Dining Out with Kids the Healthy Way Plus a Kid Approved Taco Recipe

This post has been sponsored by the National Restaurant Association and Triberr. All opinions are my own and the topic is one I feel passionately about.

On Saturday, May 17th the National Restaurant Association hosted their annual show which brought together 62,000 food service professionals, over 2,000 exhibitors, education segments and celebrity chefs. The Kids LiveWell Program was on hand. Kids LiveWell was created by the National Restaurant Association and Dining Out. It is a volunteer restaurant industry program committed to offering healthy food choices for kids.

You may remember my post about Healthy Eating Choices for Kids When Dining Out and the Kids LiveWell program. The National Restaurant Association also teamed up with McCormick for Chefs to create the Kids Recipe Challenge. The challenge awarded delicious and nutritious recipes from children's menus in restaurants and food service establishments. The Kids LiveWell Recipe Challenge winners were on hand where they received a check for winning. I am just a fan of big novelty checks. They make everything more fun. 

To recap the winners:

Bean Sprouts Café & Cooking School The DoReForMe Sandwich is organic multi grain oat bread spread with sunflower butter and organic strawberry jam and cut into piano keysized/shaped pieces, served with a skewer of grapes and water. The pumpernickel bread is cut into smaller pieces and placed on top of the wheat bread to represent black piano keys.

O’Charley’s The Cloudy with a Chance of Spaghetti and Meatball Pizza has grilled sirloin meatballs and spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and wholewheat pizza dough served with apple juice.

Sysco Hampton Roads The Kids Quesa WOW Dilla is a chicken quesadilla with broccoli, chicken, peppers and corn, served with a side of grapes and water.

UW Health The Swimming Taco is served with fresh grapes on the side and a frozen banana avocado smoothie.

UW Health didn't want to keep their healthy kids meal to themselves, so here is their winning recipe for The Swimming Taco to try at home with your little ones.

Ingredients

1 piece of Tilapia (6 to 8 oz)
3 ounces of shredded cabbage
1 mango (Peeled and diced)
3 lime wedges
3 tsp chopped cilantro
salt and pepper, to taste

• Heat a nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides. Cook the fish for 4 minutes undisturbed, then turn over and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and place fish on cutting board and cut into three equal pieces. Set aside.
• Place three corn and whole-wheat tortillas on a plate and sandwich them between two slightly dampened sheets of paper towel. Microwave on high for 45 seconds.
• Place the warm tortillas on a plate and place a piece of each fish on the tortilla.
• Top with 1oz of shredded cabbage on each piece of fish, top with mango, cilantro and squeeze of fresh lime.

I can't wait to try it with my kids! I am excited about the fact that more dining establishments will be offering healthier, fun choices for kids while dining out!

Check out Healthy Dining Finder and download their free phone app for a list of all Kids LiveWell restaurants and menu items. This is great for families on the go!

Kids LiveWell launched in July 2011 with the goal of helping parents and kids discover healthy meal options when dining out. More than 145 brands representing 42,000 restaurant locations nationwide participate in the program.

To learn more you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

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