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Here are a few things to try (you may like them too!):
Try flavoring milk with a little bit of vanilla extract (or whatever other flavor your child likes), or, if you can’t get away without the sugar, use a bit of flavored syrup. Even better, at the health food store, look for the herb stevia in a powdered form. Stevia is many times sweeter than sugar, but is extremely low in calories. Sprinkle some of the powder in milk or yogurt instead of sugar, honey, or syrup.
Yogurts marketed for kids, especially, are nothing more than desserts, with sprinkles and candies and all kinds of “mix-ins.” That may be fun for a treat, but it isn’t particularly healthy if they are eating one every day. Try to keep it simple. Some kids will eat plain yogurt spruced up with a drop or two of food coloring, or some fruit—avoiding the huge dose of sugar that comes with the packaged kinds. Or let them mix their own with jelly or jam (try the all-fruit varieties)—they’ll still get less sugar than what’s in the prepared containers.
Have grated Parmesan cheese as a regular condiment on your table. It is relatively low in fat—for cheese—and adds a nice bit of flavor to a lot more than a plate of spaghetti (though of course it is good there, too). It’s a much better choice than butter on steamed vegetables, for example, or on a baked potato or rice. And you’ll be sprinkling on a bit of calcium each time you use it.
Let your children cook with you. If they are ever going to eat kale, the odds are greater they’ll try it if they worked to make it.
Even kids who don’t like vegetables might eat “cream of. . .” soups. Make them yourself with low-fat dairy products paired with a high-calcium vegetable. You can’t do much better nutritionally than homemade cream of broccoli soup. Pack shelf-stable milk-in-a-box instead of juice boxes for lunch. Half the fun is in poking the little straw through the hole anyway, so what is inside may matter less than you think even to a finicky child.
Explore the limits of macaroni and cheese. I’ve yet to meet a kid who didn’t like the dish, and he or she might be willing to expand beyond the bright yellow boxed variety. Try mixing part-skim ricotta and grated Parmesan with a little of the pasta cooking water to make a sauce, and toss with the drained noodles. Or make your own baked mac and cheese—old-fashioned comfort food that is also rich in calcium (you’ll have to watch the fat content). Pizza! With vegetable toppings, this reliable favorite is a reasonable choice because of the calcium in the mozzarella. Try making your own, and you can go the Olde Pizza Shoppe one better by using nonfat or low-fat cheese. When you’re in a hurry, the English muffin pizza will be a hit. Bean burritos—assemble your own—are as healthy as they are popular, since both beans and cheese will give you calcium. Use low-fat or nonfat cheese and retried beans to keep the calorie and fat counts down. Try a calcium triple play by including some steamed greens in your tortilla.
Use less water when reconstituting powdered milk, or stir some of the powder into regular nonfat milk, to increase the amount of protein and calcium you get in a glass. Or try adding dried milk to smoothies, milk shakes, baked goods, pancake and waffle batter, or milk-based soups and sauces.
Try serving cottage cheese, yogurt, or salmon salad (from canned salmon, bones in) in an ice cream cone for a fun— and calcium-rich—lunch.
Provide a small cookie cutter along with a slice of cheese, and let your child create fun shapes to eat.
Experiment with different combinations of milk, calcium-fortified soy milk, yogurt, ice, and fruit to perfect the smoothie. For a double shot of calcium, you can mimic an Orange Julius by mixing frozen calcium-fortified orange juice concentrate, milk or calcium-fortified soymilk—plain or vanilla—ice cubes, and (the secret ingredient) a splash of vanilla extract in the blender.
Try freezing regular flavored yogurt to serve instead of commercial frozen yogurt. As I’ve said, packaged yogurt is often more like a dessert anyway, but it is still more nutritious than what they do sell as dessert. If it is too hard for your taste once frozen (though it can be fun to shave it down bit by bit with your spoon), try freezing it in an ice cube tray, then crushing the cubes in a blender or food processor to get a consistency more like that of soft ice cream.
Above all, eat right yourself. Try new things. Your kids are watching.
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