Tips to Add Mediterranean Flair to Your Meals and Make Them Kid-Friendly

Tips for Making Family-Friendly Mediterranean Meals

Look for the Whole Grain stamp on foods.

2. Buy whole grains. When you buy food for meals, your child’s lunch or for after-school snacks, pay attention to the whole-grain content. Whole grains deliver important nutrients and fiber and help keep your child feeling full longer. Look for the Whole Grain Stamp on pasta, bread, wraps, flatbreads, mini-bagels, pita chips, tortilla chips, brown rice chips, rice cakes, pretzels, crackers, popcorn, cereal bars, muffins and cookies. It will guarantee that the product you buy contains a minimum of 8 grams of whole grains per serving.

3. Encourage “playing” with food. There are countless ways to mix and match Mediterranean Diet foods and inspire kids to try new tastes:
• Set out several different kinds of hummus with carrot sticks, celery sticks, bell pepper slices, and ask kids to decide which flavor they like best. Or, do the same with different flavors of Greek yogurt or peanut butter and apple slices.
• Set out fresh strawberries and slices of pineapple with Greek yogurt for dipping, as a dessert treat. A relative newcomer to the dairy case, Greek yogurt is a great choice for kids, since it contains twice the protein of regular yogurt. Bring home several different brands and flavors and let your kids pick their favorites.
• Set out hummus, shredded lettuce, sprouts, sliced avocado, shredded carrots, sliced cooked chicken or turkey, and several Mediterranean spreads such as tzatziki, baba ghanouj and hummus, and show your kids how to make wraps for themselves.
• When the kids get home from school famished, fill a platter with bell pepper strips, cucumber wheels, carrot, zucchini and jicama sticks, baked tortilla chips and a big bowl of guacamole. Watch how quickly the vegetables and the guacamole disappear!