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Some days I think it’s impossible to get my youngest to eat what we’ve made for dinner (or breakfast and lunch) if it’s not one of his limited favorites at the moment. He said he was NOT going to eat … Continue reading
Thank you to all my 50,000+ followers. Thank you for following me. Thank you for understanding my purpose. I hope I help you or others.
Just for the record… it’s been really difficult with my youngest son lately. He’s my pickiest eater. Getting him to eat a variety of foods has been really challenging in the past couple of weeks. Actually seemingly overnight he’s gone off some of his old favorites (salmon, seaweed, mushrooms, cheese) so I’m not cooking/serving most of them right now. Instead of trying too hard with lots of different foods, I am going with healthful foods I know he will eat.
So for his health and our sanity I am serving mostly the following foods: broccoli, sugar and snap peas, green beans, celery, carrots, apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, pears, yogurts, milk, and fairly plain salads. He’ll eat other things apart from these fruits and vegetables as well, but really limited considering the rest of the family— brown rice, pasta (plain), chicken, baked white fish, couscous, hummus, peanut butter, steak, lamb.
He won’t eat soup, chili, stew, stir fry, and most foods that are a one pot meals. Last week was difficult since that’s mostly what I made. Makes it challenging but I am still making him eat a little of the food if I’ve made it. I figure just like he is “off” certain former favorites and not liking things mixed, he will eventually come back to a greater variety if I don’t push too hard, but remain firm. I remember when I was his age taking a dislike to the cheese on pizza and sauce on spaghetti, but I got adventurous again not long after and my mother didn’t push. Instead of any possibility of a fight, most of this week I am cooking things I know he’ll eat.
As a child I remember going to some friends’ homes where the mom made my brother and I eat the overcooked zucchini and squash. Big-seeded, mushy, thin-cut vegetables are not appealing to many young kids. I held my nose and choked it down. My brother sat at that table all night. We wouldn’t touch them for years. Now, it’s a different story. I think if the vegetables are cooked right they are more appealing, but it’s not a guarantee that they’ll pass muster. Also if you push too hard, if you aren’t flexible, it can backfire. It’s a fine line and not an easy thing to decide. Being firm yet flexible. Not giving in every time, but understanding when you must bend the rules. So making sure the alternatives aren’t full of sugar and that his dietary needs are met. Thankfully he still loves his broccoli.
And now to prepare for another storm. Hopefully we won’t lose power in this one because no power equals no heat or water (hot or cold).
Is there anything you wish to know? A recipe I didn’t share? A story you’d like to share or something you wish I’d share? Let me know!
Our kids’ school year just began the other day and I have decided to try something different to help our elementary school students eat more fruits and vegetables. At the last school year’s PTA meeting I had been given the idea to get some parent volunteers to come in to help the first graders get through the lunch lines on those first few days of school. Although they’d had a run-though of what to do/expect at the end of their Kindergarten year, it could be overwhelming for the wee ones when returning after their long summer break. I decided to use the opportunity to do a little coaxing when it came to the fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately our school lunch provider doesn’t automatically give the kids those, they usually just offer them. And not only are they just offered, they are in small plastic containers (except a couple of whole apples, oranges or bananas) that are set in a bin the kids have to reach to get (which can be tough for the smaller ones).
So, I organized my volunteers to gently persuade all the kids (grades1 through 4) to take as many of the small containers as they’d like by telling them what’s in them and to say, “which one would you like sweet red peppers or coleslaw… or both?” instead of just saying “would you like some vegetables?” And if they refused try to convince them they needed their vegetables and fruits for a well-rounded meal, to be strong, to be smart, to be healthy. Whatever they could think of that would work.
Interestingly I found that the lunch ladies hadn’t planned on the kids taking so many of these containers of vegetables and fruits as we’d run out during service for each grade every time in the first week (they were prepared but in the walk-in inside the kitchen — where I wasn’t allowed to go). Continue reading
My kids are lucky. They have no known food allergies, but of course going to school, they must be considerate of others who aren’t as lucky. All the class snacks and my soon-to-be kindergartner’s lunches must be nut-free. Sometimes they have to be free of dairy, soy, egg, and seafood, depending on the classroom. We get a list of nut-free foods that are safe to serve from the school nurse, but I always find so much junk on it. So I create my own list, which you can find some of below and in full here.
I find that fresh fruits (squeeze a little lemon juice in some cool water to keep the brown away) and vegetables are easy and safe. My middle son loves to dip his peppers, celery and carrots in organic ranch dressing. Whereas my youngest son loves hummus for dipping in carrots and pita chips… or even his fingers.
I often make popcorn at home either on the stove using canola, olive or grapeseed oils or in the microwave using a brown paper bag and oils. I’ll season with real melted butter and salt or my own spice mixture.
Here are more snack ideas for school:
More Nut-Free Snacks*
FRESH FRUITS & VEGGIES
Black Beans, Pinto Beans, etc.
Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans- plain or roasted with Moroccan spices
Broccoli
Sugar Snap Peas
Snow Peas
Green Beans
Sweet Potato
Sliced Bell Peppers
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
Cauliflower
Roasted Beets or Trader Joe’s Ready to Eat Beets
Lentils – Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils
Raw/Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas)
Sunflower Seeds
Mandarin segments in juice (not syrup)
DAIRY & EGG SNACKS & MEATS
Cheeses- TJ’s mini brie, mini goat cheese, sliced cheddar, organic cheese sticks, sliced muenster
Kafir milk or Lassi
All natural yogurts without hormones like Stoneyfield or Trader Joe’s, Brown Cow, Whole Foods, Horizon
Trader Joe’s yoyo squeezers Stoneyfield or Horizon tube yogurt (freeze to keep cold or as frozen morning snack)
Hard-Boiled Eggs with sea salt
Devilled Eggs
Applegate Farm salami, ham, chicken or turkey
Applegate Farm sliced cheeses
WHOLE-GRAIN SNACKS
Brown Rice
Couscous
Quinoa
Tabouli
Pasta (whole wheat, brown rice, etc) served cold or in thermos warm
Triscuits or Trader Joe’s Woven Wheat Wafers
Popcorn (can pop on stove or in brown bag in microwave)
Oatmeal (served warm in thermos)
Kashi Shredded Wheat (vanilla, cinnamon)
Finn Crisp Thin Rye Crispbread
Lundberg Brown Rice or Wild Rice Cakes
Wasa Rye Cripsbread Varieties
Ryvita Rye Varieties
Kashi Heart to Heart Whole Grain Crackers (Original & Roast Garlic)
Trader Joe’s Rice & Bean Chips
Trader Joe’s Veggie & Flaxseed Tortilla Chips
Happy Herbert’s Sesame Snack Sticks
Canned/Dried Fruits & Sauces
Organic Raisins, curents
Dried Plums
Dates
Mission Figs
Organic Dried Cranberries, Blueberries, Cherries, apple Rings, or Mangoes
Dried Unsulfured Apricots
Vermont Village Applesauce
GoGo Squeez Applesauces
Nature’s Child Grape or Berry Squeezers
Trader Joe’s Crushers
Trader Joe’s Fruit Leathers
Archer Farms Organic Fruit Strips, Bars or Pull Apart Peels
Fruitabü Organic Smooshed Fruitrolls
Trader Joe’s Fruit Flakes
Trader Joe’s Fiberful Fruit Bars
Clif Kid Organic Twisted Fruit Rope
Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Mangos, Bananas, Grapes or Strawberries
Roasted Seaweed Snack (TJ’s or Costco)
Also homemade nut-free Leftovers!
*I need to update this list, as many new items that are gluten-free and/or nut-free are available since I wrote this.
Yesterday was a great day for this blog and I feel very grateful to all my followers. In the morning I hit 25,000 tumblr followers (now over 54,000 as of 4/1/13!), then in the afternoon I was selected as the Blog of the Month by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. That is very thrilling and I am so honored. I admire Jamie and all that he’s done to change the way people think about food, cooking and serving kids healthful school lunches. 
The reason I started this blog was to help others. I didn’t think I had any magical touch. I certainly wouldn’t win any parenting and housekeeping awards. I really just believed that it comes down to cooking at home more than on an occasion, eating together, serving kids foods would eat (adult food not kid food) and just putting those vegetables in front of them— often.
Yes, I can cook, but I don’t always feel inspired to create amazing and gourmet meals. Sometimes, I just want to take the shortcuts and throw something together. But I do believe that even in those times, it is possible to throw together quick, healthful meals. There are times that my kids don’t eat the most healthy foods, but I just try to keep those times to the minimum. I want that balance for their attitudes towards food (like, so they won’t gorge on junk when it’s in front of them) and so they can see that even healthy foods taste good!
I attribute a great deal of my own growth in cooking to my husband, a chef, who has taught me much (but unfortunately is working many long hours day and night) and also because I joined a local farm’s CSA/Shared Harvest program. I was forced to use vegetables I’d pass by in the grocery store because I just didn’t know what to do with them. I enjoy good food and I want my kids to share in that enjoyment. It’s a wonderful part of life.
So, thank you. Thank you for giving me this platform to share. Thank you for keeping me going. Thank you for validating what I am trying to achieve. I hope I’ve helped you, your kids, or someone you know in eating well.
Me with my main reasons for cooking healthy foods!
So it’s back to school time for everyone around here. Our school year began with a delay created by the havoc Hurricane Irene wreaked. She left so many trees down across roads and power lines which in turn left 98% of our town without power —and running water (we have wells that are powered by electricity). The sound of generators running throughout the day and night got to me, maybe partly out of jealousy for those who wouldn’t be throwing the contents of their freezers out. Then just into the new school year my middle son had his tonsils and adenoids removed (we’d made the appointment in May and didn’t know he’d only have 2 days of school, but thought it better to do it then instead of when the curriculum really kicked in.) He will be better for it as his tonsils were disgusting. He was off from school for a week and needed much TLC. The day he went back to school I pulled my other 2 out for a dentist visit.
So today, Monday, I finally feel like school has begun. I will get things done! Yeah right. So much to do. Laundry, of course. Sorting clothes to donate, cleaning cluttered office, regular household chores, continue working on potential new clients’ portfolio, begin marketing new business, getting Cooking Club labels printed, start grilling vegetables for ratatouille, finalizing Cooking Club dates, write a pitch & bio… Hmm, what am I missing. I’m sure there’s something! Oh, reply to all the emails that are piling up.
Most importantly I have finished the list of snacks here for parents at our school to counter the one our school nurse sent out. It gave me shivers that so much junk was on the suggested snack list. It is not easy to convince people that foods labeled with health claims are not actually healthful.
My list is not faultless, it has better alternatives. The brightly colored yogurts that I see in the stores targeted toward kids are full of artificial colors, sugar and may contain growth hormones. So, while I do give a suggested contrast with other yogurts, I realized they aren’t perfect but this is the world we live in.
I hope to get part of my To Do List done now. Funny, how I get joy from things like shopping on my own and accomplishing some order in my house.
My list was adapted from 100daysofrealfood.com a wonderful site for living without processed foods.
My two youngest sons are the most enthusiastic of the three about helping in the kitchen. The other night while I was preparing dinner, my youngest came in and shouted, “I want to help!”. Now often if I try to help him help me, he often shouts, “I can do it!” (He’s a loud boy and really wants the independence of accomplishing it on his own.) Well, since I’d done most of the prepping/cooking already, but my husband just got home and said he’d help by shucking the corn (local white corn, so delicious!), my son joined him out on the back deck to shuck. It was the cutest sight, especially since the wee man was in his hot-weather-comfortable (lack of) clothes. 
My husband showed him how to remove the silk from the corn by rubbing a tea towel along the ears.
The next night my husband made crab cakes and salad for dinner. The chorus of “I want to help!” resounded before he’d finished processing the bread for bread crumbs. So this time they helped in making the crab cakes (“Form balls then smush flat.”), 
peel carrots (“Turn them around so you’re not peeling it away to nothing.”)
and grating the carrots and beets (“Careful when it gets small so you don’t cut your fingers.”).
They loved their dinners both nights and my youngest said “It tastes even better when I help make it!” One of my girlfriends said that’s because you put love in as an ingredient.
Getting them to help in the preparing of the meals, especially the vegetables, might be the trick if you have reluctant eaters. 
A friend said how she tries to make sure her kids have balance in their meals. I completely agree with her. My children are not deprived of junk food (especially at birthday parties) and we all love chocolate and ice cream. But, it’s making sure that they get the healthful foods and limit the junk to special occasions. I want my children to have a healthy relationship with food. I don’t agree with Jessica Seinfeld’s method of hiding the good stuff, I bring it front and center. They start from the time they first eat solids. If you get them to try it and keep introducing it, they will eventually get a taste for it. In days long ago there were no junk foods, kids ate what they were given, no fuss. We are lucky to live in a time and age that gives us the flexibility to give our kids food (and as Michael Pollan coined “edible foodlike substances”) they like and that are convenient.
Ice Cream!
But we must maintain balance with the good food having more weight.
When we pack our sons’ lunches we make sure the food groups are represented with a sandwich, veggies, fruit and a snack type carb. Most popular lunch: turkey with mayo on whole grain bread, carrots and cucumbers, strawberries or apples (soak apple slices in lemon juice and water so they don’t turn brown), and goldfish.
And again, eat with them. Dinner time is usually the best in this country as it’s usually our biggest meal. Let them see the foods you eat, even if you aren’t going to feed them the same thing. Tell them how delicious it is and maybe they’ll want to taste it without being prompted. If you think they’ll only eat chicken nuggets in dinosaur shapes, get a cookie cutter and cut a whole cooked real chicken breast into a shape. If the chicken nuggets came in chicken shapes would the kids want to eat them?
You don’t need to completely avoid fats… fats don’t make people fat. If they did all those eating fat free cookies and fat free cream cheese (how is that even possible!?!) wouldn’t be fat! It’s the balance being out of balance. Fats based on only animal products aren’t good in over consumption, but there are good fats that should be in the diet (olives, avocados, nuts, etc). We need them to live.
Wow!
Enjoy food, just remember the balance—limit the treats to special occasions and get all the fresh fruits and veggies regularly every day. Your kids will really eat them too!
©2010 MyKidsReallyEatThis
