Getting your kids to eat healthier…

Let’s face it, that’s the goal of life as a mom and/or dad.
Day in and day out you feel like every meal is a constant struggle and there are days you feel like giving up and taking them through a drive thru to get some sort of version of a happy meal.
I know, the struggle is real!

It’s all about balance, consistency, participation, and the kids having a sense of autonomy.

Let’s talk balance…
First off, do your best and don’t beat yourself up. I have three kids. Each child is in his/her own little food consumption stage. My 8 year old FINALLY will eat more veggies and a more well rounded meal. My 4 year old is JUST now trying new things (long drawn out process before that happened).
My 2 1/2 year old…
Let’s just say his main food courses consist of breakfast foods, granola bars, peanut butter on bread, and smoothies. He also loves sweets. So much so that he will climb great heights of dangerousness in order to get to them. So I play on that. He loves sweets so I discovered the power of…

SMOOTHIES

Smoothies are wonderful. Why do you ask? Because you can come up with all sorts of ways to hide all the goodies in them without them knowing (as long as you don’t over do it).
For instance, I buy a package of organic tropical blend frozen fruit at Whole Foods, mix it with Forager Cashewgurt kefir/probiotic, occasionally hide a peeled carrot in there, and always try to add Young Living’s magic in a pouch, Ningxia Red.

Let’s talk Ningxia Red shall we?
This is where everything balances out for me and the battle with my picky 2 year old. He LOVES the stuff. I may even venture to say he’s obsessed. He will sneak and grab a pouch or two out of the fridge when I’m not looking. I’m okay with that as long as he doesn’t go over 2-3 a day due to the sole reason of keeping within a reasonable monthly budget. So what’s in this magic juice? Everything that’s good… antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins, nutrients, their daily intake of fruits and veggies, etc.
No need to go on, you get the point.
I always make sure I have that in my house. It took the place of their daily vitamins. I keep it on hand especially for him because when he doesn’t want to eat a literal thing that I’ve cooked, I at least know he has consumed his daily value of goodness. I can tell a huge difference in his immune system too.
So find a goody like this to maintain that balance so you won’t freak out and check your child into the nearest junk food anonymous meeting.

Another big thing, be an example to your kids through how you eat and don’t allow temptations for even them in the house. This leads to the next point, CONSISTENCY.
Consistency is what now has gotten my 8 year old to eat healthier and my 4 year old to try new things. Always keep the good in the house and keep the bad out. There’s always something healthier to replace your favorite go to junk food and dare I say (gasp) may even taste better! Get rid of temptation for everyone. A tip of deciphering between the good and bad? Read labels. Know and research ingredients. If you can’t pronounce it, chances are it may not be the best to consume. Also, the less ingredients, the better. Keep processed sugar very scarce (lowers their immune systems and ruins their taste buds for the healthy foods).
Another key thing to focus on is portion size. Don’t over power your kids with too much meat and limit dairy. As you can learn from most of my recipes, I personally stick to dairy free. This will help you focus on increasing the fruit and veggie intake with your kids.
*This also helps with any skin issues/breakouts*
They won’t like it at first, but keep trying. Keep experimenting with different veggies and don’t just cook them one way. It’s all about first impressions with them.
For example: the first time I introduced kale I baked it and made them into crispy chips. CHIPS. Something that they are comfortable with and it sticks to the trusty “finger food” category they always love. Now, because of that good first impression, they “love” kale. The next way I prepared it for them was as a pizza topping (using dairy free cheese in our house). Again, related to a food they love. They beg for kale pizza. Kale pizza, kale pizza, that’s all I hear these days.
Keep trying with them. They will turn you down most days, but eventually they will get out of that “everything’s nasty” stage and start to try. Every kid has one or two veggies they love. Discover them and work with what you got and don’t freak out.

TIP: Don’t ever overdo a forced attempt to make them try something. You’ll make dinner something everyone will dread. Come up with creative ways for them to eat. Cute trays with faces, games (I found this adorable little tray/game for littles… you can prob make your own concept with a placemat). Also, keep your tone and approach in check. Encourage them while they eat. “You’re such a big boy”, “you’re just like Captain America”, “awesome job!”…. relate it to their favorite hero/character. Tone goes a long way.

Next, PARTICIPATION.
If you have kids, you understand this. Kids LOVE to get involved. Allow them to help prep the meal. Let the older ones cut the veggies and the younger ones wash them. Let them mix, measure, and pour. Let them check the oven and watch the time. Get funky tools for them to get hands on with. Tools like a spiralizer, whisk, potato peeler. I let my youngest press the blender or food processor button and to him it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Let them help. It’s not always easy since most days you’re rushing, but little things like that don’t take up much time. Allowing the kids to participate in cooking and preparing their meal will make them appreciate their meal much more and may even open new doors to try new foods.

And finally, letting your kids have autonomy in the kitchen. Let them CHOOSE. Now, I’m not saying cook 50 different meals….HECK no. What I typically do is let them choose between 2 meals for me to cook. If they still don’t eat it, I’ll serve them apples and peanut butter or another healthy snack. I’m not one of those parents that tell my kids you have to starve if you don’t eat what I cook. If you have rules like that, more power to you. To each their own. It’s just not a big deal to me to serve them a healthy snack if they don’t finish their meal. It’s better than them sneaking around when I’m not looking to dig in the pantry. I do have one rule: they have to at least try. The only one I can’t do that as much with is my 2 year old, because I can’t negotiate with him just yet ; ). So that’s when I grab a Ningxia packet and call it a day.

Don’t stress and do your best.
Love your kids, encourage them, lead by example, and one day in one moment when they all of a sudden take a bite and say “mmhm this is good mom! I like healthy food now”, you realize all your hard work paid off.

Cheers moms and dads,
Fist pump, you got this.