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Preparing meals with your kids and eating together

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Spaghetti sauce in a pan.
One of my family's favourite meals to cook together is spaghetti.

Feeding a family can be a challenge. By the time supper comes along you’re hungry and tired. I totally get it! It can be challenging not to stop by a drive-thru on the way home and take the easy way out. That’s why this year’s Nutrition Month theme – “More than food: how you eat is important to” – really resonated with me. I think it speaks to eating together and how we make food.

Tips for cooking together

One of our family favourites is spaghetti. The kids love it and it’s easy to make. It’s quick to make during the week and the whole family can get involved in the preparation. How you may wonder? Well, when I make spaghetti, I add just about every vegetable we have in the fridge into it. Recently this included bell pepper, mushrooms, onion, and carrot. Your kids can help with chopping these up or making a side salad. I add these raw vegetables in when the meat is browning and then they’re cooked by the time the meat is done.

Red onions, mushrooms, yellow peppers, and carrots are shown on a cutting board.
If you include your kids in helping prepare the meal, they’re more likely to be excited to try it.

When kids help prepare the meal they’re more likely to try it

This approach can work with other meals too. You can add vegetables to frozen pizza or to a side salad or take-out dish. But most important, if you include your kids in helping prepare the meal, they’re more likely to be excited to try it. Then you can all sit down to eat together and that really is a good thing (and what Nutrition Month is all about!).

The Joy of Food Contest

During Nutrition Month, show Northern Health how food brings you joy and be entered to win a special gift basket brimming with locally sourced products!

See official rules and complete details!