HEALTHY EASTER OPTIONS FOR YOUR KIDS
The Easter season is known to bring all things sweet, decadent and delicious, but this Easter holiday doesn’t have to increase the sugar levels in your kids. You can keep breakfast, lunch and dinner healthy while filling those baskets with Easter goodies and treats.
Easter is about creating a fun environment for your kids by giving them exciting, sweet treats to feast on. However, it is very important for parents to make sure that these treats are healthy because too much sugar can have a negative impact on your child’s health.
Gert Coetzee, pharmacist and diet pioneer who founded The Diet Everyone Talks About understands the importance of giving your children a healthy, fun-filled Easter experience.
Here are a few tips for making sure that your kids stay healthy this Easter.
Breakfast
Breakfast needs to be the perfect combination of health and fun. You can make bunny head shaped pancakes, using fruit as parts of the face. Choose low carb fruit to make this a balanced meal that will provide your kids with the nutrients and energy that your kids need. This will also be very fun for them to eat.
How to:
- Use a pancake as the face.
- Cut a fig in half and use it as a nose.
- Use blueberries as eyes.
- Cut a pineapple into two pieces and use each piece as an ear.
- Use some raw honey to spread a smile on the bunny’s face.
You can use this amazing recipe recipe from The Diet Everyone Talks About “Eat Slim/Eet Slim” recipe book to make delicious pancakes with only 2.1 g carbs per portion.
Basic Pancakes
Portions: 16 pancakes
Prep time: 10 min
CHD: 2.1 g per portion
kJ: 168 kJ
Ingredients:
6 Eggs, well beaten
150 ml Canola oil/olive oil (= less CHD)
125 ml Cream
250 ml Water
150 ml Soy flour / cake flour (= more CHD)
To taste: Salt
Sprinkling: Mix Cinnamon and Canderel-powder
Optional: Lemon juice in the pancake mix
Method:
- Whisk everything together (except Sprinkling) – make a soft, smooth batter.
- Bake and sprinkle “Sprinkles” over to taste.
Lunch
Make bunny shaped sandwiches, using whole wheat or brown bread. Use lettuce, tuna, tomato, cheese and lean cut meats as fillings. Boiled eggs are a definite side to add to your kid’s lunch as eggs also symbolise Easter. You can also add vegetable sticks and use Greek yoghurt as a dip. Cutting fruit into fun and exciting shapes for your kids to enjoy is also another option.
Dinner
How about making stuffed chicken breasts for dinner? Fill the chicken breasts with mushrooms, ham, cheese, onion and maybe some garlic to taste. This can be served with a crisp fresh salad or sweet potato wedges. The health benefits of chicken include its supply of protein as well as vitamins and minerals. These are all useful in numerous activities in our bodies. Chicken also helps reduce the risks of high blood pressure as well as cancer.
Snacks
Buy plastic eggs and fill them with healthy snacks such as biltong, nuts, vegetable sticks and pieces of fruit. These can be used for the egg hunt. It will be a fun and healthy experience for your kids. Fruit kebabs as well as chocolate covered fruit are also great snack ideas for Easter. You can dip the fruit in melted chocolate then roll it in chopped nuts. This snack will serve as a chocolate fix with a healthy dose of fruit.
For the adults, here’s a decadent yet healthy recipe from The Diet Everyone Talks About “Eat Slim/Eet Slim” recipe book to make chocolate brownies with only 2 g per square.
Portions: 30 squares
Prep time: 30 min
CHD: 2 g per square
kJ: 270 kJ
125 ml Butter, room temperature
3 Eggs
100 g Unsweetened chocolate slab
10 ml Chocolate extract / essence
30 ml Water
30 ml Soya powder
125 ml Coarsely chopped walnuts / pecans
0.5 ml Nice-n-Sweet
40 ml Chocolate liqueur / crème de cacao
Activities
A classic egg hunt might be fun if you challenge the kids with finishing times, quantities collected or making it a race. This will help work as a fun exercise for your kids. You can also have a dance off! Turn on some of your kids favourite tunes and let them show off their best moves. Leapfrog can also be a fun family game. Pretending to be bunnies instead of frogs will make this perfect for Easter. Getting your kids to paint boiled eggs can also be a fun experience for them. They can also eat the eggs once they are done.