Getting kids to eat well and form healthy habits – good habits – takes time. It takes lots of time, persistence and the knowledge to know it’s a long game. Nothing is going to happen overnight, trust me!
Positive, Healthful Habits: August Is Kids Eat Right Month™
The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americansnoted that some school-aged children are not eating enough of the recommended amounts of certain food groups. As a result, they may not be consuming the nutrients they need to support their growing bodies or engaging in the physical activity they need to stay healthy.
YOU! The parents and caregivers play a big role in children’s nutrition and health, teaching kids about healthful foods, being a good role model and making sure physical activity is incorporated into each day.
August, which is Kids Eat Right Month™, is a great time to reevaluate your family’s eating and physical activity habits and take steps to make positive, healthful changes.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is encouraging families to take the following steps:
Shop Smart. First, encourage a healthful lifestyle. Get your children involved in selecting the food that will appear at the breakfast, lunch or dinner table.
Cook Healthy. Secondly, involve your child in the preparation of meals with age-appropriate tasks. They will learn about food and may even be enticed to try new foods they helped prepare. Check out my Healthy Hot Dog recipe!
Eat Right. Next, sit down together as a family to enjoy a wonderful meal. It’s also an opportunity to share the day’s experiences with one another. Family meals encourage healthful family relationships and good eating habits.
Healthful Habits. You can help kids form great, healthful habits by setting a good example. With each meal, fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables, choose lean protein foods, and make at least half the grains your family eats whole grains. For beverages, drink water or milk over drinks with added sugars, and opt for calcium-rich foods with meals and snacks.
Get Moving. Aside from being a great way to spend time together, regular physical activity is vital to strengthen muscle and bones, promote a healthy body weight, develop social skills and build self-esteem. Encourage preschool children to be active throughout the day. Older children and adolescents need at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity daily, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2nd ed.).
Get Talking. Lastly, eating right can sometimes be a challenge for kids, particularly if they are picky eaters, but experts say that a conversation can help. Talk to your children about the foods they enjoy and introduce them to new foods from a variety of cultures to expand all of your horizons.
Raising healthy kids is totally possible. Just stay consistent and know it will sink in eventually. Good habits take time 🙂
Eliminate mealtime pressure by enjoying meals together with children – after all they learn by example! It’s is a powerful way to get them to try new flavors, textures, and get the nutrition benefits of healthful and tasty food!
Does it feel like your kids are just eating hot dogs and chicken nuggets? This is my life right now! As a dietitian I know it’s totally normal for kids to get stuck in a rut with food, but as a dietitian mom, I cringe a little bit inside every time we feed our children hot dogs, even if we do switch it up with turkey dogs every now and then. But this is life. Kids like what they like, and it’s okay to include traditional “kid food” as part of the meal rotation because this is how they learn balance and moderation. Plus, they’re more likely to try new foods, when familiar foods that they like are on the plate. So is there a healthy hot dog out there? YES! Check out this carrot dog!!
That said. The all American favorite hotdog happens to be a source of saturated fats and sodium, which usually isn’t a problem for children- but having them on a more frequent basis doesn’t exactly lay the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating. This is why I was thrilled to develop this healthy hot dog recipe with Dole Food Company. Ingredients were provided for me, but all of the opinions are my own.
These Southwest Carrot Dogs, a healthy hot dog alternative, and a kid food favorite, are an ideal substitute for hot dogs! Bonus – my children both approved! You could even just make the marinated hotdogs without the side salad for an easy plant-forward vegan bbq option.
It’s recommended that children, just like adults make half of their plate fruits and vegetable at mealtimes. Orange and red vegetables should make the plate several times a week because in general they’re an excellent source of vitamin A.2 They support eye and skin health and help keep our immune system at peak performance.
Carrot Nutrition
One large carrot has about 48 calories, 1g protein, 10g carbohydrate and 3g fiber!4
They’re an excellent source of vitamin K and Fiber.
They’re a good source of vitamins B6, C and E, folate, niacin, potassium and manganese.
One 2011 study published in the Nutrition Journal found that carrot juice increased antioxidant levels in participants. Authors concluded it may offer protection to the cardiovascular system.3
Why Vitamin A is important:
Like vitamins C and E it appears to scavenge free radicals, offering antioxidant protection.
Adequate levels of vitamin A are associated with a lower risk of cancer and heart disease1.
It’s essential to eyesight! Vitamin A helps us to react to changes in brightness and it also helps us see different colors.
On a cellular level, it helps cells become highly specialized – which is a really good thing.
Vitamin C and potassium are often also found in red/orange fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C supports healthy teeth and gums, helps with iron absorption and is important to be sure scrapes and cuts heal properly and quickly. Potassium is a nutrient of concern for most people and helps counter the effects of sodium. It also helps us maintain healthy blood pressure.
Which are better? Raw or cooked carrots?
Raw baby carrots are a go-to snack for me with hummus or other dip, but I remind myself that cooked carrots provide greater amounts of vitamin A because cooking them (as we do with this carrot dog) helps break down cell walls to make it more easily absorbed in the body! Pureeing, chopping into soups and carrot juice are particularly good options.
If carrots aren’t up your alley, other vitamin A-rich foods to try include:
The only change I made with the carrot dog was to use Mrs. Dash No Salt Added Steak Seasoning. Regular steak seasoning has a lot of salt. This swap keeps the added salt to a minimum.
You can totally make the marinade in advance to keep things easy the day of entertaining, but it’ll also work if you marinade that morning for an afternoon grill out.
Keep these ingredients in your pantry to whip these vegan healthy hot dogs together anytime!
Pineapple juice
Lower sodium soy sauce
Apple cider vinegar
Avocado oil
No salt added steak seasoning
Liquid smoke
Liquid smoke wasn’t as difficult to find as I thought it would be. My local Food Lion grocery store had it right next to the BBQ sauce section.
Do I need the liquid smoke to make the carrot dog marinade?
I say yes. You’re going for a hot dog flavor then this is going to deliver it. It’s a unique product that I don’t use frequently in my cooking, but I would use it again. It’s not too overpowering and does create a HUGE impact with flavor!
Are the healthy hot dogs Vegan or Gluten Free (GF)?
This carrot dog (aka healthy hotdog) is vegan. Marinade ingredients are all naturally vegan, but read labels when purchasing products to confirm.
This vegan bbq superstar could also easily be made gluten free, you would just need to use a GF soy sauce like tamari instead. There are also GF brands of liquid smoke – like Stubbs, so be sure to read labels if this is a new ingredient for you! And of course, use a GF bun.
Note the Dole Salad kit does not state on package that it is gluten free or vegan.
8 largeDOLE®Carrots peeled, ends trimmed to length of hot dog buns
1/2 cupDOLE®Pineapple Juice
1/2 cupless-sodium soy sauce
1/4 plus 3Tcupapple cider vinegar
1/4 cup avocado oil
1 1/2 tbspsteak seasoningI like Mrs. Dash no salt added
3/4tspliquid smoke
8each100% whole wheat hot dog buns
1bagDOLE®Southwest Salad Kit
1/4 cupreduced sodium black beansdrained and rinsed
1/4 cupfrozen cornthawed
1eachDOLE®Avocadopeeled,pitted and chopped
Method
Heat carrots and enough water to cover by 2 inches to a boil in a medium saucepot over high heat; boil 8 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Drain and rinse carrots under cold running water until cool; pat dry and place in a large zip-top plastic bag.
Whisk juice, soy sauce, vinegar, oil, seasoning and liquid smoke in a medium bowl; pour over carrots. Seal bag, pressing out excess air; massage carrots in bag to coat and refrigerate at least 4 or up to 24 hours.
Prepare outdoor grill for direct grilling over medium heat. Remove carrots from marinade; reserve ¼ cup marinade. Spray carrots with cooking spray and place on hot grill rack; cover and cook 10 minutes or until heated through and grill marks appear, brushing with reserved marinade and turning ¼ turn every 2½ minutes. During last minute of cooking, place buns, cut side down, on hot grill rack; cover and cook 1 minute or until lightly toasted.
Prepare Salad Kit as package directs in a large bowl; stir in beans and corn. Makes about 4 cups.
Serve carrots in buns topped with salad mixture and avocado.
Let me know if you try this recipe. I bet it’ll make your family take a second look to realize their eating a carrot dog and not a hot dog!!
Kid approved carrot dog!!
Did your kids like carrots?
They’re great tasting on their own but can be combined with other flavors well too! Try adding them to a vegetable stir fry, another kid food favorite, for additional nutrients. If you try this healthy hot dog please let me know!
Janice Thompson and Melinda Manore, Nutrition An Applied Approach. (New York: Pearson Education Inc, 2009).
Baked ziti. It is such a classic and easy crowd pleasing dish (plus kids love it!) so it’s hard to make major changes. Today I’m making it a bit healthier by using 90% lean ground beef, lower fat cheeses and adding a vegetable that won’t feel out of place! Combining meat and mushrooms in this way is called “the blend” and truly, my kids and husband are none the wiser.
While this version doesn’t look wildly revised, making small changes can add up to big nutrition results. With this recipe I focused on reducing fat and adding vegetables for added nutrition.
The dietitian angle
Let’s talk about fat first.
The small modification of 90% lean beef instead of 85% lean can go a long way. Lets compare different types of ground beef per 3oz serving:
80/20 beef has 280 calories, 22g fat – 9 saturated
85/15 beef has 240 calories, 17g fat – 7 saturated
90/10 lean beef has 200 calories 11g fat – 4.5 saturated. (actually has less calories and total fat than regular ground turkey!)
Using 90/10 beef saves us 80 calories, 11g fat and 5g saturated per serving! Saturated fats is one of those nutrients that you want to limit/avoid if possible. So I love this swap. Your supermarket may carry 93% and 97% lean ground beef so those are options to look for as well.
Beef is an excellent source of high quality protein. This means it has all of the essential amino acids that your body needs to build and repair muscle. It’s also an excellent source of b12 which is important for energy and zinc which helps maintain immunity. It’s also an excellent source of selenium which helps protect cells from damage. It’s also a a good source of iron and choline which help the body use oxygen and support the nervous system.2
Important culinary note about cheese
For this recipe I went with part skim mozzarella and part skim ricotta instead of their full fat counterparts. Which shaves off additional calories and fat without eliminating ALL fat. From the flavor perspective, I would not recommend this recipe with fat free cheeses unless you have a specific dietary condition that would benefit from that.
Per 1oz serving
Regular Mozzarella – 80 cal, 6g fat, 6g pro
Part skim – 70 cal, 5g fat, 6g pro
Going with part skim ricotta also saves 20 calories, 3g fat per serving.
Nutrition by Addition – with the blend!
Ground meat with hidden mushrooms is the key to adding nutrition to this dish! Adding mushrooms adds volume to the meat sauce, provides texture and a lot of flavor with very few calories akd “The blend”.
Mushrooms are also a leading source of selenium which is an antioxidant that helps protect the body from diseases and fortifies the immune system. 1 It basically helps activate the body’s own antioxidant enzymes.
If you wanted to even take it up another notch, you could easily substitute a whole grain pasta noodle instead of regular wheat. My family likes the regular version, so that’s what I used here. I hope you try my version of this classic and easy crowd pleasing dish!!
Research Links
Duyff, R. American Dietetic Association’s Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. Third Addition. Wiley & Sons. NJ. 2006.
Original Baked Ziti Nutrition with full fat meat and dairy
Complete Nutrition Facts for my 3 Cheese Baked Ziti
So here you’ll see the before and after. With the changes made in my recipe, you will get maximum flavor while slashing fat calories. It’s a big difference without sacrificing taste.
Enjoy!
Three Cheese Baked Ziti
Crowd pleasing pasta that's full of flavor and less fat than your standard version!
In large pot cook ziti to package instructionsfor al dente. Drain and set aside.
In large pot, heat olive oil, and garlic for30 seconds, until fragrant. Addmushrooms and brown until water is released and have decreased in volume byabout half. Do not salt them!
Then add ground beef, about ½ tsp salt. Cook until browned.
Add marinara and chopped tomatoes (and their juices) to the meat mixture. Add seasonings, salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 20 minutes.
In separate bowl combine ½ mozzarella cheese, all of the ricotta, parmesan, salt and pepper to taste and eggs.
Then add cooled pasta to cheese mixture and coat well. Next combine noodles with 3-4 cups meat sauce.
Finally, layer your baking dish with ½ noodle mixture, ½ the sauce and half of remaining mozzarella. Repeat one more time.
Bake covered for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until heated through. Remove foil during the last 15 minutes to brown top.
