Parents - February 2009

your child HEALTHY EATING

Use Your
Noodles

Kids love pasta, so pile on the healthy toppings. Our five recipes show you how.

TEX T BY CHERYL LOCK

RECIPES BY COLLEEN WEEDEN

When you’re deciding what to make for dinner and checking o prerequisites in your head—Is it fast? Is it healthy? Will the kids eat it?—pasta is a surprisingly good pick. “Unlike the simple carbs in sweets, pasta’s complex carbs provide steady energy so kids aren’t hungry an hour after dinner,” says Stacey Finch, R.D., a nutritionist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, in Little Rock. Plus, noodles are full of fiber and folic acid. You’ll want to o er a variety of sauces and toppings too. Even kids who love their mac with cheese will usually try healthier options. So to the same old pasta dishes, say, “Ciao, baby!”