I am always surprised at what my kids will eat. It never ceases to amaze me! That is why it is so important to provide healthy choices for your children starting when they are babies! You can't force your kids to eat something they don't want to, but, if it is available, and they see other people eating it and they in fact are not dying, they get curious. Case in point... about a week ago I made pesto angel hair pasta with steamed broccoli and parmesan. My kids all SCARFED it all down. That was only my second time ever having pesto, and my husband's and my kids' first time. I didn't even tell my kids what it was. I just dished up proper serving sizes and their plates were clean within a few minutes! Tucker and Ryan even had seconds of the pasta! I honestly think that the kids thought it was probably just bits of the broccoli that fell off in the pasta, and so they didn't even question what the green pasta was all about.
Me- being the hoarder that I am- still had the other half of the pesto sauce sitting in the fridge a week later. I knew I wanted to use it up before it went bad. I also knew I was too lazy to make pizza tonight, so we had pesto pasta again tonight! This time I did the pesto pasta sprinkled with mozzarella, steamed broccoli, poached eggs, and a fresh strawberry and banana fruit salad. My fabulous older sister Jacquie taught me the egg with the pesto pasta deal! I was a bit nervous the first time I had it, but it is actually a very good combination!
Cole was a little more shy about eating it tonight, but he still ate some, which is always a good sign. I actually made a little deal with the boys at dinner. Tucker ate all of his fruit salad and eggs, and was scarfing down the pasta. I knew he was going to want more of the pasta, but he kind of ignoring his broccoli. Tucker eats veggies sooo good, so I wasn't going to force the broccoli tonight. Cole ate his eggs, a little bit of his fruit salad, only a little bit of his pasta, but pounded down his broccoli. I told Tucker he could switch his broccoli he did not want to eat with Cole's pasta, so they both could fill their tummy's with what they were craving. : ) It turned out to be a good deal. I am actually not quite sure how much of anything Mackenzie ate tonight at dinner because it was all over the place...
A few nutritional pointers for those with children-
With my exercise science degree, I took several nutrition classes, but I am not a registered dietician or nutritionist. The following is my personal opinion aligned with things I learned while in school and post-graduation.
*Fill your kitchen with healthy, yummy foods and your kids will eat them! Obviously if they have the choice of a cookie or an apple, most kids will pick the cookie. But if you give them the choice of either an apple with some peanut butter or some carrots with ranch, they will pick one of those options if they are really hungry! For snacks, give them two or at the most three healthy options and let them decide!
*Stick to the Food Guide Pyramid, it is really how the body needs to be fed! Check out choosemyplate.gov for more tips.
*There are so many fruits and veggies out there, as a family decide to try one new fruit or vegetable a month! It can be exciting!
*Choose whole grains over refined bleached flour. We have always used 100% whole wheat bread ever since we got married. I don't even think my kids know that there is such thing as white bread or potato bread? Only kidding, : ) at family gatherings or if we go out to eat, we try to eat the healthiest option, but whole wheat isn't always an option- which is fine with me. I don't know if I would appreciate the Olive Garden's breadsticks as much if they were whole wheat. ; )
*Have your kids help you plan meals and if you have the patience of an angel, have them help you cook!
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| The three amigos watching me cook. I was too flustered that day to actually let them help me. But I was more than happy to let them watch. : ) |
* Life is meant to have balance. Yes, we all should try to eat as healthy as possible and stay physically active, but is that always going to happen just as perfect as we would like it to? No, not always. And you can't beat yourself up over it. Just keep trying to live a healthier life. Things happen, life situations change, and you just need to try your best to keep you and your family healthy and happy. Not to mention, life is also meant to be enjoyed. God wants all of us to be happy. He wants our families to be happy. Great food-healthy and non-healthy- is a fantastic way to bring people together. So sometimes, eating a Little Caesar's hot n' ready pizza with your kids while watching Wreck it Ralph is one of those times where you just gotta enjoy the cheese, white flour, grease, and the sound of laughter coming out of your kids' pizza-sauce smeared faces. : )
*Remember that how you feed your kids while they are young, and how you teach them to interact with food will last them a lifetime! It breaks my heart to see unhealthy lifestyles passed on from one generation to the next. YOU be the chain breaker! YOU need to make a difference. YOU can be the one to start making healthy choices and help your family make them as well!
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I have been rereading a book from college that we had to read in a chronic disease prevention class.
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| Buy HERE |
It is SUCH a good book! It is extremely easy to read, and not super long, but it is full to the brim of valuable information. I completely recommend reading this book! This book always inspires me to try harder to be a little healthier. So, after our Wendy's dinner last night on the way to the grocery store, I felt like tonight's dinner was a total win! : )
i totally have this book but i've never even opened it! my work gave it to us w all the "welcome packet" stuff so i never expected it to be worth something. NOW I'LL OPEN IT!
ReplyDeletetotally! read it sara! i think it will be very helpful to you!! : )
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