Healthy Meals for Children in Chicago

Have you put Alzein Pediatrics into your address book? Don’t miss a single bit of advice!When school starts, life gets more structured – and more chaotic. Planning healthy meals for your children can get lost in the shuffle of homework, sports, band, dance, gymnastics – whew! we’re exhausted just thinking about it all!

Alzein Pediatrics knows you want to give your kids healthy lunches, but that you don’t have a lot of time during the morning rush. We’ve complied a menu of items that are easy to pack and good for your children.

Creating Healthy Meals for Your Children

There are a number of steps that you can utilize in order to make sure your children get the good nutrition that they need. And it is possible to do this while adding in a ton of variety that your child is sure to love as well. Some of the steps that you can use to create healthy meals for your children, including for lunch, includes:

Build around a protein – and cube it.

Cube cheddar cheese, last night’s chicken breast or pork chop (think lunch when you’re planning dinner!), or hard-boiled eggs. These items are packed with healthy protein, easy to eat with fingers or fork, and can be prepared ahead and stored in the fridge. Rolls are fun too, such as ham with cheese or lean sliced beef around avocado.

Expand the possibilities with insulated containers.

Your child might prefer minestrone soup, chili or savory lasagna. Zap it in the microwave in the morning and seal an insulated container (such as a Thermos®) so they’ll have a comforting warm lunch. if you have made some healthy soup to enjoy the night before, then you can easily use that to create health meals for your children to take along with lunch too.

Add some crunch.

Ditch the chips! Prep pieces of celery, slices of green, yellow and red peppers or broccoli florets. Need no prep at all? Buy baby carrots by the bagful. Your child will enjoy having toms great crunch and texture to some of the meals that they consume. Adding in a bit of crunch will make a big difference.

Throw in a salad. 

Those bags of cleaned, premixed salad greens are a lunch-maker’s best friend. Place a handful into a reusable container and splash a bit of dressing into a separate container for mealtime combining. If you’ve got an extra minute, slice an avocado and use that as a dressing instead.

Regular salad may be hard to get your child to eat. They may not want to eat a bunch of leafy greens, even if it creates healthy meals for your children. Mix in a lot of the fruits and vegetables that they will enjoy to convince them to take a bite and enjoy.

Don’t forget the sweet tooth.

Let those high sugar cookies and other processed snacks crumble away. Give your child sliced apples, grapes, or blueberries. Also consider a fruity yogurt, quartered oranges or trail mix. Yes, you want to make sure that your child is healthy and has a good lunch to enjoy. But you also need to make sure to give them a little treat, something that will make them feel good as well. The healthy options above can help.

Avoid prepackaged processed lunches. 

Those packages in the refrigerated section look tempting, but pass them by! They are expensive and filled with salt, sugar, nitrates and other chemicals, with very little nutrition. BONUS – avoiding these highly packaged containers also helps your family go green.

Questions on what really makes a healthy lunch – or breakfast and dinner?  Want to learn how to create healthy meals for your children? Give Alzein Pediatrics a call at 708-424-7600 and we’ll be happy to give you guidance for balanced meals all day long!