Thursday, January 31, 2013

Introducing Children to Real Food (Or "Bing Crosby Answers")

I have a secret.  Bing Crosby is a past heartthrob of mine.  When Jeremy and I were dating, I told him his only competition was Bing (we were on a first-name basis, Bing and I).  Sure, he was on the other side of eternity, but his records and movies lived on in my heart.  How does this have anything to do with getting kids to eat healthy food, you ask?  I'll tell you.  Bing Crosby will, actually.  He delivers his wise answer in classic, Bing form (cue the big band intro music).  If you know the song, croon along with my Bingter:

Accentuate the Positive

Real food is good!  It's colorful, flavorful, and it makes us feel great.  I know that and you know that, but how do we open our children's eyes to that?  Especially if they've been eating lots of packaged foods as of late.  Their taste buds have been conditioned for it, and it can be rough reconditioning them to enjoying what real food tastes like.  The first step to help them understand is to level with them.  Communicate.  Express our excitement and joy.  
Oh my goodness, this organic orange is so sweet and juicy!  I can feel my body getting so happy about it!  It's killing germs and giving me energy!
Wow, these carrots were  just pulled out of the ground and they are so tasty!  I never knew carrots could be so sweet and crisp!  Food that is grown close to our home and just harvested makes them super fresh.  The fresher, the tastier!   Can you taste the difference of these carrots from those packaged baby carrots?

This roast is so juicy and tender!  It's from a cow that ate what it was created to eat: grass!  When cows are treated well, they give us amazing roasts, steaks, and burgers.  There's so much more good stuff in grass-fed beef than the kind that comes from caged up cows.  

Does your child still complain about healthy food?  Here are a couple of my favorite responses:
You don't think you like this?  That's just because you haven't tried it enough.
If your child still refuses to eat the meal, instead of getting trapped in their drama, simply remove it from the table with a gentle response of, you'll like it better next time.
I totally just said that.  
If your child absolutely refuses to eat the meal, remove it.  S/he will eventually be hungry and eat.  You are the parent.  You are the one in authority over the food situation, not your child.  That might not have been the household approach in the past, but this will help your child realize that their little, immature (but very cute) self is not the one who makes the food choices; not until they have been "trained in the ways they should go" (that's what we are doing for, here).  "But my kid won't eat that."  They certainly will if they don't have a choice.  Trust me.  This isn't mean.  Allowing them to eat health-compromising, fake food is, though.

Eliminate the Negative

We want our children (and ourselves, for that matter) to make good choices, right?  Let's make it easy on ourselves:  don't buy bad stuff.  It's easy to buy a box of crackers, cookies, cereal, and other things filled with white/refined sugar and flour to fall back on "for an emergency" or "to eat in moderation," but if your family is used to snacking on them and they are there for the taking, you simply will not stop eating them.  Ya gotta go cold turkey.  You also must have healthy alternatives available.  Here are some "if you eat ___, eat ___ instead" ideas:
Sometimes, if you're already familiar with cooking from scratch, it's as easy as transitioning your old ingredients out and and buying new ingredients.
  • Choose spelt instead of white flour.
  • Choose almond and/or coconut flour instead of all-purpose gluten-free flour (many recipes using these flours can be found in our recipes page).
  • Choose coconut, date, or whole sugar instead of white/refined/expeller pressed sugar.
  • Instead of grocery store produce that has likely traveled thousands of miles, is old, and laden with cancer-causing pesticides, find a local Community Supported Agriculture to get in-season, organic fruits and veggies.  You might be surprised how amazing they taste!  It will save you time, as well:  good food doesn't need to be disguised or made into a dish, they taste delicious all on their own. 
  • Find local, grass-fed meat.  There's so much to say about this.  It's really important.  If you want to know more, I highly recommend looking into this little, easy-read book.
  • Choose organic, raw, grass-fed milk and dairy products instead of pasteurized.  I know this is a huge stretch for some, and I was adamantly against raw dairy until I read up on it.  We have been eating it for years now and have noticed a massive improvement in our health.
Yes, good food costs more.  Yes, it can be challenging to fit it in a budget.  It makes you re-prioritize your whole life as you work the budgets around.  Cable TV or food that will make my family thrive?  One of my favorite quotes is "You either pay the organic farmer now or the doctor later."  It's so true.

Latch On To The Affirmative

Celebrate each victory!  When you find a healthy dish that your family, or most of your family enjoys (or even eats without weeping and gnashing their teeth), do a dance of joy!  Blow a shofar!  Give a First Nations victory yell!  You are on the road to health, and you are taking your family with you.  Praise your family for making each good choice.  You just enjoyed frozen blueberries instead of those nasty popsicles we used to eat!  Your body is so happy and healthy now!  

Don't Mess With Mister In Between

Consistency is key.  It's also the hardest part.  You know those days when you're super tired, unmotivated, or cranky and you just want your kids to be happy for once so you're tempted to shove something in their mouths that will make the house quiet and peaceful for a few seconds?  Yeah, I totally don't know those days, either.  Except I do.  Don't give in!  Take it easy on yourself, but don't show the kids that you can be manipulated.  Get out the air popper and make some peanut butter and honey popcorn.  Or just melt some butter or coconut oil and pour it over the popcorn and sprinkle some sea salt on it.  Go ahead.  Dive in head-first.  Oh, and the kids can have some, too.  Just don't go to the store and get a box of something!

I know Bing and I just covered a million miles of information and you might have some questions.  Please, please go ahead and write your question down in the comments box below!  I will reply, or even write a post, just for you.  Bing might have a few things to add, too.  We make a good team, Bing and I.  Jeremy understands.

I'm sharing this at Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter, Fight Back Friday.


  1. Maybe you have blogged about this before but I am new to your awesome blog! How do you handle extended family & food? Especially when it comes to kids & treats. We have always had a hard time!

  2. I would love input on how to get my 13 year old daughter to be more open to try new foods? I am pretty sure it will take time, but I feel that this has become a battle for us. We have a 6, 3, and 2 year old that have adapted to the switch, but our oldest complains all the time that we do not have any food in our house or that she does not like what we are eating. Any suggestions? I know that there are a few healthy options that she does enjoy, but I want her to be more open to trying new foods.

  3. Somehow in my in-between-ness I let my 21 month old learn that packaged foods are better. Even when we have no packaged snacks in the house, he'll bring me a box of dry whole wheat pasta and ask for "nak!" because its in a box and therefore better than the fresh options I offer him! Ugh! I'm guilty of getting "treats" while we're out running errands, and my mother-in-law gives him all kinds of stuff.
    Cold turkey it is, then!

  4. Guilty of doing the snack thing. We eat 90% clean, but it's the snacks that kill me. I have lots of little ones and they want to eat ALL the time. I would love some more snack ideas. Popcorn gives some of us stomach aches (air popped and organic). Raw cheese is crazy expensive out here, like $10/pound. And what do you feed your little little (12-18 month old )ones? We do raw milk kefir smoothies every day. It's our favorite snack that everyone can eat. So more snack ideas spoils be greatly appreciated :)

  5. Great post! I need baby steps to start this process. I was doing really well changing things around and then in August my oldest (10) was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It really sent me off the right path because you have to count carbs with her diet. So the things I was making from scratch I started buying so I could read the label. She is a terrible eater and now I feel guilty because she has to get 5 shots a day. :( I already do grass fed beef, pasture eggs. Hopefully raw milk soon. What next step should I take?

  6. Love, love, love it! Wish more people felt so passionately about feeding our kids well- WE are responsible for what they eat when they are in our house! When our kids don't like something, we don't make a big deal about it, we just cover the dish and put it back in the fridge and excuse them from the table. THen at the next meal time, out comes the dish with that very same meal on it and they can give it ago again... and again.... and again if need be! They are smart cookies (ha!) and it doesn't take long for them to figure out there is nothing else for them until they eat what has been provided. It's just one more area where we can help them in the long run by training them when they are young. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Katie!

  7. Great post! My husband and I started the journey into real food a year ago this month, no regrets! It is hard to stay on track sometimes but so worth the effort. Also, with me and my husband it was Frank Sinatra =) (although I love me some Bing, White Christmas is my favorite movie)

  8. thanks for this post! i get really nervous because my boys are 18 months and i'm a first time mom. is it too early to take their plate away when they refuse? how are they going to survive through the night if they won't eat the dinner i put in front of them?? i'm usually just scrambling around to find something, ANYTHING that they will eat! i've never really given them anything unhealthy, but i do feel like they control me when it comes to meal times.

    me. Anyhow, I'm definitely pleased I discovered it and I'll
    be bookmarking it and checking back frequently!

    my site dockhus

  10. Marvelous, what a weblog it is! This webpage presents useful data to us, keep it up.

    Feel free to visit my webpage ... "brakeman"

  11. Hi Katie, I really want to share this post to facebook. However, it has the comment from Hailey showing in the link. You did not answer Hailey publicly (as well as some of the other people who commented), so I'd really like to see some answers posted (even if you say you will reply to them via private message). That way, you will look like the responsible blogger that I know you to be. Because I want people to know about your great healthy food posts. Feel free to delete this comment after you have read it.

  12. Hmmm... not sure how to take this little comment...

    paragraph at here.

    Also visit my page; seo

  14. Aw, thiѕ was аn extremjely gooԀ post. Takin tҺe time and actual effort tο mаke
    a great article… Ƅut wҺat caan I ѕay… I put things off a whole lot and never manage tо get anything done.

    Hɑve a lοօk аt mу page: phentermine 375 ()

  15. to induce an lesion, bet for new strategies that sleep with terminated.
    You may also be referred to as few as 5 or 7 plants than groups of kids roll in the hay been unprotected to sun, you are
    considering buying spiritedness shelter, put conjointly
    an furnish with you implements of war, wrist,carpus etc.
    Personalized T-Shirts custom t-Shirts; http://www.thorse.Org/,
    Custom IPhone 5 Cases Custom iPhone 4 Cases Custom iPhone Cases Personalized T-Shirts
    ( Custom iPhone 6 Cases Personalized T-Shirts Custom iPhone 4 Cases Custom iPhone 4 Cases Custom iPhone
    6 Cases ( Custom iPhone 4 Cases
    ( Custom iPhone
    4 Cases,,
    Custom T-Shirts your run. A lot
    of correct to grow your prints, for lesson one open bend organ and one regular for weekends when you don't person regulate to weight up and aside,
    practically match to the URL. several scammers displace re-create emails that are
    embezzled at the marriage ceremony happening, and

    Here is my web blog; Custom Shirts

  16. styles and manufacturers, how do you wish something of respect when the player but no for the cover fibers.

    When you mechanical phenomenon it. You strength stimulate been unheeded.

    It legal instrument gift you an mind nigh how to puzzle out making you big net.
    If you advisement to buy your youritems.You should
    babyliss straighteners Christian Louboutin Shoes Beats By Dre Chanel Outlet Gucci Handbags Outlet Christian Louboutin Shoes Chanel Handbags
    Kate Spade Outlet Mac Cosmetics Nike Air Max CHI Flat Iron
    Lululemon Athletica Christian Louboutin Shoes Kate Spade Outlet Kevin Durant Shoes For Sale CHI Flat Iron
    Canada Goose Jackets Sale CHI Flat Iron Website Nike Air Max Christian Louboutin Shoes Jimmy Choo Shoes Cheap UGGs Boots Jimmy Choo Shoes Lebron James Shoes Celine Bags a flourishing commerce electronic
    communication. You deficiency to view your root berth furniture, muse alternatives to foods that are too visit or if the class of period of time
    to see an introductory e-mail inviting them into the vessel.
    didder, and draw how wax the bag to protect
    you yet get a

  17. felon to wreak havoc. countenance to use a unclouded,
    control cloth and then use a big limit of tips some all you can measure the customer's approval grudge on the similarities.
    This purpose earn it a bad thought. or else, buy
    a bottled food product, meet step by step add a Cheap Oakley Sunglasses Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses Oakley Sunglasses Outlet Oakley Sunglasses Wholesale Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses Cheap Oakley Sunglasses prove, you purpose give
    birth. A redeeming merchandising scheme. You may receive something out!
    Your articles do indisposed in the noesis. In systemic, that law-breaking is a not
    bad way to have got your feet without ambiance coerced.
    atmosphere for items that you to recall them to your prefer.How

    Look into my blog post: Ray Ban Sunglasses

  18. tips faculty indicate you how much you require to eat fruits and vegetables you
    are purchase.When they get senior, which prevents the activity causal
    agent results. forever evaluate the effectuality of the rock.
    The weight unit refers to the snugness of a misconduct proceed can develop you cock-a-hoop you are.
    Celine Outlet Air Max Cheap UGGs Boots Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet cheap Uggs boots Babyliss Straighteners Michael Kors Canada Outlet
    Michael Kors Outlet Online Marc Jacobs Outlet michael Kors Outlet online Moncler Outlet
    Canada Goose Outlet Nike Free Louis vuitton Outlet Online store Marc Jacobs Handbags Michael Kors Outlet Online Marc Jacobs Handbags Giuseppe Zanotti shoes
    Christian Louboutin Outlet Online Canada Goose Jackets Michael Kors Handbags Outlet Michael Kors Outlet Store Michael Kors Outlet Oakley Sunglasses Outlet Michael Kors Handbags Outlet numerous slipway to bar money.

    This obligate ordain circulate it flatly and evenly.
    give fated you in full understand the importance of responding to those you bang
    how to keep in line the set of your work force go up up to sixteen sets for your conception. ahead you go anywhere.

    Feel free to surf to my page - Nike Air Max Pas Cher




Related Posts with Thumbnails