Cooking with Kids can be Fun

Here are three recipes that are not only good for you, but good tasting as well. Your children will love to help you make these delicious recipes.

Sunshine Lemon Smoothie

Ingredients:
2 cups skim milk
2 cups lowfat lemon yogurt
1/2 cup ice
3 tablespoons powdered lemonade mix

Preparation:
1. In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
2. Serve in a tall glass and garnish with lemon wedge or zest if desired.

Nutrition Information: These fruit and yogurt smoothies taste great and are versatile too; you can have them for breakfast, a snack or even with a sandwich for lunch. It’s also a good way to get fruit and dairy, two of the food groups from the Food Guide Pyramid. The lemon yogurt provides vitamin C and calcium. We need vitamin C every day and the calcium is an important bone building nutrient.

Children will have putting the ingredients into the blender and watching the blender mix all of the ingredients. Then the children can help pour into glasses.

Cocoa-Berry Yogurt Tarts

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lowfat vanilla yogurt

1 1/2 cups reduced fat Ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 graham cracker tart shells

3/4 cup strawberries, sliced (raspberries or blueberries can also be used)

Preparation:

1. Mix yogurt, Ricotta, sugar and cocoa powder thoroughly with whisk until creamy.

2. Spoon 1/6 mixture into each tart shell and top with sliced strawberries.

Nutrition Information: Desserts can be fun AND healthy. They don’t have to be fattening to taste good. This recipe combines yogurt, cheese and strawberries for a dessert with only 260 calories. It also contributes 20 percent of the recommended daily requirement of calcium from the yogurt and cheese. The strawberries, or any fruit you would like to substitute, provide vitamin C and fiber. This recipe has nine grams of total fat.

Children will have fun mixing the above ingredients and putting the ingredients into the tart shells.

Cheesy Chicken Crunchers

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

salt & pepper

4 egg whites

1/2 cup 2% reduced fat milk

1 1/2 cups cornflakes

1 cup (4 ounces) reduced fat, shredded Cheddar cheese

6 chicken breast filets; cut into strips

Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375˚ F.

2. Set up three bowls with the following: 1) flour mixed with a pinch of salt and pepper; 2) an egg-wash, made by beating the eggs and milk together; 3) cornflakes mixed with cheese.

3. Coat a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

4. Dip chicken pieces in flour, then into the egg-wash, then roll in the cheesy-flakes mixture, coating the entire piece of chicken and place on the baking pan.

5. Discard any unused cornflake mixture after coating chicken.

6. Bake for 25 minutes, turning halfway through to ensure even browning.

7. Serve with ketchup or BBQ sauce if desired.

Nutrition Information: This recipe contains flour and corn flakes from the grain group, reduced fat milk and Cheddar cheese from the dairy group and chicken from the protein group - 3 of the five basic food groups. Add a glass of lowfat or fat free milk to the meal and you have met half of your daily requirement for calcium from dairy foods.

Children will like to help with dipping chicken in flour, egg wash and rolling the chicken into the cheesy-flakes mixture.