December 5, 2018 8:03 pm Ingenious Ways To Make Your Family’s Favourites Healthy
Party with Moms welcomes guest columnist Brittnay Sharman from “The Nut Butter Hub” in Australia. Brittnay shares some of her ideas on preparing healthier food for your family.
A little bit of creativity is crucial when it comes to eating well. Rather than denying yourself or overindulging, just a few tweaks here and there will make your family happy and healthy.
Do Your Children Love Mac and Cheese?
Processed pasta is not a good thing to eat on a regular basis. Get rid of boxed mac and cheese and make some at home. You can make a velvety cheese-based sauce with added butternut squash. This sweet take on mac and cheese is sure to satisfy you and your kids. Take it a step further and replace the high carb noodles with a plant-based pasta made of chickpeas or legumes. The texture may be a little grainier than regular pasta but it tastes almost the same.
Don’t Step Away from The French Fries
The next time you make fries, try baking them instead of deep frying them! First, toss your sweet potato wedges in a bag with olive oil and semolina. This coating ensures you get a crispy oven chip every time. You can also try using a healthy oil like coconut to help reduce cholesterol levels.
Pork Belly Dreams
Crispy pork belly can make anyone’s mouth water. However, the layers of fat surely won’t make you feel fantastic afterwards! Make sure you still get those delicious flavours by adding a whole new element, smoke. When you do smoked pork belly you will find that most of the fat is able to drip away. This means you and the family can still enjoy your favourite cut without the guilt!
Sweet Dreams Are Made of Cheese
Whether it is salty, creamy, stinky or sharp we all have our favourite cheese and no one wants to give it up!
If you make your own cheese, then you will know how much milk, cream and salt you are consuming! Start off with something easy like ricotta, all need is some milk, salt and cheese cloth. You will be eating delicious combinations like blueberries and ricotta on sourdough or spinach and ricotta ravioli in no time!
Healthy Fried Rice, That Still Tastes like Rice
Rice can be good in moderation, however, if you find that when you cook it there is enough for the whole village (and you managed it eat it all), it might be time to find an alternative.
Roughly chop cauliflower and throw it in a food processor for a minute. You will find that the texture is very similar to rice. This ‘faux’ rice can be substituted for white rice and it tastes just the same. One of our favorites is cauliflower fried rice. The family didn’t even blink an eyelid when I served this one up!
Now you know how to make a few small tweaks to some yummy dishes! You just need to put it into practice and create some new habits. You will find that these habits will quickly evolve and soon you will be coming up with some tasty tricks and alternatives all on your own.
DIY Pizza
Everyone loves pizza. Again, when you make it yourself, you know all the ingredients, and therefore you know exactly what you’re putting into your children’s bodies. Did you know a popular pizza chain uses over 14 ingredients just to make the dough!
Make your own pizza dough and then add healthy toppings. So, to get started, make your homemade pizza dough. * This recipe has all of 5 ingredients and it is how the Italians do it!
*PWM note – the recipe calls for 400 grams of flour, which is equal to 2 cups.
Once your pizza dough is ready, brush it with some extra virgin olive oil and throw on some veggies as well as some cheese and meat. (If you’re feeling a little fancy, mix some black pepper, garlic powder and some of your favourite spices in with your veggies beforehand)!
