EATING CLEAN with KIDS (an old post I just forgot to publish!)

Kids Food Thats Good AND Healthy

I have been asked a lot about how I feed my kids healthy. I have to think back, because I wasn't always the best "Clean" eater. Then I found my answer... If I eat Raw/Clean/Nutritious foods, its not a stretch that my kids eat too. Why?  YOU DO NOT BUY THE BAD FOOD!  Oh, was that in caps?

I know it is hard to change bad habits. I have been eating very clean for almost 3 years now, and it has been a process. Now it is second nature and I don't ever think to buy processed junk be it food or beverage- it literally passes though my mind with disgust. But changing bad habits is hard and takes dedication, and perseverance. Its a mental change too. We know bad foods do bad things to us, but  bad often is easier, and what were used to do we just keep doing the same thing over and over.

Children will not starve themselves. You can not expect a child ( especially an older one, set in the habits of the "American Diet" to just accept new foods, and totally forgo all the stuff they are used to over night. Like I said before, its a process. Make little, but important changes, adding in more and more and eventually the old stuff becomes old, bad news and the new foods become normal.

Here are some Ideas of traditional foods, turned healthier and more nutrtious!

Breakfast: Eggs! Make the switch to farmed organic eggs. See if you can find a local farmer, because you will get then at 1/2 the cost as Organic Free range in the store. An egg is an egg to a child, but an egg is NOT an egg in reality. Farm-Fresh- Free range organic chickens feeding on kitchen scraps ( think fruit and veggies scraps galore), grass, bugs, worms, etc. are getting fresh air, vitamin D, and lots of nutrition in their diet... all of which is passed to the egg.

Add Healthy Oil to your Eggs, toast, frying, etc. Find Organic, Cold-pressed, Unrefined Extra virgin coconut oil. It does great in high eat, and is loaded with essential fatty acids that our brains need to funtion. I personally  have found the best price is swansonsvitamins.com but you can also find it in health food stores and in the natural section of grocery stores ( double the price) Eat a spoon for a burst of energy, or add it to a fruit smoothie!

OATS! Ditch the Quick Oats and Prepackaged Sugar/chemical Oats.. Get some Old Fashioned Oats and Soak em! That is right... Oats ( like all whole grains) have a tough outer layer on the brain with Phytic Acid. This acid makes the oats not absorbable so you can't get the good nutrients when eating and it also has to pull minerals and vitamins OUT of your body just to digest it. Solution? Place your oats in a bowl, cover with water and a couple tbsp of Vinegar ( we use the kind with 'The Mother'), cover and soak overnight. In the morning rinse well ,and pour in pan with equal amount of water and cook! No one buy you will know they were soaked, you can add that good oil I mentioned above, or butter and some cinnamon and brown sugar or honey, and your set!

Milk. - In the Raw.  Now this scares some people because Raw milk is not pasturized ( heated to extreme killing all bad and GOOD pathogens, nutrients, and important digestive components. Raw milk is loaded with nutrients, tastes so much better, and you can feel good about using it! Did you know you are 35,000 times more likely to get a food born illness from any other food then from Raw cow milk from a grass fed Organic Pasture?

Make Fruit Fun  We make fruit fun by throwing all kinds of things into a blender, adding a little flax or coconut oil and blending away.  Take a glass cup and make parfaits with Yogurt in between the layers. Make faces using berries, and bananas for the little ones.

Lunch-Grill better.  Example? Use healthy oils for making Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Like High fat butter oil, or coconut oil, or grape seed oil.  We make Grilled Almond(or peanut) butter and Honey Sandwiches with local honey. Just think of the warm Almond ( or peanut ) butter and honey with the crispy whole grain, or sourdough grilled bread! YUM! I also like to boil my own soup bones ( which I get from a local organic farm) and make my own beef broth ( loaded with minerals!)

Cook your pasta, your veggies, potatoes, and even your meat with a cup or two of your bone broth to add in more nutrition! I did this today with Fresh green beans and tossed in some cooked turkey bacon. YUM!

Make Lunch Colorful We do BIG Breakfasts here in our home, and good sized lunches, and small dinners. But lunch for my kids is always full of color. I try to always include something green, something fruity and bright, a starch like beans, or rice or bread, and some nuts/seeds or cheese. Plates with dividers are fun and keep things separated. Add in a little sweet treat like some chocolate chips or frozen yogurt. If you do this when adding in a new veggie, I always add just a little of the sweet treat, with the promise of more once they try their new veggie, or finish this or that. Works well here, they still have a choice, and yes, sometimes they may decide not to finish that healthy weird thing, but it still always goes on the plate, and soon it becomes normal.

Dinner De-LITE I think kids should go to bed with satisfied tummies, but not stuffed full. They need good rest and we all know their little brains work hard to learn all they do so fast! Why bog down their gut (loaded with nerves) with a heavy unhealthy meal before the body goes to sleep and refresh mode?  We sometimes do the easy breakfast for dinner thing on long or hot days. Mostly we do a protein, a starch and a veggie, like clockwork and in many different forms. We are not a family that forces children to eat all that's on their plate, but we do have a no tolerance for not trying something. And that means,every time. If they didn't like eggplant last month, who is to say they wont like it today, prepared in a different way? Taste buds used to a bland diet need time to adapt and change, so you are giving them that opportunity by having them continue to try new and healthy foods over and over again. Your job? Prepare them differently and mix it up. My little ones love green beans with garlic, they go crazy over them. But they are slow to eat broccoli seasoned the same way.  Sprinkle a little Parmesan on that broccoli, and again they love it. We adults like things prepared in different ways  so it makes sense that little ones would too.