Healthy Muffins for Children?

[Lillylolly]

NBP, I love that you added vegetable puree to the sauce. When I make bolognaise I always add 2 x grated carrots and a large zucchini. You can then get away with less meat as the zucchini/carrots add bulk. I much prefer this combination and have grown to find regular bolognaise too meaty.

[grits]

NBP, my first step was to start buying most of my groceries at Whole Foods. That is an easy way to clean your fridge and pantry if it's worth it to spend the time/money/effort to get there. We only have one and it's not close to home so it takes a lot of all three to shop there but I leave knowing all my food choices are good. Like "healthy eating for dummies". I've also invested in lots of green/organic cookbooks.

With my diet, we cut out carbs and sugar and so far DS hasn't missed it. I will still make him delicious treats occasionally but not a homemade cookie in every lunch anymore.

[nuthinbutpink]

Those muffins are D.R.Y. The comments said so but I served them with syrup for dipping and that seemed to help!

[Lillylolly]

Which recipe did you try, NBP?

[december]

How do you go from what I have now in my refrigerator/pantry to a more healthful approach?

Really, any advice on what meals to begin with, where to start with what foods to buy...it is very overwhelming for me. I really try to eat healthy but my kids are full of 100 calorie snack bags.

Start small and do something like make your own healthier 100 calorie snack bags! We buy a bunch of healthy snacks like fruits, veggies, cheese sticks, greek yogurt, hummus, etc. and take them home and immediately wash/clean/prep and divide them up into small snack size ziploc bags. I put them all in a clear plastic bin on the bottom shelf and call it our 'snack bin'. It's super handy to grab a baggie of premeasured and prepped fruits when I want a snack. It keeps me away from grabbing the chips or something. I also love it for packing lunches!

When Liam is older I plan to have him help me with it! Sit down at the kitchen table and make a game out of it or something. Let's count 6 baby carrots and put them in the bag... 1, 2, 3... It could be a good learning tool and just some time to spend together. That's what I picture anyway. I'm sure it will be WAAAY different if we have more kids. But, hey, a girl can dream

[december]

Here is a picture of what I mean. I love Real Simple!!

[Lillylolly]

That is such a good idea, DB. You sound so organised.

[december]

For muffins I just use a standard muffin recipe and substitute wheat flour. Sometimes I add a bit of wheat germ or flax or something. L seems to be a fan of broccoli and cheese mixed in. I thought the texture was god awful, but he really liked ones with scrambled egg, cheese and ham. DH dipped them in syrup. I thought they were nasty, but DH and L seem to like them.

Zucchini and carrot grated in go well too - I usually add cinnamon. Or I take whatever chopped veggies I have (broccoli, red pepper, carrots, cauliflower) and add that in. L's only a year and I can trick him a LOT at this age. I don't know how that would go over as he gets older....

[december]

That is such a good idea, DB. You sound so organised.

Haha, not really! That is really the -only- part of my fridge and cupboards that aren't a complete disaster. I just cleaned out the fridge last night and the stuff that had expired was pretty darn shameful. LOL

[nuthinbutpink]

That's awesome DB. Thanks. LL the ham and cheese muffins from Weelicious.