How to have a healthy and fun Easter with the kids
The following article has been written by Bel from The Root Cause.
In Australia, Easter has become synonymous with chocolate. Shops are loaded with variety, but if you’re like many, once you learn how additives and preservatives can affect children’s health, it’s hard to turn a blind eye. However, this doesn’t mean celebrations like birthdays, Christmas, and Easter need to be boring and tasteless.
Here’s how you can have an additive and preservative-free Easter that your kids will love.
Hot Cross Buns
Homemade Hot Cross Buns – here’s my recipe for Hot Cross Buns.
Sonia from Natural New Age Mum has done all the hard work here – check out her great post with 9 Healthy Hot Cross Buns.
The Healthy Chef has this one too.
Chocolate
Homemade chocolate Easter eggs by Sam Wood, powered by IQS.
The Merrymaker Sisters do great sugar-free chocolate.
If you like a fair amount of coconut, this double-decker chocolate bar by Alexx Stuart of Low Tox Life is yummy.
For something the kids can help with, you can make some Dark Chocolate Dipped Rice Crispy Eggs. I suggest using the I Quit Sugar Dark Chocolate Recipe here instead of store-bought chocolate, and buying puffed rice and toasting it, instead of rice crispy cereals.
These Healthy Creme Eggs from Chocolate Covered Katie look great.
Of course, if you simply want to buy better chocolate you can do that too. My choices are Alter Eco Range, Lindt 85% or 90% Dark Chocolate, Green and Black range, and Organic Times (some Target & IGA stores stock this or try your health food store).
Other cute food ideas
Why not try making some Homemade Marshmallow Chicks from The Nourishing Gourmet. These look simple and cute.
Use my super simple pikelet recipe to create cute bunny tail pancakes.
Main meals
If you’re after some inspiration for Good Friday, you may like to try one of these recipes from Georgia at Well Nourished. They are great recipes if you want to get more fish into your family’s diet.
Easter craft and Easter hunt ideas
Check out DIY Ready’s Easter craft ideas, and their 12 inventive Easter Egg Hunts.
Kids love puzzles and mazes so why not head over to DLTK to print out some to keep the kids occupied.
Tinyme also has free printable cards/tags for Easter gifts. Not a craft for kids to do but perhaps to add to a present they have already made or bought.
A simple approach
The last thing to remember is that food is meant to be enjoyed. It’s not a time to add guilt for having foods we don’t normally eat. Here’s a simple approach you may wish to take when it comes to Easter.
Keep it plain – chocolates with fillings are usually loaded with more colours and flavours with potential behavioural and other effects.
The darker the chocolate, the better. Or put the other way, the lighter the chocolate, the more sugar it contains. We typically have 85% to 90% but if that’s too strong a taste for you, go for 75%.
Chocolate with breakfast on Easter Sunday. This may not float everyone’s boat, but our kids don’t get chocolate regularly, so for Easter, I make bunny tail pancakes with strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings or chunks made into the pancakes.
Plenty of water and real food to be had every day. And other than Easter Sunday, real food is the first food to be offered eaten as a snack, not chocolate. Easter Sunday starts with chocolate. It’s the only time of year this happens so you can imagine the excitement in the house.
Easter egg hunt. Again because we don’t do a lot of sweet things, I don’t mind the kids participating in an Easter Egg hunt. The chocolates are not really that great, but I deal with it and make sure they don’t go too crazy with the amount they get.
A little bit for a few days, then out of sight and back to just sometimes. The sweet stuff is addictive, so don’t get in the habit of eating chocolate every day.
Enjoy your Easter!
To help to empower your kids to make better food choices, join Bel over at https://therootcause.com.au or follow her at Facebook or Instagram.