Whether we have young children of our own, or nieces, nephews, and grandchildren we as the adults need to try to give them the best food we can! Foods that will give them the nutrients they need to build strong bodies and healthy immune systems so they can grow into active young adults.
The best foods we can give them are the fresh vegetables, fruits, and juices that are full of the wonderful living nutrients they require to build healthy cells.
As a grandmother I realize my own grandchild, Nellee, does not always want to eat the healthy foods that are best for her so today I will try to give you some ideas I have used to help Nellee eat more healthy when she is here visiting with me.
Get the children involved in the foods they should eat by trying some of the methods listed here:
(1) Take them shopping with you and let them pick out what fresh produce to buy – if they choose the food there is a good chance they will want to eat it!
(2) Once you are home let them help wash the food and once it is dry they can help put it away in the green bags or glass & plastic containers so they know where it is if they get hungry.
(3) Get them involved in the preparation of the food, if they are too young to chop and cut then let them push the buttons on the food processor or blender.
(4) Let them help by setting the table with the dishes they like – I let my grand-daughter help shop for plastic dishes and glasses that are colourful and fun to use.
(5) Instead of always serving salads just have fresh veggie stick and raw dips they help make before the cooked food in the evening, or have a make your own salad by supplying many small bowls of different veggies and greens and their own choice of dressing.
(6) Always make a healthy fun dessert that can be served in one of those fancy dishes or glasses!
(7) Let them help you dehydrated snacks such as, flax crackers and cookies as well as veggie and fruit chips so they can have some healthy snacks after school or in the evening.
(8) Put out a big colourful bowl of fresh fruit and a container of fresh veggies in the fridge that they know they can eat whenever they want (remember our children need 4-8 servings of fruit and 6-10 servings of veggies each day).
(9) Whenever you have a BarleyMax juice share with them – remember they are smaller so their serving size should be smaller.
(10) When doing arts and crafts let them design collages with pictures of healthy foods from your magazines, or make up an alphabet booklet using names of foods for each letter and counting booklets using food. Another fun thing to do is make their own place-mats with pictures of foods.
(11) Read them some of our great books for kids, such as: Chelsea’s Healthy Secrets, Daniel and the Big Test, Vegetable Soup & Fruit Bowl.
(12) Keep a chart of the foods they have tried and use stickers of foods that you can get at Staples or the Teacher stores. Go online and find out more about new foods you see at the supermarkets.
So as you can see there are many ways we can help to influence our children but the best way is leading by example – if you are eating healthy they will want to do what you are doing too! Also make sure you share with them the reasons why you want to eat healthy, children are very smart and they need to know the facts too.
Remember we are the adults we need to teach and guide our children!
Carob Macaroon Cookies with Carob Mint Pudding
Cookies:
Soak the following in a large bowl for 30 minutes:
- 1 cup of each: pecans & sunflower seeds
- ½ cup freshly ground flax seed
- 1 ½ cups water
Meanwhile put the following into your food processor and blend well:
- ½ cup organic dates
- ¼ cup figs
- ½ cup organic raisins
- 1 small apple (sliced)
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut
You can substitute other nuts or seeds such as almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, or pumpkin seeds.
Add the soaked nut mixture (water as well) to your food processor as well as the following ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil
- 6-8 fresh mint leaves
- ¼ cup carob powder
Process until well mixed then spoon it onto a Paraflex sheet into 2-3” round and dehydrate at 105F for 4-6 hours – turn them over and dehydrate for another 8-10 hours.
Use 2 cookies to sandwich the Carob Mint Pudding below.
Carob Mint Pudding:
In your food processor mix the following:
- 3 ripe bananas
- 2 ripe avocados
- 2 tbsp. finely ground flax seed
- ¼ cup agave syrup
- 2 tsp. fresh or dried mint leaves
- ¼ cup carob powder
Process on high until smooth, this will thicken in the fridge later.
