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Healthy snacks and easy recipes to strengthen your child’s immune system

Turn snack time into a clever way to boost your child’s immune system. Including specific foods into your child’s diet is a great way to support their healthy growth and keep their immune system strong and ready to fight off the bugs.

Yoghurt

Yoghurt is filled with probiotics. Probiotics improve the way your body uses food but are also vital elements in helping your body fight sickness.

Yoghurt Fruit Smoothie

Make your little one a vitamin-packed Yoghurt fruit smoothie. Add a ½ cup of yoghurt to your next smoothie. Thin the smoothie out with some water or juice. Add fresh or frozen fruit, honey and a small amount of spinach for optional add-ins.

Walnuts

Walnuts are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which many experts believe helps your body fight illness, making it a great immune boosting food. Walnuts are great in providing your body with much-needed magnesium and are super easy to hide in normal food. Sprinkle them over your toddler’s yoghurt or cereal.

1. Carrot and Walnut Loaf

Carrots and Walnuts are a timeless and a great combo. This easy and super healthy recipe is perfect for snacks, a delicious lunch box option or as an alternative to white bread.

What you’ll need:

½ cup of walnuts
1 cup of grated carrot
2 eggs
125g of butter
½ cup of brown sugar
½ cup of milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ¾ cups of self-rising flour
1 tsp baking powder

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Sift the cinnamon, flour and baking powder into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Add the brown sugar, carrot, walnuts, eggs and milk into the bowl and mix well.
Melt the butter and add it to the mix.
Pour the mix into a greased pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Fruit and veggies

Fruit and veggies are superfoods when it comes to boosting your immune system. Aim for those high in Vitamin C, like citrus fruit, bell peppers and even sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, getting your kid to eat all their veggies and fruit can be extremely tricky.

Rainbow Pizza

Next time you treat your kids with pizza night, make it a healthy one. You can use store-bought whole wheat pizza crusts as a base and use vegetables as toppings. For toppings, use an array of colourful vegetables and arrange them according to their colour to create a fun pizza that resembles a rainbow.

Start on the inside of the pizza with cherry tomatoes.
Add chopped yellow bell peppers.
The next ring can include a yellow ring of corn.
Green bell pepper pieces.
Broccoli
Red onion pieces on the outer edge.

It’s a great way to incorporate some family time creating the pizzas together as well as a healthy alternative to regular pizza.

Frozen Fruit Popsicles

Place chunks of fruit like kiwi, mango, banana or berries in a popsicle mould.
Fill the mould with naturally sweetened fruit juice. Add a bit of honey to sweeten up the popsicle (Although the fruit should be sweet enough).
Cover the blend with the popsicle sticks and freeze for 4- 6 hours.

Lean Meats

Did you know that lean meat is great for boosting your body’s ability to fight off diseases? Lean meats are filled with proteins that strengthen your body. Lean meats also contain zinc, which helps white blood cells fight off infections. Lean meats include things like skinless chicken and red meats with the fat cut off.

2. Quick Chicken Wraps

This is a great recipe for those long days when you want dinner preparation to be quick and easy. A bonus is that it’s super healthy and provides the beneficial values of lean meats, vegetables and carbohydrates.