoghurt, so that you’re getting protein from the milk, the probiotics from the fermentation process and also calcium. Try sprinkling a teaspoon of Blackmores Wild Blueberry Superfood powder on top of your child’s yoghurt pot, add a pinch of rolled oats for fibre, as well as a handful of chopped macadamias or walnuts for a healthy dessert.
- Almond butter - is high in good fats and magnesium. If you’re on a budget, why not take ten minutes and make your own, by adding two cups of almonds into your Vitamix or food processor and blend to your desired creaminess. Try smearing a tablespoon of butter onto some apple quarters or celery sticks, and keep the kids entertained by getting them to stick assortments of nuts and currants on top.
- Berries – are rich in vitamin C, essential for a healthy immune system, plus numerous powerful antioxidants and plenty of fibre. The best way to get your children to eat these is by sprinkling them on top of their wholegrain cereal or yogurt pot, spreading them into a jam on their whole-grain toast or blending a mix of berries (frozen are just as good) into their morning smoothie.
- Wholegrain pasta - maintains the three essential parts of the whole grain kernel: the bran, germ and the endosperm, these real-deal whole-grains make the pasta rich in vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre. Wholegrains products are an easy substitute in the context of a healthy overall diet, so why not trial when whipping up a batch of spaghetti bolognese for the kid’s dinner – they won’t be able to taste the difference.
- Extra virgin olive oil – is rich in super healthy monounsaturated fats and a wealth of phytochemicals. This is an easy superfood to add into the whole family’s diet. Try using it in a salad dressing, to roast your vegies, in baking for the kids’ lunchboxes or drizzle on top of your wholegrain pasta! In fact, added to vegies it improves the uptake of important phytochemicals as well as making them taste delicious so they’ll eat more!
ABOUT THE EXPERT:
Dr Joanna McMillan is encouraging Australians to take stock of their wellbeing, by assessing their health with the Blackmores Wellbeing Check, pledge their wellbeing goals for 2016 with #IWillBe on social media.
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