The Parents Zone

Peggy Turbett, The Plain DealerSoft carbs surrounded by crunchy carbs: the spaghetti taco.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — If kids had their way, noodles, bread, cookies and fries might make up the four food groups.

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So it shouldn’t be shocking that the new food fad for children, spawned by the hit-of-the-moment Nickelodeon TV show iCarly, is spaghetti tacos. It’s been called a cultural craze.

Yes, that’s right: noodles inside a taco shell, with the barest smidge of tomato sauce coating the pasta — soft carbs surrounded by crunchy carbs.

The combo is enough to make a dietitian cringe, if not gag, the way a vegan might when faced with a plate of steak tartare.

But, local dietitians are quick to note, there are ways to make this dish healthier — just as there are ways to make other kid favorites a little bit better for their growing bodies.

Jennifer Dorman speaks as a clinical dietitian at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and a mom.

“If the kids really wanted spaghetti tacos,” she says, “I’d say, ‘You can have one, and I’m going to give you a salad and fruit, and you have to eat that, too.’ ”

She says she also might get creative and try to “manipulate” the taco.

“To make it more nutritious, I’d add some lean ground beef and use fewer noodles, or use whole-wheat noodles.”

“You could also add grated vegetables and carrots to the spaghetti sauce.”

Tara Harwood, a pediatric dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic, says that a lot of parents she works with are surprised to learn that their children’s diets are lacking in protein and fiber, the latter because vegetables and whole grains are woefully underrepresented.

Those same diets are too heavy on carbs, a lot of them from processed and refined foods, she says. Refined carbs quickly turn into sugar in the body, and that often means a blip in energy followed by a crash, followed by more hunger.

Harwood, too, is familiar with the spaghetti taco fad.

Her ideas to improve it? Use a whole-grain corn taco shell, instead of the typical corn shell, for more fiber. (If you can’t find them at your local grocery, you can easily make them by baking whole-grain tortillas into taco-shell form.)

For the filling, she suggests adding protein with black beans, kidney beans or your own homemade “refried” bean paste (because commercially prepared refried beans often contain lard).

You can make your own paste, she says, by rinsing canned beans and pureeing them in a food processor with a little olive oil and garlic or taco seasoning.

Or, if your child prefers meat to beans, add protein by mixing some cooked ground sirloin or ground turkey with the pasta sauce.

Again, add fiber by using whole-wheat noodles, or, if your kids don’t like them, mix half regular spaghetti and half whole-grain noodles.

Other add-ins for the taco? Lettuce, diced tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, or mild red or yellow bell peppers. Then sprinkle on some grated cheddar or light cheddar cheese.

“I’d round out the meals with a cup of skim milk, or some plain low-fat Greek yogurt mixed with strawberries,” Harwood suggests. Yogurts pre-mixed with fruit tend to be very high in sugar. “Every meal should have vegetables, fruit and some low-fat dairy.”

She also says, “One taco, not three. No just filling up on carbohydrates.”

Cookbook author and local culinary instructor Bev Shaffer says she makes a healthy version of spaghetti tacos for her grandchildren.

“I shred some multicolor veggies — red, yellow or orange, such as carrots, in with the spaghetti for the last minute or two of cooking to soften. Drain well, then toss with the tomato sauce before serving.”

Peggy Turbett,The PD”Parents gravitate toward convenience, and carbs tend to be convenient.”

Kids are supposed to have seven vegetable servings daily, but Dorman is impressed when she hears of a parent who gets them to eat five each day.

She has one last suggestion for making spaghetti tacos healthy: If you’re really feeling adventuresome and you think you child will be amenable, “You can use spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti noodles.”

Only you know if that would fly with your child, but it’s worth a try — because one thing all dietitians advise is that you don’t give up the fight for healthier meals, no matter how stubborn your kids are.

After all, you are in charge — at least at some meals. And nothing less than your child’s well-being is at stake.

“You just have to keep putting them on your child’s plate,” says Harwood.

The first step in getting kids to eat vegetables is to provide them whether they want them or not — eventually, familiarity and their presence on the plate should begin to get them to try.

There are ways to make other dishes kids love healthier, says Shaffer, who also is the Solon Mustard Seed Market’s kitchen and bakery director.

Fast-food chicken nuggets are loaded with fat — often, they’re flash-fried at the factory before they’re fried again. So, it’s far better to make them yourself, she says. And no, for your kids’ sake, don’t just buy frozen chicken fingers, which also have been fried at the factory, even though the instructions are to just heat them in the oven before serving.

If the second ingredient on the bag or box of chicken nuggets is oil, that’s how you can tell they’ve been fried.

Instead, make your own.

Shaffer uses a breading mixture that includes some whole-wheat flour for added fiber; and she bakes them in the oven, instead of frying or sauteing.

It isn’t difficult, says Dorman, noting that as a working mom she doesn’t want complicated recipes.

“Dip small pieces of chicken in egg whites and some bread crumbs,” she says. “Saute them lightly.” Olive oil is better than butter for this. Olive oil and nuts are better sources of the necessary fat in a child’s diet than sausage and bacon for breakfast and high-fat deli meats for lunch.

How about mac and cheese? Shaffer says she believes that for most kids, this does not have to be a low-fat item, especially if they don’t eat it that often, though she recommends adding vegetables as a side dish.

Still, she says, “I sub out traditional pasta with whole-wheat pasta, and I always use a blend of cheeses, with one being a lower-fat version.”

“Kids have an affinity with foods they are comfortable with and used to,” says Dorman. “Parents gravitate toward convenience, and carbs tend to be convenient.

“And kids need calories. They need energy. But it’s got to be the right kind — and that means getting it from fruit, vegetables and lean protein, not just from carbs.”

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