Books to Get Children Involved in Creating Healthy, Fun Meals
One of my favorite memories as a kid was waking up early on Thanksgiving morning to help my mom start cooking. I got a thrill out of chopping carrots and apples for the stuffing, savored the smell of the spices we rubbed on the turkey, and got a kick out of mashing the potatoes. Today, I still love to cook with my mother and am looking forward to waking up early tomorrow morning, per tradition, and working together to create a delicious meal.
Of course, we would not want to be cooking elaborate feasts every day! Unfortunately, however, many kids don't get the opportunity to help cook or prepare even quick, healthy meals with any sort of regularly.
The perennially popular movie, a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, is an excellent illustration of how the Peanuts gang, like many others today, don't know how to cook, and end up serving a smorgasbord of candy, popcorn, buttered toast, and other unhealthy sweets and treats when they decide to throw their own Thanksgiving holiday party.
There are a number of children's books aimed at teaching good nutrition so that children can make these informed choices when faced with a turkey sandwich or a greasy grilled cheese in the lunch line. Blue Potatoes, Orange Tomatoes: How to Grow A Rainbow Garden, by Rosalind Creasy teaches children the basics of gardening, and goes into detail about different plants (chard! Zucchini! Radishes! Corn!) that would be fun to grow, but more delicious to eat (and be sure to look for the recipes Creasy includes). This would be an excellent book to read with a child, grandchild, or your reading partner.
Similar titles include The Vegetables We Eat (Gail Gibbons), Eating the Alphabet (Lois Ehlert), and Good Enough to Eat: A Kid's Guide to Food and Nutrition (Lizzy Rockwell). Gregory the Terrible Eater, by Mitchell Sharmat, describes how Gregory the goat doesn't like to eat shoes, or bottle caps, but prefers fruits and vegetables. His mother gets very upset and takes him to a doctor! Pick it up at your local library to find out if Gregory changes his diet!
So, with Thanksgiving upon us, in all of its butter-drenched, calorie-laden glory, and Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanza right on its heels, now is the perfect time to come up with some healthy lunches. Come Monday, November 28, we might still feel the holiday feast sitting in our bellies. Why not repurpose some of those leftovers for a creative, healthy meal? Here is just one example of a fun and nutritious leftover-lunch for your student:
Whole-wheat Turkey Wrap:
Spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on a small whole-wheat tortilla. Top tortilla with a piece of lettuce, leftover turkey breast meat, and a dollop of cranberry sauce. . Roll tightly and slice in half. Serve with leftover apple sauce sprinkled with cinnamon.
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