This blog series is sponsored by TRIBE Organic Restaurant, Beijing’s best option for fresh, healthy, organic and vegetarian-friendly dining.
Parents know that the key to after-school sanity can lie in the simplest of solutions: Snacks. But with so many unhealthy nibbles lining store shelves, it can be a challenge to summon the time and energy to whip something up for your hungry tot without resorting to sugary, processed foods.
TRIBE executive chef Brandon Trowbridge says parents can easily offer their children tasty sweet snacks that won’t fill them up with saturated fats or sugar. His restaurant’s healthy delivery meal plans, dubbed TRIBE Nutrition, have a special kid friendly meal plan called HAPPY SPROUTS featuring healthy munchies that will satisfy your kids’ munchies without compromising their health.
“What would kids think of our meals if there were no snacks?” Trowbridge says jokingly before describing two of the bite sized HAPPY SPROUTS options: Sugar-free Apple Sauce and Oatmeal Cookies. He says the former’s “apples are naturally sweet,” and cooked down with a little cinnamon so there is no need for processed sugars. He adds that the oatmeal cookies are also filled with dates and dried apples, which also add to the natural sweetness.
Many of TRIBE Nutrition’s HAPPY SPROUTS meals are prepared with similarly innovative substitutions. Rather than using standard starchy, gluten saturated shells that can be purchased at most supermarkets, TRIBE HAPPY SPROUT’s Steak Quesadillas with Mango Salsa, for instance, are wrapped in tortillas made from scratch out of whole wheat flour, buckwheat, flax seed and black sesame seeds.
Trowbridge says these healthy tortillas offer children “a dose of omega 3’s and plenty of fiber … we sneak some shredded kale in the quesadilla’s steak to create a portion of veggies and protein in a handheld meal that’s great for both kids and adults.”
Other HAPPY SPROUTS meal plan choices include the Teriyaki Salmon with Brown Rice and Edamame, whose sweet and salty teriyaki sauce is a favorite amongst even the fussiest of young eaters. Trowbridge coats the dish’s low fat roast salmon and fibrous brown rice with the delicious sauce and adds some edamame, which he says is a “fun snack [that also]brings plenty of nutrients and fiber to the meal.”
The balance between flavor and nutrition in TRIBE HAPPY SPROUT’s dishes should keep your kids’ munchies at bay, and perhaps introduce them to a new dish or two. As Trowbridge puts it: “These meals are designed with the correct nutrients to make your kids strong and keep them healthy both physically and mentally.”
Visit tribenutrition.com to place an order or for more information.
This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on August 7, 2015.
Photos courtesy of TRIBE Nutrition
