10 Ways You Can Motivate Your Kids to Love Meatless Mondays

How can you promote healthful eating with your children more generally? We offer some of the best tips to foster good dietary habits and a few tantalising recipes for kids.

Why Meatless Mondays?

Consider these numbers that you can contribute to, just by skipping meat occasionally: help reduce carbon footprints of factories by 33%, purchasing packaging that is 80% sustainable, and contribute to an industry that has 70% less carbon emissions than chicken!

If everyone on Earth skipped meat for just one day, we’d cut back on enough greenhouse emissions to drive to the moon and back 100,000 times. While going vegan and meat-free all the time might not be for everyone, even a modest decrease in meat consumption can make a world of difference.

Brands like Quorn are reducing water usage by 16% per tonne pursuing meat-free alternatives, and you personally can lower your carbon footprint by 8 pounds every Meatless Monday. What’s more, you’ll lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, certain types of cancer, and Type 2 diabetes.

Meat-free and vegan diets emphasise ingredients like fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, and nuts. These are high in fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients supporting good health.

Meatless Monday has been widely adopted by people and communities all over the world, including schools, hospitals, media, and restaurants.

Tips for encouraging kids to eat healthily

Some kids can be picky eaters whilst others will try anything.

• Plan meals and snacks - Kids need to eat every three to four hours. Schedule regular meals and snacks to ensure you’re not relying on fast food. Have ready vegetable sticks, sultanas, yoghurt, water, and wholegrain crackers. Similarly, have menus and ingredients planned in advance so you don’t resort to ordering delivery.
• Minimise commentary - Commenting too much on your kids’ choices and how much they eat can make them resistant to how you’d like them to be eating.
• Make it fun and creative - Use healthful condiments and dips like hummus, salsa, and yoghurt dressing to encourage kids to like vegetables. Set out platters of ingredients and encourage your kids to build their own sandwiches or burgers. Novel presentation ideas like smiley-face pancakes and heart-shaped toast are often a winner with kids.
• Involve them in cooking - Involve your kids in meal preparation to spark their interest in food. Take them to the supermarket and enlist their help to pick out ingredients. Older kids can help with washing vegetables, spinning salad ingredients, and stirring the pasta sauce. Baking healthful muffins, breads, and cookies are another way to involve them in food preparation. Kids love helping out and feeling like they’re contributing to something everyone in the family enjoys.
• Introduce new foods slowly - Kids’ taste buds can take time to get used to something. Introduce new ingredients slowly, but be persistent. Kids might need to be exposed to something as many as 10 times before they’ll consider eating it.
• Offer choice - Don’t keep junk food around the house, and fill your cupboards with healthful snacks. Offer your kids a range of healthy choices so they feel like they’re in charge and have a sense of empowerment. For example, leave a fruit bowl stacked with fresh fruits, keep some vegetable sticks ready in the fridge, and serve easy snacks like eggs on toast.
• Occasional treats, not rewards - A few treats here and there won’t do harm; it’s what they eat over time that matters most. Whether it’s ice cream, chocolate, potato chips, the key thing is allow treats occasionally and never to use them as rewards.
• Use apps - Download apps designed to educate kids about nutrition and making healthful eating choices.
• Educate them about the source - Visit a veggie farm or a fruit-picking farm, and take them to the farmer’s market and talk to the producers. Planting some herbs in a pot or cultivating a small veggie garden are other ways to educate your kids about the source of their food.
• Be a good role model - More often than not, your kids will look to you and mimic your behaviour and choices. If you eat regular meals and choose healthfully, your kids will be more likely to pick up on it and want to eat like you.

Meatless recipes to try

Going meat-free is a great way to support healthful eating in your kids. Consider educating your kids about the Meatless Mondays initiative and bringing it to your household. Your kids will feel like they’re part of a bigger movement as well.

There are so many wonderful recipes to try. These are some mouthwatering dishes that will tempt your children’s taste buds.

Nasi Goreng with Quorn Pieces

Your children will love this delicious meat-free version of the classic favourite Nasi Goreng featuring Quorn Pieces, spring onions, peas, and eggs.

Broccoli Vegetarian Stir-Fry with Quorn Pieces

Get your kids to eat their veggies with this delightful, easy stir-fry that’s packed with greens and protein from Quorn Pieces.

Sweet and Sour Quorn Meat-Free Pieces

Tempt your kids’ taste buds with this Cantonese classic dish using crispy Quorn pieces glazed with a tangy sweet and sour sauce.

Go meat-free today with Quorn

Quorn’s products are all made from mycoprotein, a naturally occurring super protein high in protein and fibre. It’s also low in saturated fat, with no cholesterol, and low in carbohydrates, which makes it suitable for diabetics.

With our mince, pieces, fillets, burgers, and more, it’s easier than ever to prepare delicious meat-free meals that support your kids’ health and the health of the planet. Explore our product range and find out how we can help you show your kids how easy it can be to eat healthily and have every meal still taste good.