Kid Friendly Clean Eating

We have 4 kids. Their ages ranges from 4 months to 6 years. Our oldest is the world's pickiest eater. She literally gags at the site of bananas. Our two middle boys are great eaters, if they know what they are putting in their mouth. Our daughter hit an age where she wouldn't eat any fruits or veggies except applesauce (loaded with sugar) or canned green beans (loaded with salt). We still gave them to her, because my philosophy is some nutrition is better than none. When she turned 5, we told her that she had to try one new thing a day. We told her that we didn't care if she threw up, she still had to try it. I know...we are mean, but it was the only way we could force her to try new things. Now she will eat raw carrots, steamed broccoli, steamed cauliflower, raw sugar snap peas, corn on the cob, fresh spinach, steamed green beans and mashed potatoes. We still have issues with fruit, but she will eat tiny slices of apples or peaches. My point is that kids are adaptable. It doesn't mean that it will be easy, but if you are serious about changing your diet, your kids will adapt.

Here are some tips that have helped us with our kids:

1. Once every few weeks, have a salad bar for dinner. Cut up a ton of different fruits and veggies, throw some nuts in a bowl, get out the cottage cheese, boil a few eggs and maybe even grill a chicken breast or two. The trick is to put everything in their own separate little bowl. I have found that presentation makes a huge difference with kids. Tell them that they have to pick out 6 different things, with at least 3 being a veggie. My kids love this, because they get to choose what they eat.

2. Offer a variety of healthy snacks in a muffin tin. It is the same idea as the salad bar. Kids gobble up (no pun intended) things that are presented in a fun way.

3. Get them involved with the food prep and cooking. One time I took the kids to an Asian market and bought all the ingredients to make egg rolls. I looked a recipe up online and we went for it. Remember my picky eater? These egg rolls were packed with veggies. I decided that I wanted to make them a little more healthy, so instead of frying them I brushed them with olive oil and put them in the oven. Bad mistake. They were disgusting with a capital D. Jonathan and I were trying to be good examples to the kids, so we gagged one or two down. My daughter, on the other hand, ate 3 of them. She was just so excited that she helped make dinner, that she didn't care how bad they tasted.

4. Keep it simple. The more elaborate I get with my meals, the less likely my kids are to eat them. The adventurous nature of kids doesn't often spill over into their eating habits.