TORONTO – Summer is winding down, the kids are getting bored and it also time to think about nutritious lunches and snacks that will satisfy hungry tummies when the kids go back to school.
Get creative. You can combine a craft with teaching some basic cooking skills, plus the children get to eat the results. Besides, when was the last time you encouraged your children to play with their food?
Hard-cook some eggs and set out a few simple ingredients, then let the kids make flowers, funny-looking creatures and sailboats. The sky’s the limit. Once they’ve learned the techniques, they can easily make snacks for themselves after school starts.
Eggs make a great snack for children because they’re nutritious, says registered dietitian Carol Harrison, who specializes in helping to make healthy eating easier for young, busy families. In her practice she advises parents and caregivers to aim for minimally processed foods in the diet.
“Any single wholesome natural nutrient-rich ingredient like eggs is top of my list of A-OK foods to feed your family.”
Harrison, who has a busy household with three children aged 13, 11 and eight, says she hard-cooks eggs on the weekend so that when she or the kids need a healthy snack after school and before lessons and practices or when dinner is going to be a little late, they can grab one and go.
“The kids can peel it in the back of the car on their way and I know it’s satisfying” and helps curb their hunger.
Packed with 14 essential nutrients, eggs are an excellent source of high-quality protein and a source of B12, the vitamin that we mainly get from animal foods, the Toronto-based Harrison says. One egg has about 70 calories.
Eggs include choline, which is recognized by Health Canada as an essential nutrient. “What’s interesting for parents of young children is that it’s been shown to play a strong role in brain development and function.”
Get breaking National news
“So for one egg they’re getting a whole lot of goodness. As a dietitian I can say that’s a lot,” says Harrison, who is also a spokesperson for the Egg Farmers of Ontario.
Protein helps you to feel full longer. “I’m always happy if my kids have eggs for breakfast because I know they’re going to last until lunchtime and they’ll be able to focus in their class as opposed to a breakfast that doesn’t have a good source of protein and then you’re hungry an hour and a half later and you’re not thinking about your schoolwork and focus on something else,” she adds.
As far as cholesterol goes, Harrison said that anyone with heart disease should be seeing a dietitian for advice on how eggs can be part of a healthy diet.
“They can fit,” she said. “It’s just how much in a package with all the other foods that you’re eating.”
She points to Canada’s Food Guide, and the variety offered in the category of meat and alternatives.
“There’s lots of healthy choices, eggs being one, lean meat being another, beans – the idea is to try to have variety in that food group over the course of a week.”
Harrison, who during her 15 years as a dietitian has developed resources to help parents and child-care providers with healthy ideas for snacks and feeding picky eaters, suggests that using hard-cooked eggs in a fun and economical way can help teach your children basic cooking skills while spending quality time together.
“It’s a great life skill. It’s not being taught in schools pretty much any more. Health Canada just did a large review looking at the state of cooking skills in Canada and there’s enough there to suggest these skills are not being passed on from one generation to another.”
An adult should cook the eggs and make sure they’re cool enough for little hands to handle. A toddler and a preschooler can pick the shells off. “It’s good motor co-ordination for them as well to figure out how to do that and it’s easy for them to do and it’s safe for them,” Harrison says.
Other motor skills come into play. They can mash the eggs with a fork to make egg salad. They can easily learn to slice hard-cooked eggs with a plastic knife to create shapes and they learn math and measuring.
Language skills and vocabulary can be expanded when you demonstrate different techniques – for example, this is called mashing, this is called slicing.
Here is the technique for cooking hard-boiled eggs from the Egg Farmers of Ontario:
– Be careful not to overcook them or you’ll end up with rubbery whites and grey discolouration around the yolks. Although this doesn’t affect taste or nutritional value, it doesn’t look very nice in sandwich fillings, salads or devilled eggs.
– Choose eggs that have been in your refrigerator for about a week. They will be easier to peel than fresh eggs and will still have the same taste and nutrient value.
– Place cold eggs in a single layer in a saucepan. Fill the saucepan so the eggs are covered with at least 2.5 centimetres (one inch) of cold water.
– Bring the water to a boil over high heat (the lid can be on or off). When the water reaches a boil, immediately cover the saucepan and remove it from the heat to stop the water from boiling.
– Let the eggs stand in the water, covered, for 18 to 23 minutes (the eggs cook while standing in the boiled water). A large egg will take 18 to 20 minutes. Be sure to set a timer.
– Immediately drain off the water and run cold water over the eggs until they are cool to the touch.
—
Online:
Egg Farmers of Ontario, http://www.getcracking.ca.
Meal Planning Made Easy based on Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, http://www.mealplanningmadeeasy.ca.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.