Kiddipedia
In a world where health is at the forefront of most of the conversations online and IRL right now, you might be asking yourself how do I just keep my family’s health in check? People are spruiking sentiments all over social to eat well, move your body and make a point of taking care of your mental health. Which are all indeed, great places to start. Now we’re dietitians so we’re here to shed some light on the ‘eating well’ part of that equation. More to the point…supporting your immune system through great nutrition.
We’re not here to kill the budget and nothing we share should require another unnecessary trip to the supermarket- let’s leave that to the people who actually need to shop for food, but we’ve got 3 quick tips to share to keep us healthy, happy and feelin’ fine during this trying time.
TIP 1. INCREASE VARIETY
We’ll start with the obvious – eating a balanced diet filled with a variety of foods across the 5 food groups while still enjoying food you love (comfort in these times is often a necessity) would be our first port of call. This will give you the best chance of you meeting your nutritional needs – the higher the variety, the higher the chances of you achieving this!
Ways to achieve increased variety in your diet? Just a few ideas from us:
Add grated veggies or add a tin of lentils to a pasta sauce
Add a side salad to lasagne
Add rice or barley to soup/stews
Add veggie or cheese sticks to crackers and dip
Add Fruit and yoghurt on cereal and milk
Add nuts, seeds or cooked grain to salads
Add another type of veggie to your stir-fry
A great sense check for high variety is often colour- especially when it comes to fruit and vegetables! Check out our recipe for a rainbow bowl below for inspo!
TIP 2. CHOW DOWN THE VITAMIN C!
Vitamin C is an antioxidant and is an excellent nutrient that supports a healthy immune system. Eating a colourful selection of fruits and vegetables everyday is likely to provide you with enough vitamin C to keep you going. Fruits and veggies high in vitamin C include citrus fruits, berries, kiwifruit, capsicum and broccoli.
TIP 3. IT’S AS EASY AS X, Y, Z(INC).
Zinc is a mineral that is necessary to consume for the healthy functioning of our immune system! It can help our bodies fight off invading bacteria and viruses! Great food choices full of Zinc include lean red meat, fish & poultry, wholegrain cereals, legumes, dairy foods, nuts and seeds.
For more nutrition-y bits and pieces come on over and visit our website: www.wellnessirl.com.au we’ve got STACKS of recipes and info to keep you happy and healthy!
Your WIRLy friends,
Alicia & Bree
Kid Friendly Nourish Bowl
Serves 4
GF, Veg
Ingredients:
- ½ butternut pumpkin
- About 1 cup of brown rice to make 2 cups
- ¼ red cabbage
- 1 red capsicum
- 1 cucumber
- 2 handfuls of snow peas
- 2 carrots
- 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
- 1 tin of corn, drained
- 4 big handfuls of spinach
- 1-2 tins of chickpeas, drained
- ¼ cup of pumpkin seeds
- 2/3 cup of greek yoghurt
- Olive-oil, salt, pepper
How do we make it?
- Pre-heat the oven to 180o Chop the pumpkin into cubes of 2x2cm, place on a lined baking tray and spray with olive-oil, sprinkle on salt & pepper. Chuck the tray in the oven for about 40 minutes or until pumpkin is golden brown. We recommend doing this the night before whilst chilling on the couch!
- Cook the brown rice by first rinsing grains with water. Bring 1 cup of rice with 2 cups of water to the boil in a saucepan, reduce heat and simmer covered for approx. 25mins.
- Whilst the rice is cooking, finely slice red cabbage, red capsicum, cucumber, snow peas & carrots. Chop tomatoes in half.
- Microwave the pre-cooked pumpkin and heat the pumpkin seeds on low heat with a non-stick frypan for about 3 minutes or until slightly golden.
- Stylishly collate all ingredients into a bowl by grouping each of the ingredients, sprinkle pumpkin seeds across and dollop Greek yoghurt on top. Voila!
Some great other additions include: cous-cous, tofu, boiled eggs, falafels, chicken, sesame-seeds, hummus, red onion, spiralised zucchini, feta, canned beetroot.
You may also like to read:
How to get family dinners sorted.
