Summer holidays are all about fun, fun and fun for the kids when school is off.  This is also the time when kids don’t follow a schedule and discipline of their regular habits of eating, sleeping and other busy activities. Hence this is also the time when following some small rules will lead the family to stay healthy all through the year! I know its not easy but its worth trying to stay healthy 😉

Here are few Common and Unhealthy Food Temptations and their Healthy Substitutions:

Ice cream: Everyone screams for Ice cream. But a scoop of Ice cream can contain 400 to 500 calories and 40 to 50 grams sugar. If you lay down the rule of eating it only once a week and eating a substitution of  yogurt with fruits, or making their own frozen fruits whips with frozen bananas, strawberries, peaches, mangoes etc. they are eating healthy yet something delicious.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/yogurt-and-fruit-parfaits-recipe.html

Pizza: It’s the easiest food to order in and watch movies. But each slice of pizza is about 300 calories and 9-10 grams of fat. Teach your kids to make their own pizza from scratch at home with their own fixings. It’s going to keep them healthy, spend quality time with you and they learn to cook!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/whole-wheat-cherry-tomato-and-zucchini-pan-pizza.html

Juices: When the sun is hot, kids tend to reach out to juices and sodas which are high in sugar and calories. Encourage them drinking water, coconut water, homemade lemonade, flavored water or even cold milk with honey.

http://hotsweetspicyrecipes.com/watermelon-lemonade/

Popsicles: After a swim everyone wants to reach for a popsicle. To skip the loads of sugar and high fructose corn syrup eaten daily, freeze watermelon slices, grapes, berries, or make your own fruit popsicles,

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/frozen-fruit-cups-recipe.html

Cookies: The cookie monsters didn’t get coined without reason. Ration cookie buying during summer to avoid binge cookie eating. Make trail mix or healthier granola bars for the quick snack.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/homemade-granola-bars-recipe.html

Potato Chips: Pop open a bag of chips and it disappears in few minutes with sodium, fat and artificial and synthetic processed ingredients into the system. Keep options like ears of corn to grill, home-made popcorn, peanuts, cashews and almonds and dehydrated fruits.

http://hotsweetspicyrecipes.com/grilled-corn-on-the-cob-with-chile-lime-and-garlic-butter/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/spiced-nuts-recipe2.html

It doesn’t mean the kids can’t indulge in all the other yum foods this summer. Being a foodie I realize it’s impossible, hence being realistic, I believe anything eaten in moderation is ok, while we give healthy alternative options to avoid extreme unhealthy eating habits this summer!