Ten quick tips to get more healthy foods into junk-food-mad kids

1. Throw out the ‘mighty white’ sugar packed white bread (if you don’t believe me, leave a small piece to soak under your tongue and see how sweet it tastes) and instead of a limp sandwich, serve a wholemeal muffin turned into a mini pizza with a homemade tomato topping, olives for the eyes and a slice of red pepper for the mouth.

2. Make your own hummus and stuff the bottom of a pocket sized wholemeal pita bread with alfalfa sprouts before putting the hummus For teens, add a pinch of cayenne pepper for extra bite.

3. In winter, serve hot corn on the cob dripping with melted almond butter from the health In summer, let the kids smear almond butter on slices of apple.

4. Julienne raw carrots into long thin strips to dip into runny eggs. 

5. Make frozen fruit yoghurt to keep in the freezer. Just add pureed fruits to live plain yoghurt and find a good mould and freeze.

6. Puree fruits and vegetables to sneak onto the plates as sauces and side dishes. This is a brilliant way to get kids to eat some of the more unusual vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, fennel and celeriac.

7. Thicken sauces with vegetable purees instead of cream and milk.

8. Sneak vegetables into noodles (which kids love), but save stir fries for an occasional treat since the high temperatures will convert the fats in the oil into unhealthy trans-fats. Avoid this by steaming the vegetables first so they are almost cooked before hitting the wok. This means you don’t have to turn up the heat.

9. Enhance the nutritional value of daily staples by adding different fruits to everyday breakfast cereals, yoghurts and ice creams. In season, slice and serve them as a garnish and make purees to freeze.

10. Invest in a blender and become the Queen of smoothies.

Article by Susan Clark – winner of health journalist of the year and nutritional author.