Feeding Our Young

One of the most emotionally charged subjects about child rearing is food. People have very strong opinions about nutrition and table manners. I'm not here to tell you how to raise your kids. I have some ideas you can try, that worked for me. You may completely disagree with my methods. That's OK, I won't take it personally.

Picky kids? I had one who didn't like veggies, and one who didn't like meat. It was like living with Jack Sprat. Even now, they tell me they will eat more healthy food if I trick them into it.

Chop up a plate full of veggies for them to eat after school. They come home hungry and if its right in front of them, that plate is gone in no time. 

He even liked corn raw,
could have been teething!

Call it appetizers. Most kids prefer raw veggies to cooked. When I prepped supper, I set aside half the veggies raw for the kids to munch. When they were toddlers, I put them in the highchair with shredded carrots, apple or cheese to keep them happy while I cooked. All families have their own ideas about table manners, eating everything on your plate, etc. I was OK with my kids eating their salad like it was finger food and dipping their lettuce like a carrot stick into the ranch dressing. You may not be. 

Condiments can save the day. Some kids will eat anything if there is cheese on it (or ranch, or ketchup).

Reasonable rules. When our kids were little, our house rule was that you had to eat as many bites of each item, as their age. No second servings of potatoes (which everyone loved) until they fulfilled that obligation. My friend would wrap up the uneaten supper, and that was the next snack or meal.

Presentation. Kids are very visual. If the veggies make a picture on the plate, they love it. When I was little, I had a plate and a bowl with pictures on the bottom. You had to eat all your food to see it. Mashed potato volcanoes with gravy lava.

Crazy names. Kids have a goofy and gross sense of humour. My family has a great love for Indiana Jones. When we barbequed chicken thighs, it was called Monkey Brains. Still is. I'm pretty sure my kids only like dragon fruit, because it's called dragon fruit.

(Once physical distancing is over) Take your kids with you to the grocery store - wait, I'm not crazy, there's a reason. Go early in the morning, when everyone is fresh, and the store isn't busy. Don't be in a hurry, think of it as an outing, not a chore to scratch off the list. Let them pick some fruits and veggies. Let them weigh each one in the scale. Talk to the lobsters.

Have colour days. All red fruits and veggies on Monday, yellow on Tuesday, etc.

Washing tomatoes for canning

Let kids help cook. I know its faster and easier to do it yourself (not to mention less messy). Even a toddler can help tear lettuce for the salad, or put the ingredients in the bowl after you chop.

Periodically we would pick up an unusual fruit or veggie, and research what to do with it. It wasn't always a success. I tried to impart the message that if we didn't like it, it may be the recipe we didn't like, and we should try again another day.

Everybody, young and old, has different food preferences. Some don't like their food to touch, some don't like sauces, some like spicy. As long as my kids knew to be polite at someone else's house, and eat what they are served, I was way less strict at home. If they want their stir fry separated into meat, rice and veggies, I didn't care. Kids usually don't like really spicy food, so I would separate out their portions before adding spice. 

Small children have little tummies and tend to fill up on milk or juice, then not eat. Try giving milk after they eat or for snack time instead. 

Remember that even if homemade goodies have butter and sugar in them, the don't have all the fillers, preservatives and dye that store bought treats have. In most recipes you can reduce the sugar a lot and replace part or all of the butter and oil with applesauce. 

Don't forget to read ingredient labels. A lot of products geared toward young children have unnecessary salt, sugar and dye in them. Slogans on the front of the package have more to do with marketing than information. 

My kids loved frozen yogurt tubes. Cut one in half and it was just right for a teething toddler. I also sandwiched yogurt, custard or pudding between graham crackers and froze it for a toddler ice cream sandwich.

When I have multiple open jars of jam in the fridge (it happens a lot, why move things to look, when you can open a new jar!), I make a batch of surprise muffins. Fill the muffin cup half way with batter, add a teaspoon of jam or jelly, and top with batter. No one knows what flavour they will get until they bite in! It's the muffin version of a jelly doughnut!

Once they were school age, my kids never had to ask permission to eat fruits and veggies as snack. Kids tend to take the path of lease resistance. If they have to look for it, they won't. A fruit bowl or plate of veggie sticks on the table is pretty easy.

Kids can be picky about texture. After the pasta sauce is made, blend it up (blend only half, if you like it chunky). All the veggies are still there, but they can't be seen and complained about.

Never too young to help plant

If you are a gardener, garden with your kids. Kids are much more interested in food when mudpies were involved. When they were really little, my boys had a section of flowerbed that was theirs. It was under a spruce tree, nothing would grow there anyway. If they wanted to dig for worms, fill it with rocks or plants dandelions, have at it! It kept them out of my garden. At grandma's house the digging toys and tools were under the crabapple tree. By the time they were big enough to help, they were used to being in the garden. Then they got a section of real garden. I would take them to the greenhouse, let them pick some plants. Each boy got one box to fill with whatever he wanted. Flowers or food. They would pick their own themes. By about 12, my oldest had a perennial tea garden, with strawberries, mints and other herbs to make tea. Until last summer, when I grew them at the community garden, I don't think a pea pod ever made it into the house. They were all picked and eaten in the back yard. 

I will admit, I’m a gadget junkie, and I love bento boxes. I love the whole concept of them. I call them my picnic lunches – a little veggie, a little fruit, some cheese and crackers, a hard boiled egg, maybe some nuts.  So very satisfying to eat, all the food groups, some crunch, some sweet. My son calls it a snacky lunch, and usually includes pickles and olives. My nephew calls it a random plate of healthy things and it’s what he eats at grandma’s house. I try to keep a bowl of hard boiled eggs in the fridge for deviled eggs, eggs salad sandwiches or chopping up in a green salad. It’s like a Lunchable, but with fresh ingredients and cheaper because you buy larger amounts that last longer and feed more people!

What are your favourite tips and tricks to teach children to eat healthy?

Leave a comment to share your wisdom!