It’s only natural to want the very best for your kids in every possible way, and when it comes to their gut health, diet needs to be a top consideration. Eating lots of probiotic and prebiotic foods—including a variety of fruits and veggies in their natural states—helps friendly gut bugs to thrive, so your kids will continue to bubble over with glowing wellness.
But if you’re a parent, it quickly becomes clear that trying to get kids to eat right is like that old saying: “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”. The bottom line is that no matter how healthy the food you put in front of your kids is, if they don’t like it, they’re just not going to eat it. So sometimes, if you want your kids to have what’s best for them, you’ve got to get creative.
These three easy recipes for kids do just that—they provide the fun tastes and textures children want, without sacrificing the gut-healthy nutrition they need. So say goodbye to mealtime struggles and stress forever. Once your kids get a bite of these yummy dishes, the only pleading at the table will be for second helpings!
Apple-Chia Breakfast Pudding
If you’re serious about getting kids out of that dry cereal breakfast rut, why not put pudding on the menu—after all, what kid wouldn’t want pudding for breakfast? This sweet breakfast treat smells and tastes absolutely heavenly, and it contains no refined sugar. Chia seeds deliver healthy omega 3s, antioxidants, calcium, and iron. Walnuts up the omega 3 content and are a good source of biotin, molybdenum, and manganese. Tasty apples, coconut, and chia are also natural prebiotics, and adding prebiotic powder adds even more of what kids’ helpful microbes need to keep them going.
It takes about 10 minutes for this pudding to set, so you can prepare it the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight if your mornings tend to be hectic. You might want to wait until the last minute to chop up the apples, though, so they won’t oxidize and discolor from being exposed to the air for so many hours. This recipe makes enough for two, and can easily be doubled or tripled for larger families.
Ingredients:
• 4 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened plant based milk (almond, coconut, hemp, etc.)
• 6 drops vanilla stevia
• 1 teaspoon Madagascar Vanilla
• Pinch of pink salt
• 1 scoop organic prebiotic powder
• 2 organic apples, chopped
• 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons organic raisins
• 2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped finely
• 2½ tablespoons unsweetened, shredded coconut
Instructions:
1. In a medium sized bowl, stir together chia seeds, plant milk, stevia, salt, vanilla, and prebiotic powder.
2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes, until pudding is set.
3. In a separate bowl, toss together remaining ingredients.
4. Stir apple mixture into the pudding, and top with an additional sprinkle of cinnamon.
Kid-Crunchy Veggie Nuggets
If you’re like most nutrition-conscious parents, it probably makes you cringe when your kids ask you to bring home chicken nuggets for lunch or dinner. And that reaction is completely justified—those deep fried fast food (or frozen microwaveable) favorites are loaded with artificial additives, trans fats, and GMOs.
This satisfying veggie nugget recipe might just be the solution you’ve been looking for—they give kids a hot, crispy finger food they’ll love, with only whole food, gut-healthy ingredients you’ll feel good about. The veggies provide a wealth of prebiotics, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients, but all kids will notice is a delicious crunch. Even better? A quick spin in the food processor instantly transforms recognizable vegetables into colorful confetti! To introduce some live probiotic cultures to this dish, try some plain yogurt as a dipping sauce, or serve a naturally fermented pickle on the side.
Ingredients:
• 2 large yams, baked until tender
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and cubed
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• ½ cup fresh cauliflower, chopped
• ½ cup broccoli, chopped
• ½ cup frozen organic corn
• ½ cup peas
• ¾ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• Pinch fresh ground pepper
• ¼ cup coconut or chickpea flour
• 1 organic free-range egg
• 1 cup crushed, organic unsweetened corn flakes
Instructions:
1. Steam carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, corn, and peas for about 10 minutes.
2. While the veggies are steaming, scoop yam flesh out of skins and mash thoroughly. Discard (or snack on) skins. Set mashed yams aside.
3. Place steamed vegetables in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
4. Mix in mashed yams, salt, and pepper.
5. Spoon mixture into a pan and spread evenly to about 1/4 inch thickness.
6. Place pan with mixture in freezer for 60 minutes.
7. Preheat oven to 450°.
8. Remove pan from freezer and cut mixture into individual nuggets using a knife or cookie cutters.
9. Whisk egg in a bowl, and pour flour and crushed cornflakes into separate bowls.
10. Dip each nugget first in flour, then in egg, and finally in crushed cornflakes.
11. Arrange nuggets on a lightly oiled or non-stick cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until crisp.
12. Cool until safe to handle, and serve with plain yogurt or your favorite healthy dip.
Mango Madness Yogurt Pops
Kids adore frozen treats, but if you check out the ingredients in most of the supermarket or ice cream truck options, you’ll find they’re about as far from gut-healthy as they could possibly be!
But you don’t have to be a meanie—those processed desserts filled with refined sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, gums, stabilizers, and preservatives aren’t the only game in town. These super-easy (and super-scrumptious!) frozen yogurt pops are made from only simple, whole food ingredients, and with just a touch of pure maple syrup, healthy fruit provides most of the natural sweetness.
This fun and frosty recipe combines vitamin-rich, prebiotic mango and banana with probiotic yogurt—providing the body with beneficial living flora along with the perfect nutrition these microbes need to stay strong and boost your child’s wellness. And the pops taste so good you’ll probably want to make some extra for yourself!
Ingredients:
• 1 cup plain organic yogurt (dairy, cultured coconut, or cultured almond)
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 cup frozen mango
• ⅛ cup pure maple syrup
Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth.
2. Spoon mixture into small paper or foil muffin baking cups.
3. Cover each cup with foil and pierce foil in the center to insert a popsicle stick into each pop.
4. Freeze pops for about 5 hours, until frozen solid, and enjoy!
Thankfully, gut healthy recipes for kids can also be totally kid-friendly! And once your kids begin to truly enjoy healthy eating, they’ll be well on their way toward lifelong wellness!
For more gut-healthy recipes, check out The Hyperbiotics Cookbook.
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Roberta Pescow is a writer at Hyperbiotics and proud mom of two amazing and unique young men. Natural wellness is a subject she’s passionate about, so she loves sharing information that helps others discover all the ways probiotics support glowing health and well-being. To learn more about how a healthy microbiome can enrich your life, subscribe to our newsletter.