G et C o o k i n g F e a t u re - I S S U E 0 4
Preparing food can be fun, bringing everyone together and helping children develop a keen interest in different foods and flavours that will stay with them throughout their life. Ask them what they fancy eating and then task them with helping to select the vegetables in the supermarket, or with reading the content of the packaging to make sure you’ve got the right thing on your list. Let them tick items off the list and then unpack the shopping with you when you get home. Let them help you prepare food for the family and others. Making food about good health, discovering flavours and sharing, not about instant gratification or getting thin.
MAKE TIME AND TAKE TIME For meals … It’s so easy to rush through a mealtime like another point on the schedule – on the way to doing the dishes and getting the kids bathed and ready for bed
nutrients. Sip a little water (cool is okay, but no ice!) and enjoy the flavour of your food.
the first meal of the day helps to calibrate your taste buds for the rest of the day TRY SOMETHING NEW We all get into a meal-rut now and then, focusing on staple favourites that mean we can get dinners made quickly and in time for when everyone is home and hungry. But that means food can become a chore instead of a pleasure. Try experimenting with different herbs and spices at the weekend when you all have a little more time to prepare a meal together. Select one-pot recipes or recipes with up to five ingredients or swap out your usual
pasta or rice for a wholegrain or nonwheat alternative to shake things up a bit. Thicken the Bolognese sauce with puréed carrot or add minced mushrooms for those fussy carnivores that can smell a vegetable a mile off. Look online for quick, easy and nutritious recipe ideas.
START WITH THE HEALTHY FOOD YOU ENJOY! Not a huge fan of cabbage or broccoli? Then don’t use these to launch your healthier-eating lifestyle unless you want an early relapse! Use the healthy food you enjoy as a basis for introducing new flavours or swapping out key ingredients for healthier alternatives. As parents, it is easy to get into the habit of eating the children’s leftovers to avoid the waste. Or using the busy lifestyle as an excuse for not making time to exercise and avoiding addressing poor eating habits as a possible cause of low energy levels or mood swings. If you want to get the kids eating healthily, then start by adding extra vegetables to your own plate and see if it encourages them to add more to their own.
because it’s a school night. No wonder we barely chew our food and end up eating too much, getting tummy ache and then craving snacks in between meals. Take time to chew – and savour – your food. Digestion starts in the mouth: chewing not only helps to grind food into a more manageable consistency for your stomach to process, but also gives your stomach the necessary time to generate the digestive juices to help further process your meal, ready for your gut to absorb the
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