Page 2 - Healthy Kids Now - Winter 2022/2023

Healthy holiday eating tTips for children
he holidays bring big dinners and homemade goodies. But too much of
a good thing can be unhealthy. Keep your family’s nutrition on track with these tips:
Start it right. You can’t control all your kids’ food choices. But you can make sure they start the day with a healthy breakfast. Choose nutrient-dense foods like tofu scrambled with veggies on whole wheat toast.
Pile on produce. At a holiday party, it’s easy to overeat unhealthy food. Make a family pact to fill your plates (and tummies) with fruits and veggies first.
Remake your favorites. Enlist your kids to help make over recipes using healthier ingredients. For example, substitute unsweetened apple- sauce for half the butter. Oftentimes, you’ll never taste the difference!
Consider drink choices. Don’t add sugar by serving soft drinks and other sweetened beverages. Instead, encourage children to drink water.
Model good behavior. Sneaking an extra cookie? Chances are your kids will notice. Show them what healthy habits look like through your own actions. Your children will benefit, and you’ll be healthier, too!
Sources: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, USDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Department of Public Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
NO-BAKE ICED GINGERBREAD BARS
INGREDIENTS
11⁄2 cups + 2 tbsp. rolled oats
1⁄3 cup almond meal (or unsweetened
shredded coconut)
11⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1⁄2 to 1 tsp. ground ginger
1⁄4 tsp. sea salt
2 cups lightly packed pitted dates
1⁄4 cup raisins
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup loosely packed coconut butter 3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
21⁄2 tbsp. nondairy milk
a couple pinches sea salt
1⁄4 to 1⁄2 tsp. grated lemon zest
DIRECTIONS
1.To make the bars: In a food processor, combine the oats, almond meal, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Pulse a few times to get the oats crumbly. Add the dates, raisins, and vanilla and pulse a few times to start to incorporate.Then, begin to puree steadily, and continue until the mixture becomes cohesive. (It will form a large ball on the blade.) Remove the dough and press it evenly into the prepared pan.
2.To prepare the icing:Combine the coconut butter, maple syrup, nondairy milk, and salt and gently warm.You can do this in a bowl set over a hot water bath or in an oven-proof bowl in the oven/toaster oven at low heat. (Be careful not to scorch the coconut butter, just warm it until it softens.) Once softened, mix until smooth and add the lemon zest if using.
3. Pour the icing over the dough and spread to distribute. Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and then cut into bars.
PER SERVING
Makes 20 servings; serving size is one bar. Each serving has about 130 calories, 5 g fat, 63 g sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 13 g sugar, and 2 g protein.
Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
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