I am teaming up with Uncle Ben’s Rice and Social Media Moms to share some tips for cooking healthy meals with kids.
Uncle Ben’s has launched an exciting national contest called Ben’s Beginners! When you enter the contest, you could win $20,000, along with a $50,000 grant towards a cafeteria makeover for your child’s school. You will also have a chance to appear on The Rachael Ray show! Uncle Ben’s is calling for parents with children ages 5-12 to submit a 2-3 minute video of you cooking a rice-based dish with your children. For more info on the contest, please check out Ben’s Beginners on Facebook!
I have 3 kids and I am very happy they love to eat. They are really not that picky which makes it a lot easier to make healthy meals. Did you know that studies show that when you begin preparing your meal with rice, you end up with a meal that’s better for you. Plus, beginning your meal with Uncle Ben’s rice helps you create healthier meals because rice attracts colorful vegetables, spices and leaner cuts of meat that the whole family will eat.
Just tonight we ate Beef and Broccoli for dinner. My kids actually ask for seconds when we have this meal. They also love to help me in the kitchen – sometimes there is not enough room for me at the counter. We have a lot of fun cooking together. Sometimes when they help me cook they are more excited about trying new things.
When I am thinking about preparing our meals I always include a vegetable and a side dish. I love when we can have a dish that combines all the foods into one healthy meal. When considering our meal plan, I try to include foods I know my kids will eat. I am not a fan of being a short order cook. Making meals like Beef and Broccoli or Beef and Peppers helps me create healthy and quick meals for our whole family.
Get creative and give your foods a fun nickname. My kids love to eat raw red pepper french fries, trees (broccoli), or panda bear lettuce (spinach).
Limit the amount of oil you use when cooking. I keep non-stick cooking spray in the cabinet next to my stove.
Try not to buy unhealthy foods. If it’s in my pantry I feel like I need to make it.
I love Uncle Ben’s rice. It is such a time save in the kitchen because it will cook up so fast! It a healthy and filling side dish my whole family will eat!
Those are a few of my tips. How do you make healthy meals with your kids?
About Uncle Ben’s
Uncle Ben’s®, the number one rice brand in America, is proud to offer a wide range of rice dishes with flavors and textures that will help bring more to your meals, both for convenient side dishes and savory main courses. Uncle Ben’s® offers a wide variety of white, whole grain brown, and flavored rices in cook times ranging from 30 minutes to 90 seconds, as well as rice for food service operations such as restaurants, schools and hospitals. The first mass-produced parboiled rice, Uncle Ben’s® is the top-selling branded rice in the United States and products can be found in more than 100 countries worldwide. Uncle Ben’s® Brand products are manufactured by Mars Food NA, part of Mars, Incorporated. For more information, visit www.UncleBens.com.
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“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Uncle Ben’s blogging program, for 6,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”