Last year I had an opportunity to attend a childhood obesity conference led by the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA). On the final day of the conference, PHA approached the stage and announced their newly formed partnership with the Mushroom Council to reduce childhood obesity. Wow! Mushrooms? I didn’t know mushrooms were such a big deal.
After an hour in that session, my mind shifted and I became an instant believer in the value (both financially and nutritionally) of mushrooms on our plate.
Mushrooms:
- Have almost as much potassium as a banana
- Are low in sodium, fat, and calories
- High in antioxidants
- Are the only item in the produce aisle with Vitamin D
The big take-away from that session was that beef consumption could decrease considerably if we simply consumed more mushrooms. Mushrooms have good "swapability" which makes them a great substitution for ground meat, but yet still have the ability to make you feel full and satisfied after a meal.
Perhaps there is something to this concept.
Last week I tested this concept:
I made mushroom Portobello pizza’s as a snack (more on that below), and then saved the stems and inside of the mushroom for our next meal. We simply chopped the mushrooms in a food processor and then combined them with a pound of ground meat.
INCREDIBLE! The taste and texture was really good. The kids loved them!
Not only did I "sneak" some healthy nutrients into their burgers, but I was also able to get nearly 2 additional burgers out of a pound of meat simply because I added mushrooms to the mix. Mushrooms are certainly less expensive than ground beef, so why not buy one less pound of meat and replace it with healthier and inexpensive mushrooms.
The best part about mushrooms is that they are on the Clean 15 List- meaning they should be grown with little use of pesticides. Buying organic isn't necessary when it comes to mushrooms.
If your kids are averse to mushrooms, no worries. Mushrooms have a savory/meaty taste, but very little flavor. They tend to take the flavor of the dish you're using.
So for any kiddo's unwilling to try mushrooms, give this a try for your next round of burgers or tacos. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the outcome while saving a few dollars in the process.
In this week's episode of Healthy Kids for Busy Families I featured our favorite, Mushroom Pizza Bites. This isn't our first video on the mushroom pizza's, but this is our first time letting two 6-year old's navigate through the entire process on their own.
Getting kids to try mushrooms can be a little tough (mine didn't like them at first either), but I tend to find kids will try anything with sauce and cheese. This is a great recipe to slowly acclimate your children to mushrooms.
It's certainly worth the experiment and be sure to save your leftovers for that next batch of hamburger.
ps- I recommend organic in this video, but it's not necessary. I tend to buy everything organic out of pesticide paranoia. Enjoy!!