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Eat This, Not That: Because Healthy Kids Are Happy Kids

I am not the best when it comes to manning the kitchen. My husband has always been the better, more patient cook. I usually get frustrated because cooking takes a lot of time. But since taking Maya Adam’s 6-week course a few years back, I found myself determined to cook more nutritious, well-balanced meals for my family.

Our road to a healthier lifestyle was not easy. In fact, it is still a battle up to now. I think what makes it hard is that, as Maya Adam explained, we are all exposed to processed food through various media channels and the marketing methods used by such brands are so sophisticated that your kids (or even you) can be lured to purchase their products.

More than anyone in the family, our youngest is the one who always has big cravings for processed food. This is why we took steps to slowly pull our family off of the “fast food diet” and started eating their “real” counterparts.

The Steps We Took

The first step for our healthy shift is to eliminate all junk or processed food from our grocery list. Although I absolutely love instant pancit canton, I stopped buying packs so my kids will follow suit. My husband also limited soda and chocolates, which both our minis started to get addicted to because their dad always had those at home.

The second step is to start learning to cook from scratch. This was no biggie for my husband because he knows how to cook (and he cooks very well without seasoning!). For me, though, it was a huge challenge.

The last step is to keep at it. We do give ourselves treats every now and then, but majority of the time, we eat food we cook from scratch. If you can go without those cheat days, do it!

Eat This, Not That

To help you start with your own healthy eating shift, I compiled some of our favorite healthy and yummy dishes. Some of these we made ourselves, others were taken from food bloggers advocating healthy eating. All of these are so easy to make and are incredibly delicious!

1 – Pan Grilled Salmon in Lemon Butter Sauce

Grilled Salmon in Lemon Butter Sauce

My husband is the Adobo King of our household. He cooks THE BEST Adobo…better than my mom’s (but let’s not tell her because “mom’s cooking is always best”). But when he needs to take it up a notch or we’re going meatless for the week, he makes this utterly mouth watering Pan Grilled Salmon in Lemon Butter Sauce. We usually eat it as is, but if you want, you can pair it with brown rice.

2 – No Fail Grilled Tilapia

No Fail Grilled Tilapia Recipe

This is another alternative to meat. My husband taught me how to make this and it is 100% fool proof! It’s so easy to make and cook, especially if you have an electric griller at home. The flavors that blend in this simple dish are incredible– so healthy doesn’t really mean yucky!

3 – All-Around Eggplant Dip

Eggplant dip for the win!

Every now and then, we treat ourselves to chips. If we have time, we bake our own potato chips. But what we cannot miss having around is our friend’s recipe of eggplant dip. This is so easy to make and super good!

There are even healthier alternatives, which are these yummy and healthy low carb dips.

4 – Kale (or Spinach), Mango, and Banana Smoothie + Dutch Mill Delight Probiotic Drink

Instead of sugary drinks or soda, go for a healthy smoothie. This is important to me because unhealthy sugary drinks are the most common way for us to fall off the healthy horse. I love my veggie+fruit smoothie because it’s so tasty and it helps boost our immunity. All you need is a cup of Kale or Spinach and two cups of fruit (I use 1 cup mangoes and 1 cup bananas) + Dutch Mill Delight Probiotic drink. Blend them all together and you’re ready to power up!

Another alternative to sugary drinks, which kids can’t resist, is Dutch Mill Delight. I used to send store-bought packaged drinks for my kids for their school snacks, but when I had them try Dutch Mill and saw that they liked it, I instantly made the switch!

Dutch Mill Delight is a probiotic drink that contains duo active combination of Pro and Prebiotic fiber. Prebiotic fiber is a plant that helps nourish good bacteria inside the tummy. When probiotic and prebiotic are combined, it produces longer living good bacteria which makes tummy better and absorbs nutrients faster.

Your healthy shift to Dutch Mill Delight won’t hurt your budget! Sold at Php 40 per pack of five bottles (100ml per bottle), it is not bad at all. For less than a hundred bucks each week, I can send my two kids a yummy and healthy drink every day!

5 – BONUS: Fruit + Yogurt Popsicles

Dutch Mill Delight Probiotic Drink is a healthy alternative to sugary drinks and soda.

When the kids ask for ice cream, we make ‘em not buy ‘em! Their favorite ‘flavor’ is our Mango + Dutch Mill Delight combo. We just cut up one or two mangoes in cubes, add them in the blender with two bottles of Dutch Mill Delight then pour the mixture in our popsicle mold.

Are you ready for your healthy shift? Start by removing unhealthy items from your grocery list and replace them with healthier food! Dutch Mill Delight is available in all major supermarkets in the Philippines. Alternately, you can buy them from delight ladies in Rizal, Manila, Taguig, and Quezon City.

For more information, visit:
http://dutchmilldelight.ph/#/Product
https://www.facebook.com/DutchMillDelightPH
https://www.instagram.com/dutchmilldelight_ph

Kimberley Reyes

Kimberley Reyes is an Online Business Manager for entrepreneurs who are ready to get off the hamster wheel and step into their CEO shoes. On top of helping her clients get organized and scale their businesses, she is also happily busy raising her five kids with her firefighter husband.

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Lux

    Thanks for sharing your yummy yet healthy dishes – these can be done daily and will not cost us a lot so it is also budget friendly aside to health friendly 🙂

  2. rogerspartyof5

    Kim, I love this! We don’t eat processed foods, until life get so busy that we frantically grab something. I always regret it because it makes me feel so terrible! I’m bad about making smoothies in the winter lol…. but it’s such a good way to get extra greens in. I’m going to make this smoothie this week!
    Caitlin
    http://www.rogerspartyof5.com

    1. Kimberley Reyes

      You can just juice the vegetables and fruits, if you have a juicer at home. 🙂

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