If you can get your kids to eat anything that's a victory. The next step is getting them to eat healthily. The trouble is that most kids menus are the opposite – french fries, fried foods, salt, sugar. So what's a parent supposed to do.
Working with UNICEF, we've collected some simple guidelines on what to feed kids. A healthy meal should:
- Be rich in iron (fish, sprats, poultry, meat, liver) or if vegetarian (gotukola, sarana, thampala, soya, green gram, cowpea).
- Include fruits daily
- Be rich in vitamin A (liver, egg yolk, yellow pumpkin, yellow sweet potatoes, carrots, papaw, and mangoes, dark green leaves)
- Sufficient fat content should be provided. Coconut milk or 1-2 teaspoonful of coconut oil (per meal) can be used when cooking food or 1-2 teaspoonful of margarine or butter could be added to the cooked food.
- Preferably introduce locally available, low-cost nutritious food
- Minimal use of salt and especially sugar
Luckily, most traditional Sri Lankan food do meet these guidelines, so you can follow them comfortably and affordably. However, if you need some help we have some sample recipes from Dharshan Munidasa of Ministry Of Crab and Upali of Upali's here, as well as some recipes we made with kids.
Sri Lankan Omelette, Vegetable Soup, Fish cutlets, Celery Sambol and Fish Curry
Whether it be Fish curry or a Sri Lankan Omelette or a healthy vegetable soup, watch as Upali Dharmadasa show you on how it's done to make a fully fledged Sri Lankan meal that ensures that very nutritional box is ticked for a growing child.
Haal Masso Omelette and Boneless Chicken Curry
Combining the power of sprats and egg, watch as Dharshan Munidasa make your mundane omelette and chicken curry to one that you've never imagined before.
Kurakkan Rotti and Chicken Sandwich
Here we take one of our long-time staples, the Kurakkan Rotti and tweak it up with a bit of chicken and spinach filling to make a deliciously healthy sandwich that beats the same old marmite and butter on bread.
Banana Pancakes
Watch as we take our everyday pancake and elevate it in a way that you manage to make a healthy and delicious breakfast option that your child is going to love whilst making sure that he/she gets her daily nutrients along with it.
Yoghurt Fruit Tarts
Take some time off to whizz up a batch of yoghurt and fruit tarts that are easy, fun and are bound to beat biscuits at any point of the day.
