Do you put more effort into what you are going to wear for the day versus what goes into your kid’s mouths? If you answered yes, it’s time to get serious and make more effort towards the health of your children.
I definitely struggle with this myself. In an effort to raise healthy little Cavekids, I occasionally feel as if I’m fighting an uphill battle. When asked if my kids eat the way I do, the honest answer is occasionally, but more likely not. It only makes me put even more effort into finding things they like and putting a Paleo twist on it. Sometimes it works, often it does not.
The truth in all of this is that you can introduce a food or particular taste to your child upwards of 20-30 times before they will like it. I used to bow down in defeat when food would get thrown back at me. Now I know if I continue my efforts, in time, they will get there. I notice little by little things do change, though you must not get discouraged. I hope one day they will appreciate where I’m going with all of this. I’m fairly certain they will.
- Try to implement one new food a week. Utilize it in a preparation you think they may enjoy at first (i.e. covered in ranch, garlic butter, or spaghetti sauce) Once they are at least willing to try it, you can back down on the gunk it’s covered in.
- Shop around the outside of the grocery store. If you think about all the freshest, real food that surrounds the perimeter of the store, what do you think of? Veggies and fruit, meat and seafood and the like. This is where you should be 80-90% of the time. The prepackaged food that lies down the creepy corridors is evil. Remind me of the shelf life of a Twinkie? Just sayin’.
I hope to cook more consistently from this book. I will share some of the hits and misses as I attempt to give my kids a food makeover. One thing that helps me is using Lunchbots when I pack their school lunches. I can offer lots of variety with the quad containers. Plus, if you have a child that despises when their food touches other foods, this is perfect solution. It’s all in an effort to pack a healthier lunch and be greener in the process. It takes me more time every morning to do this, but we all have priorities and this is certainly one of mine.
Live healthy,
Tiffany