How to Get Your Kids to Eat Well

Featured Pro: Sam Talbot
Category: Cooking
Time: 2:37


SAM TALBOT: Okay, so today we’re all about how to teach you all how to cook your little beloved ones, your sweet, sweet children, how to eat a little bit healthier. I hate to say we’re going to trick them, but we’re kind of going to trick them.

So we all know that kids love anything fried. A little trick I like to do, head to the farmers’ market, buy a nice big head of broccoli, leave the stems as long as possible. This way they resemble trees. Kids might be kind of into that. Spray them with a little cooking spray. Go through your breading station, a little bit of egg wash, a little bit of seasoned bread crumbs. All you do is bake them 10 to 12 minutes. They look fried. They taste great. It’s a winner.

Next, brownies. Every kid loves brownies. They’re high in fat. We’re going to change that. What we’re going to do is we’re going to take half the amount of oil that the recipes call for, switch it out with applesauce. No one ever knows. They taste great. They look great. And they’re brownies.

Last, but not least, we also do mac and cheese. It’s a great trick. Every kid loves mac and cheese. They love the pasta. They love the creaminess, the cheese, the toasted bread crumbs. What I like to do is take a little bit of butternut squash, puree it in there. This way it kind of already looks like cheddar cheese. They get obviously a lot more nutrients and vitamins. That’s a cool little trick.

Now, for the grand finale, what kid doesn’t like milkshakes or a smoothie, right? So what I like to do, instead of using ice cream, take a little bit of plain yogurt. You can use frozen yogurt if you like. All we’re going to do is spoon our yogurt, plain yogurt, right into the blender like that. Fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, whatever’s in season, you can definitely use, right inside. We’re going to do a little bit of ice, just to fit it out; a little great trick in the summer.

Some oatmeal – that’s the key. Oatmeal is full of nutrients, full of vitamins, and they’ll never know. We’re going to spoon this right in there. We’re going to sweeten it up with a touch of agave. And we’re just going to give this a quick pulse to see if we need to fit it out. If we do, you can use a little bit of lowfat milk. That’s what I like to do. We’re going to blend this.

Once your ice is chopped up, everything’s in there. All the ingredients are married. That’s what you’re looking for. You want to just keep the milk on the side in case you need it, in case your milkshake gets a little too thick. Here we don’t need it. We’re going to get our parfait glass here. You fill her up.

So I hope these tricks help your kids to eat a little bit healthier while they’re still eating the food that they love. Remember, cook nice.